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Star Wars: Doctor Aphra by Sarah Kuhn

A Starcanon Review - Minor Spoilers Ahead!

By David HeymanPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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The Introduction

I went into this audio book with very little information about the series, having never read any of the comics in which she features. Now that I've finished listening to the story those comics have worked their way into a very high position on my TBR list!

This 'adaptation' is roughly based on a few different appearances of Doctor Aphra, but focuses on her time working for one Sith Lord in impressively intimidating black armour. You know who I mean. How closely this follows the comics, I can't quite say, yet, but it feels as though it would be a really interesting perspective on the character for even diehard fans, given that the narrator is none other than the good doctor herself. Once again, the audio creators have really used every tool available to them and used it well. The background is atmospheric and enriched with details without feeling obtrusive, and it contains a classic star wars soundtrack to get the adrenalin pumping.

Emily Woo Zella does a fantastic job of bringing all the sass, sarcasm and mostly warranted confidence to her role as the voice of Doctor Aphra, and it makes this an absolute pleasure to listen to. The supporting cast are also great, but given that she is doing 99% of the talking, it's good that she is so fitting for the task. Also of note in the voice department is Sean Kenin, who makes up one half of my new favourite droid duo - Tripple Zero.

The Story

As mentioned, the story focuses on Aphra's time working for Vader, getting in and out of ever more insane situations, double crossing and getting double crossed in return yet somehow mostly surviving, up until the last bit where she definitely is going to die (her words, not mine). In between reactivating two of the galaxies best murder droids, protocol Tripple Zero and kind of but not really an astromech, BT, teaming up with some of the most infamous bounty hunters, giving sass to Boba Fett and somehow surviving, we follow her through her background role in the story of Episodes IV, V and VI.

For someone who doesn't appear in any of the movies, Aphra is certainly pivotal, nearly crippling the entire command structure of the rebel alliance in the process of carrying out her various missions. They even find time to fit in a reticent romantic sub plot, which frankly is ridiculously sweet and endearing and acts as a wonderful background to this 'recording'. That's right, this whole thing is Aphra recording her last thoughts before she most certainly dies, which means we also get to listen to her fret about having said too much, hints of deleted scenes and raw emotional honesty. As a narrative device it works really well, and thanks to Aphra's love of the dramatic (and the writers, of course) she tells a great story, dropping in extra information as we go to build the atmosphere and narrative tension.

Even if for some reason all of the above hasn't already got you reaching for that 'buy now' link, then I have two more names for you - Tripple Zero and BT. People love R2-D2, C3PO, BB-8 and Chopper. Well, they can all move aside here. These two are stealing the droid show with their dry murderous wit and actual murderous intentions, causing almost as many problems with their desire to torture and kill as they end up solving. Turns out it's really easy to escape from somewhere when everyone guarding you is unconscious.

In Conclusion

It's an action packed fun adventure, like really really fun to listen to and it ties in so well with little off-screen moments that you can easily visualise what's going on. I'm putting in an order for the trade paperback collection now, that's how much I enjoyed this!

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