OFFICIAL NEWS Queen’s Shadow by EK Johnston

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I'm a massive fan of Star Wars Episode I's planet of Naboo, its history, culture, landscapes, and characters. Episode I is the film which made me a Star Wars fan after I saw it 20 years ago on 15th July 1999. So when news of a "Queen's Shadow" came, I ordered one, and waited a long time for an imported hardback version, as only a paperback one with a "meh" looking cover was being sold in England.

I've now fully read "Queen's Shadow" (by E.K. Johnston). It wasn't brilliant and focuses too much on Padmé's clothes and paranoia. I have read better fan fiction than this novel. I don't hate it, but it felt very amateurish, too flowery and was disappointed by it. Its not a long novel either at only 345 pages long, I read it in a single afternoon. I personally regard "Queen's Shadow" as Lucasfilm,/Disney licenced fan fiction.

My reasons for not fully enjoying it:

I was annoyed by how established Star Wars characters have either been changed in looks and personality, or totally replaced by new characters to force a very left-wing identity politics agenda. This is a California-based media issue and has no place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....

Captain Panaka has been "retired", and replaced by his WIFE (?) Mariek, who is now also called "Captain Panaka". She has a neice who has somehow transformed from a white girl in Episode II to a black girl, named Versé. (I'm not making this up!)

Versé, a handmaiden from Episode II, who WAS played on-screen by a white Australian actress named Avril Wynne, has been "blackwashed". Versé is now re-written as the neice of Captain Panaka. Which wasn't the relationship before this book was written.

The white male Royal Naboo cruiser pilot Captain Ric Olie from Episode I has been replaced by a black female pilot with brightly coloured hair (?!), because he "has an inner ear problem" which prevents him flying above atmospheric altitudes....inside an air conditioned atmospherically airtight pressurised spaceship?!

There were also a lot of errors in the novel about the timeline and how long a Naboo monarch is allowed to serve for, which annoyed me a lot.

In Episode I, it states that Queen Amidala is "the recently elected ruler of Naboo". Meaning she is at the beginning of her first term. (George Lucas based the term length from the US presidential system of four year term lengths, with a maximum of two terms).

Episode II begins exactly ten years after the end of Episode I, meaning Padmé Amidala has been a Senator of Naboo for two years, having completed her two consecutive four-year terms (4+4+2=10 years).

But in the novel, it states the term lengths are "two years" and Amidala is succeeded after her maximum two terms by a new character named "Queen Réillata". Meaning Padme Amidala was only Queen for four years....?!

As Episode II is set ten years after Episode I, this would mean there would have been many more Queens than are generally known in the gap between Queen Amidala (Ep1) and Queen Jamillia (Ep2). I found this to be very annoying and upsets the timeline of Star Wars too much.

This "new" timeline means that Padmé Amidala has been Senator of Naboo for SIX YEARS (unlikely!) by the time of Episode II. This does not seem plausible at all, given that the Trade Federation had been attempting to assassinate her for six years, in revenge for ruining their invasion of Naboo in Episode I.

Score: 5/10

 

That's just bizarre. It sounds like this doesn't add to world of Episode 1 but detracts from it. The now "Legends" Plagueis book made Episode 1 a better movie, for me. I highly recommend it.

 

I just want to add one more thing. Even though Plagueis is now legends and it was maybe a year ago when I read it, I can't think of anything in it that contradicts anything in the new canon or is contradicted by it either. So it's still good even if you're a stickler for canon. If anyone else remembers differently please correct me.