Doctor Aphra (Star Wars)

By: Sarah Kuhn

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller, Jonathan Davis, Sean Patrick Hopkins, Sean Kenin, Nicole Lewis, Carol Monda, Euan Morton, Catherine Taber, Marc Thompson

Dr. Aphra teams up with Darth Vader himself in this audiobook original—an expanded adaptation of the critically acclaimed Marvel comics series, performed by a full cast.

Dr. Chelli Lona Aphra, rogue archaeologist, is in trouble again.

A pioneer in the field of criminal xenoarchaeology, Aphra recognizes no law, has no fear, and possesses no impulse control. To her, the true worth of the galactic relics she discovers isn’t found in a museum, but in an arsenal. This viewpoint has led to a lot of misunderstandings. After her latest plan goes horribly wrong, her roguish ways are on the verge of catching up to her, when suddenly Darth Vader, terror of the galaxy, swoops in with his lightsaber ignited, and...saves her life?

Don’t get her wrong—it’s not like she’s ungrateful. Sure, her new boss is a lord of the Sith. And OK, she may have just become a pawn in a deadly game being played by him and HIS boss, who happens to be the Galactic Emperor. And yes, the life expectancy of anyone who disappoints Vader can be measured in seconds.

But she’s back doing what she does best. She’s got a ship to fly, a heist to pull, and two unorthodox but effective metal buddies: Triple-Zero, a protocol droid specializing in etiquette, customs, translation, and torture; and BT-1, an astromech loaded with enough firepower to take down a battlecruiser. Together, they might just find a way to get the job done and avoid the deadly performance review that waits at its conclusion.

Just kidding. She’s doomed.

Cast:
Emily Woo Zeller as Doctor Aphra
Jonathan Davis as Boba Fett
Sean Patrick Hopkins as Luke Skywalker
Sean Kenin as Triple-Zero
Nicole Lewis as Sana Starros
Carol Monda as Maz Kanata
Euan Morton as The Emperor
Catherine Taber as Leia Organa
Marc Thompson as Darth Vader

In my top three SW audiobooks

I'm on an adventure to listen to every Canon SW audiobook. This is somewhere around my twentieth, and it's AMAZING. Phenomenal acting by the full cast, phenomenal story, intriguing characters, beautiful concept- I loved every minute, listened to it all in one sitting. Highly recommend.

Fun, but hurt by not being an original story...

I love Dr. Aphra as a character. She's the Star Wars Universe equivalent to Indiana Jones if he was morally bankrupt. She is an agent of chaos that pairs well with hilariously homicidal analogs of C-3PO and R2-D2. The audio-drama does a great job adding real depth to her character and backstory.

As always, the production values for Star Wars content remain high. Everything from the fight sound effects to the subtle background music immerses the listener. The full-cast voice acting is excellent.

The only drawback is that this is an adaption of the Marvel Comics Darth Vader run. The episodic nature of that comic meant that the adaption jumped between episodic plot-lines quickly. While the overall story arc was good, the adaption meant that Aphra bounced from one bite-sized adventure to another without giving the listener a chance to become invested in the stakes, antagonists or big picture. It frequently feels like we're following a supporting character through a much bigger story (which happens across multiple Marvel Comics Star Wars lines) and the listener only gets enough glimpses of the big story to feel like we're missing out.

Still, if you're a Star Wars fan, it's fun and worth a listen.

Book that’s a movie

I do not like listening to movies. I know it’s hard to get voice is on point but some of the characters voices were far off. But other than that I did like the storyline.

There is (a small) Hope, After All

Seeing as the canon novels and movies beyond anything dealing with The Clone Wars or Thrawn directly is guaranteed to lose money, the comics are the only things left to depend on.

Enough of that, on to the positives. The story is great, the sound FX phenomenal and the cast were Quadruple A-Mazing! As usual, the Droids stole the show in my book. From HK-47 to IG-88, now Triple Zero and BT-1 are here!

Check it out, it’s pretty jazzy.

Engaging but one-note protagonist

I would say another great Star Wars installment but the middle of the book is a slog because Aphra doesn't have any real development until the last 2-hours, which were great. Lots of hijinks in space but the repetitive troupe of witholding information in a super showy fashion lost its charm by the 3rd time. Emily knocked the performance out of the park as usual.