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fairpersephone 's review for:
Queen's Shadow
by E.K. Johnston
"We are brave, your highness."
I first fell in love with Star Wars seven years ago, and the moment I watched The Phantom Menace, I decided that I loved Padmé. She was both strong and soft, brave and beautiful. Even now, she and Kylo Ren are tied for my favourite Star Wars character—which, as it turns out, is precisely the problem. I was over the moon when I found out that Padmé would be getting a novel of her own, but that excitement was significantly dampened when I learned that the author had posted some disheartening things on Twitter about Kylo Ren, his fans, and the Rey/Kylo pairing. It left a really sour taste in my mouth, and for a while, I thought I'd simply give this book a miss, but I loved Padmé too much.
From somebody who's never been interested in the Boba Fetts or Poe Damerons of Star Wars and instead has been known to mutter "but where is my Padmé/Nabooian queens/handmaiden content", Queen's Shadow quenched my thirst a decent amount. I liked all the tidbits on Naboo culture that we were given throughout the novel, and there are even some glimpses of Alderaan, which I appreciated. I've always been interested in Padmé's wardrobe (I even own a replica of her rainbow lake dress for cosplay) and so I did like the copious amounts of descriptions of dresses and hairstyles and the practical elements of each. I was also glad to learn more about the handmaidens, and that we got to know the character of Sabé and her friendship with Padmé.
There are, however, a couple of areas where Queen's Shadow falls short.
My first quibble is with the editing and not the actual story itself, though it was sufficient to jar me. "Elaborate" was spelled wrongly as "elabourate" each time it appeared, as was "Chancellor Valorum" as "Chancellor Valourum". This irked me until I realised that Padmé was calling her mother "mum" and "realise" was used instead of the US-standard "realize", and I supposed that those errors must have just been wrongly Britpicked. "Onerous" is also spelled incorrectly as "onerus", and while these are minor and I'm just picky, I did expect better from a published text that would have had a team of editors going over it with a fine-toothed comb. I had the same issue with my copy of The Last Jedi, where a paragraph is written and then repeated on the next page.
I also feel like this novel was devoid of any real emotional depth or tension. I accept that Padmé's survival is guaranteed due to this book taking place before Attack of the Clones, but in my opinion, every time there was about to be a tense situation, the narrative diverted away.
On the whole, rather than being in Padmé's (or Sabé's or Saché's) head, I felt like we were being held at arm's length. We're told how she feels, but we aren't shown. Perhaps that might just be Johnston's writing style, which I found to be rather distant and... stilted, I suppose?
All of that said, I'm so happy that we're getting more and more content about the ladies of Star Wars! Claudia Gray's Leia-focused novels are very good, and I've heard similarly good things about Johnston's Ahsoka, which I'll hopefully enjoy more.
I first fell in love with Star Wars seven years ago, and the moment I watched The Phantom Menace, I decided that I loved Padmé. She was both strong and soft, brave and beautiful. Even now, she and Kylo Ren are tied for my favourite Star Wars character—which, as it turns out, is precisely the problem. I was over the moon when I found out that Padmé would be getting a novel of her own, but that excitement was significantly dampened when I learned that the author had posted some disheartening things on Twitter about Kylo Ren, his fans, and the Rey/Kylo pairing. It left a really sour taste in my mouth, and for a while, I thought I'd simply give this book a miss, but I loved Padmé too much.
From somebody who's never been interested in the Boba Fetts or Poe Damerons of Star Wars and instead has been known to mutter "but where is my Padmé/Nabooian queens/handmaiden content", Queen's Shadow quenched my thirst a decent amount. I liked all the tidbits on Naboo culture that we were given throughout the novel, and there are even some glimpses of Alderaan, which I appreciated. I've always been interested in Padmé's wardrobe (I even own a replica of her rainbow lake dress for cosplay) and so I did like the copious amounts of descriptions of dresses and hairstyles and the practical elements of each. I was also glad to learn more about the handmaidens, and that we got to know the character of Sabé and her friendship with Padmé.
Spoiler
I do wonder about that epilogue, though? I'm very glad that Sabé doesn't believe that Padmé would just die like that, especially since I've always believed that Palpatine was draining Padmé's life force to bring Anakin back as Vader. Died of a broken heart, really?There are, however, a couple of areas where Queen's Shadow falls short.
My first quibble is with the editing and not the actual story itself, though it was sufficient to jar me. "Elaborate" was spelled wrongly as "elabourate" each time it appeared, as was "Chancellor Valorum" as "Chancellor Valourum". This irked me until I realised that Padmé was calling her mother "mum" and "realise" was used instead of the US-standard "realize", and I supposed that those errors must have just been wrongly Britpicked. "Onerous" is also spelled incorrectly as "onerus", and while these are minor and I'm just picky, I did expect better from a published text that would have had a team of editors going over it with a fine-toothed comb. I had the same issue with my copy of The Last Jedi, where a paragraph is written and then repeated on the next page.
I also feel like this novel was devoid of any real emotional depth or tension. I accept that Padmé's survival is guaranteed due to this book taking place before Attack of the Clones, but in my opinion, every time there was about to be a tense situation, the narrative diverted away.
Spoiler
Early on, Padmé's NON-3 droid malfunctions and sends her into a demolition site; the only hint the reader gets of this is that the corridors are dark and empty, and then Bail Organa appears to warn her and send her away. Sabé has a slave liberation storyline on Tatooine in which she frees twenty-five slaves, but we don't see this unfold. We catch up with her in the aftermath, in the form of several conversations. Later, there's a space battle that Padmé's ship interrupts and then joins in on; this, too, lacked narrative tension. Rush Clovis, who appears in The Clone Wars as an old flame, makes Padmé's skin crawl throughout the novel, but it didn't seem to me like we were given any real reason to dislike him other than a few minor niggles until he, without warning, kisses Padmé without her consent. We don't see Padmé really deal with this, either.On the whole, rather than being in Padmé's (or Sabé's or Saché's) head, I felt like we were being held at arm's length. We're told how she feels, but we aren't shown. Perhaps that might just be Johnston's writing style, which I found to be rather distant and... stilted, I suppose?
All of that said, I'm so happy that we're getting more and more content about the ladies of Star Wars! Claudia Gray's Leia-focused novels are very good, and I've heard similarly good things about Johnston's Ahsoka, which I'll hopefully enjoy more.