A new Star Wars audio-only novel will explore Count Dooku and Asajj Ventress’ backstory (original) (raw)

Lucasfilm announced a new Star Wars novel today: Dooku: Jedi Lost, written by Cavan Scott, which will explore the backstory of Sith apprentice Asajj Ventress and Count Dooku. There are plenty of Star Wars novels out there, but this one is different — it’s an audio-only novel.

Over the years, Lucasfilm and its publishing partner Del Rey have built up a track record for producing some of the best audiobook experiences out there. They have access to a huge library of sounds and music from the Star Wars franchise, and work them into the story alongside the narration, enhancing the story in ways that are unusual for audiobooks.

Image: LucasFilm

The story will follow Sith apprentice Asajj Ventress as she works to uncover Dooku’s past, and why the Jedi Master ended up leaving the order. The two characters appear frequently in the Clone Wars animated series, and this story looks as though it’ll provide some context for their relationship. The novel — like many in the Star Wars franchise — will shed some light on a corner of the franchise that’s largely gone unexplored in the franchise’s new film canon. Where Dooku’s history was covered in books such as Darth Plagueis and a variety of comics before Disney acquired Lucasfilm, that backstory was wiped away in favor of a clean slate for the new trilogy of films.

In the listing for the book, Penguin Random House expands on the original description, showing off a book that will delve into Dooku’s life before he falls to the dark side. What’s more, it shows off that this will be more than just a regular audiobook: it’ll feature a full cast of voice actors voicing numerous the story’s numerous characters.

The book comes at a time when audio fiction is booming, and as other Disney subsidiaries have dipped their toes into other forms of audio fiction. Last year, Marvel released Wolverine: The Long Night, a podcast series about the superhero. Its second season kicked off earlier this week.

Dooku: Jedi Lost will be available on April 30th.

Update March 28th, 2019, 9:15 AM ET: Updated to include additional details from Penguin Random House.