Disney drops surprise Star Wars book starring Obi-Wan and Anakin
"Padawan's Pride" is a middle-grade short audio drama available for free with an Audible subscription.
Padawan’s Pride
Surprise! Disney Books dropped a brand new Star Wars book overnight — without any promotion or tease that it was coming.
Star Wars: Padawan’s Pride stars Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker three years after the events of The Phantom Menace. The middle-grade novel is an audio drama short story — just 3 hours and 57 minutes.
The book is also an Audible Original, which means it’s only available to Audible subscribers. If you pay for Audible, you can listen to Padawan’s Pride for free.
As a surprise book drop, there’s little information about the book beyond what’s listed on Audible. Star Wars Books & Comics on X shared that the listing’s metadata shows Padawan’s Pride as the first in a new series of “Star Wars Adventures Audible Originals.” The Star Wars Adventures branding is best known in the all-ages comics from Dark Horse and IDW.
Publisher’s Summary:
Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan Anakin Skywalker star in this thrilling galactic adventure set three years after the events of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
When a Republic spy goes missing on the Moons of Varl, the Jedi Council asks Obi-Wan and Anakin to infiltrate an underground podracing circuit run by a crime boss believed to be holding the spy prisoner. With Anakin posing as a hotshot racer and Obi-Wan as his attendant, tensions between the two threaten to run even higher than usual.
But when Obi-Wan is forced to leave Varl, Anakin is on his own as he faces a series of increasingly treacherous races that will determine his fate—and that of the spy.
Master and apprentice must use all their Jedi skills in this action-packed tale of cutthroat competition, deadly deception, and, ultimately, what it means to be a Padawan.
The characters and time period are reminiscent of the Jedi Quest young readers’ books released in 2000 and 2001. Like Padawan’s Pride, these novels followed Obi-Wan and Anakin in the years between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones.
Padawan’s Pride is set in 29 BBY — the same year as Obi-Wan and Anakin #1, the first issue in the 2016 comic miniseries by Charles Soule. According to Star Wars Timelines, 29 BBY was the same year Anakin went on a mission with an incognito Palpatine, who gets in his head about his role within the Jedi Order. Anakin’s existential crisis at age 12 led him to suspend his Jedi training and surrender his lightsaber before eventually deciding to remain Obi-Wan’s apprentice.
I’m currently listening to Padawan’s Pride today with the goal of posting a full review on Friday. It’s a fun read so far — especially because we have few stories following Anakin’s training under Obi-Wan before Attack of the Clones.
Are you listening to Padawan’s Pride? Share your thoughts on the new Star Wars book in the comments!
Using "drop" like that is confusing for me- I'm used to seeing it used to mean stopping something.