I’ve read very few Star Wars books, despite being a big fan of the IP, but I want to talk a bit about From A Certain Point Of View, published in 2017 to celebrate 40 years of A New Hope, which I read quite recently and absolutely loved. If you haven’t come across it before, this is a 40-strong short story anthology (from 43 authors – there are a few double-headers) in which each tale takes a character or a scene from the original film and expands upon it, providing fresh, unexpected and insightful new perspectives on otherwise familiar stories. From Imperial officers, stormtroopers, rebels and Jedi to Jawas, Tuskens, Bith and all manner of droids, on Tatooine, Alderaan, Star Destroyers and the Death Star, these stories explore the characters and locations of A New Hope like never before.
If you’ve ever wondered what goes on behind the helmets of Imperial stormtroopers, inside the cramped crawlspaces of Jawa sandcrawlers, in the minds of X-Wing pilots or within the programming of droids, this book has you covered. For the most part these are quite short stories (although length does vary – from a one-page cartoon to a couple of 30-ish page pieces), but it’s a relatively hefty volume so there’s plenty to dig into. Don’t let individual story length put you off – there’s a surprising amount of action, character development and emotional heft in some of these stories, and they do a lot more than just skim the surface. Already having the context from the movie helps, of course.
There are way too many great stories to mention them all, but what’s clear is that every author involved (and there’s some serious authorial talent on display here) has a real love for Star Wars, and had a lot of fun working on their contributions. Of course, as you might expect, out of 40 stories there were a few which didn’t quite work for me personally. I thought Palpatine’s six-page stream of consciousness in rhyming verse was…a bit of a strange choice, and there was the occasional moment which felt as though it was playing with some Star Wars canon that I’m not familiar with, but for the most part I loved even the whimsical pieces…like a story from a mouse droid’s perspective, for example!
For me personally, as a huge fan of short stories, this is just a genius idea, taking a story I already know and love and expanding it forty different ways. These are characters, locations, ideas and themes that have lived in my imagination for years, so to dig beneath the surface and find surprise after surprise was just a total joy. I mean, who’d have thought a story about a beat-up old R5 unit would hit so hard, or that the creature living in the Death Star’s trash compactor would have such an intriguing backstory? It might not be for everyone, but if – like me – you enjoy a good short story and are open to authors trying out some less conventional storytelling ideas, I guarantee you’ll find yourself desperate to rewatch A New Hope by the time you’ve finished this!
The sequel is now available as well, celebrating 40 years of The Empire Strikes Back, and I’m lucky enough to have a review copy – so expect a full review at some point!
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