Hello everyone!
Sooo I kind of lied. The last time I reviewed a Star Wars-related book, I mean.
I said, and don't quote me directly on this, but I said something along the lines of 'I need a break from the galaxy far, far away'.
And then I went and dived right back into said galaxy, only a little before the books I'd been reading.
Maybe I didn't need to take a Star Wars break.
Maybe I just needed a New Republic break.
That makes some sense to me as I can feel reluctance in trying to start something New Republic-related at the moment - three books in a row are quite enough for now - but actual excitement and enthusiasm for potential OLD Republic books.
I'm a complicated person.
And I survived the latest Shadowhunters episode, which means that I can dive into Queen's Shadow with gusto.
This is the part where I explain, or attempt to explain, some of the reluctance and obstacles popping up inside my head when someone mentions the New Republic. It's probably not going to be a satisfactory explanation, nor will it make people happy, but it's what's inside MY head, and that's what matters.
First off, let me say that I like the Original Trilogy. Han, Leia and Luke (along with Chewie, Lando, Threepio and R2, not to mention Vader!) are definitely characters that I can't just forget about.
But here's the thing.
When I started watching Star Wars, that is to say, when I first dove into the Galaxy created by George Lucas, I did so with the Prequel Trilogy. My OCD brain congratulated me immensely for seeing the episodes in chronological (not release) order, ie: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, and only AFTERWARDS did I get to A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.
So, by default, I was introduced to the Prequel trilogy characters first, and to this day they - and the timeline they struggle and strive in - remain my favourite. Right at the top are a young Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padmé Amidala Naberrie, who share the spot, of course.
I understand quite well that the Legends canon is much better than the new Sequel Trilogy (anyone with a head on their shoulders will probably tell you that), but ... for me, the magic lies with the Old Republic. With the system I got to know first, the Jedi Order under Master Yoda and the Jedi Council, the struggles of the Galactic Senate and senators like Amidala, Bail Organa, and their entourage as they fought to preserve democracy across the stars.
So when a book focusing solely on Padmé dropped into advertising markets, I was STOKED.
I've read books by E. K. Johnston before (thought not in a while), so I was familiar with her writing style and enjoyed it. The only thing remaining was to actually get my hands on a copy of the book. I did, and would have devoured it in a single sitting if this thing called work wouldn't constantly interrupt.
Life, right?
But finally, the review:
We begin our book with a tantalising description of Padmé lying still, hands clasped over her stomach, white flowers in her hair ...
If you're brain is shrieking alarms a la REVENGE OF THE SITH FUNERAL SCENE, you'd be right ... moderately.
It's not. It's her last days as Queen Amidala, relaxing in the Lake Country on Naboo while the voting takes place and her successor is being chosen. She's there with her handmaidens and her guards, and thinking about what she might do after she's no longer queen. An option she's keen on exploring is returning to Tatooine, to try and free the slaves on that planet, and to attempt to fight slavery across the galaxy.
When the new Queen is announced, Padmé happily ands over the scepter, but also gets surprised by the position the queen offers her: to become Senator of Naboo.
The thought had never occurred to Padmé before, but she accepts, after debating it with her friends and loyalists, coming to the conclusion that she can do much, much better in the Senate than on her own among the stars.
So her old handmaidens go do their own thing - some in music, some in public service, some opening orphanages, some attempting to help Naboo's agriculture, all of them serving in some way.
And Sabé, the one most often used as Padmé's decoy, offers to fly to Tatooine to start on the slaves situation there while Padmé goes to Coruscant to begin her ascent as senator. Sabé takes Tonra with her, a Captain assigned to the new senator, while Padmé takes the wife of her former Captain Panaka along to be Captain of her guards.
They're all expecting this transition to be a little choppy, but at the very least safe.
After all, Nute Gunray is still standing trial for his crimes against Naboo - and the Queen.
Padmé takes a minimal number of new handmaidens with her - Dormé, Cordé and Versé - and together, her new entourage must then tackle the capital, which turns out to be a slightly bigger mouthful to chew through, because right at the beginning, the protocol droid Padmé's given is tampered with (after which R2 can take its place!), and she's very nearly killed. Thankfully there's a timely intervention by one Senator Organa of Alderaan, but this doesn't help her general standing on Coruscant.
The holonews is full of scandal about her - her fashion, which they jeer at for the Naboo style of multi-fabric and multi-dimensional dresses with the head pieces, etc - her naivete at being led almost to her death by her own droid (this is where we should mention Cordé was impersonating Padmé at the time while the real senator was in the handmaiden's cloak), and the memory of how she circumvented the entire Senate by deposing Valorum back when she desperately wanted aid for her planet.
Let's not go into the fact that it should have been the duty of the Senate to relieve Naboo of the Trade Federation in the first place.
Anyway, Padmé faces more obstacles than smooth courses while attempting to navigate the Senate, and people just won't take her seriously, so she needs to start down another path, and fast.
She can't ally herself obviously with Palpatine, because he's the Chancellor and already has a soft spot for her anyway, so she needs other people to work with. Senator Bonteri might be one, so she thinks initially, but she realises there are other allies to be made - namely one Mon Mothma and of course Bail Organa.
With Sabé now in Coruscant after her failed mission on Tatooine, she steps into Padmé's shoes once to impersonate her during a party Mon Mothma throws and invites Amidala specifically so that all the focus will be on her - while Mon Mothma does her own thing. Amidala's like, fine, I'll play your game, but I'll also play mine.
It's during the course of this party that Organa figures out there's a deception going on, and is highly entertained by it. Padmé explains the whys, and he agrees that it's a good thing she practices this since, you know, people want her kinda dead.
Mon Mothma is also pretty happy about the way the Amidala distraction worked, so she pulls some strings to get the holonews off Amidala's back, and all of a sudden the reports about her turn much more adult and less catty, and actually talk about her in a positive way.
Finally!
She's also beginning to make the right steps, forming alliances and choosing committees to sit on (the first one being Organa's for permacrete, of all things) and putting her mind to work again, able to breathe a little easier since no one's tried to assassinate her in a while and there's not been a scandal in the news anymore.
On the other hand, Sabé, who's been sniffing around Coruscant, found that the holonews was actually out for Padmé because a lot of the corporations answer to the Trade Federation.
Obviously.
Throughout the course of this, Padmé manages to hammer out the new personna of Senator Amidala, moving away from Queen and finding her own voice in the multitude of the Galactic Senate. During recess when the senators are allowed to return to their home worlds, she's invited to visit Alderaan and its queen and Bail's wife, Breha, where she spends a pleasant week needing to do nothing before actually going home to Naboo.
She makes the decision to return as senator, despite the fact that she hadn't been sure before, but she is by the time her visit home comes to an end (after we get some lovely Naberrie cameos and spend time gardening and wood working). She'll return to the political arena with Senator Amidala's image which she's now perfected over almost a year of hard work, and she's ready to do battle.
Which is just as well seeing as there's a crisis to respond to right as she returns: a planet suffers a natural disaster which destroys its aqueducts and threatens to have the people starve.
Padmé immediately jumps onto the committee with Senator Bonteri to go see the planet for herself, along with Senator Clovis who's a new senator, like her, and keeps following her around like a puppy (hey, not my words!). Also tagging along for the ride is Jedi Master Billaba, and the lot of them go take a look at what's going on with that planet and what could be done, but upon their return, the motion for aid fails, yet another proof that the Senate is failing the Galaxy in general.
But that's not enough for Padmé.
Done with hiding in the shadows and doing what people tell her to do, she jumps straight into action with Clovis to come up with a tactic that might benefit more than just one planet - indeed, maybe the whole Mid Rim Section and deal with the piracy issue the Senate hasn't actually figured out what to do about yet - and to get it done before the Trade Federation buys the whole planet out from its people.
They're scavengers like that.
Anyway, Padmé and Clovis succeed, and the whole thing is underway, but what's NOT is the relationship between the two senators after Clovis kisses Amidala, catching her by surprise and, despite the fact she was beginning to think there might be more between them, forcing her to kick him to the curb for just assuming things without even giving her the chance to make a decision and making one for her.
Oh no no no, boyo, that's not how this works.
While she realises that the system put in place won't last forever and won't be able to keep the coalition together either for more than a short period of time, Padmé's content that at the very least she'd done SOMETHING worthwhile. She also gets told by Typho, her Sergeant, that he'll be sticking her into a fighter with a laser cannon, since she obviously has a nose for danger. Might as well make sure the nose comes with a set of teeth that can hurt anyone who wants to hurt her.
The book draws to a close with Sabé bringing the news that Nute Gunray's been declared innocent, and has put a bounty on Padmé's head, which only fuels her more: Amidala will do everything she can to uphold democracy and the laws of the Republic. It's back to the arena for her, and for those with her.
The final ending, however, is slightly different ...
... going back to the first chapter's description of a floating Padmé, we are now ACTUALLY at her funeral after Mustafar, and we see a planet wrapped in mourning. Most especially, we see the handmaidens, those who survive her, in mourning, sharing a bond no one but them can truly understand: people might think they did all the things they did because it was for the good of Naboo, or the Republic, but in reality they did them for Padmé; because they loved her unconditionally, loved her more than anyone or anything else.
Sabé is furious and wants to investigate her death, thinking it impossible that she could just DIE like that, with the Galactic Empire under Palpatine and Naboo under former Captain Panaka, and Tonra agrees to go with her (these two have an on-and-off relationship throughout the book, it's kind of funny), right before they receive a call from none other than our old acquaintance: Bail Organa.
How much are you betting he's calling to tell Sabé about Luke and Leia?
This book is for any and all Padmé fans out there who wanted to see more of the woman who turned from teenage Queen to formidable Senator whose voice was respected and heard around the galaxy, who fought for democracy with everything she had and clung to it until the very last shreds of hope died. Who also gave birth to a new generation of heroes, and who believed, right until her very end, that her husband was NOT the monster everyone thought him to be - a belief echoed and strengthened by her son, Luke.
And of course, there are complainers.
Among other complaints, that nothing happens in this book; that it's just talk and fashion and yada yada yada; that there's nonsensical new names added in all ending the same to confuse you; that they expected more from Padmé.
Nothing happens? Did we read the same book? It isn't all blasters and space fights with ships zig-zagging around debris (which we also get something of at the end of this book, coincidentally); Padmé's fight was never in the actual arena, and especially not at the time the book takes place, which is WAY before the clones enter the scene and the Clone Wars begin. EVERYTHING happened, and more, because we saw a ruler learn how to deal with people to get what she wants without ordering them to do it, and dance the fine line between factions. We also got Separatist hints with Bonteri and the shadowy figure she kept speaking to (my guess is on Dooku!).
Talk and fashion? Well, obviously, have you SEEN the prequels? It's about image. Amidala can't pop into the senate wearing a brown sack and think anyone will take her seriously. She needs to be seen and respected and her voice needs to be heard. Ergo, yes, fashion; because every powerhouse woman of today knows you need to put on your big girl panties before you start swinging.
New names. Well of course there are new names. Again, apparently no one pays attention to the movies, but Padmé didn't take her cadre of handmaidens from Episode I to II, she got new ones, and right at the beginning of the second episode, at least one, if not two, are killed. When people are gunning for you as much as they are for Padmé, you NEED a bunch of other people around you! As for the names, the handmaidens take names reminiscent of Padmé's out of respect and love for the woman they serve. They're not THAT difficult, either.
As far as expecting more from Padmé, clearly there's some confusion, because Padmé gives it her all in this book. It is, however, a TRANSITION book, meaning she's caught between Queen and Senator and needs to find her footing. And understandably, this isn't a blaster fight. If you want more of those, go back to the New Republic era books.
My one personal comment is that the title of the book is a bit ... odd. Especially considering it's Sabé herself that describes herself as 'being in the Queen's shadow' a lot of the time. So I think it's just not entirely clear what's going on, although obviously it's mostly Padmé stepping out of Queen Amidala's shadow, shedding the trappings, and becoming her own person.
I'm going to stick to her, and see what else I can dig up that features her.
xx
*image not mine
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