Star Wars from a Certain Point of View by Various Authors
Reviewed by: Melissa Friedlund, Reference Assistant
Genre: Science Fiction, Anthology
Suggested Age: Teens, Adults
What is the book about?: This is a retelling of the story of the original Star Wars movie (released in 1977) created to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the film. There are 40 short stories written from more than 40 different characters’ viewpoints by more than 40 authors. Some stories only tell a portion of the movie’s story line. Others start before we see the narrative character on the screen and continue until the end of the movie. If you are unfamiliar with the story line: a spaceship battle over a remote desert planet leads two droids, a farm boy, and an aged warrior on a roller-coaster adventure to save the princess, escape the Empire, destroy the planet-killing space station, and save the Rebel Alliance.
My Review: I listened to the audiobook version of this title, not knowing exactly what I was in for. Luckily, I love Star Wars and have read several science fiction, short story anthologies in the past, so this wasn’t outside my comfort zone once I discovered the true nature of this publication. The narrative characters are mostly those who were in the periphery of the scenes in the movie. I generally liked those stories better than the ones that took more well-known characters’ viewpoints. This book could have become a tiresome rehashing of a well-known story, but I think the shifting perspectives kept it from turning into that. As far as the stories themselves, the majority were insightful and amusing. However, there are some haunting moments where characters end their contribution with a hopeful outlook, but anyone familiar with the movie knows they will not have a happy ending. There were some authors that I didn’t enjoy as much as others, but since none of the stories lasted more than an hour, it wasn’t a burden to just let it play out and keep listening. There are some inconsistencies between the stories that refer to or involve the same characters. I would have assumed an editor would have smoothed these inconsistencies a bit more. The story order was probably the best placement possible. However, when a story in the middle of the collection takes you all the way to the end of the movie, it’s a little jarring to pick up back in the middle of the main plotline for the next story. The actors that read the stories included not only familiar voices from other Star Wars genre audiobooks, but also several new voices. Overall, the voice acting was enjoyable. I have to give props to the actor who read an entire story in an insect-like, alien voice with a buzzing quality. You could tell that it was not an electronic effect because the vocal impression slipped a few times, but it was a valiant effort. Many of the authors included humorous elements that were effectively executed by the actors in the recording.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Amusing, Nostalgic, Unexpected
Give This a Try if You Like… Writers of the Future anthologies presented by L. Ron Hubbard, William Shakespeare’s Star Wars by Ian Doescher, Ultimate Star Wars by Patricia Barr, A New Hope: The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy by Alexandra Bracken
Rating: 4/5
About FDL Reads
FDL Reads is a series of weekly book reviews from Fondulac District Library.