O Threepio, Threepio, Wherefore art thou, Threepio?
Join us, good gentles, for a merry re-imagining of Star Wars: Episode I as only Shakespeare could have written it. The entire saga starts here, with a thrilling tale featuring a disguised queen, a young hero, and two fearless knights facing a hidden, vengeful enemy.
'Tis a true Shakespearean drama, filled with sword fights, soliloquies, and doomed romance...all in glorious iambic pentameter and coupled with gorgeous Elizabethan illustrations. Hold on to your midi-chlorians: the play's the thing, wherein you'll catch the rise of Anakin!
A journey through yonder galaxy far, far away! Witness the origins of the Force! 'Tis the epic tale as never seen before in William Shakespear's the Phantom of Menace.
Release Date: April 7, 2015
My Thoughts:
If you are a lover of Shakespeare, a lover of Star Wars and a lover of parody then the Shakespeare and Star Wars books are definitely something you will want to read. Just like the movies, to us "old guard" the first Star Wars will always be the originals. So it is with the books. I read William Shakespeare's Star Wars Parts IV, V, VI before coming to The Phantom of Menace. Okay, honestly I read them that way because that is the order in which they were written, but even if I had all 6 of the books available to read I probably would have started with book IV! The Phantom of Menace is the beginning of the Star Wars saga and pretty much follows the movie. I noticed in this installment that there seemed to be a lot more soliloquies amongst the characters, and a lot more "asides" as well. Those helped set the stage to what was going on in a scene. I also noticed less quotations from Shakespeare, but that may be my lack of knowledge of all things Shakespeare. Something I haven't really paid attention to in the former Shakespeare and Star Wars books I've read were the illustrations. This time around they captured my attention. They are quite detailed and helped me to see what exactly was going on in some of the scenes. If I had paid better attention in English class I could tell you more about the ins and outs of Iambic Pentameter, but my understanding is that it has to do with the number of syllables in a line(pentameter=5). For my simple mind it determines the cadence of the verses. Shakespeare and Ian Doescher do it pretty well! As far as the character of Jar Jar Binks is concerned people either loved him or hated him in the movie and I imagine they will love him or hate him in the book as well. I happen to have enjoyed his character in both the movie and the book, although I found his character portrayed a bit more intelligent in the book. So whether you are old school, and like the original versions of Star Wars or new school(is that what they call it?), and like the new versions here is your chance to start this epic series beginning with Star Wars Part The First, William Shakespeare's The Phantom of Menace.
Coming Soon:
The Clone Army Attacketh-July 7, 2015
The Tragedy of the Sith's Revenge-September 8, 2015
Check out my reviews of the original Shakespeare and Star Wars books:
William Shakespeare's Star Wars
The Empire Striketh Back
The Jedi Doth Return
**I received my copy for review from Quirk Books. All opinions are my own**
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