*All posts in the Star Wars Canon series contain minor spoilers
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“So this is how liberty dies—with thunderous applause.” -Senator Padmé Amidala, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
This quote does not necessary have a direct tie to Star Wars: Queen’s Shadow, but it is one of my favourite lines. It’s a very powerful quote said by a strong female character and pretty much sums up the entire prequel trilogy.
Star Wars: Queen’s Shadow is about Padmé’s transition from Queen of Naboo to senator and her handmaidens’ roles in the process.
Written by: E.K. Johnston (author of Ahsoka, From a Certain Point of View short story, and Queen’s Peril)
Published: March 5, 2019
When does Queen’s Shadow take place?
Between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones.
Or more specifically: 28 BBY, with the majority of the book taking place 4 years after The Phantom Menace. The prologue takes place during the occupation of Naboo in The Phantom Menace and the epilogue takes place simultaneously with the ending of Revenge of the Sith.
Synopsis:
Padmé Amidala’s second term as Queen of Naboo has come to an end and she is ready to begin her life out of politics. The slaves she met on Tatooine four years prior have always been close to her heart and now she plans to return to the desert planet to free as many as possible. However, the newly elected Queen Réillata asks Padmé to serve as Senator of Naboo on Coruscant. Padmé agrees and her handmaiden and decoy Sabé generously offers to head to Tatooine to accomplish what Padmé had dreamed of. The rest of Padmé’s handmaidens decide to move on with their own ambitions and dreams so a new cast of handmaidens are hired and trained to accompany Padmé to Coruscant.
There Padmé must learn what it’s like to be a politician outside of the queen’s shadow and she witnesses what the Republic is really like under Chancellor Palpatine’s rule.
~
Star Wars: Queen’s Shadow is the book about Padmé I had no idea I wanted so badly. So many questions about the divide between Padmé and Amidala are answered and so much depth into the young queen of Naboo’s life is explored.
Padmé was portrayed as a very real character which is something about this book that I absolutely loved. Her fears, flaws, and frustrations are clearly shown and how she deals with them is a testament to the strong character we see in the films. Another aspect of this book I really enjoyed was the focus on Padmé’s handmaidens. In the films, these characters fade into the background—which is the entire point of their jobs. But in the book, we finally get the chance to know them and get a peek behind the closed doors of Padmé’s entourage. Each of the handmaidens’ individual skills and personalities offer something useful to Padmé’s missions and in turn, serve the planet they love.
The inner workings of the ‘switch’ is explained in detail—how Padmé and her decoys would switch places for her safety. It is mentioned that all of her handmaidens were capable of the switch, but Sabé was the best at it and would often be the one acting as Queen Amidala. I love that the book tackles questions like why Queen Amidala’s accent was so different than Padmé’s and why the need for such elaborate makeup and headdresses. The answer: the switch. The accent was something developed by both Padmé and Sabé as a voice either of them could easily slip into at a moment’s notice and the makeup and headdresses were used to distract from details of their faces so it was not obvious Queen Amidala was two different people.
However, the book does not explain a question that really bothers me about Padmé’s time as queen of Naboo. Who exactly did the people of Naboo vote for? Since Padmé chose the name Amidala as a regnal name and kept Padmé as a decoy name when she was dressed as a handmaiden, what name was written down on the ballets? The name Amidala wasn’t chosen yet and the name Padmé was meant to be a name of a handmaiden—not the queen. If anyone knows the answer to this, please, please let me know!
Anyway, another part of the book I really enjoyed was Padmé’s visit to Alderaan. This once very powerful planet in the senate is one fans don’t get to explore too often because of…well a little incident in A New Hope. But Alderaan is a very intriguing place and Bail and Breha Organa are such interesting characters in the Star Wars galaxy. I liked getting to know Queen Breha and it was touching to read about a connection between both of Leia’s mothers long before either of them knew about the daughter they would share.
Something minor I was disappointed in with this book was the lack of action. Padmé participates on one mission near the end of the book, but it is over before readers really have the chance to get caught up in the excitement. Another thing I struggled with was how evident it should have been to Padmé that Palpatine is corrupt—yes, as readers we obviously know (spoilers) that Palaptine is really the evil Darth Sidious, but his failed promises and the way he manipulated Padmé should really have been a red flag to her.
This book is considered YA and is a fairly easy and quick read. It is one that I would recommend to anyone who is a huge fan of Padmé or the prequels in general, but since it focuses pretty much solely on Padmé’s close circle, it does not necessarily add a lot to the overall Star Wars story. It is not an essential read to keep up with the events of the galaxy.
Have you read Star Wars: Queen’s Shadow? Would you love to see more of Padmé in future books?
Next week: Dooku: Jedi Lost
Complete list of Star Wars Canon novels
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