This volume of short stories marks the 40th anniversary of the release of The Empire Strikes Back and it makes for an interesting tribute. I suspect the target audience is the Star Wars aficionado, rather than the casual fan with little knowledge of the wider universe.

Each tale offers a different perspective on the events of the film, such as Rebel fighters on Hoth, captive tauntauns, medical droids or characters from the film. Some are dynamic and vibrant stories, some are just the thought process of a force ghost that or a someone's inner monologue which struggles to qualify as a proper narrative.

It's a long volume, at over 500 words. I definitely felt that it could have been a lot more selective. I can only read so many stories in a row about people escaping Hoth or Cloud City, all of them explicitly meditating on the same themes of hope and heroism.

Highlights for me included the opening two stories, Eyes of the Empire and Hunger, plus This is No Cave, which is truly heartbreaking.

Full review available on my blog (link below).

From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back is a collection of 40 short stories commissioned for the 40th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back's memorable debut long long ago. It’s a second such venture, after a collection of stories centered around New Hope met with fans’ enthusiasm and quite solid approval – and we all know what a rowdy and unruly and spoiled bunch SW fans usually are 😉.

I haven’t read the first collection, but buoyed by the fond recollections of the Anderson’s anthology Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina and seeing as The Empire Strikes Back remains my favorite SW movie of all times (not that it had any real competition recently), I decided to give this one a chance. There is a solid representation from well-known authors, such as Martha Wells and Django Wexler to Seth Dickinson, Catherynne M. Valente and S.A. Chakraborty, as well as a whole slew of authors completely new to me. This collection, apart from the strong nostalgia factor and a big dose of curiosity topped by healthy mistrust of anything SW-Disney 😉, represented a chance for me to check out some new names and their writing chops.

However, as simple listing of the authors and their stories’ titles has taken me nearly 300 words, I decided to review them in a slightly different than usual mode: as with short stories collections, I will give each story a rating – but this time, I will endeavor to describe every story in 5 words or more (well, usually more, as you’ll see).

Kiersten White, Eyes of the Empire 6/10
Eye-opening Moment for an Empire Drudge
Mark Oshiro, Hunger 3/10
Wampa’s Food Has a Saber!
Emily Skrutskie, Ion Control 7/10
All Bets Are Off on Han-Leia Romance
C.B. Lee, A Good Kiss 3/10
Everyone Can Be A Hero, aka Not This Again
[...]
Tom Angleberger, The Whills Strike Back 10/10
Very Short, Very Funny!

A few final thoughts on this collection. First of all, the idea of amassing 40 stories for the 40th anniversary, while theoretically pleasing, in this case clearly backfired; a few really solid, highly entertaining and even thought-provoking entries are simply drowning in the sea of mediocrity. Less is more! And it also pertains to the problems with understanding the concept of a short story as opposed to novella, and in some cases results in serious structural issues: some of these stories practically beg to be more fleshed out as we get only a bare-boned sketch of a novella.
[...]
That said, there are a few very good, well plotted and enjoyable stories, adding to the lore in unexpected, welcome ways. The ultimate stand-outs for me were Dickinson’s The Final Order, a perfectly structured and executed short story packing more suspense into its few pages than the all the rest of the collection, and Angleberger’s The Whills Strike Back, which was sly, self-aware and tongue-in-the-cheek funny. So, as usual with anthologies, From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back is a mixed bag of treats and tricks –the majority of the stories is utterly forgettable, but there are some that will stand the test of time. Pick up the good ones if you can!

Written truly for the Star Wars fans, this book was one had to have & was SO thrilled I was approved for thanks to NetGalley & Random House! My teen has been a Star Wars fanatic since birth, and it just grows as he gets older, so it is a true treasure when I get asked to read and review something I also get to share with him!

With all short story collections, there is something for everyone and a wide variety of styles. Some stories we absolutely loved, others were just okay but overall it is a great read for any fan who loves a good behind the scenes from the plotlines we already know and love. I like to consider these as samplers to discover new bits and pieces of the authors, and who I NEED to read more from. I'm a total sucker for the stories that dive into unknown characters and their side of this incredible journey!

Some of our favorites? A Good Kiss by C.B. Lee / Rogue Two by Gary Whitta / Wait for It by Zoraida Córdova

Thank you for letting me add this treasure to my collection, it's truly something special to be a part of the Star Wars fanbase and celebrate 40 years of The Empire Strikes Back!

I love these books and the authors that were chosen are fantastic. I love them carving out stories to characters you wouldn't even think twice about. Can't wait for the next book!

Told from a very different point of view, you get to relive the greatest story in the SW lexicon. It’s great to see how minor characters can become major. So much fun

Another collection of short stories with a few stand outs and a general good level of other offerings, but overall not something which wowed me. And it’s maddening because there is still so much potential in the huge Star Wars universe. I think the authors were restricted far too much by theme here. I’d like to see a star wars anthology that was less restrictive.

This book had me so conflicted. I love Star Wars. Empire Strikes Back is not only my favorite Star Wars movie, but one of my favorite movies of all time. It seems like such an amazing idea, parts of the story from the point of view of different characters. I hadn't read the previous volume like this for A New Hope, so I didn't really know what exactly to expect. I though there would be more from main characters. I was wrong. So wrong. Wrong to such an amazing extent. The closes to main characters were the stories from Yoda, Obi-Wan and the Emperor. Others the were more unexpected were a wampa, a tauntaun, various stormtroopers, rebels, droids and other creatures. Personally I just didn't find a lot of these stories to be that compelling. There were some really good ones, but for the most part I was just like...WHY? For the collection itself I would probably give it a 2.5-3 stars, but I bumped it up a star just because it was for charity. I didn't realize that until the end, and it may have made me more generous to know that beforehand, but it is what it is. The gem for me was the Obi-Wan story. I had never really pondered the overall tragedy of his life before and it was heartbreaking. I full on ugly cried during his story.

My favorite Star Wars books as a kid were the “Tales of…” series edited by Kevin J. Anderson. Those books imbued the Galaxy Far, Far Away with the sense that Greedo, Dengar, Bib Fortuna, and the hundreds of minor background characters from the films each had stories of their own. Those books – and the fan hunger for more stories – are a major part of the reason why the Star Wars franchise has been able to grow beyond the Skywalker saga through shows like The Mandalorian.

The “From a Certain Point of View” books continue that tradition – but in both more expansive and limited ways. The first book, released in 2017, celebrated the 40th anniversary of A New Hope by collecting stories from a variety of science fiction and fantasy authors. As the title suggests, the stories are told from the point of background characters. This latest volume does the same for The Empire Strikes Back.

I appreciate the variety of authors invited to participate in the FACPOV books. This volume includes authors like John Jackson Miller, who has been writing Star Wars for decades, and younger authors like R.F. Kuang, who had never written anything for Star Wars. There’s diversity in writing experience, as well as diversity in the race and gender of the authors. Moreover, it seems that Lucasfilm gave these authors considerable creative freedom… freedom that sometimes leads to these stories being very weird.

Unlike the earlier “Tales of…” books, most of the stories in FACPOV are fairly limited in scope. With a few exceptions, the stories don’t cover anything beyond the scenes in the film. In essence, most of the stories simply recount what a character was thinking when he/she/it saw the events that transpired on screen. This can sometimes be humorous, such as when Toryn Farr placed bets on Han and Leia’s will-they/won’t-they romance. But the format and limited scope are tricky because they don’t leave much room for character development or plot twists.

The best authors used the opportunity to delve deep into the psychology of characters who represent larger ideologies or archetypes in the Star Wars Galaxy. Seth Dickinson’s “The Final Order” – easily my favorite story in FACPOV2 – recounts the final hours of Captain Canonhaus of the Ultimatum, the Star Destroyer destroyed by an asteroid in the film. Through Canonhaus, Dickinson explores the paranoia and moral compromises that permeate totalitarian regimes like Palpatine’s New Order. The story convinced me to check out more of Dickinson’s works (he’s also a political scientist).

My other favorite story in FACPOV2 is “Rendezvous Point” by Jason Fry. Like the best of the “Tales of…” books, it manages to give Wedge Antilles an arc and shows him overcoming a new type of challenge. Wedge is tasked with rebuilding Red Squadron after the defeat at Hoth. He has a crisis of confidence, as well as trouble finding good pilots. The best compliment I can give is that Fry’s story reminded me of Michael Stackpole’s “Rogue Squadron” novels from the 1990s.

Overall, I don’t think the FACPOV2 stories build out the lore to the same extent as the “Tales of…” books. Admittedly, that might be because the “Tales of…” books came out at the dawn of the Expanded Universe, whereas we had hundreds of novels, comics, video games, and television episodes worth of lore by the 40th anniversary of A New Hope. I’d recommend FACPOV for Star Wars fans interested in seeing how different science fiction authors approach the franchise. FACPOV is a way for new authors to play around in the Galaxy Far, Far Away – and for readers to discover them.

[Note: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review]

Well hell this really has a lot to live up to. Ask any Star Wars fan what their favourite episode is and they'll answer The Empire Strikes Back. If they don't, well they're a delusional laserbrain. And in the main this acts as a very nice addition to the film. Nothing seems out of place, and pretty much every story was fun to read. Looking forward to Return of the Jedi.

Like all Star Wars short story compilations, this one was "meh". Many stories are a total bore, many are quite exciting, and many made me never want to pick up the book again. A wide variety of "okay".

From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back, edited by Elizabeth Schaefer, is a collection of forty stories celebrating 40 years since the release of the movie, The Empire Strikes Back. The amount of stories mean that many of the stories are just there, especially the ones featuring Rebel characters. The Empire stories include the many deaths of Darth Vader's admirals, two decent Boba Fett appearances and a love song to the worst hunk of junk in the galaxy the good ole TIE fighters. Not the best collection, but the good stories make up for the poor ones, which is all I ask in an anthology.

As a Star Wars fan whose never read an anthology before but was excited for new space content, this book delighted me! A cohesive story managed to be told, all while including so many talented authors! I recognized a handful of them, but some I was introduced to through their work here, and was very impressed! This compared to some of my absolute favorite old and new canon books across the SW universe, since I fell in love with it's versatility.

There were some stories I felt were a bit slow, but as with any book or collection, it happens, and it didn't detract from my overall view of the overarching story. Some of the knockout stories I very much enjoyed were RAYMUS, YOU OWE ME A RIDE, THE BUCKET, DESERT SON, and WHILLS. I loved all the new information and tidbits that were given to the canon and the exploration of those side characters you've always been curious about.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing this for me to read!

I received From a Certain Point of View through Netgalley by courtesy of the publisher.

I liked this take on the Star Wars saga. I especially loved seeing the perseptives of characters not known at all from the original trilogy.

That said, some of the stories worked, and some didn't. That's standard for short story compilations, so I don't hold it against the book. With so many authors, there were bound to be perspectives that didn't speak to me. I liked the ones that dealt less with combat or combatants and more with background positions. Eyes of the Empire by Kierstan White, Hunger by Mark Oshiro, A Good Kiss by C.B. Lee, She Will Keep Them Warm by Delilah S. Dawson, This is No Cave by Catherynne M. Valente, and Vergence by Tracy Deonn were the stories that stood out to me.

Also, I think it was just a little long on the Hoth setting and the Cloud City setting. I was ready to move on before getting through every story from these settings.

I'd recommend From a Certain Point of View to anyone who likes Star Wars but also likes to know more about stories they love.

A fun and interesting collection of Star Wars short stories set during the events of The Empire Strikes Back. There are some exceptional gems in this collection and some seriously talented authors whose work here shines. Not every story will be something a reader might enjoy, but there is so much variety in tone and subject that this doesn't really hold the collection down. An easy recommendation for fans of Star Wars novels, doubly so if they've enjoyed other works by authors who are featured here.

This collection of stories feels like reliving The Empire Strikes Back in the best way possible. I love that these authors all explore smaller aspects of the movie as well as main plot points, but from unusual points of view. I feel like I am part of the series again and love that I was able to find stories within this collection that make me love Star Wars even more than I already did. It definitely made me want to watch the original trilogy again! While there will always be some stories that grab a reader more than others in a short story collection, I found that I was able to find something to love in most all of these. Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

Have you ever watched a movie or read a book over and over again, and wished you could forget what happens to enjoy it for the first time again?

The "From a Certain Point of View" strikes back. This series is based around the unique concept of rediscovering classic stories through the eyes of bystanders. After the first book in the series "From a Certain Point of View: A New Hope" took us through the first Star Wars movie of the original Trilogy, this novel takes us through the plot of the second movie "The Empire Strikes Back", a great movie, with perhaps one of the greatest plot twists in movie history. I enjoyed every short-story from the first novel, and this new collection did just as much.

You discover through this novel that secondary characters, or even just background characters, have a story, a life, motivations and perhaps a different point of view on the events happening in the galaxy.

Highly recommend. I enjoyed the first novel, loved the second and can't wait for the third (unannounced, probable release in 2023) in the series of "From a Certain Point of View".

Fun collection of Star Wars stories for old and new fans! Love seeing how diverse the world is (and I wish the movies would take note).

If you’ve read the Star Wars/A New Hope volume, then you 100% know what to expect. From the support crew of that Imperial probe droid, chronologically through to the robot doc on the Rebel medical frigate. You will find every conceivable POV tale from the fauna of Hoth and the asteroid field, to the sinister force cave on Dagobah, as well as every bounty hunter you can identify (yes, including that one...). In fact, if there is a single set piece without representation, it’s hard to nail it down. While I’m there for a dose of below decks sci-fi now and again, it’s hard to beat the grander narrative of say Lost Stars.

It was fun “seeing” L3-37 and her boy together again, and while I didn’t love his first novel, man, Hank Green’s voice totally shines through his prose. The Rae Sloane story presented was maybe unnecessary in the canon.

This was a very interesting idea. Retelling familiar stories from The Empire Strikes Back told from the different points of view. Seeing as many authors wrote short stories, it's hit and miss as far as quality goes. Some short stories were really good and others were just mediocre. Just like any other short story collection.

The theme is what sells this book.

I gave the first FACPOV four stars which, looking back, seems a little generous. It, like this one, was a mixed bag of funny and fascinating vignettes with ones a little more on the boring side. However, I do think the original had some more truly iconic moments.

I mean, Tarkin's romantic liaisons told by a mouse droid? Admiral Motti's complaint letter? Crazy Tatooine stormtrooper? Fake Wedge? Not to mention the genuinely touching ones with Bail and Breha, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.

This anthology has the same sort of mix, but I think it is less truly unhinged, which is kind of a pity. I felt like there were too many stories from the perspective of animals and random citizens during the Bespin takeover. There were some highlights, though, which I will present here for those interested:

• Jason Fry wrote a story about Wedge forming Red Squadron, which is nothing groundbreaking but is certainly fun.

• Django Wexler wrote one called Amara Kel's Rules for TIE Pilot Survival (Probably), which should give you a good idea of its contents. Pretty fun. I love the inside look at TIEs versus X-Wings.

• Mike Chen wrote one about Palpatine using the Force to peep in on one of Darth Vader's power fantasy dreams. This is AMAZING. Truly phenomenal, both in the way Palpatine is a super creep, and also in the way Vader is just so, so sad. "It was everything Vader wanted -- or maybe it was everything taken from him. Palpatine had always ensured that those were one and the same." BIG OOF. Poor guy and yet, he did it to himself.

• Catherynne M. Valente wrote one from the perspective of the giant asteroid worm??? I know I said there were too many animal ones, and there are, and this was not my favorite one. But it's just so UNIQUE and shows so much imagination I can't help but include it here. Very interesting.

• Tracy Deonn wrote one from the perspective of the evil Dark Side cave on Dagobah. This is honestly a better look at Yoda's character than the ones actually about Yoda, and it also has some interesting implications as to the nature of the greater Force.

• Daniel Jose Older wrote one and I literally don't even KNOW what it was about, but it was GREAT. Zuckuss and 4-LOM feature, but I couldn't even tell you what the point of the story was or who the heck the main character was. It was hilarious, though, and I loved it. Definitely one of my favorites of the whole bunch.

• Mackenzi Lee wrote one from Obi-Wan's ghost's point of view, and ignited a firestorm of controversy in the fandom. It's got some good sarcasm and some GREAT "Obi-Wan cannot go thirty seconds without having an Anakin flashback even after death" moments, but I do think that overall it's very out of character for Obi-Wan.

• Cavan Scott wrote one featuring Jaxxon, the GIANT BUNNY SMUGGLER FROM THE EU DARK HORSE COMICS. I love how they wiped out the EU only to bring back as much insanity as physically possible.

There are some fun inside jokes, like the stories about the guy who walks between Han and Leia as they shout at each other in the tunnel on Hoth, and the one about Ice Cream Maker Guy. There are some cartoon shoutouts that I appreciated, both Ahsoka and Kanan's names being mentioned.

There is a story about Admiral Sloane, the best part of which is when Vader suddenly appears from where he was concealed within a secret cylinder pod, and she just has a moment of pure bafflement like, "Why the heck was he inside a cylinder pod in the first place?" (FOR THE THEATRICS, Sloane! Come on!) And there's a heartfelt story at the end from the POV of the droid that attaches Luke's prosthetic arm.

Overall, this collection didn't blow my mind, and was more background noise than anything else. But there were some gems here, and I continue to enjoy catching all the small Star Wars revelations being newly made.