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fisk42's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book quite a bit but it felt a bit more niche than the first FaCPoV book for ANH. It also never reached quite the same enjoyment factor for me. It's hard to write this review without comparing back to the ANH version, but that book really raised my expectations for this one.
Ultimately what threw me off a bit with this book was the large number of what felt like filler stories. There were way too many stories told from the POV of animals (suddenly the space slug is part of a sentient species with a complex history). What was even more annoying to me was the number of stories told from people who didn't even make an appearance in the movie. You could argue they did, there's certainly room for that, but the stories themselves often times make no effort to connect them to the on screen events.
I definitely still enjoyed the book hence the 4 star rating (rounded up from say a 3.75 or so). One of my favorite tales was also one of the types that I just talked about not liking, but it was the only redeeming one. This was the tale of the chef woken in the middle of their sleep schedule to cook up a meal for Darth Vader. This was great and hilarious and how well it was done just made the other stories about characters who didn't show up even worse. (Why do I want to read several short stories about random people doing random things living in Cloud City who aren't shown on screen? It misses the whole point of the book for me.)
Ultimately what threw me off a bit with this book was the large number of what felt like filler stories. There were way too many stories told from the POV of animals (suddenly the space slug is part of a sentient species with a complex history). What was even more annoying to me was the number of stories told from people who didn't even make an appearance in the movie. You could argue they did, there's certainly room for that, but the stories themselves often times make no effort to connect them to the on screen events.
I definitely still enjoyed the book hence the 4 star rating (rounded up from say a 3.75 or so). One of my favorite tales was also one of the types that I just talked about not liking, but it was the only redeeming one. This was the tale of the chef woken in the middle of their sleep schedule to cook up a meal for Darth Vader. This was great and hilarious and how well it was done just made the other stories about characters who didn't show up even worse. (Why do I want to read several short stories about random people doing random things living in Cloud City who aren't shown on screen? It misses the whole point of the book for me.)
ecallahan's review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
neilrcoulter's review against another edition
3.0
This is the second collection of Star Wars stories that take the reader through a whole movie, start to finish, through the eyes of minor characters. I enjoyed the first one and found it a fun way to relive A New Hope. This volume, however, for The Empire Strikes Back, didn’t work nearly so well. Some reasons? The second film in the trilogy is a more tightly focused narrative, so there’s much less room for interesting (or even amusing) side plots happening just outside the frame. Also, ESB is more serious than ANH, so the flippant tone of some of these stories feels wrong.
The main problem is that the editors are attached to the idea of forty stories, in honor of the film’s fortieth anniversary. What this book shows is that there aren’t forty minor characters in the film who can be given interesting stories. Ten good stories would be a stretch; but forty? As a major character says near the end of the film: “That’s impossible!”
Fifteen of the first stories in the collection are centered on Hoth, and most of them are tedious. Several stories give the histories of various Rebels in the Hoth base, but the stories are entirely interchangeable. The backstory of a Rebel soldier could as easily be switched with one given to a snowspeeder pilot. It just doesn’t matter, and it adds nothing significant to the movie. It feels like authors drew plot outlines from a jar and then picked a character in the background to assign it to.
The book ends with twelve stories about Cloud City, and though they’re not quite so bad as the Hoth section, they’re mostly mediocre. All the usual Star Wars boxes are checked: appearance by an unexpected random character (Jaxxon); stormtrooper developing a conscience and defecting; pondering a humorous detail about Vader (What/How does he eat?); double-crosses and double-double-crosses; observations about Lando’s capes. This highlights the main problem with Star Wars right now: It needs to get away from itself. Stop the endless self-referencing, parodying, using lines from other movies in new stories for comedic effect, using the word “hope,” connections to Skywalkers...just stop. Find some era or corner of the galaxy that hasn’t been thoroughly mined, and create something new that doesn’t depend on fans who have every detail of every movie memorized.
So if you were going to pick up this book and not read all forty stories (547 pages!), which ones are worth trying? Here are a few that I liked, though it’s entirely subjective:
The main problem is that the editors are attached to the idea of forty stories, in honor of the film’s fortieth anniversary. What this book shows is that there aren’t forty minor characters in the film who can be given interesting stories. Ten good stories would be a stretch; but forty? As a major character says near the end of the film: “That’s impossible!”
Fifteen of the first stories in the collection are centered on Hoth, and most of them are tedious. Several stories give the histories of various Rebels in the Hoth base, but the stories are entirely interchangeable. The backstory of a Rebel soldier could as easily be switched with one given to a snowspeeder pilot. It just doesn’t matter, and it adds nothing significant to the movie. It feels like authors drew plot outlines from a jar and then picked a character in the background to assign it to.
The book ends with twelve stories about Cloud City, and though they’re not quite so bad as the Hoth section, they’re mostly mediocre. All the usual Star Wars boxes are checked: appearance by an unexpected random character (Jaxxon); stormtrooper developing a conscience and defecting; pondering a humorous detail about Vader (What/How does he eat?); double-crosses and double-double-crosses; observations about Lando’s capes. This highlights the main problem with Star Wars right now: It needs to get away from itself. Stop the endless self-referencing, parodying, using lines from other movies in new stories for comedic effect, using the word “hope,” connections to Skywalkers...just stop. Find some era or corner of the galaxy that hasn’t been thoroughly mined, and create something new that doesn’t depend on fans who have every detail of every movie memorized.
So if you were going to pick up this book and not read all forty stories (547 pages!), which ones are worth trying? Here are a few that I liked, though it’s entirely subjective:
“Eyes of the Empire,” by Kiersten White. I liked the opening story, about an Imperial worker who built and controls the probe droids scouring the galaxy for the Rebel base. It’s an interesting idea, that there’s this person watching the data and dreaming of visiting different worlds. Including Dagobah at the end was overreaching, but until that point, it was a decent story. (In general, stories about Imperials have much more potential to be good than stories about Rebels. Good guys are boring.)Forty stories, and there are four that I remember with any fondness. That’s about par for Star Wars these days.
“The Final Order,” by Seth Dickinson. This is a story about the Imperial captain commanding a Star Destroyer in the search for the Millennium Falcon in the asteroid belt. Most of the story is inside his thoughts as he extrapolates what the Empire will become if it is victorious. Star Wars authors often do this trope of “What if an Imperial decided the Empire was bad,” but this story gets into the psychology much better than other stories have done. Very clever and thoughtful.
“Tooth and Claw,” by Michael Kogge. Bounty hunter stories have a lot of potential, but this is the only one in this collection that I thought did something worthwhile. The story is about Bossk just as he receives the summons to come to Vader’s ship for a new job. By drawing on existing lore about the enmity between Trandoshans and Wookiees, the story subverts the expectations and becomes about choices characters make, and what it takes to move from hate to compassion. Most stories in this book didn’t surprise me at all, but this one did.
“There Is Always Another,” by Mackenzi Lee. My favorite story in the previous book was the one that focused on Obi-Wan on Tatooine. This book includes a story from the point of view of Obi-Wan’s ghost as he visits Luke and Yoda on Dagobah. Lee’s writing begins with the wrong tone—too forced-comedic. But it grows into an unexpectedly touching meditation by the end, as we listen in on Obi-Wan’s thoughts about Skywalkers, and his own failures, and his need to keep growing and learning even after death. And okay, it is kind of funny to read Obi-Wan thinking, “I don’t know why I am defending Anakin—even in my own head—especially after he killed me. Old habits” (349).
katcrits's review against another edition
4.0
I'm excited to return to the "From a Certain Point of View" series! With 40 short stories, there's a lot of variety in this book. Some of the stories were absolutely delightful, others I'm not sure I'll remember. I listened to the audio book, which I highly recommend for this series. It's read by a full cast and it brings variety to the dozens of new or returning characters. Overall, my one gripe is that we spent way too much time on Hoth (8 hours of the audiobook!).
I missed the release of this book during the pandemic, but I'm happy to return to it now that the last book is out! Can't wait to dive into FACPOV: Return of the Jedi!
I missed the release of this book during the pandemic, but I'm happy to return to it now that the last book is out! Can't wait to dive into FACPOV: Return of the Jedi!
tcmreads's review against another edition
I thought the book was very good, but they spent wayyyy too much time on Hoth. I very quickly got tired of hearing about snow and tauntaun’s.
My favorite story was This Is No Cave. I never thought I would cry over a lonely space worm but I did.
However, the last story was very weak and sucky way to end the book imo. But overall, I enjoyed it.
My favorite story was This Is No Cave. I never thought I would cry over a lonely space worm but I did.
However, the last story was very weak and sucky way to end the book imo. But overall, I enjoyed it.
jelundberg's review against another edition
4.0
Another solid outing from the FACPOV series. My favourite in this one is Delilah S. Dawson’s “She Will Keep Them Warm”, which made me see tauntauns in a whole new light.
jrc2011's review against another edition
4.0
I have not always been a fan of short stories - it often feels like something is missing, or I'm not relating to the world being built due to the short ramp-up. However, I am familiar with the world of "Star Wars" -- and the authors have presented a set of short stories that dovetail nicely with the theme, providing both a perspective from a minor character as well as a different lens for viewing the world of "Star Wars." We get a gay space cowboy romance, a dedicated obsessive botanist, various leadership and team-building strategies, even some hilarious scenarios depicting "what if" possible perspectives of some characters like Obi Wan Kenobi who is sick of Luke's crap.
This is awesome as an audio book.
This is awesome as an audio book.
Spoiler
● "Eyes of the Empire" - a story about loyalty and small acts of sabotage.
● "Hunger" - from the perspective of the Wampa, a sasquatch like animal - giving us backstory, family and questioning who really are the monsters in this scenario.
● "Ion Control"- What happens when Han and Leia have a fight and flounce off - "office gossip" - and funny.
● "A Good Kiss" - Not everyone can be a hero but maybe they can? Perspective of an admin assistant.
● “She Will Keep Them Warm” - another story of non-human sentience, the Tauntauns have their own society and preferences.
● “Heroes of the Rebellion” - news reporting for the rebellion; why don't we have more reporters in space westerns? The press corps in "Battlestar Galactica" was a bit over the top but embedded war reporters provides a good perspective.
● “Rogue Two” - more about the cold but also team building and leadership.
● “Kendal” - I think this is the "life flashing before" one's eyes
● “Against All Odds" - another fallen hero
● “Beyond Hope” - Battle / warfare descriptions with character motivations for joining the rebellion.
● “The Truest Duty” - more internal dialogue of folks attracted to fascism
● “A Naturalist on Hoth” - This was SO good - a botanist who lives for knowledge, and dies for it.
● “The Dragon Snake Saves R2” - sound F/X - it was atmospheric.
● “For the Last Time"- imperial story and a promotion by attrition, musings on power, fear and strength -- and folly
● “Rendezvous Point” - "top gun" in space
● “The Final Order”, A: Boom. An unexpectedly deep tale.
● "Amara Kel's Rules for TIE Pilot Survival (Probably)" - fun and sexy, good story, girl gets girl!
● “The First Lesson”- philosophical Yoda musings
● “Disturbance”- Imperial chapter with background on the Emperor
● “This is No Cave” - Point of view of a massive space worm who just wants to have friends live inside it.
● “Lord Vader Will See You Now” -
● “Vergence”- Funny and dark, a sentience that grows in a cave that feeds on fear.
● “Tooth and Claw” - this was SO good!!!
● “STET!” - this was hilarious as an audio play - back and forth between a writer and a censor/editor
● “Wait for It” - exogorth bat barf trail leading to a promotion
● “Standard Imperial Procedure” - this one has Irish & English accents that sound hilarious over 2.00x speed
● “There is Always Another” - I love the musings about shortcomings and personal hell by Obi Wan (don't care that the voice is not a match, personally).
● “Fake It Til You Make It” - oh, this is hilarious - story of a rabbit like species who is an overly confident grifter with delusions of grandeur.
● “But What Does He Eat?” - a non-human chef with a barely human customer - more on power, fear and compliance in fascism - harkens to the age old question about time travel and killing Hitler.
● “Beyond the Clouds” - young wannabe bounty hunter dreams of bigger things
● “No Time for Poetry” - more bounty hunter machinations and observations
● “Bespin Escape” - this was a long story about a species that makes more of an appearance in the Mandalorian series; wasn't super memorable as some of the shorter stories
● “Faith in an Old Friend”
● “Due on Batuu”
● “Into the Clouds”
● “The Witness”
● “The Man Who Built Cloud City”
● “The Backup Backup Plan”
● “Right Hand Man”
● "The Whills Strike Back" - funny and whimsical finale from the historians of the galaxy.
jordandeanbaker's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5 - A fun collection short stories exploring The Empire Strikes Back from the perspective of background characters and side stories. Not as fun as the first collection based on the first Star Wars movie, but still a good time. Too much time spent on Hoth and Bespin, but overall it was enjoyable.
darkside1523's review against another edition
4.0
I don't think there's a bad story in this book. Some are definitely better than others, but I enjoyed every story. The only thing keeping me from giving this 5 stars is the length. It's HEFTY! I powered through the last 10 stories equally because they were so enjoyable and because I saw that I was approaching the end.
Really can't wait to rewatch ESB and find these characters in the movie.
Really can't wait to rewatch ESB and find these characters in the movie.
ncalv05's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0