Terry Brooks spoke with
George Lucas about the background of the novel.[3]
Some of the dialogue helps to explain certain scenes in more depth than in the film,
and the relationship between
Qui-Gon Jinn and
Obi-Wan Kenobi is more well established.[3]
More background for Anakin is given which ties into later comments in the film, such as Anakin's conversation with a pilot about angels, and Anakin's race in which
Sebulba causes him to crash Watto's podracer, and an encounter with an injured
Tusken Raider.
Anakin beats up a
Rodian named
Greedo; this foreshadows Anakin's descent to the dark side.[3] The scene was filmed but cut from the final film.
When Anakin first meets
Padmé Amidala, he tells her he is going to marry her. This may be dialogue from a
deleted scene.[3]
Background for the
Sith is given, showing their origin and reasons for wanting revenge against the
Jedi. Brooks also covers the story of
Darth Bane and how he created the Sith Rule of Two.[3]
The duel between Qui-Gon Jinn and
Darth Maul on
Tatooine does not end with Qui-Gon simply jumping onto the ship. Maul leaps up there as well until he is knocked off. This is another deleted scene from the film.
There is a monologue by Darth Sidious about his plans after the defeat of Darth Maul.
Yoda's famous quote in the film in which he alerts Anakin of the path to the dark side ("Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering") was altered in the novel to just: "To the dark side, fear leads. To anger and to hate. To suffering."
References
Footnotes
^Also published in German: Die dunkle Bedrohung; French: La menace fantome, and Dutch: The Phantom Menace[2]
Citations
^The Phantom Menace
Novelization on Penguin.co.uk, one of the publisher's sites
^Ruff, Al von.
"The Phantom Menace". Internet Speculative Fiction Database. ISFDB. Retrieved November 30, 2018.