Dork Side Book Review: Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View
Starting with Rogue One and ending with the conclusion of a New Hope, From a Certain Point of View fills in plot-holes and inconsistencies from former Star Wars stories…
Take a journey to a galaxy far, far away, from the perspective of 40 different Star Wars characters — some big and small within the main story-line of the saga — with the new canon novel Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View. If we went through every single story from the creative book filled with a large assortment of short-stories, we would be here a long, long time — so we will just hit the highlights — focusing on aspects that connect and bind the galaxy together, filling in major plot holes we’ve noticed over the past 40 plus years.
*Spoilers for: From a Certain Point of View ahead*
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
My overall thoughts on From a Certain Point of View are very positive, with originally not knowing what to expect from this different style of Star Wars writing. This book is a must-read for any fan of a galaxy far, far away, which I recommend consuming, then watching Rogue One and A New Hope immediately afterward to get the full experience.
The novel begins with an Alderaanian launching the Tantive IV from the Raddus — which you see at the end of Rogue One — where you get his perspective on Darth Vader mowing down his comrades. From his “certain point of view,” he really didn’t understand what just happened, perplexed and terrified by the mysterious mechanical man. We also learn that Leia’s vessel was tracked by the Empire with ease, due to a hyper-drive leak, which was picked up by Vader’s flagship the Devastator, locating it over Tatooine.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Captain Antilles had a wife and two young daughters, which is revealed when he leaves a final goodbye hologram to his family before being murdered by Darth Vader, which you can see his death in the film A New Hope, when he is choked while being interrogated on Leia’s flagship. He wasn’t aware that the message he handed to Princess Leia at the end of Rogue One contained the Death Star plans, until right before his brutal death.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
When C-3P0 and R2-D2 are descending onto Tatooine while escaping from the Empire, the Imperials do not blow them to smithereens since there are “no life forms aboard.” We get more details on why it wasn’t shot-down from the sky, discovering that there was a policy enforced by the Empire rewarding promotion due to kill-ratios, so this would have lowered the accuracy rate for that certain Imperial officer, who was due for a promotion of his own.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Why didn’t Wuher — the bartender in the Cantina on Mos Eisley — allow droids in his establishment? Come to find out, the grumpy humanoid had a tragic encounter with assassin droids during the Clone Wars, in which they brutally murdered his family. I would say that “No droids” sign was definitely warranted.