In Star Wars, the era of the Prequel Trilogy has had unquestionably more content produced over the years than either the Original Trilogy or the Sequel Trilogy. Still, when was announced that EK Johnston would be writing a book about Padme’s transition from being Naboo’s Queen to their Senator, I was excited.

For starters, there’s not enough Padme content. Sure, she is the main character of The Phantom Menace, and she is a focus into other films and a cartoon series. That’s all true. However, a someone who thoroughly enjoys the politics of Star Wars, we have a lot to learn about her.

Secondly, with Star Wars being a vast, diverse universe, it allows for hundreds of different planets, each with their own species, creatures, history, culture, and politics. An infinite number of stories can be told.

That brings us to Queen’s Shadow. The entire book takes place during the decade between Episodes I and II. It’s the one period of time during the well-fleshed out Prequel Trilogy era that we don’t have a lot of information yet. This joins the Obi-Wan and Anakin comic series and the two Age of Republic comics about Jango Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi, respectively.

Queen’s Shadow isn’t full of action. Don’t go into it looking for that. It does, however, give you a full appreciation of a teenage girl going through a tumultuous transition from Queen to Senator. How does someone go from fighting solely for their planet as Queen to fighting for their planet through the machinations oh the Republic Senate while respecting that august body and all of its members (all while they remember that you completely bypassed them only a few years prior when you didn’t get your way immediately)?

That’s the main story of Queen’s Shadow.

Padme’s handmaidens get their time in the spotlight in the book, which goes into details about their processes in prepping Padme’s outfits and general security. Sabe is Padme’s closest confidant among the handmaidens and is heavily featured in this.

The book also features appearances from Senator Mon Mothma, Senator Bail Organa, Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, Jedi Master Depa Billaba, Senator Mina Bonteri, and Senator Rush Clovis.

I enjoyed the book and recommend it if you want to lose yourself in the politics of a galaxy far, far away.

(This was originally written on May 2019.)