Random House Worlds has released an exclusive excerpt from the forthcoming novel Baldur's Gate 3: Astarion, written by award-winning author T. Kingfisher, which delves into the backstory of the vampire spawn companion who became one of the breakout characters from Larian Studios' 2023 role-playing game. The excerpt is accompanied by an audio reading performed by Neil Newbon, who voiced and provided motion capture for Astarion in the original game, tying the prequel novel directly back to the performance fans fell in love with.

The passage depicts Astarion attempting to break into Gurgan's Magic Emporium in Baldur's Gate, reluctantly using his spider-climbing ability to scale the building before feeding on a nesting pigeon. The novel is set before the events of the game, in the period prior to mind flayers appearing over Baldur's Gate, and expands on Astarion's history as a former magistrate who was beaten, left for dead, and turned into a vampire spawn by the vampire lord Cazador Szarr.