Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is the prequel to the original trilogy of Star Wars and was the first movie made after episodes IV,V,VI. I have read a few other Star Wars books and have seen all of the movies. This book is by far my favorite book of them all. T

Book Jacket of Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace

he best part about this book is that it includes a lot of extra parts of the story of young Anakin Skywalker’s childhood and how he became Watto the junk dealer’s slave along with his mother.

Desert Sand Planet of Tatooine

The story starts out in the desert lands of the sand planet of Tatooine. The beginning is also part that is not featured in the motion picture, which is the story of how Anakin and his mother end up in the hands of Gardulla the Hutt and are lost to Watto the junk dealer through gambling.

The story of young Anakin is an adventurous and exciting one. The Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and his young Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi are sent to the Viceroy of the Trade Federation by the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic to negotiate a treaty to end the trade route blockade of the planet of Naboo which leads the two Jedi to the planet of Naboo to protect the Naboo people’s Queen Amidala. The Jedi adventures on Naboo lead them to meet the Gungan, Jar Jar Binks who takes them to the city of Ootah Gunga, an underwater paradise. When the leader of the Gungans, Boss Nass denies them help for them to save the Naboo people they are sent on an adventure through the abyss under the water where they encounter several monstrous creatures and are nearly swallowed whole.

Luckily they escape the abyss with their lives and arrive to the city of Theed, the capital of Naboo where they meet with Queen Amidala and her people. They are captured by the Trade Federation droids and are on their way to see Viceroy Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation but somehow get out of captivity and find a ship to escape the planet. The trade blockade is dead in front of them once the reach space but through the Jedi’ keen sense of the force, they launch into hyperspace with perfect timing to blast right past the blockade. They end up getting caught in the middle of the galaxy without any power and their hyperdrive damaged and need to find a planet to land where they can repair their ship and get back to the Jedi Temple on the planet of Coruscant.

Repairing the Ship

The only near planet that lacks the presence of the Trade Federation is the sand world of Tatooine where they have a run in with the young Anakin Skywalker while they’re at Watto’s junk shop searching for the necessary parts to repair their ship. After having issues negotiating with Watto for the parts, Qui-Gon Jinn along with Jar Jar Binks, the Queen’s handmaiden, Padme and the Astro-droid R2-D2 leave his shop. While roaming through the city of Mos Eisley the Jedi and his friends get caught in the midst of a sandstorm when they run into Anakin on his way home and Anakin offers them his house to stay while they wait out the storm.

While at home with Anakin and his mother, the Jedi is trying to find out a way to get the needed parts for his ship when Anakin suggests betting on Anakin in the Boonta Eve podrace the following day. Once they work it out with Watto, convincing him that the pod was the Jedi’s and that he would let Anakin use it in the race, Watto negotiates the deal that if Anakin wins Qui-Gon gets the parts he needs and Watto gets the earnings and if Anakin loses then Watto gets Qui-Gon’s ship.

Instantly agreeing, Watto makes the bets. The night before the race Qui-Gon talks to Anakin and finds out that Anakin’s midi-chlorian count is higher than any Jedi in the history of the order. Having the sense that Anakin could be the Jedi that is said to be the chosen one who will destroy the Sith and bring balance to the force, Qui-Gon looks to make a bet for Anakin’s freedom. On the day of the race before it started, Qui-Gon approached Watto and discussed the freedom of Anakin and convinced Watto to make the bet, knowing that Anakin would win the race because he was destined to become a Jedi.

After the Pod Race Win

After the exciting pod race win for Anakin that alomost costed him his life, Qui-Gon talked to Watto and worked out the winnings. Afterwards, Qui-Gon went by the shop to get his parts for his ship and then went and got the no-longer slave boy named Anakin Skywalker. Once they got to their ship and had the parts for the ship replaced and were ready to leave, they were attacked by the Dark Lord of the Sith known as Darth Maul, who was sent to assassinate the Queen. Just barely escaping the clutches of the Sith Lord, they were in space on their way to Coruscant to the Jedi Temple and to the senate to inform them about the Trade Federation’s blockade of Naboo.

Once on Coruscant, the Jedi Council refused to bring Anakin into Jedi training because he was to old, the Queen informed the Republic Senate of the Trade Federation’s actions on Naboo. The Queen made the decision to return to Naboo to be with her people who were suffering at the hands of the Trade Federation. Once on Naboo the Trade Federation took the Queen captive, the two Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi encountered the Sith Lord Darth Maul again and were engaged in an intense lightsaber action with the Dark Lord. The intense fight went on and on until Obi-Wan was trapped by a containment field and Qui-Gon was taking on Darth Maul alone. Making a swift move with his red double-bladed lightsaber, Qui-Gon was killed.

As soon as the containment field was down Obi-Wan ran into another intense fight with Darth Maul which ended in the death of the Sith Lord. Before Qui-Gon died he made Obi-Wan promise to train Anakin in the Jedi way. When Obi-Wan saved the Queen and went back to the Jedi temple he carried out his promise, letting the council know that even if they denied the boy training, Obi-Wan wasn’t going to break his promise to the fallen Jedi named Qui-Gon Jinn. After the entire Jedi Council along with the Queen and members of the Senate left the ritualistic Jedi funeral of Qui-Gon Jinn, Anakin was sent with Obi-Wan to begin his Padawan training and become a great Jedi Knight…

Mineko Iwasaki

There’s nothing quite like sitting down and reading history from a first person encounter. Though translated and written into simplistic English, Mineko Iwasaki’s words and genuinely amazing story ring through. There is an elegance, a mystique to her words that create wondrous pictures of the karyukai (districts), kimono (traditional clothing), and okiya (geisha house) in one’s head. Iwasaki creates a world that we will never see, but was all too real for her.

The Truth Behind the Geisha

Outside of Japan, people are not quite acquainted with the truth behind the geisha (or geiko) of Japan’s Gion Kobu district. The geiko – women of art – live and work inside the district, and spend their entire careers there attempting to please customers and entertain clients. This is wonderfully painted by Iwasaki in her memoir, with rich details of her first-hand experience of being the most popular geiko in the world. Her story is of love, of triumph, of success, but at the same time, she faces plenty of hardship along the way.

We begin the story with a first-person introduction to Iwasaki in her own words. Moving into a geiko house in Gion Kobu district at the age of five, Iwasaki began her rigorous training in dance and artistic endeavors early on. At fifteen, she debuted as a maiko (adolescent geisha) to Kyoto and the world. In the 1960’s and 1970’s of Japan, Iwasaki had to learn to carry on tradition as her nation was moving toward the future and modernization. Her career path was a difficult one, and she states she “finds great irony” in her chosen profession because it conflicts with her own personality.

Background of the Book

The book has a brief background of Iwasaki’s family life before living in the okiya, but the majority of her grand story focuses on life in the okiya. She tells the story of a young, hardworking woman who is destined for success, but experiences hurdles along the way. Iwasaki details such things as the way she wore her hair as a maiko, the way she was dressed, and even recalls specific customers she entertained (such as Prince Charles). The book reads like a great foreign film with simple subtitles, everything straightforward and direct. Her way of retelling her story through translator Rande Brown opens a whole world to those of us not in Japan or experienced in Japanese culture/history we never could imagine.

Iwasaki – who is now retired from being a geiko and has a family of her own – lived an incredible life, and lets the reader into her incredible past. Though somewhat off topic at times, Iwasaki’s story is one not to be missed or scoffed at. Her tale is true insight into the lives of the geiko of Gion, a world that most will never know.

Some Sunday, by Margaret Johnson-Hodge is a well written story about losing love and finding it again. Within the main theme of love, there are also issues of class, relationships, & friendship that are dealt through the telling of this story. The main character of the novel, Sandy is living a charmed life with the love of her life, Adrian when tragedy strikes and he dies from AIDS. During this time of loss, Sandy spirals downward into a pit of depression from which she thinks there is no escape. Then, a rope to pull her up is dangled down from an unexpected place. As she struggles with the

Some Sunday by Margaret Johnson-Hodge

feelings of how to deal with these new found emotions and how to honor her husband’s memory at the same time, Sandy is again thrown another rope, pulling her in a new direction. While Sandy is trying to juggle with her feelings for 3 men, her circle of friends are battling with their own issues with their 1 man.

Highly successful attorney Martha is having trouble trying to pick unripe fruit. She is in a relationship; however she is attempting to move it to a place her partner is not ready for. Next, there is Britney, a full figured beauty that none of the girls expected to find love. Britney, from the outside, seems to have it all, a new baby, a husband that dotes on her, a new home, fine cars, and anything that her heart desires. However, there is a storm brewing on the horizon, threatening to take down anything in its path. Lastly, there is Janice who is on the brink of falling in lifelong love, but she has herself tethered to a rock to keep her from slipping in head over heels.

As I read this novel, I was enamored with the details Ms. Hodge provided. The eloquent description of the sounds and smells throughout the story made me feel like I was right there. The story made me feel like I was one of the girls, being privy to information that no one else should be allowed to know. There were points in the story when I cried with Sandy mourning her loss. I felt the unsettlement of Martha as she battled against herself to try to remain in a relationship. I sympathized with Britney as she tried to juggle motherhood and new marriage. I even felt Janice’s pain as she struggled to launch into love without having reservations. This is a great novel showing no matter how hard life seems to get “Some Sunday” things will get better.