Tuesday, September 6, 2022

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Star Wars: Queen's Peril by E.K. Johnston





Star Wars Queen's Peril is the second book in E.K. Johnston's Padmé trilogy - although it actually takes place first chronologically (and like any of the trilogy, can be read first if the reader so chooses without any difficulty).  The series, which I've loved despite reading in reverse order, features Padmé at various important moments in her life, along with the handmaidens who were her best friends, confidants, and capable allies - the ones who acted as her duplicates and agents.  In doing so, Johnston shows how strong Padme is just through sheer determination and goodheartedness, and gives life to the background characters who were the handmaidens in the prequels.  

Queen's Peril is a prequel and basically the start of it all, beginning at the election of Padmé at age 14 into ueen Amidala of Naboo and going through the events of The Phantom Menace - showing how she recruited and learned to trust her handmaidens, tried to move Naboo in a better direction while also still being a foolish teenage girl, and how she and her handmaidens had to act when under threat from the Trade Federation.  It's so good, as it brings to life these characters in a very short novel, and shows how Padmé can both be 14 and also be the determined heroine the movies showed in brief glimpses, and it is well well worth your time.

More after the jump:  


----------------------------------------------Plot Summary---------------------------------------------------
Even before the votes were counted, Captain Panaka had put his plan into motion: he would recruit a teenage girl - one who looked his chosen candidate, the potential Queen Amidala, and one who was used to being in the shadow of someone brighter - to serve as a double in case of unprecedented trouble.  When Padme Naberrie formally took over the role of Queen Amidala, Queen of Naboo, she had one adjustment to Panaka's plan - that they find her other handmaids, to make the switch less obvious and to surround Padme with more allies with the skills she could use at her hand.  And so Padme finds herself surrounded by a series of handmaids with their own skills, faults, and personalities, people she begin to trust with her life....especially Sabé, her first handmaid.  

And Padmé will need those skills and personalities, as she take charge at once as Queen and begins a plan to reintegrate Naboo into its local part of Galactic society, reaching out to her neighbors to bridge divides and improve Naboo for the future.  And maybe....just a little bit....also getting some small chance to act like a 14 year old teen when the opportunity arises.  But when the Trade Federation begins to make its move, forcing Naboo under the threat of physical violence for the first time in ages, Padmé and her handmaidens will need to use their skills in ways they could never have imagined....and it will be those skills, not just the actions of two Jedi and one special boy, who may make a happy ending possible...
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If you've read the other Padme novels (this is technically the second, although chronologically it's book 1), Queen's Peril has a very similar structure: It largely follows a Padme as she adapts to a new role which she wishes to use to do good, but also follows the points of view of her handmaidens, as they each have their own experiences and activities.  Along the way, unlike in the other books, we learn the backstories of each of the handmaidens that led to them being recruited by Panaka - which are varied both in the skills they represent and what they gave up to be handmaidens.  This works very well, as each of the handmaidens feels like their own characters, such that you can tell why they may have specific views, or in one case, whey two of them struggle to be near each other (for the reasons you will eventually expect).  

And then as usual there's Padme herself, who is like in the other books determined to do good for her people - in her case mainly by restoring relations between Naboo and its neighbors - no matter how difficult or unlikely such a feat might be.  She's again smart and intelligent and highly likable, which makes reading her reactions to things and how she achieves things really interesting and enjoyable.  But the difference between this book and the others is well, Padme is a teen here, only 14 years old, and that shows up in her own reactions and actions....how she tries to join the others in sneaking away to see a show, or how she struggles to balance her need to be the Queen and the employer of her handmaidens but also wants to be their friend. 

Also, unlike the other Padme books, this one takes place in part during one of the movies (Episode 1) and the book does this pretty interestingly, leaving most of the events of the movies to the background, while dealing with specific interactions between Padme and her handmaidens that occurred during key events....or dealing with the two handmaidens who got left behind in what was basically a Trade Federation concentration camp (a dark idea not seen in the movie).  This works really well to show how behind the scenes Padme wasn't just some naïve girl to be rescued and manipulated by Palpatine (in fact some of her acts here confound him), but how she and her handmaidens' actions played a role in helping the people of Naboo survive long enough for the heroes of the movies to save the day. 

The result is yet another highly enjoyable if short novel, and really all three of the Padme books are great if you like Star Wars and like great character studies, and I highly recommend this book and the rest of them.   
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