After the exciting success of the Star Wars book titled Queen’s Shadow that focused on the stories of Padmé Amidala and her handmaidens, author E.K. Johnston has written a prequel novel titled Queen’s Peril. This New York Times best-selling author gave insight into the new young adult novel with StarWars.com. When asked about the story of this new prequel, Johnston said:
I AM SO EXCITED. Broadly put, this was the first Star Wars book I ever pitched, way back in 2014. We had to update it a bit since, you know, there’s a been a bit of Star Wars since then. It’s Padmé. It’s the first round of handmaidens. It’s Naboo. And a lot of it is giving Quarsh Panaka gray hair. Also, the Trade Federation is probably going to show up and cause problems . . . Also, I got to write the Original Six, as it were. I love Cordé and Versé and Dormé, but this was like sitting down with very old friends.”
While there was some trepidation in releasing a novel centered around Amidala and her handmaidens, canonically characters that don’t get much spotlight, the initial novel was met with instant success. After a mere month and a half after its release, it was already sold out. 2019 has The Phantom Menace celebrating its 20th anniversary. While the prequels are divisive for many Star Wars fans (what isn’t?), it’s also been an excellent starting point for many fan-favorite stories and characters that have withstood the test of time. Johnston recalls:
The prequels are how I found my way back to Star Wars, and the source of most of my fannish relationships, and being able to talk about them so openly is pretty great.”
The new novel will not hit the shelves until May 5th, 2020. However, it’s currently available for pre-order here. Queen’s Shadow is still available everywhere books are sold.
