Review: Queen's Shadow

It's been a good week for me; in addition to finishing The Island of the Sea Women, I also finished Star Wars: Queen's Shadow, which was my first Star Wars read in quite a while.

I wouldn't call this one of my favorite Star Wars novels, and I am overall more a fan of the so-called Legends era novels as a whole than the more recent novels post-Disney, but I did enjoy this one and find it to be worth a read.

Natalie Portman as Queen Amidala, copyright Disney

The novel focuses on two women; Padme Amidala and Sabe, one of her handmaidens. The book starts just as Padme's time as queen on Naboo is ending and she is figuring out what to do with her life, as are her loyal handmaidens, then follows her through her transition to the senate and learning to be her own person outside of the shadow of Naboo, so to speak.

Simultaneously, we learn more about her closest handmaiden, Sabe, who was often seen posing as the Queen in Episode I, the Phantom Menace. We learn more about her role as Padme's protector and friend, and see her grow into her own person - to some extent. I'd like to say she is a foil for Padme, but I am not sure she really is - they're both in the mold of strong, independent women. They're both figuring out who they are as they grow into adulthood and how they want to spend their lives.

Sabe posing as Queen Amidala,
copyright Disney

If you're wondering, no Anakin doesn't appear in this one, although there are some implications Padme thinks of him from time to time. There are also no Sith, although there are some veiled suggestions that they are operating in the background.

If you like the political aspect of Star Wars, or really want to know more about Amidala's development, you'll enjoy this one. Bail Organa also gets a decent amount of "screen time" in this one, and we visit Alderaan, which is fun. This also helps us understand why he was chosen as Leia's adoptive father after Padme's death, and I appreciated that fleshed out look at the lore.

We learn more about the operation of the Senate, and get a lot more about Naboo, which I also enjoyed. We learn a bit more about their culture and political system, and the cultures of the various worlds in Star Wars is a big draw of the novels for me, so this worked for me.

Padme as a senator,
copyright Disney

However, if you read the Star Wars novels for space battles and action, you might want to skip over this one - most of the action is of a political nature. This book was mostly intended as a character study than as an action novel, and I think it worked adequately at that. It also had some poignant moments, particularly during Padme's visit to Alderaan.

I think this really helped develop Padme as a character, gave some interesting insights into the Senate prior to Palpatine's rise as emperor, and delivered on the cultural and political aspects of the Star Wars universe. If those appeal to you, give it a go. If you're more about the action, the wars, and the battle scenes, it might not be your cup of tea.