Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back
Celebrate the legacy of The Empire Strikes Back with this exciting reimagining of the timeless film featuring new perspectives from forty acclaimed authors.
On May 21, 1980, Star Wars became a true saga with the release of The Empire Strikes Back. In honor of the fortieth anniversary, forty storytellers re-create an iconic scene from The Empire Strikes Back through the eyes of a supporting character, from heroes and villains, to droids and creatures.
All participating authors have generously forgone any compensation for their stories. Instead, their proceeds will be donated to First Book—a leading nonprofit that provides new books, learning materials, and other essentials to educators and organizations serving children in need. To further celebrate the launch of this book and both companies’ longstanding relationships with First Book, Penguin Random House will donate $100,000 to First Book and Disney/Lucasfilm will donate 100,000 children’s books—valued at $1,000,000—to support First Book and their mission of providing equal access to quality education.
Authors: Austin Walker, Hank Green, Tracy Deonn, Martha Wells, Mark Oshiro, Seth Dickinson, Tom Angleberger, Sarwat Chadda, S.A. Chakraborty, Mike Chen, Adam Christopher, Katie Cook, Zoraida Córdova, Delilah S. Dawson, Alexander Freed, Jason Fry, Christie Golden, Rob Hart, Lydia Kang, Michael Kogge, R. F. Kuang, C. B. Lee, Mackenzi Lee, John Jackson Miller, Michael Moreci, Daniel José Older, Amy Ratcliffe, Beth Revis, Lilliam Rivera, Cavan Scott, Emily Skrutskie, Karen Strong, Anne Toole, Catherynne M. Valente, Django Wexler, Kiersten White, Gary Whitta, Brittany N. Williams, Charles Yu, Jim Zub
Release Date: 9th June 2022
ISBN: 9781529101454
With forty stories from 40 authors, all telling tales set during the span of The Empire Strikes Back which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, there are interesting adventures and some hoth cold gems. Running chronologically through the timespan of the film, we kick off on the ice planet with Eyes of the Empire by Kiersten White as an Imperial monitor sends probe droids out into the galaxy and gets a ping from Hoth all the way through to The Whills Strike Back by Tom Angleberger as he charmingly walks us through the Whills entry into the legendary journal that follows the iconic scroll up at the start of the film.
There are some standout stories, with Heroes of the Rebellion by Amy Ratcliffe telling a tale of a Rebel reporter recording the events of the Battle of Hoth and remembering the words of Jyn Erso clipping neatly into Rogue Two by Gary Whitta, as we follow Zev Senesca skimming low over the ice fields looking for Han and Luke and learn why the infamous Rogue Squadron had a Rogue Leader and a Rogue Two but not a Rogue One. We get inside the mind of General Veers, determined to please his dark master in The Truest Duty by Christie Golden, tales of Wampa’s in Hunger by Mark Oshiro as a Wampa tries to get home to feed its family, and A Naturalist on Hoth as a naturalist opts to stay behind after the battle and study the wildlife of the ice planet.
There’s little surprise that Jason Fry knocks it out of the park with his story Rendezvous Point that evokes the banter and camaraderie of the X-Wing books with Wedge Antilles and explains why the Rogue Squadron designation was retired in favour of Red Squadron and what the Rebellion were thinking as Leia, Han and co hide in the asteroid field and Luke headed to Dagobah, leaving them without their talismanic Princess and Death Star destroying hero. Amara Kel’s Rules for TIE Pilot Survival (Probably) is a fun adventure, following one of the TIE Fighter pilots tasked with chasing down the Millennium Falcon in the asteroid field (and notable for the phrase ‘Palpatine’s withered nuts).
Disturbance by Mike Chen brings us a vision of Palpatine as he senses the changes ahead and what Vader’s vision of a new galaxy alongside his son would look like while Lord Vader Will See You Now by long time author John Jackson Miller updates us on where Commodore Rae Sloane was at the time of Empire as she crosses swords with Admiral Piett. Cavan Scott can’t resist bringing Jaxxon back one more time in Fake It Till You Make It as the Lepi arrives for a meeting with Lando on Cloud City. Bespin Escape by Martha Wells focuses on the plight of the Ugnaughts while Adam Christopher delivers a fascinating story with The Witness as an Imperial Stormtrooper watches the battle between Luke and Vader.
To spin forty stories, picking characters old and new to weave in new threads and reinforce old ones of a film that’s been picked over and written about more than almost any other is quite a feat, and for every one of these forty stories to add something to the wider legend of The Empire Strikes Back is impressive…most impressive. Given the collection includes entries from 2022’s prominent authors Mike Chen (Star Wars: Brotherhood), Adam Christopher (Star Wars: Shadow of the Sith) and Kiersten White (Star Wars: Padawan) it’s a great time to revisit ahead of 2023 and the inevitable FACPOV: Return of the Jedi.
Many thanks to Penguin UK for the review copy.
- Dickinson, Seth (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 576 Pages - 06/07/2022 (Publication Date) - Random House Worlds (Publisher)
