Star Wars: Doctor Aphra paperback
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. That’s when suddenly Darth Vader, terror of the galaxy, swoops in with his lightsaber 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 okay, 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, anastromech 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
Author: Sarah Kuhn
Published: 31/03/2022
Length: 320 Pages
ISBN: 9781529101881
Originally released as an audio drama in 2020, this book is the script of said drama released for all book fans and people that just like to hold and own their obsessions and put them on the shelf in timeline order. Yes, I’m talking about me. If you ever picked up Dooku: Jedi Lost or the recently released Tempest Runner you will be familiar with the format I’m referring to.
This book serves as an introduction to the character for people that haven’t read the comics as it covers almost all of her appearances in the Darth Vader 2015 run by Kieron Gillen. It takes those events but shows them all from Aphra’s perspective and adds in her (unreliable) internal narrative. This results in the most genuinely hilarious and self-aware Star Wars story that I can think of as Aphra’s wise-cracking, larger than life and tragic character sizzles and pops out of every page, so full of life that it’s hard to put down.
The downside to this being a retelling of the comics and jot an original caper is that it isn’t the most necessary of releases. If you’ve read the comics then you mostly already know this story and if you haven’t read them then, as this is from Aphra’s POV, it misses big chunks of important story, so much so that I couldn’t recommend this being your introduction to the character. Don’t get me wrong, what’s here is brilliantly and electrically written. The most effective thing this book does is recontextualise the relationship between Aphra and Sana Starros. Its adds in much needed backstory and lets you inside Aphras head revealing her true feelings towards Starros and makes their relationship (and its contrast to the relationship between Aphra and Vader) the focal point of the story. This is an extremely bold and clever move because it completely changes how you see these characters and their relationship in other works, set later in the timeline.
Alyssa Wong’s current run of the main Doctor Aphra series takes it cues from this adaptation and doubles down on the dynamic between Aphra and Sana seen here so there’s a nice bit of character continuity between the titles. There’s also a lot to be said for providing a gateway to one of the best characters in Star Wars for people that can’t get on with comics. Not only will this book introduce Aphra and Sana but it also contains the introduction of recent breakout star Black Krrsantan. Vader is also deliciously terrifying here as he enlists Aphra to help him find more information about Luke Skywalker and help him create his own secret droid army to potentially overthrow the Emperor.
It’s prime Star Wars that has already influenced later releases including the Disney Plus shows and I feel that this is only the beginning.
If you’re a fan get this book. If you’re new to the character then get the Darth Vader and Doctor Aphra comics and then get this book.
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