This is a bit older, but I found it one day at the library while cruising the shelves. Because it's a compilation of short stories, it's shelved by call number (go figure?!) but that explains why I'd never seen it or the companion volumes before. I usually meander over the fiction shelves, which are shelved by author.
Forty (40) outstanding authors (including Ian Doescher!!!!!!) contributed 40 amazing short stories from the POVs of characters in A New Hope that get precious little time in the movies or the various Star Wars books.
It has stories from all the POVs you ever wondered about:
* The garbage pit monster (I read that one first, I have to admit!)
* Palpatine in the best soliloquy EV.ER. (Doescher's of course!)
* Max from the band in the Cantina on Tatooine
… and more! When you start from the beginning (which I didn't do, I skipped around) it gives a continuous picture of the POVs as the events happen in the movie, which is pretty cool, too.
Some of the authors are big names in MG/YA lit: Elizabeth Wein, Meg Cabot, Chuck Wendig, Nnedi Okorafor, Doescher and many more.
I was super excited to discover the next one for The Empire Strikes Back, too!
Enjoy!
Ok, so the premise for this volume -- and it's a good thick one! -- is exactly the same as the last one: you get stories from the POVs of side characters who appear for fleeting moments on the big screen, but you've spent years wondering about.
The only detraction is there's no fantabulous soliloquy from Ian Doescher this time. Darn.
But we do get…
* Bounty hunter IG-88's POV. No, not the same droid as IG-11 in Mando. I wished it was, but it's not. But it does beg the question… what is it about the IG model droid that lends itself to bounty hunting? Two droids of the same type who've gone the same nefarious route? I wonder.
* POV of the tauntaun ridden by Han (the one he slices open to save Luke ☹. I loved that one, knowing what happens to her!
* POV of the Wampa who attacks Luke. And wow, I really enjoyed that story!
* There's a POV of a storm trooper who finds his inner strength to resist after witnessing Darth Vader's cruelty. Not outwardly, but it does show a crack in the Empire's armour.
* The POV of the cave Luke enters on Dagobah and sees himself as Darth Vader. Of all the stories, this one was kinda hard to wrap my head around. I mean, a sentient place? Of course, after Rey and Kylo did the "whole teleportation of a lightsaber" thing, I've just had to reconcile myself to the idea that anything's possible in the Star Wars universe. Anything.
* MARTHA WELLS has a short story!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Murderbot author. She captures the Ugnaut miners in the Cloud City who go from minding their own (mining) business to hearing Lando announce the (very abrupt) evacuation and fleeing the Empire. Loved it!
* And finally, the final story -- about the Whills -- brilliant, except…I wanted it at the beginning, and truth be told, I flipped to the end and read it first. Yep. Awesome!
I loved this volume, the way I loved the first. It's a couple of nights' read.
Enjoy!
