A Star Wars book that I’m particularly excited about will be releasing later this month, as From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi will release on August 29.
The book is the third in a trilogy celebrating the 40th anniversary of each film from the original trilogy. In 2017 there was the release of the collection based on A New Hope, then in 2020 the book based on The Empire Strikes Back. This one celebrates the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi, released in 1983, by exploring the events of the film from a number of different points of view. 40, to be exact, in honor of 40 years.
The collection of short stories are written by 40 different authors, and the characters explored all tend to be relatively minor players. There are background characters from the film, characters from elsewhere in the saga who don’t appear in the movie, and other related figures to give a number of short, fun, and interesting moments.
Del Rey recently released the 40 characters that will be the subject of a chapter, alongside the title and author of each story. They did so in a Twitter thread with excerpts, but you can see the chapters all listed below the embedded thread:
- Moff Jerjerrod – “Any Work Worth Doing” by Amal El-Mothar
- Max Rebo – “Fancy Man” by Phil Szostak
- EV-9D9 – “The Key to Remembering” by Olivia Chadha
- Bib Fortuna – “Fortuna Favors the Bold” by Kwame Mbalia
- ? – “Dune Sea Songs of Salt and Moonlight” by Thea Guanzon
- Malakili – “The Plan” by Saladin Ahmed
- Boba Fett – “Reputation” by Tara Sim
- Sion – “Kickback” by K Arsenault Rivera
- Salacious B. Crumb – “Everyone’s A Critic” by Sarah Glenn Marsh
- Sy Snootles – “Satisfaction” by Kristin Baver
- The Sarlaac – “My Mouth Never Closes” by Charlie Jane Anders
- Sim Aloo – “Kernels and Husks” by Jason Fry
- The Dragonsnake on Dagobah – “The Light That Falls” by Akemi Dawn Bowman
- Obi-Wan Kenobi – “From A Certain Point of View” by Alex Jennings
- Mon Mothma – “No Contingency” by Fran Wilde
- Lando Calrissian – “The Burden of Leadership” by Danny Lore
- TK-151 – “Gone to the Winner’s Circle” by Patricia A. Jackson
- Wicket – “One Normal Day” by Mary Kenney
- Logray – “Divine Intervention(?)” by Paul Crilley
- Norra Wexley – “The Buy-In” by Suzanne Walker
- Commander Igar – “The Man Who Captured Luke Skywalker” by Max Gladstone
- Admiral Ackbar – “Ackbar” by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
- Arvel Crynyd: -“The Impossible Flight of Ash Angels” by Marieke Nijkamp
- Riz – “Ending Protocol” by Hannah Whitten
- Sila Kott – “The Last Flight” by Ali Hazelwood
- Corr – “Twenty and Out” by Lamar Giles
- Nanta – “The Ballad of Nanta” by Sarah Kuhn
- Emperor Palpatine – “Then Fall, Sidious” by Olivia Blake
- ? – “Impact” by Sean Williams
- TK-423 – “Trooper Trouble” by Laura Pohl
- Admiral Piett – “To the Last” by Dana Schwartz
- The Royal Guard – “The Emperor’s Red Guards” by Gloria Chao
- Hoyel – “Wolf Trap” by Alyssa Wong
- Karie and Lanna – “The Extra Five Percent” by M.K. England
- Wedge Antilles – “When Fire Marked the Sky” by Emma Mieko Candon
- ? – “The Chronicler” by Danielle Page
- Dexter Jettster – “The Veteran” by Adam Lance Garcia
- Anakin Skywalker – “Brotherhood” by Mike Chen
- Enric Pryde – “The Steadfast Soldier” by Adam Christopher
- The Whills – “Return of the Whills” by Tom Angleberger
This looks like a fantastic lineup! As with the previous two installments in the From a Certain Point of View series there are sure to be some chapters that stand out more than others, but it will be a joy to read through all of them. As you probably noticed, there are some significant fan favorite characters focused on, including Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mon Mothma, Lando Calrissian, Admiral Ackbar, Emperor Palpatine, Wedge Antilles, and Anakin Skywalker. So there will certainly be no shortage of stories about some very familiar characters, and getting ‘inside their heads’, so to speak, will be fun. Especially someone like Anakin, in a story presumably told as he returns to the light. It’s written by Mike Chen, who wrote the excellent novel Brotherhood about Anakin and Obi-Wan, and his chapter here shares the same title – as it’s about the reunion of master and apprentice. Yeah, I’m already getting emotional.
But let’s be honest: maybe the most exciting, and surprising, addition is the return of Dexter Jettster, in “The Veteran” written by Adam Lance Garcia. He appeared in Attack of the Clones and has gathered a cult following of sorts, and I certainly never would have dreamed he’d be appearing here. Yet he is, and I can’t wait to read it.
This whole thing sounds great, and I’m a big fan of these From a Certain Point of View books. This one is shaping up to be no different.
Star Wars Thoughts 