Reviews

From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back by S.A. Chakraborty, Catherynne M. Valente, Mark Oshiro, Alexander Freed, Gary Whitta, Kiersten White, Jim Zubkavich, Tom Angleberger, Mackenzi Lee, Sarwat Chadda, Adam Christopher, Rob Hart, Jason Fry, Amy Ratcliffe, Cavan Scott, Zoraida Córdova, Daniel José Older, John Jackson Miller, Hank Green, C. B. Lee, Tracy Deonn, Django Wexler, Beth Revis, Michael Moreci, Emily Skrutskie, Delilah S. Dawson, Katie Cook, Michael Kogge, Anne Toole, Lydia Kang, Mike Chen, Christie Golden, Karen Strong, Lilliam Rivera, Charles Yu, Seth Dickinson, Martha Wells, Austin Walker

ekimball's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

g_a_denholm's review against another edition

4.0

Again, just a really fun way to experience a story that I know so well. Sequels are never as good, and this one had some longer stories that had almost nothing to do or no interaction with the main narrative. I want those stories as I want all SW content, but it didn't fit the theme or feel of this anthology.
I think the places they got creative like Dagobah and the Asteroid Field were my favorite POVs!

timreadstoday's review against another edition

I just have too much to read. Maybe I’ll pick this up again.

gingerreader99's review against another edition

4.0

Not quite a full 5 star rating because the collection as a whole did not blow me away, but being a total TESB fan. This was near perfect for me. Some stories in the Bespin section were a bit lackluster, and the Obi Wan story was definitely the wrong tone, but for the most part I found this anthology quite enjoyable. honourable mentions include the Willrow Hood story, and the Whills strike back at the end which was just so ridiculous! I do not think my top 5 can be as easily ranked as with the ANH anthology however I do have some top stories in no particular order that stood out to me:

A Good Kiss by C.B Lee
Against All Odds by R.F Kuang
Rendezvous Point by Jason Fry
Amara Kel's Rules for TIE Pilot Survival by Django Wrexler
Vergence by Tracy Deonn
Faith in an old friend by Brittany N. Williams

jdalton's review against another edition

5.0

Love this collection of stories from a galaxy far far away showing different points of view from one of my favorite Star Wars films. Some stories are funny, and others are heart wrenching, like why am I crying for a tauntaun?

planetbeth91's review against another edition

4.0

As with any collection there are weaker and stronger moments. But still brilliant with some serious raucous laugh inducing moments.

ja_hopkins's review against another edition

4.0

This review is similar to my review for the Star Wars version of this series. I think this is an improvement over the first book, where my main criticism was the stories that were basically lifted from the film and told from another characters perspective. There seemed to be a lot less of that in this book, and the stories once again range from three- or four-page vignettes to longer, but still only a ten or fifteen minute read in most cases.
A few standouts for me:
- Eyes of the Empire: Dirjo, an analyst examining footage from probe droids lives a vicarious existence exploring other worlds, until she realises what happens and makes a surprise discovery…
- Fake It Till You Make It: Wannabe smuggler Jaxxon, but is he tough enough
- No Time for Poetry: A pair of bounty hunters, Denger, and the droid IG-88 agree an uneasy alliance to find Han Solo
- Into the Clouds: Jailyn, a Cloud City socialite is forced to pick a side
- The Backup Plan: Tal Veridian tries to escape from Cloud City after the Empire’s takeover

tdwightdavis's review against another edition

2.0

A mostly awful collection of short stories. Not sure why so many of them decided to go with the perspective of an animal, but all of those are awful. The writing is usually roughly the same quality as fanfic you’d find online. And if you like reading the rebellion are built on hope line or the line where Lando tells everyone to evacuate Cloud City then you’re in luck because I think one of those two lines shows up in at least half of the stories here. And at least 60-70% of the stories open with a line that follows the formula firstname lastname verb and that got old fast. 

There were certainly some stories that were decent to good. My personal favorite was Rendezvous Point by Jason Fry which reminded me a lot of the X-Wing books I read growing up. Other stand outs were A Naturalist on Hoth by Hank Green and Standard Imperial Procedure by Sarwat Chadda. I don’t feel like calling out the ones I disliked most because that feels mean spirited but boy there were some real stinkers here, some from people who I know are decent storytellers and was surprised at how bad their writing was. 

tylerbrown7844's review against another edition

4.0

I think this book suffered only because it had less to work with than the previous. Such large parts of the movie are with only core characters that this book truly has to stretch out the Hoth and Bespin stories to the point where many lead characters are entirely new

taraminter's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0