Return of the Jedi: From a Certain Point of View - Saladin Ahmed et al.

This is another in the sequence started way back in 2017, bringing you perspectives on the classic film trilogy from the perspective of various bit players. Those include a variety of Imperials stationed on the moon of Endor and beyond, bounty hunters, monsters, unfortunate civilians, and beyond. The idea is to provide some context and flavour to the world, to look at the adventures of Leia, Luke, Han et al through another lens. To emphasise that those other perspectives are just as important, in a wider universe.

And I'll say this, this is a collection with a diversity of perspectives, gods and monsters and heroes and unrepentant villains. There's something for everyone to enjoy, whether you like your hard-edged heroines, your scoundrels and killers, or the more familiar cast of the working stiff just trying to make it by while people keep waving laser swords and doomsday lasers in your face. I admit I have something of a penchant for the latter, but they all have their charms. And its a credit to the authors that they can show us different sides of characters we only saw in person, or ask us to interpret their actions a little differently, now we're inside their head. And enjoyably for Star Wars, this layer of personality, this extra flavour, makes for a more complex universe. Sure, the baddies are still bad. And the goodies are still good. But there's circumstance and story and history and all the rich tapestry of choice that brings not just the main characters, but all the people we see to the point of Return of the Jedi. And we get to see it here. 

Now, there's a fair point to be made that, well, do we really need to see another performer from the Max Rebo band? Does anyone care what blob-head-alien-in-the-crowd is doing there? And you know what...some of the time you're going to read one of these stories, and it'll be a miss for you. But there's enough here that maybe the next one will be exactly the flavour you need to pass the time, or the one in the collection that will light up your soul. 

And having said that, I think there's some good stuff here. Family stories. Redemption stories. Flat out adventure romps. More starfighter combat, fast and visceral and deadly, than you can shake a stick at. The ominous shadow of a super-moon that is something else. And of course, the knowledge that we know what's coming, but we don't know how we're going to get there this time, or why it may matter, differently, to others than our movie heroes. This is a paean to the idea that other people matter. That the greats are who they are because they're surrounded by other people living and working and supporting them, lifting them up with every choice, and being, in their own way, heroes in their own lives.  

This isn't a quiet book. It's full of blood and thunder and rousing speeches. But it's also an introspective one, which throws out some fun ideas to explore in the Star Wars expanded universe. Are we any worse off in the films for not hearing about Mon Mothma's corps of historians of the rebellion? Patently not. But they have an interesting story, and a protagonist who is ready to ask questions about whether what her leaders consider important actually...is. And if some of these stories are cracking yarns, others are looking around and using the Star Wars lens to ask some searching questions about us, and what we're willing to do, willing to accept. 

It's a solid collection, this. If you're a Star Wars fan, and want to get a little something more for your next viewing of Return of the Jedi, or you just want to delve deeper into the rich, diverse universe that Star Wars has on tap - then this is the one for you.