Queen's Shadow [part 2/4]

[colls]

Welcome to our second of four check-in and discussion posts for our Book of the Month.

This month’s book is Queen's Shadow by E.K. Johnston
The halfway mark on my eBook just as Chapter 14 begins. Spoilers up to that point in the post and comments below.

Queen’s Shadow: Part 2 of 4

1. How does the imagery from the book (ie. Naboo wardrobe, Senate chamber, etc.) compare with the imagery you might expect from the movies and/or animated series?

2. What are your thoughts on Sabé and Tonra? Was their mission to Tatooine a narrative distraction to have them arrive later than the others or will it come up again later?

3. The impact holonets/media has gotten some more traction as the story goes along. Do you think any of the named Senators are influencing them? (ie. Organa, Mon Mothma, Farr)

4. How are you liking the book so far? Any other thoughts? Predictions?



FYI - There's no need to answer all (or any) of the questions above - they're just talking points to get us started. Informal chatter is more than welcome! In-person book clubs often veer off topic, it's okay if we do as well. :)
All I ask is that you try to avoid spoilers for things past the first half of the book.

Comments

[colls]

I was rather amused that the very next section after we left off last week had to do with the holonets. LOL

The one reporter that Sabé met sounded interesting. I also liked how there was just enough flirting in there for you to wonder and also enough camaraderie between Sabé and Tonra for me to wonder if anything is going to come of any of it. It's YA and they're not the main characters, so possibly not.

I was happy to see Mon Mothma show up - it's hard to have any sort of Senate story without her and Organa at least mentioned. I also like that Senator Farr showed up - he was in an episode of The Clone Wars and it's interesting to view him and his interactions with Amidala (I note that way since it wasn't Padmé he spoke with) prior to those events. Nute Gunray was also mentioned in passing and I've never liked that guy. Heh.


It has to be a challenge to write a book nestled into and already established canon and really make it your own. I have no idea if the author ever wrote fan fiction (I suspect it's likely she did?) but that would've been great practice for a project like this.

[justanorthernlight]

I don't know if Johnston has written fic but she is/was active on tumblr Star Wars fandom, so she's probably at least read a fair bit of it. (I haven't checked tumblr in a few years, so idk if she's still there).

[colls]

I follow a lot of authors on twitter and try not to dive too deeply into their fannish lives unless they put it out there. I'm sure it's something that could easily be discovered, but am not sure I want to know. But I agree, I'm pretty sure Johnston has been active in fannish spaces.

[brokenmnemonic]

I may be guilty of having been reading a bit late at night, but the conversation with the reporter felt as if it didn't actually involve much information changing hands - although it did remind me of those early LJ days where tv magazines would spreadgossip in that "Teen actor A currently starring in a C-list comedy with former B-rated actor has more than just an online relationship going on..."

One of the things I like about this story is that it feels like those fics you get where people are basically writing scenes that fit so neatly into canon that they're both really satisfying and at the same way, can't be contradicted by anything we know from canon. Although I'm not sure how I'd feel about this novel if I'd read much of anything from the original Expanded Universe...

[colls]

I agree that it didn't feel like there was a lot of information being exchanged, it felt more like an opportunity to a) show that Sabé was building a network and b) Sabé felt attraction to a woman. That's it. Maybe I'm projecting - - LOL

RE: the fanfic, it absolutely feels like that! (and not in a bad way, because I think fanfic is as legit as any "approved" tie-in novel - it's simply not canon) That's what made me feel like it was written by someone who'd previously practiced doing just that sort of thing!

[brokenmnemonic]

It's good that Sabé's keeping her options open ;)

That kind of fanfic is possibly my favourite kind, which I think is adding to my enjoyment of the novel!