SciFi/Fantasy Anthology Review: Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View

SF/F Anthology Review: Star Wars: From A Certain Point of View https://t.co/K91KirSHwD Short Review: 8 out of 10 (1/3)

— garik16 (@garik16) November 23, 2017

Short Review (Cont): This Anthology commemorates the 40th anniversary of Episode IV by telling 40 short stories from the points of view of minor characters during the events of ANH. Some real gems, mixed with others that are merely okay. But a few gems are great (2/3)

— garik16 (@garik16) November 23, 2017

I've not been particularly pleased with the three new canon Star Wars novels that I've read so far (two Aftermath books and Thrawn), but still, this old Star Wars fan was extremely excited when From a Certain Point of View was announced earlier this year.  This Anthology features forty different authors telling 40 different "stories" (in various form) from points of view of side characters during the time period of A New Hope - the number "40" being used as this year is the 40th anniversary of the original Star Wars' opening in 77.  This sort of anthology is not exactly new to Star Wars - in a sense it's reminiscent of the Tales' series of anthologies from the old canon, such as Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina (although as I'll note before, the focus of this anthology is slightly different).

What is different, and what was exciting about this book when first announced, is the talent that is involved in it.  The forty authors involved include some of the best and/or most well known talent in the SciFi/Fantasy writing scene - whether it be in the form of books, animation, or comics.  So we have SF authors like Ken Liu and Nnedi Okorafor; Comic Book writers like Matt Fraction and Greg Rucka; TV cartoon writers like Paul Dini; and even an actor like Wil Wheaton.  Most of the stories aren't very long, but they cover seemingly every side character imaginable - and sometimes more.

As with any anthology - especially one involving multiple authors - the quality of the stories can vary pretty wildly throughout this collection.  But there are some real games that make this a pretty easy pickup for the typical Star Wars fan.

More after the Jump



Unlike the Tales' stories from the prior canon, most of the stories in this anthology are MUCH shorter, usually not being more than say 10-15 pages (the longest is 30 pages, and that's a combination of two writers and a clear outlier). Also unlike the Tales' stories, many of the stories involved feature the events of A New Hope simply being told from the point of view of side characters at the scene at the time, and don't stray too far from the original movie.  The stories are ordered more or less chronologically, beginning with stories that take place at the very beginning of the movie and ending with those that take place at the end after the Death Star is destroyed.

Honestly, most of the stories that stay most within ANH's plot are among the least interesting - for example the book opens with the tale of Raymus Antilles, the captain of the Tantive IV who is choked to death by Vader at the beginning of the movie, and the tale just provides his POV but nothing else, which makes it kind of boring.  A few of these still work though - for example, Meg Cabot's POV tale of Beru Lars contains basically no new beats to the story, but still works really really well.  It's also only four pages, which is probably right for this type of story.  "Verge of Greatness," by Pablo Hidalgo featuring Tarkin, is also pretty excellent.

It's where the stories get more creative that they really shine.  Ken Liu's "The Sith of Datawork" is a hilarious tale of an Imperial administrator onboard Vader's ISD that uses his skill with paperwork - or well data work - to create an alibi and a scapegoat for the gunnery officer who opted not to fire on the Tantive IV escape pods.  Wil Wheaton's "Laina" is the story of a Rebel recording a message for his  infant daughter whom he is sending to safety, which ends with a gut punching twist.  "Palpatine" by Ian Doescher is the thoughts of Emperor Palpatine upon hearing of Obi-Wan's death....but set to Shakespearean Verse (not surprising if you look up the author).  These are not the only highlights, but just several of the stand out stories in the collection.  Again, not every story is a highlight, and there are certainly some misses (the Greedo and Boba Fett stories are just.....eh), but overall the highlights outshine the lowlights, for sure.

It should finally be noted that the stories often.....aren't consistent with one another.  For one example, 2 stories feature the Modal Nodes (the Bith band at the Cantina) and they don't match up.  In another case, on Yavin 4, one story features a pilot who didn't get to join the assault on the death star because they had too many pilots left and not enough available starfighters and in the VERY NEXT STORY it's suggested that there were actually a few starfighters that the Rebels didn't field against the Death Star because they lacked pilots for the ship.  These things may bug you as a reader - it's clear that the editor/compiler of these stories simply asked for ideas and didn't take TOO much care to ensure the authors didn't tread on one another - but it's easy to put aside.