The Shadows of the Empire audio book is an abridged audio reading of the Shadows of the Empire novel originally published by author Steve Perry, performed by actor Anthony Heald. The audio book was originally published by Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing in 1996 as part of the larger Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire multimedia project. The Shadows of the Empire audio book features original music from the Shadows of the Empire soundtrack, originally performed by Joel McNeely, and original sound effects, some of which were reproduced from the three Star Wars films of the Original trilogy.