When I read tie-in fiction, the best thing the story can do is add something to the existing material that makes me see things in a new light. This means that something from a book or comic adds to my understanding of the movie or television show I watch. Star Wars has a fantastic track record in this regard with books like A New Dawn, Catalyst, Master & Apprentice, Rebel Rising, Lost Stars or comics like Charles Soule’s Darth Vader run. For anyone familiar with my reviews here, this should come as no surprise that my criteria for a good Star Wars book is how much I feel it adds to my enjoyment, understanding and illumination of what we see on screen.
The latest offering from Del Rey is their second book in the From a Certain Point of View series. This book celebrates the fortieth anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back. As with the previous book, this one has forty different authors telling a story from the perspective of separate characters, some of which may only have been seen on screen for mere seconds. This allows fans the opportunity to relive the film in a whole new way.
As with the first book, the second has some truly stand out stories. For me these were,
- Rogue Two by Gary Witta
- Against All Odds by R.F. Kuang
- The Truest Duty by Christie Golden
- For the Last Time by Beth Revis
- Rendezvous Point bu Jason Fry
- The First Lesson by Jim Zub
- Disturbance by Mike Chen
- Lord Vader Will See You Now by John Jackson Miller
- Vergence by Tracy Deonn
- Tooth and Claw by Michael Kogge
- Wait for It by Zoraida Córdova
- There is Always Another by Mackenzi Lee
- Faith in an Od Friend by Brittany N. Williams
- Right-Hand Man by Lydia Kang
Each one of these stories added something to my understanding and appreciation of The Empire Strikes Back in unique ways.
My main frustration with this volume is that there were too many stories I just didn’t enjoy reading. Many of them did not live up to my criteria for tie-in fiction and that left me feeling of two minds on the book. The stories I liked, I really liked, but the stories I didn’t, I really didn’t. This means that this second volume doesn’t quite live up to my rating of the first, which was a 4 out of 5. From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back is rated 3 out of 5 stars.
This review was completed with a review copy of From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back from Del Rey Publishing.
Author: Matt Rushing
Matthew Rushing is the host of Trek.fm‘s The 602 Club and co-host of TheNerdParty.com‘s AggressiveNegotiations: A Star Wars Podcast. He can be found on Twitter @mattrushing02.