– Slight Spoiler Review –
Queen’s Peril, written by E.K. Johnston, is a prequel to last year’s excellent (and overdue) Padmé-focused novel, Queen’s Shadow. While it doesn’t shine nearly as bright as the original due a few aspects, having a little more focus on the handmaidens this time around, while plenty of Padmé as she steps into the various outfits of the Queen, manages to still make it a good entry in Padmé’s story.
Whereas Queen’s Shadow dealt with Padmé, Sabé, and the rest of her handmaidens transitioning from Queen life to Senate-hood or their own vocations, Queen’s Peril dials us back to Padmé assuming the throne of Naboo at 14. In collaboration with her new Captain, Quarash Panaka, they begin the process of bringing in the handmaidens and figuring out how to implement them in useful ways, a process which the girls quickly take over and make their own, with Panaka basically stuck only giving the okay for their latest ways to improve and expand the idea. The beginning half of the novel introduces and endears us to Padmé and the cast of handmaidens, Sabé, Saché, Yané, Eirtaé, and Rabé, letting them enjoy relative peace as they figure out the ins and outs of their arsenals for protection of their Queen, and later the novel forges their lasting friendships, connections, and devotion to one another in an unavoidable, and familiar, gauntlet. Much of what I loved about QS, especially opening my eyes to the true depth of the handmaidens’ abilities and roles in the Queen’s life, is expanded on in Peril, as we get to see them come up with the decoy system, naming convention, the Queen’s voice, and so much more. Each handmaiden also has to come to terms with giving up their lives, and learning skills from one another, but it’s a process which goes relatively smoothly. In fact, their adjustments to the new life and setting up their skill sets all comes too easily and quickly, as the book feels like it fast tracks this a bit, but it might be a combination of knowing these developments are inevitable and the length of the book, though Peril does feel like it spins some of its wheels until it runs into the events of The Phantom Menace. That being said, seeing the handmaidens bond and come together as a group, no matter how fast it might seem, is one of Peril’s highlights, as Johnston brings each one to vibrant life at this younger, and more formative time in their careers. The opening of different sections of the book introduces us to the moment Panaka picked each girl, highlighting what makes them special and a good fit for such an unusual, but vital job, and these were much appreciated moments to help flesh out each handmaiden; Rabé’s story has to be my favorite. Sabé gets much of the focus throughout, which is understandable given her role as Padmé’s go-to second-hand/decoy, and watching these two learn to trust each other with their lives, while still managing to be friends of a sort, is much of the heart of Peril. Another plus to the overall handmaiden focus is the additional time with those who didn’t stay around long in Shadow, exiting when Padmé heads off to the Senate, allowing Peril to expand on background handmaidens from TPM and make their sections in QS have even more meaning and detail. Thanks first to QS and bolstered by QP, the handmaidens are exciting characters; though these books do highlight the need to expand on them because while we get plenty of details about them within, they are gone just as we start to know them.
Peril begins right as Padmé becomes Queen, and while we get some insight into how it changes her life and how her family takes the change, the book doesn’t linger long on those aspects and throws us into her first actions as Queen. I felt like QS showed us the transition from monarch to Senator with a little more nuance, as learning to overcome the fallout of her actions from TPM and stop trying to be a monarch seemingly had more difficulties, as here in QP Padmé is basically set for being the ruler of a planet from the opening chapter. It could be done as a way to show how prepared she was for the role, one could say even born for, allowing for other aspects of her rule to take precedence in the story, but still seems too simple. However, the focus for her parts of the book, learning how to deal with her handmaidens as both a Queen and someone they can trust, does makes for more entertaining reading anyways. Much like Sabé’s POV is at the forefront of Peril, Padmé’s dilemma with her first handmaiden consumes much of her story too, and it’s a better way to show her ability to rule then focusing on all her training beforehand anyways. Padmé manages to a way to juggle being a friend, confidant, and boss to these women, as she comes to terms with ordering others to die in her stead, something no training can ever really prepare one for, especially a 14 year old, and it’s quite the moment to watch unfold. Peril manages to also set up other little aspects that Shadow later explores, including her desire to free the slaves of Tatooine, as we even get a scene between her and Shmi Skywalker the night before the podrace, and I enjoyed this aspect to the prequel nature of the book. Overall, I felt like QS had more to work with for Padmé than QP, as this prequel feels far too easy for her early days, but it offers more insight into the character without having to put Anakin in the focus at all, a much appreciated aspect to these books.
Not only is Peril a prequel for QS, but it’s also a direct one for TPM, opening to a wide POV cast of familiar characters from the film, from Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon to Senator Sheev Palpatine, giving readers little glimpses into how Padmé’s actions are effecting a certain Sith Lords’ plans and what the increased timetable means for the galaxy at large. With the increase of characters, it’s understandable some of them are one-off moments, but plenty we get several sections with, though even characters that seem main to the story drop off unexpectedly. A big deal is made at the beginning of the novel regarding how Padmé’s family is dealing with her new role, and how Padmé is dealing having to be largely cut off from them for anonymity purposes,* and then the Queen doesn’t think of them much nor does the family return to the story at all, which feels glaring at the end considering what happens. Padmé not reaching out to her family, at least to hear how they were affected, feels like a missed opportunity. What isn’t missed by Johnston is keeping a handmaiden-first view to events we all know from the films, as QP offers a new and refreshing perspective on TPM that helps flesh out certain aspects, provide clarity, and offer new insights. That being said, how quickly the book shifts into TPM seems to take from the book’s potential for original tales from her early rule, and waiting for the film’s events to move some of the story along prolongs some conflicts. I did appreciate how it’s not a complete retelling of the film, thus keeping the fresh perspective on its events, though it hops far too haphazardly through TPM, even for those who have seen the film more times then they can count, and makes for disjointed reading towards the end.
QP works great as a prequel for QS, but it does feel like reading Peril before Shadow wouldn’t make this as satisfying, though it’ll certainly make one want to read Shadow directly afterwards. Even if I might’ve enjoyed Shadow more, it’s not by too much, reading it easily begs one to read Peril, so fans of the original novel, handmaidens, and more Padmé content shouldn’t be disappointed by picking this up!
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Here are a few other things:
- *One of my biggest, though non-important, questions from the prequels and subsequent stories has been how all of Naboo didn’t know Queen Amidala is Padmé Naberrie, but Jonhston digs into the anonymity aspect to their electoral process and my long running question now has a very satisfying and understandable answer.
- I feel like this is almost my job at the moment, much like Veers Watch on Twitter, but yes, Queen’s Peril does mention mynocks (Chapter 3)…though it’s not in the most positive way.
- For all that Peril does to set up the crisis on Naboo, I mainly appreciated how it helps make the whole taxation/blockade stuff make a lot more sense, and honestly, more interesting.
- Cat Taber, voice of Padmé in The Clone Wars, will read the audiobook of Peril!
- E.K. Johnston gave a wide-ranging and fun interview with Polygon, and it includes an excerpt of the chapter where the handmaidens pick their names!
- There’s a line in Chapter 5, about a red comet, that’s my favorite of the novel; it’s a suitably apt description of Padmé.
- Our Sous Chef Chris offered his own review here!
Queen’s Peril makes for a good addition to the Padmé and handmaiden focused series, as it provides key insight to many of Queen’s Shadow‘s characters and developments, though it relies a little too much on The Phantom Menace and falls prey to a few other prequel problems that it’s not as great as the first.
+ More handmaiden goodness!
+ Padmé and Sabé working through things
+ Unique view of The Phantom Menace’s events…
– …though it relies too much on those events
– Ending reads disjointed, jumpy
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
DISCLOSURE: I received a copy of this book, through NetGalley, from the publisher at no charge in order to provide an early review. However, this did not affect the overall review content. All opinions are my own.
ALSO BY E.K. JOHNSTON:
Queen’s Shadow (Novel) | Ahsoka (Novel) | “By Whatever Sun” – From a Certain Point of View (Novel)