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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
I’ve never been a huge fan of most prequel related lore, but I liked this. I was going to give this 3 stars but I really liked the epilogue and the possibilities it left open, so I bumped it to 4. Not the most exciting plot, but a fresh perspective on Amidala and her handmaidens. It fills some story space that I had been interested in.
4.5/5
Out of all the main characters in all three Star Wars trilogies, nobody got a worse lot than Padme. Introduced as a tough, intelligent, kind-hearted queen, by Episode III all her storylines were cut out to where she is just Anakin's wife who dies in childbirth. Largely ignored in the EU, even the much-lauded Clone Wars never gave her much attention or did much with her character like it did with others.
Queen's Shadow gives her the focus she deserves and makes her more than "Anakin's love interest." No, it's not the classic swashbuckling space opera that most Star Wars stories are--there are no heroic pilots or scheming rogues, and the jedi only feature tangentially-- but the story doesn't suffer for it. The book is a character study of Padme and serves to show how she bridged the gap between being queen and senator. It shows politics at its most banal and self-serving while sowing the seeds for the Clone Wars.
Like the best SW novels, Queen's Shadow adds depth to the rest of the universe. Not only does it make Padme a better character, but also gives personality to her handmaidens and Captain Typho. Dorme's death in AOTC is now something to be sad about, instead of a "blink and you missed it" opening scene. And while a reader does not need to have seen The Clone Wars in order to enjoy or understand the book, Queen's Shadow also gives the backstory of some major characters in the Padme centric episodes.
Out of all the main characters in all three Star Wars trilogies, nobody got a worse lot than Padme. Introduced as a tough, intelligent, kind-hearted queen, by Episode III all her storylines were cut out to where she is just Anakin's wife who dies in childbirth. Largely ignored in the EU, even the much-lauded Clone Wars never gave her much attention or did much with her character like it did with others.
Queen's Shadow gives her the focus she deserves and makes her more than "Anakin's love interest." No, it's not the classic swashbuckling space opera that most Star Wars stories are--there are no heroic pilots or scheming rogues, and the jedi only feature tangentially-- but the story doesn't suffer for it. The book is a character study of Padme and serves to show how she bridged the gap between being queen and senator. It shows politics at its most banal and self-serving while sowing the seeds for the Clone Wars.
Like the best SW novels, Queen's Shadow adds depth to the rest of the universe. Not only does it make Padme a better character, but also gives personality to her handmaidens and Captain Typho. Dorme's death in AOTC is now something to be sad about, instead of a "blink and you missed it" opening scene. And while a reader does not need to have seen The Clone Wars in order to enjoy or understand the book, Queen's Shadow also gives the backstory of some major characters in the Padme centric episodes.
just so boring :/ love the bisexual sabé in love with padmé canonization though
was a four but after further review (i thought abt this compared to other sw books) it’s just not hitting as well as others
writing in bullets just cause i don’t have it in me rn to write paragraphs lol:
- epilogue killed me
- loved seeing more into naboo’s culture and the relationship between the handmaidens
- not very heavy on plot. like there’s not really a climax there are just multiple little climaxes, some of which leave off in the middle of said climax
- also not very good at following up on things? i thought this was gonna be an attempted murder mystery but i guess we just kinda… stopped worrying about that?? same w the slavery legislation (and what sabé and tonra were doing), and then we just picked up w another world and THAT legislation. like i get that’s How Life Is sometimes but narratively it leaves the reader a little dazed and confused
- have to be relatively knowledgeable about star wars timeline otherwise there’s gonna be a LOT more loose ends than there alr are
overall not a bad book, enjoyed reading it, but i think that’s because i love padmé and not because it is an incredibly well crafted story or anything terribly compelling
writing in bullets just cause i don’t have it in me rn to write paragraphs lol:
- epilogue killed me
- loved seeing more into naboo’s culture and the relationship between the handmaidens
- not very heavy on plot. like there’s not really a climax there are just multiple little climaxes, some of which leave off in the middle of said climax
- also not very good at following up on things? i thought this was gonna be an attempted murder mystery but i guess we just kinda… stopped worrying about that?? same w the slavery legislation (and what sabé and tonra were doing), and then we just picked up w another world and THAT legislation. like i get that’s How Life Is sometimes but narratively it leaves the reader a little dazed and confused
- have to be relatively knowledgeable about star wars timeline otherwise there’s gonna be a LOT more loose ends than there alr are
overall not a bad book, enjoyed reading it, but i think that’s because i love padmé and not because it is an incredibly well crafted story or anything terribly compelling
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Another YA Disney Star Wars Canon story, concentrating on Padme. Nice backfill story. Author does a good job telling us about how Padme became queen of Naboo and speaks to the relationship between the humans and the Gungans, as well as telling how Padme became a senator. Enjoyable read.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
"'We could do so much more if people would listen,' Padmé said. 'People are listening,' Bonteri said. 'They're just not paying attention.'"
-------------------------------------
I liked this one a little less than Brotherhood (obviously based on my ratings of the two), but I still did enjoy it! However, I will admit that it did drag a little.
I'll start with positives, though. Everyone said this in their reviews but I'll say it in mine too, Padmé is probably the most overlooked character in the prequel trilogy. We never really got to see her much on her own, for a lot of her plot in the trilogy is based around that of Anakin and Obi-Wan. So this book was definitely very interesting since it showed the side of her completely unattached from the two of them. It was also really interesting to read from her perspective, especially with how strategical she is and how that drives her political nature (I feel like I worded that wrong but oh well). Also, I really liked the focus on her handmaidens and Sabé as well; they're such an important part of her life, but so little is mentioned of them in the movies because, again, Padmé apart from Anakin and Obi-Wan just isn't that much of a focus, so it was definitely interesting to get to see more of them. And I did overall like the political plot, but that does lead me to my negatives.
First off, while, like I said, I mostly enjoyed the political plot, I did find it a lot more interesting in the beginning than I did by the end. This wasn't necessarily because the politics were more interesting in the beginning, but moreso cause I just got kind of bored of it by the time I was finishing the book. So I definitely can agree with some reviewers who said that this dragged a little, as I did find myself getting more worn down by the end. As well, though I enjoyed the parts of Padmé's character that I mentioned earlier, by the end I still just don't feel like I have that huge of a grasp on who she is as a person outside of the appearances that she puts on to fit her political roles; despite being able to read from her perspective, I still just don't feel extremely connected to her. I do genuinely love her character, but I feel it's moreso from the standpoint of wishing that her character had more focus and depth than she's been given. The way that perspectives switched in this was also a little strange and I found myself constantly having to figure out or simply remind myself who's perspective I was even reading from, as perspectives would just change without warning from paragraph to paragraph.
With all that said, though, I did still genuinely enjoy this and am looking forward to reading the other two books in this series! Just hoping they establish Padmé's character better and have a little more entertaining of a plot🤞
-------------------------------------
Bonus quote (only one this time!) 💫
"Padmé didn't like that it always took danger and pain to provoke response. Mon Mothma had been perfectly content to continue passively treating with the pirates until her ship came through their contested space, and now she was willing to expend additional effort. Padmé hoped she would never need to confront something herself to believe it, even if it meant she would face an increase in personal moral discomfort."
-------------------------------------
I liked this one a little less than Brotherhood (obviously based on my ratings of the two), but I still did enjoy it! However, I will admit that it did drag a little.
I'll start with positives, though. Everyone said this in their reviews but I'll say it in mine too, Padmé is probably the most overlooked character in the prequel trilogy. We never really got to see her much on her own, for a lot of her plot in the trilogy is based around that of Anakin and Obi-Wan. So this book was definitely very interesting since it showed the side of her completely unattached from the two of them. It was also really interesting to read from her perspective, especially with how strategical she is and how that drives her political nature (I feel like I worded that wrong but oh well). Also, I really liked the focus on her handmaidens and Sabé as well; they're such an important part of her life, but so little is mentioned of them in the movies because, again, Padmé apart from Anakin and Obi-Wan just isn't that much of a focus, so it was definitely interesting to get to see more of them. And I did overall like the political plot, but that does lead me to my negatives.
First off, while, like I said, I mostly enjoyed the political plot, I did find it a lot more interesting in the beginning than I did by the end. This wasn't necessarily because the politics were more interesting in the beginning, but moreso cause I just got kind of bored of it by the time I was finishing the book. So I definitely can agree with some reviewers who said that this dragged a little, as I did find myself getting more worn down by the end. As well, though I enjoyed the parts of Padmé's character that I mentioned earlier, by the end I still just don't feel like I have that huge of a grasp on who she is as a person outside of the appearances that she puts on to fit her political roles; despite being able to read from her perspective, I still just don't feel extremely connected to her. I do genuinely love her character, but I feel it's moreso from the standpoint of wishing that her character had more focus and depth than she's been given. The way that perspectives switched in this was also a little strange and I found myself constantly having to figure out or simply remind myself who's perspective I was even reading from, as perspectives would just change without warning from paragraph to paragraph.
With all that said, though, I did still genuinely enjoy this and am looking forward to reading the other two books in this series! Just hoping they establish Padmé's character better and have a little more entertaining of a plot🤞
-------------------------------------
Bonus quote (only one this time!) 💫
"Padmé didn't like that it always took danger and pain to provoke response. Mon Mothma had been perfectly content to continue passively treating with the pirates until her ship came through their contested space, and now she was willing to expend additional effort. Padmé hoped she would never need to confront something herself to believe it, even if it meant she would face an increase in personal moral discomfort."
Ein wirklich gutes Star Wars Buch! Geschrieben von einem wahren Fan für wahre Fans.
Dieses Buch gibt einen super Einblick in die Welt von Padmé Amidala und den Alltag im Galaktischen Senat und dient als perfekter Lückenfüller zwischen so vielen Dingen.
Trotz mangelnder Action und einem teilweise langsamen Tempo ist dieses Buch perfekt, um sich in die politische Seite von Star Wars und Padmé neu zu verlieben.
Sehr Empfehlenswert!
Dieses Buch gibt einen super Einblick in die Welt von Padmé Amidala und den Alltag im Galaktischen Senat und dient als perfekter Lückenfüller zwischen so vielen Dingen.
Trotz mangelnder Action und einem teilweise langsamen Tempo ist dieses Buch perfekt, um sich in die politische Seite von Star Wars und Padmé neu zu verlieben.
Sehr Empfehlenswert!