A concept becoming more popular in movies and books is retelling a popular story everyone already knows, but from the perspective of a bystander or minor character. On November 10th, get ready to relive all the glory from arguably the best Star Wars movie ever made. From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back is coming to book shelves near you, bringing forty new Episode V stories by forty different authors from Del Rey Books.
This will be the second book of it’s kind, following the first From a Certain Point of View based on characters from Episode IV: A New Hope published in 2017. Star Wars readers might be seeing a publishing trend here. We could get a FCPOV book for each film in the saga.
The iconic line, “From a certain point of view”, said by Obi-Wan’s ghost in Episode VI, lives on as one of the most quoted lines from all of Star Wars. Some fans use it to show how the Jedi are built on lies, while others know Obi-Wan hid Luke’s parentage from him to protect him until he was ready. Either way, it’s the perfect title for this new tome and we are excited to get our hands on it.
The Empire Strikes Back: Who’s “Point of View” Are We Getting?
While specific characters are not yet known, we do know the stories will come from droids, creatures, and certain heroes and villains in the movie. Episode V had a plethora of backing characters that witnessed key events unfold. This is some rich ground for story-telling and an opportunity to showcase the deeper meanings of this space opera we all love so much.
In the first book, we saw amazing tales, such as a peek into the mind of Grand Moff Tarkin written by Pablo Hidalgo. Gary Whitta gave us Wedge Antilles’ perspective on the events of Rogue One going into A New Hope. Nnedi Okorofor brings to life a most unlikely character: the unseen creature in the Death Star trash compactor. The second book has an even greater cast of characters to pull from in The Empire Strikes Back. Personally, I say we had better get a story about Willrow Hood or we’re gonna fight.
Is This Book Just Another Star Wars Money Grab?
Some of the authors of stories out the From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back have made themselves known on Twitter. There are new names and some familiar ones from the first FCPOV book. Here’s a list of the ones we know so far:
- Rob Hart
- Emily Strutskie
- Zoraida Cordova
- Amy Ratcliffe
- Mike Chen
- Delilah S. Dawson
- Karen Strong
- Mark Oshiro
- E.K. Johnston
- Catherynne Valente
- Lilliam Riveria
- Daniel Jose Older
- Kiersten White
- Gary Whitta
- Tom Angleberger
- S.A. Chakraborty
- Brittany N. Williams
- Beth Revis
- Lydia Kang
- Jim Zub
- Martha Wells
- Christie Golden
- Rebecca F. Kuang
- Austin Walker
- John Jackson Miller
- Tracy Deonn
- Hank Green
- Django Wexler
- Jason Fry
- Michael Kogge
And there’s still more to come. I mention these names because there’s two extraordinary threads tying all this together that shows it’s not about the money. First, every single one of these authors are excited Star Wars fans, just like us. Second, they aren’t taking a single cent from the project. That’s right. Every bit of it goes to the charity, First Book. They are a non-profit organization that supplies educators with books, learning materials and essentials to help children in need.
The giving doesn’t stop there. Penguin Random House and Disney/Lucasfilm are getting off the wallet. Random House is donating $100,000 to First Book, and Lucasfilm is donating 100,000 books (that’s about $1-million credits) to the cause. To see a full author list on Monday, June 15, follow the hashtag #FromaCertainPOVStrikesBack.
Maz Kanata Saves Han Solo in Episode V – Read here!
From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back book will hit shelves on November 10th, 2020 and is available for pre-order now. Don’t forget to stick with That Hashtag Show for all your Star Wars news and reviews, and as always, to learn more about Star Wars, you can also visit the official website at starwars.com.
Source: Star Wars
