Published By: Del Rey (US), Century for Penguin Random House (UK)
Released On: 3 October 2017
The Synopsis:
On May 25, 1977, the world was introduced to Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, C-3PO, R2-D2, Chewbacca, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader, and a galaxy full of possibilities. In honour of the fortieth anniversary, more than forty contributors lend their vision to this retelling of Star Wars. Each of the forty short stories reimagines a moment from the original film, but through the eyes of a supporting character. From a Certain Point of View features contributions by bestselling authors, trendsetting artists, and treasured voices from the literary history of Star Wars.
The Charity:
All participating authors have generously forgone any compensation for their stories. Instead, their proceeds will be donated to First Book – a leading non-profit that provides new books, learning materials, and other essentials to educators and organisations serving children in need. To further celebrate the launch of this book and both companies’ longstanding relationships with First Book, Penguin Random House has donated $100,000 to First Book, and Disney/Lucasfilm has donated 100,000 children’s books – valued at $1,000,000 – to support First Book and their mission of providing equal access to quality education. Over the past sixteen years, Disney and Penguin Random House combined have donated more than eighty-eight million books to First Book.
The Authors:
The list of authors assembled for this project is quite auspicious and related to all different areas of the Star Wars community. Some of those have also been cleverly linked with previous characters they have been previously associated with in some way shape or form.
Here is a full list of the authors in alphabetical order: –
Ben Acker, Renee Ahdieh, Tom Angleberger, Ben Blacker, Jeffrey Brown, Jason Fry, Christie Golden, Pierce Brown , Ashley Eckstein, Mur Lafferty, Ken Liu, Griffin McElroy, John Jackson Miller, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Nnedi Okorafor, Daniel José Older, Ian Doescher, Mallory Ortberg, Madeleine Roux, Gary D. Schmidt, Matt Fraction, Cavan Scott, Sabaa Tahir, Kieron Gillen, Glen Weldon, Chuck Wendig, Gary Whitta, Meg Cabot, Pablo Hidalgo, E. K. Johnston, Rae Carson, Adam Christopher, Zoraida Córdova, Delilah S. Dawson, Paul Dini, Alexander Freed, Claudia Gray, E.K. Johnston, Paul S. Kemp, Elizabeth Wein, Beth Revis, Greg Rucka, Charles Soule and Wil Wheaton.
The Review:
So, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of Star Wars: A New Hope, we now have 40 new short stories to give the film an extra dimension.
The concept of a book of incidental tales to help build characters and their back stories is nothing new in the Star Wars galaxy. All you have to do is cast your mind back to the Legends novels. Previously we have been treated to books like Tales from Mos Eisley and Tales from the Empire, but for me From a Certain Point of View has completely rebooted this concept and has brought a breath of fresh air to the new canon books.
Using 40 different authors to create this book is clever, as this in turn gives each story its own identity, but as the stories are not conjoined, they still have their own unique places in the story of the film itself.
The cover itself is a very simply illustrated with the silhouettes of R2-D2 and See-Threepio against the binary sunset of Tatooine. The chapter headers are also illustrated with silhouette pictures which are simple, but very iconic.
I read the first story Raymus while sat in the car waiting for my wife on her works car park. My first reaction to reading Gary Whitta’s story was; “if this is how good the first story is; how good must the rest be?”.
Unfortunately for me, I had to put the book down, but I was able to read a few stories during a weekend away, but when I got home, the book went everywhere with me. Reading on the bus, waiting for the bus, lunch breaks and in bed of an evening. The book became compulsive reading for me. 460 pages, 40 short stories in 6 days kind of compulsive!
I must admit, there are stories in there that I was not that keen on, but they are still good stories in their own right, just not for me.
I have picked my 5 personal favourites, which in fairness wasn’t an easy selection to make;
- Raymus by Gary Whitta – This just sets the scene between Rogue One and A New Hope in a way that has never been told before. We can surmise why certain things happened, but now we know the chain of events. I feel I can further understand how close, but how far away Princess Leia was to reaching Obi-Wan to deliver her plea in person.
- Laina by Wil Wheaton – A very powerful story from a Rebel Officer whose family has been torn apart by the Empire and the decisions he makes in the face of what is happening in the galaxy. I must admit that when I read this, I found that his decision although would have been good at the time, it will haunt him in the future. I would like to see a follow up short story to this to see where it goes.
- The Trigger by Kieron Gillen – Aphra, need I say more? The good doctor has become a shining beacon in the new era Marvel comics and here is no different. A character with great depth that yet again seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
- There Is Another by Gary D. Schmidt – I am a self-confessed Obi-Wan fan, but this is quite a unique story. Yoda is aware of the death of his friend through the Force, but he is surprised at his first reunion with Obi-Wan’s Force ghost. Some good humour and wit in this story and I could really imagine the meeting quite vividly when reading it.
- Desert Son by Pierce Brown – The account of the attack on the Death Star according to Biggs Darklighter. The character of Bigg’s was reintroduced in the Special Editions in 1997 and for me was a character that was interesting as he held the key to the history of Luke’s early years. This explores some of his memories, but portrays the battle through his eyes.
Recently, we have had the animated shorts of Forces of Destiny’ how cool would it be to see these shorts packaged up in a similar fashion and put out there. That would be a great way to see these stories portrayed.
From my point of view, From a Certain Point of View’is a must read for all Star Wars fans. Please go out there and buy a copy and enjoy 40 great Star Wars stories. But remember, at the same time you will be helping to raise money and awareness for a great cause.
Variants:
Regular Release
NYCC Exclusive Edition – Limited to 1,000 Copies
At NYCC, a limited-edition version of the book was released, which included a different dust jacket and an embossed logo on the cover of the book. Jedi News reported from NYCC on the From A Certain Point Of View panel made up of some of the authors from the book, and you can read the highlights here, or watch a video of the panel here.
Availability:
Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View was published by Century for Penguin Random House on 3rd October 2017 in hardback with a RRP of £20 (in the US it was published by Del Rey with a RRP of $39.99). It is also available in eBook and Audio Book formats.
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