The stories in From a Certain Point of View are arranged in the order of events from the movie. The first stories start off as Princess Leia's ship gets boarded, move on to life on Tatooine, then to the events on the Death Star when Luke and Han rescue Leia and culminate at the battle over the jungle base where the Rebel Alliance deals its first real blow against the Empire.
The collection of short stories kicks off from the perspective of Captain Raymus Antillies, whose ship, the Tantive IV has just left orbit over the secret Imperial base on Scarif after intercepting plans transmitted by Rogue One. Now the captain must try to protect not only the secret transmission, but his passenger, Princess Leia, as they are hunted by the Empire and, eventually, captured by a Star Destroyer.
While focused on the events on Tatooine, the book's stories will touch on everything from the Jawa who cleans R2-D2 after salvaging him, to the Tusken Raiders who encounter Luke in the wastes. There is even a story focusing on the red astromech droid that Luke and Uncle Owen almost buy instead of R2-D2, but as you might expect, a large portion of this part of the book focuses on the characters that happen to be inside Chalumn's Cantina (aka the Mos Eisley Cantina) when a certain young farm boy and his hermit friend first encounter a scoundrel and his Wookiee co-pilot.
One story focused on the cantina follows the bartender and helps to explain his dislike for droids, while another tells how the Bith band, The Modal Nodes, ended up playing at the cantina and why it's better than their last gig. There is even one story that explains why an eclectic combination of aliens: a Talz (large white and furry), a Chadra-Fan (bat-like), a Devaron (the man with horns) and an Abyssin (the cyclops), might all be congregating in this cantina and what strange series of events tied them all together so they could not only witness Luke and Obi-Wan's first meeting with Han, but also Han's shooting of Greedo.
Boba Fett even gets his own story in this collection as he stands besides Jabba the Hutt while the crime lord gives Han an ultimatum regarding the recently lost cargo. This particular story is amusing as it is Fett's inner monologue describing the events and providing some flavorful color commentary.
After a solid third of From a Certain Point of View, the book transitions from the desert planet to the Death Star as we get a look at the events on the battle station surrounding Leia's interrogation, the destruction of Alderaan, Leia's escape and, of course, the battle over Yavin IV. One story centers on the meeting between the station's top-brass where Darth Vader force chokes Admiral Motti. The story after that is Motti's incident report admonishing Vader for overreacting to Motti's comment concerning the Sith Lord's inability to keep religion out of government.
One story in this collection focuses on Grand Moff Tarkin as he gives the order to fire the Death Star's main weapon at Alderaan, while another follows a little MSE droid (aka mouse droid) as he is used as a courier between a Stormtrooper and an unnamed officer. Given the officer's high rank and ability to wipe the droid's memory, the story never explicitly says who the officer is, but there are enough lines to read between to let the reader know. Interestingly enough, this story makes the character far more human than he appears on screen, and it also shows why and how the Stormtrooper, none other than TK-421, has been assigned to guard the Millennium Falcon.
Stories in this segment of the book will touch on everything from what Obi-Wan goes through when being struck down by Vader, to Obi-Wan telling Yoda that he will need to train Luke. It will even cover the life of the Dianoga that lives in the garbage compactor the main characters find themselves in after breaking Leia out of her cell. But, my favorite piece from this part of the book, and possibly the book as a whole, is "Palpatine" by Ian Doescher.
In "Palpatine," Doescher writes a Shakespearian monologue from the perspective of the Emperor after learning of Obi-Wan's death. As the character expounds on his thoughts concerning Obi-Wan's exile and the possibility that Yoda could still be alive, it is easy to picture a dark stage with a spotlight shining on a single robed figure talking directly to the audience. When the tone changes from insecurity over his enemies, to the strength of his Empire and the Dark Side, you can feel the character's confidence growing alongside his determination. It easily felt like a speech Iago or Shylock would give and Doescher did a great job of capturing both the character and the style in this piece.
The final few stories in this collection take place on or above Yavin IV as the Death Star looms over the rebel base. Here you will read stories from the perspective of pilots wanting to fly but are grounded, to those in the fight, to the mechanics and logisticians who keep the rebel machine running. Unfortunately, it is these stories, as well as the ones focused around the Mos Eisley cantina where the book's biggest flaw becomes apparent.
Contradictions. There are many times when the stories straight up contradict each other. Some are minor and only a little annoying, but others are just flat out opposites. In the cantina, Greedo's actions, reputation and demeanor changes to suit the story. On Yavin, other flaws appear. For instance, in one, the main character can't fly in the battle because there aren't enough fighters, in another one, the main character notes that there aren't enough pilots. While nothing seen on screen is contradicted, many times, the way common characters get to those scenes is different and it is pretty jarring. That being said, this is a minor annoyance, but some more coordinated effort on the part of the editor could have prevented this. Thankfully, I've already read the follow-up collection, Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View - The Empire Strikes Back and this is far less of an issue in that collection.
There are several truly heartwarming and tear-jerking stories in this collection. One is from Aunt Beru's perspective, post-death, as she talks about raising Luke. Another focuses on Leia's adopted mother, Queen Breha Organa, on Alderaan, as she learns that Leia's ship has disappeared and the senate has been dissolved. With her husband, Bail, returning home because he is no longer needed in the Senate, the two work to figure out how to find their lost daughter, just as the Death Star appears in orbit. One particularly gut-wrenching story focuses on a member of the Rebel Alliance based on Yavin IV who is forced to send his baby daughter off world as the fear of Imperial discovery grows. It is worth noting that this particular story is written by Wil Wheaton of Star Trek fame.
Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View celebrates the franchise's 40 years with 40 different stories that really help to expand the world around the main characters in a way that has been severely lacking since Disney took over the property and deemed the old Expanded Universe no longer canon. I can't touch on all of the stories in this review, and there are many really good reads that I didn't even mention or only hinted at. In general, I enjoyed this collection of stories and found it a solid read all the way through. That being said, the second book in the series is a much stronger offering, and I can't wait to see what is put together for the inevitable Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View - Return of the Jedi release.
