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Synopsis

Experience Star Wars: A New Hope from a whole new point of view.

On May 25, 1977, the world was introduced to Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, C-3PO, R2-D2, Chewbacca, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader, and a galaxy full of possibilities. In honor of the fortieth anniversary, more than forty contributors lend their vision to this retelling of Star Wars. Each of the forty short stories reimagines a moment from the original film, but through the eyes of a supporting character. From a Certain Point of View features contributions by bestselling authors, trendsetting artists, and treasured voices from the literary history of Star Wars:

• Gary Whitta bridges the gap from Rogue One to A New Hope through the eyes of Captain Antilles.
• Aunt Beru finds her voice in an intimate character study by Meg Cabot.
• Nnedi Okorofor brings dignity and depth to a most unlikely character: the monster in the trash compactor.
• Pablo Hidalgo provides a chilling glimpse inside the mind of Grand Moff Tarkin.
• Pierce Brown chronicles Biggs Darklighter's final flight during the Rebellion's harrowing attack on the Death Star.
• Wil Wheaton spins a poignant tale of the rebels left behind on Yavin.

Table of Contents:

Title	Author(s)	Character(s)
Raymus	Gary Whitta	Raymus Antilles
The Bucket	Christie Golden	Tarvyn Lareka
The Sith of Datawork	Ken Liu	Arvira
Stories in the Sand	Griffin McElroy	Jot
Reirin	Sabaa Tahir	Reirin
The Red One	Rae Carson	R5-D4
Rites	John Jackson Miller	A'Koba
Master and Apprentice	Claudia Gray	Qui-Gon Jinn
Beru Whitesun Lars	Meg Cabot	Beru Whitesun Lars
The Luckless Rodian	Renée Ahdieh	Greedo
Not for Nothing	Mur Lafferty	Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes
We Don't Serve Their Kind Here	Chuck Wendig	Wuher
The Kloo Horn Cantina Caper	Kelly Sue DeConnick and Matt Fraction
Added Muscle	Paul Dini	Boba Fett
You Owe Me a Ride	Zoraida Córdova	Brea Tonnika and Senni Tonnika
The Secrets of Long Snoot	Delilah S. Dawson	Garindan ezz Zavor
Born in the Storm	Daniel José Older	Sardis Ramsin
Laina	Wil Wheaton	Yavin 4 rebel troopers
Fully Operational	Beth Revis	Cassio Tagge
An Incident Report	Mallory Ortberg	Conan Antonio Motti
Change of Heart	Elizabeth Wein	Unidentified Imperial Navy Trooper
Eclipse	Madeleine Roux	Breha Organa
Verge of Greatness	Pablo Hidalgo	Wilhuff Tarkin
Far Too Remote	Jeffrey Brown
The Trigger	Kieron Gillen	Chelli Lona Aphra
Of MSE-6 and Men	Glen Weldon	MSE-6-G735Y
Bump	Ben Acker and Ben Blacker
End of Watch	Adam Christopher	Pamel Poul
The Baptist	Nnedi Okorafor	Omi
Time of Death	Cavan Scott	Obi-Wan Kenobi
There is Another	Gary D. Schmidt	Yoda
Palpatine	Ian Doescher	Darth Sidious
Sparks	Paul S. Kemp	Dex Tiree
Duty Roster	Jason Fry	Col Takbright
Desert Son	Pierce Brown	Biggs Darklighter
Grounded	Greg Rucka	Nera Kase
Contingency Plan	Alexander Freed	Mon Mothma
The Angle	Charles Soule	Lando Calrissian
By Whatever Sun	E. K. Johnston and Ashley Eckstein	Miara Larte
Whills	Tom Angleberger

Excerpt

from "Master and Apprentice" by Claudia Gray

Some believe the desert to be barren. This proves only that they do not know the desert.

Deep within the dunes dwell small insects that weave nets to trap one another, and burrowing snakes with scales the color of stones so that no hunter can find them. Seeds and spores from long-dead plants lie dormant in the warmth, waiting for the rainfall that comes once a year, or decade, or century, when they will burst into verdant life as brief as it is glorious. The heat of the suns sinks into the grains of sand until they glow, containing all the energy and possibility to become glass the color of jewels. All of these sing individual notes in the one great song of the Whills.

No place is barren of the Force, and they who are one with the Force can always find the possibility of life.

Awareness precedes consciousness. The warmth is luxuriated in and drawn upon before the mind is cognizant of doing so. Next comes the illusion of linear time. Only then does a sense of individuality arise, a remembrance of what was and what is, a knowledge of one's self as separate from the Force. It provides a vantage point for experiencing the physical world in its complexity and ecstasy, but the pain of that separation is endurable only because unity will come again, and soon.

That fracture from the all, that memory of temporal existence, is most easily summed up with the word the fracture was once called by. The name.

"Qui-Gon."

The name is spoken by another. Qui-Gon has been summoned. He draws upon his memories of himself and takes shape, reassembling the form he last had in life. It seems to him that he feels flesh wrap around bones, hair and skin over flesh, robes over skin -- and then, as naturally to him as though he had done so yesterday, he pulls down the hood of his Jedi cloak and looks upon his Padawan.

"Obi-Wan." It is worth the travail of individual existence just to say that name again. So he says the other name, too. "Ben."

Obi-Wan Kenobi's hair has turned white. Lines have etched their traces along his forehead, around his blue eyes. He wears Jedi robes so worn and ragged as to be indistinguishable from the garb of the impoverished hermit he pretends to be. Most would walk past this man without a second glance. Yet while Qui-Gon perceives the physical realities of Obi-Wan's appearance, he is not limited to human sight any longer. He also sees the confident general of the Clone Wars, the strong young Padawan who followed his master into battle, even the rebellious little boy at the Temple that no Master was in any hurry to train. They are all equally part of Obi-Wan, each stage of his existence vivid in this moment.

"You are afraid," Qui-Gon says. He knows why; the events taking place around them are clearer to him than they are to Obi-Wan. "You seek your center. You need balance."

The living find it difficult not to tell the dead that which they already know. Obi-Wan doesn't even try. "There may be Imperial stormtroopers waiting for Luke at the Lars farm. If so--"

"Then you will rescue him." Qui-Gon smiles. "Or he may rescue himself. Or the sister will find the brother instead."

Obi-Wan cannot be so easily comforted. "Or he could be killed. Cut down while still hardly more than a boy."

To Qui-Gon, all human lives now seem impossibly brief. Years are irrelevant. It is journeys through the Force that matter. Some must struggle for that knowledge through many decades; others are very nearly born with it. Most never begin the journey at all, no matter how long they live.

But Luke Skywalker...

"Luke has a great journey yet to go," Qui-Gon says. "It does not end here."

"You've seen this?"

Qui-Gon nods. This relieves Obi-Wan more than it should, because he cannot guess the shape that journey will take.

Copyright © 2017 by Elizabeth Schaefer

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