From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back
From a Certain Point of View strikes back! Celebrate the legacy of the groundbreaking Star Wars sequel with this exciting reimagining of the timeless film.
On May 21, 1980, Star Wars became a true saga with the release of The Empire Strikes Back. In honor of the 40th anniversary, 40 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. From a Certain Point of View features contributions by best-selling authors and trendsetting artists.
I had a bit of a false start with this, which is weird because it's my favorite of the Original Trilogy.
I started listening to the audiobook in November 2020 when it was released. But then I wanted to follow along with the text, but didn't get the book until now. I saw it was available at my library. So I borrowed it, started from the beginning and read it as I listened to the audiobook.
What I love about these "from a certain point of view" books is that there is something for everyone, just like Star Wars itself: action, drama, humor, inner reflection, dark side and light side stories.
Something that I think was an improvement from the first book was that there was more consistency between the stories. I had noted in my review for A New Hope that: "You can also tell the authors didn't communicate because events in the stories of the same setting (e.g. the Cantina) contradict one another."
In TESB most of the stories on Hoth mention that the rebels have a "will they or won't they?" betting pool for Han and Leia. Not only did I think that was funny but I appreciated that it seemed like either the authors communicated with each other or they all had the same idea.
There were definitely some stories that were awesome 5 star reads. And others that I didn't like so much and I felt that that space should have been for another's story.
1 -2 star stories:
"Tooth and Claw"
"Fake It Till You Make It"
"Beyond the Clouds"
"The Man Who Built Cloud City"
Stories that were missing and I thought should have been included were:
the Ugnaughts who were throwing C-3PO around as Chewie came to collect him. An Ugnuaght's POV when Han was encased in carbonite. A pilot or the control tower who wouldn't let the Falcon land on Cloud City. A pilot chasing the Falcon as it was escaping Cloud City.
There, I have 4 stories that I think would have made more sense than the 4 I didn't like.
My 5 stars stories:
"Ion Control"
"A Good Kiss"
"Rendezvous Point"
"The Final Order"
"Disturbance"
"Vergence"
"There's Always Another"
"Bespin Escape"
"Faith In an Old Friend"
"But What Does He Eat?"
"Due On Batuu"
"Right Hand Man"
"The Whills Strike Back"
Overall 4 out of 5 Opening Crawls.
This fall From A Certain Point of View for Return of the Jedi comes out, and won't wait 2.5 years this time.