A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away a young Luke Skywalker sped away from his home planet to change the balance of a galactic war. Meanwhile, on Tatooine, life as normal continued under the twin suns. George Lucas’s original Star Wars trilogy focusses on central heroes and villains, but it also presents us with a rich, heavily populated universe. We see brief flashes of intriguing characters and different ways of life. If, like me, you’ve wished you could spend more time exploring the people and places of Star Wars, then Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View is a book for you.

Published in 2017 to celebrate 40 years since the cinematic release of Episode IV: A New Hope, From a Certain Point of View contains 40 short stories by a fantastic range of writers including Ken Liu, Nnendi Okorafor, and Jason Fry. The stories follow the chronology of the film, building around key scenes and spaces to show us what passing characters, or those beyond the scope of the camera lens, were thinking and doing at the same time that the events of A New Hope were unfolding. It’s a wonderfully creative way to bring further life to this beloved galaxy. The collection includes stories exploring, among other things, the daily lives of Death Star dataworkers; what the ‘wretched hive of scum and villainy’ of Mos Eisley made of Luke Skywalker; and it addresses that eternal question: do Jawas dream?

The rich variety authorial voices works well, giving distinctive, absorbing and, sometimes, tantalisingly brief looks into different lives across the galaxy. I’ve returned to some of the stories a few times, not only to enjoy them again but also because the writing is so good. If you write short stories (sci-fi or otherwise) it’s a book worth reading when contemplating your craft and style.

Some earlier volumes of Star Wars short stories, such as Tales from Jabba’s Palace had quite long “short” stories. Personally, I found the stories in A Certain Point of View more honed and impactful. It’s a great book if you’re busy and want something quick to read or something you can dip in and out of. Overall, the stories strike the balance between giving you well-rounded tales, while leaving space for your imagination. 

At LEADS we spend a lot of time teaching and talking about ‘limitations’: no article or book can do everything, and the same goes for A Certain Point of View. If you’re hoping to get your friend/loved one/Padawan into Star Wars, this is not the book for the job. This is very much a book for folks who’ve seen the film, in one or two cases I felt as though authors expected some in-depth knowledge/memory, but overall a general memory was all that was needed to give some necessary context to the stories.

If you or your friend/loved one/Wookie co-pilot enjoyed A New Hope, this is very much a worthwhile read. Like the recent Mandalorian series, it takes us to the peripheries of the screen and the galaxy with stories that are thrilling and thoughtful. It would also make good bedtime reading for little Grogu.