Updates regarding the much anticipated From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back have been sparse to non-existent since its announcement but one of the most moments leading up to its release has finally happened: social cards revealing who or what each of the 40 authors is writing about! Rolled out in 5 minutes intervals through Del Rey’s Twitter account, it was a blast to watch the unveiling unfold, especially when the Twitter account VeersWatch got his due. Head below for all the stories to be told, as I break them all down and reveal the top 10 I’m most excited for. UPDATE: Here’s my review, including which ones made my final Top Ten.
Let’s start with the top 10 tales I’m most anxious for, in story order (Notes attributed to Tom are in regards to Del Rey Editor Tom Hoeler, who goes by @DarthInternous on Twitter):
“A Good Kiss” by C.B. Lee {4/40}: Long have many wondered what the rebels passing through Han and Leia’s explosive Hoth hallway conversation have felt and the wait is over thanks to Chase Wilsorr‘s tale, and from the little excerpt on the social card alone, it sounds like this will be both funny and live up to expectations. C.B. Lee runs down a few scant details on Chase on her Twitter account.
“Heroes of the Rebellion” by Amy Ratcliffe {6/40}: As teased by Tom, “Heroes of the Rebellion” explores the definition of heroism and journalism’s role in portraying truth, very prescient with the current situation around us in America (and other parts of the world). I’ve always found journalist-focused stories, in fiction, to be extremely my jam, as their desire to dig into the truth and be open to all sides of the story can bring some much needed perspective to some of my favorite fictional universes (and ours here). And one where they question Han, Luke, and Leia can offer a new way to see them from the rest of the galaxy’s perspective…or why the galaxy feels the way about them the way they do in the first place. It’s also really neat to see Amy Ratcliffe, a fan like many of us, rise to where she is today, including contributing this story for the collection!
“Amara Kel’s Rules for TIE Pilot Survival (Probably)” by Django Wexler {17/40}: From the title and social card alone, I’m all in for this tale which looks to provide some humor about the life of the disposable TIE pilot(s). A list of fun rules will be an excellent opportunity to wipe away any and all tears from the tales before it, as there seem to be many. Plus, I have a feeling I’ll be rooting for Amara by the time the story’s through…maybe because she’ll help make me just a little better at Star Wars Squadrons.
“Disturbance” by Mike Chen {19/40}: There’s stories from Yoda and even Obi-Wan I of course am eager to read, and while I’ve picked several from recognizable characters before, this one from Sheev Palpatine’s POV during his chat with Darth Vader manages to make this list for all its giant potential. As writer Mike Chen offered on Twitter that he was inspired by the much beloved Revenge of the Sith novelization and threads will weave between original and prequel trilogies, while he also added there are Star Wars Rebels/Knights of the Old Republic references, and even listening to the Doctor Aphra audiobook is helpful (and always highly recommended by me!). I don’t think they are underselling this story in the slightest; we will never look at Vader and Palpatine’s conversation the same way again!
“This is No Cave” by Catherynne M. Valente {20/40}: It’s time for the exogorth, aka the space slug everyone thinks is a cave, to take center stage! And no, I’m not excited because it could potentially feature mynocks, though that is my hope it does, somewhere, but rather I’m looking forward to this one for two reasons: 1) I read Valente’s Space Opera last year and had an absolute blast with the story, as it channeled Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in a way I haven’t quite read since those books 2) And two, from the sound of the description in the Tweet introducing the tale, it teases a story across time and space, and along with whatever the heck “the Road of All Moons,” is, it sounds like this will take advantage of Valente’s particular skills and provide a truly wild and strange tale; Star Wars is always better off with those.
“Lord Vader Will See You Now” by John Jackson Miller {21/40}: They cried out her name and were finally heard: RAE GOD DAMN SLOANE IS BACK! John Jackson Miller returns to SW prose alongside her, originally bringing the character to memorable life in A New Dawn over 6 years ago now, so there is so much to celebrate about this. I’ve been a really big fan of the character and how we’ve gotten such a wide swath of her career already, from the Aftermath series showing her as Grand Admiral leading into the Battle of Jakku, her finally being voiced thanks to her appearance in Star Wars Squadrons, to her continued pursuit of Kanan Jarrus in the Kanan comic, but there are plenty of blank spaces left. What exactly she’s up to during TESB, and how she manages to avoid Vader’s wrath, will be quite the story to see!
“Vergence” by Tracy Deonn {22/40}: The Cave of Evil on Dagobah has had quite the interesting life, from canon to Legends, but we’ve never heard its side of the story…until now! It’s shown Yoda what’s to come for the Jedi during the Clone Wars, Luke what he really brought with him, and even Ben Solo the nurturing he’s always felt he was shorted. And while Ben blew up…no, exploded…no, destroyed, I guess is the best word, the Cave, I’m eager to learn more about it and what it sees…and why it shows what it does. The possibility of exploring that has my interest piqued, but any weird or surprising POV always sparks my interest. Tom teases it’s about trauma and pain, but also that there’s light even in the darkness of the cave, while writer Tracy Deonn (whose recent Legendborn novel is on my must read list!) says it’ll be “…weird, dark, & lyrical.” Consider me officially hyped!
“Fake It Till You Make It” by Cavan Scott {28/40}: Jaxxon makes the leap (sorry, couldn’t help myself) from the odd tale here or there in IDW’s Annual issues and into the novel world, once again as the Lepi’s biggest proponent, writer and High Republic architect Cavan Scott! Really, Jaxxon is another silly tale is all that needs to be said about how much fun this should be, though I am curious if being unable to see Jaxxon will alter the feel of the tale or if it won’t matter much at all; I’m betting it won’t, but it’ll be the first non-comic appearance so we’ll see.
“Faith in an Old Friend” by Brittany N. Williams {33/40}: I did not see this one coming! L3-37’s fate in Solo: A Star Wars Story is an understandable point of contention for most fans, and how they haven’t tried to incorporate her being part of the Falcon since has only made it worse. There was a great little nod to her living on in the Falcon thanks to Jason Fry’s The Last Jedi novelization, which he had to play coy with since Solo hadn’t released yet, but finally putting a tale in her POV in what amounts to the Falcon’s biggest role in the original trilogy (considering so much time is spent on the ship), begins to make up for her absence. An excellent story with L3 is the novel Last Shot, so between rewatching Solo and reading the novel, there’s plenty of ways to get an L3 fix before this story arrives. Brittany N. Williams seems rather excited about writing L3 and the rest of the Falcon‘s droid brains and it makes me even more eager for this story!
“The Man Who Built Cloud City” by Alexander Freed {37/40}: Normally Freed has some of the heavier, boots-on-the-ground focused novels, and they’ve all been excellent (with Alphabet Squadron: Shadow Fall maybe his best so far!), but it seems like with this tall tale (or is it!?) he’ll get to try to be a bit more fantastical and have fun. I’ll be curious to see where this tale leads, especially if it has a fairy tale-like quality to it!
And now here are the remaining stories, with some brief thoughts about them, all in story order (minus the 10 above):
“Eyes of the Empire” by Kiersten White {1/40}: Who watches the watchers…the probe droid watchers, that is? Curious way to start the collection!
“Hunger” by Mark Oshiro {2/40}: The wampa gets its due…and this might make us all sad for him when Luke cuts off his arm!
“Ion Control” by Emily Skrutskie {3/40}: Toryn Farr always deserves more of a focus, especially to dive into her impressively cold, even by Hoth standards, and collected demeanor in the face of an Imperial attack!
“She Will Keep Them Warm” by Delilah S. Dawson {5/40}: Dawson’s most recent work has left a bad taste in my mouth, but hopefully this tale from the Tauntaun’s POV should avoid those problems.
“Rogue Two” by Gary Whitta {7/40}: Sure, the title is about Zev Senesca and his search for Luke and Han, but considering Whitta helped write Rogue One, it’s only fitting he’s writing Rogue Two too! His tale bridging A New Hope and Rogue One in the previous FACPOV was a real heartbreaking treat!
“Kendal” by Charles Yu {8/40}: Admiral Ozzel gets the short end of the stick in the movie, but between the story’s title, Yu’s past work I’ve enjoyed (How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe), and the knowledge this will likely provide some deft insight into the character, this should be good.
“Against All Odds” by R.F. Kuang {9/40}: I have no doubts tales before this one will make me cry, but holy cow, setting this in Dak’s POV, knowing he’ll be dead by the end of it, I don’t think I’ll be ready for this. Also, Kuang’s GIF choice is…something; love it!
“Beyond Hope” by Michael Moreci {10/40}: Normally Freed covers the boots-on-the-ground, so I’ll be eager to see how Moreci tackles it, though his recent work on The Clone Wars – Battle Tales miniseries certainly shows he has SW down pat.
“The Truest Duty” by Christie Golden {11/40}: @VeersWatch’s watch is finally over. Definitely one of the biggest highlights of the reveal process was watching everyone congratulate him. Also, Tom revealed this is somehow a love story?! Curious!
“A Naturalist on Hoth” by Hank Green {12/40}: Definitely didn’t see this one coming at all, but it’s such a unique and surprising perspective I’m ready for me to really love this one.
“The Dragonsnake Saves R2-D2” by Katie Cook {13/40}: There was a comic in the previous FACPOV as well, though the social card revealed the whole thing. Even if this was the whole thing, it’s cute and wonderful.
“For the Last Time” by Beth Revis {14/40}: Captain…no, Admiral Piett might be one of my favorite Imperials, and while I don’t quite no why besides how well he handled Vader firing all his co-workers, I bet Revis’ story will help be the reason I enjoy him more.
“Rendezvous Point” by Jason Fry {15/40}: Fry had some fun with his Wedge tale last time around, but he said he decided to go the more serious route for this one. And hey, it’s more Wedge so yes, please! Tom revealed it’s the longest tale in the collection, while it channels the spirit of Michael Stackpole and the late Aaron Allston, the X-Wing series writers (that Chris just started digging into for his Legendary Adventures)!
“The Final Order” by Seth Dickinson {16/40}: The title raises some eyebrows (The Rise of Skywalker and Sheev’s Final Order anyone?), but finally getting to learn about the Imperial who dies by asteroid field in the middle of a conversation with Vader is a wonderful development.
“The First Lesson” by Jim Zub {18/40}: It’s time to get into Yoda’s head as he preps to mess with the young Skywalker arriving at his humble abode. I’ll be curious is Zub ties this into Yoda’s story in the previous FACPOV.
“Tooth and Claw” by Michael Kogge {23/40}: The bounty hunter focused tales begin! It all starts with Bossk in a tale that sounds like it’ll be full of fun twists and turns!
“STET!” by Daniel José Older {24/40}: The format for this one, basically this Parazeen writing a magazine profile on 4-LOM and Zuckuss, is VERY unique, as is the funny inclusion of editor’s notes about the profile. Older’s works have been a blast in the past and I don’t see that changing here, plus he’s got even more stuff on the way due to being of the High Republic architects,. As for the title, “STET!” Tom notes, as an editor himself, it’s, “…an obelism used by proofreaders to “let it stand” or cancel out a proposed edit.”
“Wait for It” by Zoraida Córdova {25/40}: Some of the recent Boba Fett content has soured me on the character, and the previous FACPOV’s take on Boba didn’t quite land for me, so having him finally written by a woman makes me hope all that will change. But this is not the last story featuring Boba in some way…
“Standard Imperial Procedure” by Sarwat Chadda {26/40}: I love that this new character, an Imperial engineer, has no idea who Boba Fett is, but has to deal with him anyways as he prepares to hide among the trash to track down Han. But of course, it sounds like things don’t go well for Ashon, per Chadda!
“There is Always Another” by Mackenzi Lee {27/40}: Obi-Wan Kenobi returns as a Force Ghost and it sounds like, just like most of us, he’s done with the Skywalker family but knows he has to deal with it anyways; I’m always so hyped for more Obi-Wan Ghost! This story sounds funny, from Kenobi’s exasperated tone in the excerpt, but Tom promises it’s final line will stick with us for a long time; that gave me the chills!
“But What Does He Eat?” by S.A. Chakroborty {29/40}: The chef who had to prepare the most awkward family dinner in all the galaxies?! I can’t imagine being in those shoes, and the Devaronian Torro doesn’t quite feel like he’s being paid enough anyways to deal with such pressure, per Chakroborty, and I can’t blame them!
“Beyond the Clouds” by Lilliam Rivera {30/40}: I don’t quite know how to feel about this one yet, but seeing as it’s an original character revealing how the everyday citizen of Cloud City is making ends meet, per Rivera herself, I hope her idolatry of Boba doesn’t hurt her too much.
“No Time for Poetry” by Austin Walker {31/40}: Dengar and IG-88 in an Odd Couple-like tale. I’ll take two, please.
“Bespin Escape” by Martha Wells {32/40}: I’m still very excited Wells is back writing SW, and having her in charge of showing things from the Ugnaught’s perspective might just be the perfect return.
“Due on Batuu” by Rob Hart {34/40}: And here it is, Willrow Hood’s story! There was no way one of the most (in)famous background characters in all of Star Wars, whom didn’t get his mandatory “Running of the Hoods” at Celebration this year since it was cancelled, wouldn’t get a tale in FACPOVTESB!
“Into the Clouds” by Karen Strong {35/40}: Another original character, Jailyn Cirri, whom writer Strong revealed is, “…a Tibanna gas heiress with a love of fashion and a streak of rebellion inspired by a certain princess.” Curious how she gets involved with Cloud City’s citizens attempt to flee the city after Lando issue the evacuation order.
“The Witness” by Adam Christopher {36/40}: Sounds like Deena Lorn stumbles upon the duel between Vader and Luke, which sounds like a fun way to explore the conflict while also dealing with whatever Lorn has had enough with. Bonus fun fact for this one: The TK number (for the 501st costuming league) is the same as Bria LaVorgna, of Tosche Station and the official site’s blog, which is such an awesome shout-out to a fantastic fan!
“The Backup Backup Plan” by Anne Toole {38/40}: We get a brief glimpse of how Cloud City is doing in the wake of Lando’s decision to help the Rebellion in the recent Star Wars comic series, so I’m eager to dive more in-depth with the fallout of those actions by seeing it from a new character’s POV left on Cloud City.
“Right-Hand Man” by Lydia Kang {39/40}: The humorous potential here is exciting, but so to is its friendly reminder just how important it is to listen to your physicians.
“The Whills Strike Back” by Tom Angleberger {40/40}: Last FACPOV ended with the Whills recounting the tales of the Skywalkers, for a bit of meta-fun, and this one thankfully ends no differently!
The art/social cards are thanks to Chris Trevas!
Well, that’s all 40 for you! What ones are you most excited about? Tell us in the comments below or reach out to us on social media, we’d love to hear your picks and why! From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back releases November 10.
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.