Star Wars: Queen’s Shadow

by E. K. Johnston

ISBN 978-1-368-02425-9

Disclaimer: I received a free review copy of this title from the publisher.

“Who was she, after all, when she was not Queen of Naboo? She had entered politics so early and with such zeal that she had no other identity.”

Elected Queen of Naboo at a young age, Padmé Amidala Naberrie has defined herself by that identity, having saved her planet from the predations of the Trade Federation, and restored peace with the Gungans who inhabit Naboo’s waters. Now her term as Queen is up, and Padmé will have to discover who she is without politics. But duty will knock again, this time when her successor asks her if she will represent Naboo in the Galactic Senate. Being a Senator of the Republic is quite different from ruling a single planet, and Padmé will find herself in deep politics waters as she struggles to step out from under the shadow of the throne, and into her new role.

Queen’s Shadow covers a portion of the time between the events of The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. It opens on the handmaiden Sabé—played by Keira Knightley in the film—performing the decoy maneuver during the crucial events of the Battle of Naboo. However, the main body of the action takes place during the year or so after Padmé leaves Naboo for Coruscant, where old enemies and new rivals await the young Queen-turned-Senator. Balancing a galaxy is much more difficult than running a planet, with many established factions already in play. Padmé’s reputation as Queen Amidala precedes her, and no one in the Senate has forgotten that she upended tradition and unseated Chancellor Valorum to save her own planet, catapulting Naboo’s former Senator, Palpatine, into the Chancellor’s office.

Anakin Skywalker has little role to play in Queen’s Shadow, and though he is referenced, I do not believe he was ever actually named. Rather, Padmé’s primary relationship in Queen’s Shadow is with her handmaidens, and with Sabé in particular. It is a delicate balance of friend, colleague, and queen, filled with mutual respect, but profoundly imbalanced by duty and loyalty: “Padmé knew in her heart that Sabé would do whatever she asked, even if it meant Sabé’s life, and therefore she was always careful never to ask too much.” The perspectives of the handmaidens are as important as Padmé’s to Queen’s Shadow; they too are in a time of transition, figuring out whether they will stay or go, and how they will serve their former Queen in her new capacity as Senator. Sabé’s plotline follows her to Tatooine, where Padmé hopes to quietly use her money to free slaves, though abolition proves to be tricky work.

Queen’s Shadow is a Star Wars novel written by someone who clearly shares a love for Padmé’s character, and perhaps even a belief in her unfulfilled potential within the films. E. K. Johnston even slips a sly line of dialogue into the epilogue, set after Padmé’s funeral, in which Sabé vents the disbelief of many a fan: “It doesn’t make any sense!….She wouldn’t just die.” I should note here that I am quoting from an ARC, and I sincerely hope this line makes it to final publication! It was such a pleasure to read about a smart and brave woman surrounded by other talented, dedicated women prepared to give their lives to the Republic. Padmé’s canonical fate is not going away, but there is much more to her before that ending.

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