Star Wars: Queen’s Hope Exclusive Excerpt Released
Today, StarWars.com released a new excerpt of the third book in E.K. Johnston‘s trilogy about Padmé Amidala: Queen’s Hope, in which you will find Senator Amidala during the happiest period of her life, about to marry Anakin Skywalker in secret.
If you missed the first excerpt of the book released in June, you can check it out here. This book is the sequel to Queen’s Shadow, the first book in the trilogy by Johnston — you can find the review by Jordan Pate here. But, before it, she released Queen’s Peril — you can also read our review by Kyle Larson here. Just be careful with the spoilers if you did not read any of them.
Johnston shows her thrill writing again about Padmé and Anakin:
It was SO NICE to write them when they’re happy. Obviously, the spectre of death hangs over their entire relationship, and it turns toxic because they never talk about their feelings, but these early days are light and optimistic, and I deeply enjoyed ushering them through it. Also there’s a thing at the end. That I like. A lot.
Here’s a piece of the excerpt, but make sure you go to StarWars.com to read the full version:
The sun had risen but not yet cleared the mountains when Padmé dove into the lake. It was her favorite time to go swimming, that moment when there was enough light to see by before the day had truly begun. The water was clear and cold, like always. The lake was fed by mountain streams, and the Naboo took care not to pollute it with agricultural runoff. Before the heat of the day warmed the waters, swimming was an abrupt wake-up. Padmé wanted a clear head.
It wasn’t that she felt muddled or unsure of what she was doing. If anything, her conversation with Yané the night before and the meditative hours spent sewing had made her more certain. What troubled her was that she had always thought of herself as a straightforward and honest person. Yes, she kept secrets, but they were for the sake of her planet, her people. And there were always some who knew the whole story. Now her truths were split, divided amongst those she cared about, and none of them had the whole picture. Only she did, alone and at the center of her own life.
She liked it. Even though she ached for her friends and missed her parents and sister, she loved the solitude of this moment, of knowing her decision was hers alone. It was contradictory, something else she’d never been, but she was growing up, and that was bound to change her.
Queen’s Hope will release on April 5, 2022, but you can already pre-order it here.
Clovis Bezerra has been a Brazilian Star Wars fan for as long as he remembers. When he's not working or with his family, he most definitely is reading a book or watching a movie.
