Three years ago, Del Rey put together a collection of forty short stories to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of A New Hope, offering viewers many different points of view of the story we know so well. And now, in 2020… brace yourselves because this may be shocking: they’ve done it again for the fortieth anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back with Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back. Even more shocking… it’s good, folks! It’s really good. (Can we do these for every Star Wars movie? Please?)

Just like last time around, Del Rey has assembled a diverse mix of authors to give us a new look at Episode V including authors who contributed to the previous FACPOV, old Star Wars favorites, and plenty of authors who are brand new to the galaxy far, far away and clearly couldn’t be more thrilled to be here. There are only so many Star Wars books and comics each year and so a project like this is a fantastic opportunity for readers to both get to see authors they love write Star Wars for the first time and to perhaps discover new authors whose books they’ll pick up next.

With locations for potential stories more limited than in the previous collection, it’s unsurprising how many stories take place either on Hoth or Bespin. However, the stretches there don’t feel like they linger quite as long as the run of stories set in Mos Eisley did previously. More of the authors seem to have created original characters this time around as opposed to pointing out someone in the background and going, “I’m telling a story about them!” (Don’t worry: we still get those!) In some ways, it feels like this was the anthology where the editors let the authors just go for it and it’s definitely to the book’s benefit. That’s not to say that one of the books is superior to the other but rather that they have different vibes. It’s fitting really; A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back had different vibes too.

One of the best parts about this sort of anthology is that there’s something for everyone here. Do you want a heartfelt story that spans billions of years about the space slug? Catherynne M. Valente’s got you covered with “This Is No Cave.” What about the story of General Veers and his unwavering devotion to Darth Vader? Christie Golden’s “The Truest Duty” hits that mark. Or maybe you’re just really dying for the story of the man with the ice cream maker in which case, you’re going to want to read “Due on Batuu” by Rob Hart. Not every story is going to be a hit for every person but that’s the beauty of a project like this: they don’t have to. Turn the page and you’re likely to find something that better suits your taste.

All that said, it seems a little strange to not include my own personal favorites in this review… which I have managed to narrow down to eight. Out of forty. (Listen, getting it down to eight already took a lot of effort.) Let’s just give them specific accolades:

• “A Good Kiss” by C.B. Lee – My favorite adorable romance story about One Good Soft Box Boy who I would die for
• “Against All Odds” by R.F. Kuang – The gut punch I never knew I needed about Dak Raltar that I am still emotional about days later
• “Rendezvous Point” by Jason Fry – The only story in which I will accept confirmation of Hobbie Klivian’s death. Also an X-wing series fan’s delight
• “The Final Order” by Seth Dickinson – SIR YOU WROTE A LOVE LETTER TO MATTHEW STOVER AND I SEE YOU AND APPRECIATE YOU
• “Amara Kel’s Rules for TIE Pilot Survival (Probably) by Django Wexler – I have a new favorite queer disaster pilot and her name is Amara Kel
• “STET!” by Daniel José Older – It has been three days and I am still laughing at this story supposedly run in the Galactic Digest along with its editorial notes
• “But What Does He Eat?” by S.A. Chakraborty – My favorite story that could have easily been a one-off joke but gets very real very fast
• “The Witness” by Adam Christopher – Okay SO SUE ME I’m a sucker for an Imperial soldier realizing they can’t stomach the Empire anymore and this is a good one!!

And that’s the thing about this book: I could give incredibly specific reasons why I loved at least another ten of the stories included here. I can’t pick a favorite (yet) but I can safely say that every single story here is going to be someone’s favorite and that’s fantastic.

If you’re wavering on whether or not to pick up a copy of Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back, don’t. Just go buy it. Trust me. You’ll thank me through your smiles/laughter/tears later.

Thank you to Del Rey for providing an early copy of the book for review purposes.