{"product_id":"doctor-aphra-star-wars-isbn-9780593157251","title":"Doctor Aphra (Star Wars)","description":"\u003cb\u003eDr. Aphra teams up with Darth Vader himself in the original script to the audiobook production—an expanded adaptation of the critically acclaimed Marvel comics series.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDr. Chelli Lona Aphra, rogue archaeologist, is in trouble again.     \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eA 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 is found not in a museum but in an arsenal. This viewpoint has led to a lot of misunderstandings. After her latest plan goes horribly wrong, Aphra’s 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?     \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eDon’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 \u003ci\u003ehis\u003c\/i\u003e boss, who happens to be the Galactic Emperor. And yes, the life expectancy of anyone who disappoints Vader can be measured in seconds.     \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eBut 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.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eJust kidding. She’s doomed.\u003cb\u003eSarah Kuhn\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of the popular Heroine Complex novels—a series starring Asian American superheroines. The first book was a \u003ci\u003eLocus\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller and an \u003ci\u003eRT\u003c\/i\u003e Reviewers’ Choice Award nominee. Her YA debut, the Japan-set romantic comedy \u003ci\u003eI Love You So Mochi\u003c\/i\u003e, is a Junior Library Guild selection and a nominee for YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults. She has also penned a variety of short fiction and comics, including the critically acclaimed graphic novel \u003ci\u003eShadow of the Batgirl f\u003c\/i\u003eor DC Comics. Additionally, she was a finalist for both the CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) New Writers Award and the Astounding Award for Best New Writer. A third-generation Japanese American, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband and an overflowing closet of vintage treasures.\u003cb\u003eNARRATOR:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCUE THEME\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSCENE 1. INT. THE ARK ANGEL. SOMEWHERE IN THE OUTER RIM.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAPHRA:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBegin recording.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAPHRA (narration):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe first thing you need to know: This time I’m dead. Definitely, definitely dead.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI’ve almost died before. So many times. “More lives than a tooka-cat,” that’s how Sava Toob-Nix used to describe me. And this story, the one that ends with me definitely dead . . . it all starts with one of those times I almost died.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSo let’s begin there.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe hear the blasts and explosions of a truly epic space battle—perhaps a bit exaggerated in its epicness because this is the story as Aphra’s telling it, and she is nothing if not over the top.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAPHRA (narration):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eImagine it: the most epic space battle you’ve ever seen. Lasers! Explosions! Things that go pew-pew! And right in the middle of it all, our intrepid heroine—that’s me!—Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra. Rogue archaeologist, weapons expert, droid reactivator extraordinaire . . . and did I mention she is also extraordinarily beautiful? Raven tresses . . . that are usually a tangled mess, because they’re stuffed under a very stylish aviator cap, complete with rakish goggles. Brown eyes that spark—yes, spark!—with a yearning for adventure. Intriguing electro-tattoos running down her right arm—foolish, youthful mistake, or sign of an irrepressible daredevil? That’s none of your business!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLet’s join her as she makes her grand escape from a gang of nefarious pirates trying to gun down her glorious ship, the Ark Angel!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA particularly loud boom! as Aphra’s ship is hit.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAPHRA:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDammit . . . hyperdrive down, life support hit. Okay . . . okay . . . that’s fine, nothing to worry about. Activate auxiliary systems and get the crew working on it right away!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA beat as she realizes she’s talking to herself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAPHRA:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOh, right. There are no auxiliary systems. And I don’t have a crew. Time to get creative . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe ship’s comm beeps with an incoming transmission.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMAZ KANATA (on comm):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDoctor Aphra! Surrender the valuable artifacts you have stolen from us and we will leave you and your ship be and continue on our way!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAphra speaks to Maz as she tinkers furiously with her ship’s control panel, trying to buy time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAPHRA:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHeeeey, Maz Kanata! Always an honor to speak to the galaxy’s most—and I mean most—legendary pirate queen! I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve dreamed of this moment, just the two of us on a comm while trying to shoot each other into the Void. I can’t imagine why you’re shooting at li’l ol’ me, though, I swear you’ve got the wrong girl—\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMAZ KANATA (on comm):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSpare me your legendary—and I mean legendary—falsehoods, Aphra, we know you have the antique stealth microdroid dust—\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAPHRA:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou wound me with these accusations!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMAZ KANATA (on comm):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy crew went to great lengths to secure an artifact so valuable, and you, no doubt, are planning on doing something extraordinarily stupid with it—\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAPHRA:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat, like use it?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMAZ KANATA (on comm):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eExactly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAPHRA:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOkay. Now this is getting downright personal. Is there no sisterhood among rogues anymore? Tell ya what, why don’t we settle in at one of those backwater holes you love so much, have a drink, talk this out like the proper ladies we are—\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnother boom rocks Aphra’s ship. Her tinkering gets even more furious, more desperate.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAPHRA:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat was very unladylike, Maz.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Ark Angel lets out a series of frantic beeps.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAPHRA:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNow my life support’s failing, I probably only have a few breaths left in me, I’m going to die out here because you’re convinced I took something from you and, worse yet, that I have some sort of nefarious plan for it—\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMAZ KANATA (on comm):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou underestimate how well I—or anyone who’s spoken to you for more than five seconds—know you.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAPHRA:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFine! Of course I took it! And of course I’m going to use it! You pirates think you understand the value of all these artifacts you so carelessly pilfer, but all you really understand is that they’re old, and that means they need to be sold to a dusty old museum where they rot away into nothing. And all without ever being used for their true purpose, fulfilling their true potential—out there in the galaxy, having the extraordinary adventures they were meant for.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI mean. How would you like it if someone put you in a museum, Maz?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMAZ KANATA (on comm):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou are telling me that in your custody, the antique stealth microdroid dust is going to have adventures? Rather than merely being sold to the highest bidder?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAPHRA:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWould it . . . make you stop shooting at me if that was the case?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA beat as Maz considers—or at least pretends to.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMAZ KANATA (on comm):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProbably not.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnother loud boom rocks Aphra’s ship.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAPHRA:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat’s what I figured. And that’s why . . . I also stole—er, liberated something else from your pirating spoils! The cutest little astromech scraps . . . so shiny, and just sitting there, nestled next to the microdroid dust. I swear, they started talking to me. Wanted me to take ’em home. And I like the shiny, so I obliged.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMAZ KANATA (on comm):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e[genuinely puzzled]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe . . . astromech scraps? Those were salvaged from a Corellian junkyard, but they were so rusty, so banged up and broken, even our best techs couldn’t do anything with them. They’re just . . . trash.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAPHRA:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYeah, I love trash. Watch what happens when I place my shiny new astromech bit just so in my central operating system.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe hear a decisive click as Aphra places the droid part in her control panel.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAPHRA:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHooks right in—’cause I’ve got the magic touch. Oh, and I’ve made so many personal modifications to the Ark Angel, my beloved ship will run on anything. Even old droid parts.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA loud explosion rocks Maz’s ship.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMAZ KANATA (on comm):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat! Direct hit, our gravity’s knocked out . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAPHRA:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSoooo . . . did I mention that I’ve actually been looking for this exact ’mech bit? I had a theory that it would enhance my weapons system—looks like I was right! All-purpose astromech bits! Or at least they are in my hands . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMAZ KANATA (on comm):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI don’t understand how you . . . you . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAPHRA:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYour techs are a buncha charlatans, Maz. You should reaaaalllly consider replacing them if you want to keep that badass pirate queen rep.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMAZ KANATA (on comm):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat isn’t . . . Void! Retreat! This isn’t over, Aphra . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAPHRA:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOh, I know.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs Maz’s ship retreats, Aphra actually sounds a little contemplative—\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAPHRA:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI really do hope we get that drink one day.","brand":"Random House Worlds","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303183601893,"sku":"NP9780593157251","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780593157251.jpg?v=1767725435","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/doctor-aphra-star-wars-isbn-9780593157251","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}