(no subject)

[skygiants]

I really dug E.K. Johnston's Queen's Shadow, the just-released book about Padmé and her handmaidens. The book begins when Padmé ends her queenship and covers Padmé's her first year or two as senator, and there's not a lot of plot, per se, but it does the thing that really good fanfiction does of digging deep into characterization and worldbuilding to make sense of things that don't necessarily make a ton of sense in canon.

I especially loved the exploration of Padmé's persona as Queen Amidala and the way she learns to alter that persona for her role as Senator, and the amount of strategic analysis she and all her team put into that -- and also the way that her actions in the Senate during the first movie have a very real and not necessarily positive impact on the way that both her putative enemies and allies regard her.

Also, handmaidens! So many handmaidens! Artsy handmaidens! Political handmaidens! Hacker handmaidens! GAY HANDMAIDENS!

(All the handmaidens are a little bit gay, but some are much gayer than others.)

In addition to the above, you will probably enjoy this book if you like:

- encouraging explorations of the way that sitting on a committee about concrete transportation can have a real impact on both Galactic policy and the every day lives of the people you represent
- loving descriptions of incredible space outfits with lots of Genevieve Valentine-style analysis about what kind of image they're meant to convey for political purposes
- affectionate shout-outs to Bail Organa's ever-present Clone Wars green turtleneck
- Getting The Band Together scenes with Padmé and her most important canon political allies
- a lot of fairly hilarious dunking on poor Rush Clovis, whom E.K. Johnston has absolutely no time for
- really intense loyalty dynamics between royalty and their sworn servants/bodyguards
- I mean TECHNICALLY there is nothing EXPLICITLY in the book stating Padmé/Sabé as a canon romantic relationship, but Padmé is constantly thinking things like "She missed Sabé like she would miss the sun," Sabé IS canon bi, and the conversation with her own one-book casual love interest goes "You love her" "of course I do; she will always pick Naboo, and I will always pick her"
- so, you know, if you're into that sort of thing, E.K. Johnston is definitely not telling you NOT to be into it, is all I'm saying

(Please note: I am currently playing an ex-Naboo handmaiden in a tabletop roleplaying campaign and Johnston's assumptions about how handmaidens work and how gay they probably are overlap pleasingly with my own; this ALSO may have had something to do with how much I enjoyed this book.)

Comments

[inkstone]

I'm not especially into Star Wars but I've heard so many good things about this book that are right up my alley that I may end up reading it!

[skygiants]

I definitely think it would be pretty enjoyable without deep Star Wars knowledge, though there are a couple character arcs that may not pay off without knowing how they end in Clone Wars (but that's what Wikipedia is for!)

[musesfool]

So much yes to all of this. Especially the Padme/Sabe and also the having no time for Rush Clovis.

According to Wookieepedia, Tonra is supposedly Richard Armitage, who apparently had a walk-on role in TPM? So that's Keira Knightley and Richard Armitage happening there. *hands*

[skygiants]

loool I had no idea! I wondered why he was getting so much screentime!

I wonder if there's some kind of future stuff planned for Sabé and Tonra with that last Bail Organa call -- I would LOVE to see a cathartic scene between Sabé and Leia.

(Also -- you might know this, is there a plot payoff with Captain Panaka in later stuff that I'm not familiar with? They seemed to spend a lot of time establishing him as Verging On Obsessive, and I kept expecting it to be significant...)

[musesfool]

I wonder if there's some kind of future stuff planned for Sabé and Tonra with that last Bail Organa call -- I would LOVE to see a cathartic scene between Sabé and Leia.

That would be SO GREAT.

is there a plot payoff with Captain Panaka in later stuff that I'm not familiar with?

If you read "Leia, Princess of Alderaan," Panaka shows up there. I can spoil it for you if you aren't planning to read it, but if you are, it's worth not being spoiled for.

[skygiants]

I really should get around to reading that, given how much I liked Gray's other Leia book!

[musesfool]

I definitely recommend it!

[makamu]

I am a bit like inkstone, in that I am into PT and OT Star Wars and into Clone Wars but usually stayed away from the EU (for fear of drowning, as it were), but this book looks like it is right up a number of my alleys, so I'll definitely check it out. Thanks for the recommendation!

[skygiants]

As someone who's very into Clone Wars but hasn't experienced much of the rest of the EU, this was a great read for me -- lots of shout-outs to that show in specific!

[makamu]

I think you just sold me on that book twice :)

[kore]

Yeah, I have read maybe one half of a Star Wars tie-in book ever, but this one sounds really pretty amazing!

[skygiants]

It's my favorite one I've read so far, I think! (though I really enjoyed the Leia book, Bloodline, too.)

[ceitfianna]

I recently started reading this and I'm really liking it. I look forward to having time to read a lot of it at once as I find Johnston's books are good for reading in one or two runs. She's so good at immersive stories and worldbuilding. Have you read the Ahsoka novel?

Playing a handmaiden in RP sounds very cool.

[skygiants]

I haven't yet, but I was impressed enough by this one that I definitely plan to now! This was the first book by her I've read and she's now on my list for sure.

[aquamirage]

yes this all seems kind of my brand

[skygiants]

IT'S EXTREMELY ON YOUR BRAND

[rymenhild]

Besides That Inevitable Victorian Thing, I also very much like Johnston's The Aftermath, which is YA David Eddings pastiche except that (1) the plot already came and went before the book started, (2) all but 2 of the characters are female and the book fails reverse Bechdel, and (3) the main characters are queer women of color in love. There's clearly a theme in Johnston's work, and that theme is lesbians. I'm here for it.

[skygiants]

I also very much approve of this theme! for sure I will be seeking out other Johnston books now; she definitely impressed me with this one.

[sovay]

- a lot of fairly hilarious dunking on poor Rush Clovis, whom E.K. Johnston has absolutely no time for

Which one . . . is Rush Clovis . . . ?

[skygiants]

Rush Clovis is Padmé's Senate colleague/ex-boyfriend-ish-person who pops up a couple times in the more political thriller-style episodes of Clone Wars in order to make Anakin jealous; switches sides approximately every time he shows up and eventually comes to a Tragic Fate.

[sovay]

pops up a couple times in the more political thriller-style episodes of Clone Wars in order to make Anakin jealous; switches sides approximately every time he shows up and eventually comes to a Tragic Fate.

Okay! I was afraid he was a prequel movie character I had forgotten or blanked out. I feel much better now.

[chestnut_pod]

Oh, this is so reassuring! I can't wait for this to come around on the library list.

[skygiants]

I was hoping it would be good and I was not disappointed!

[carmarthen]

Oh my gosh, this sounds like everything I ever wanted out of TPM fandom and didn't get! BRB going to hunt this down.

[skygiants]

Ah I missed this comment at the time but belatedly, I hope you did enjoy it/will enjoy it! :D