Star Wars: A New Hope

Is it worth your time to dive into From a Certain Point of View, Star Wars fans? Aside from a few stories that don't quite work, the answer is yes.

Yours truly has made no secret of how excited she's been for From a Certain Point of View since the book's official confirmation. Granted, 40 short stories may seem a little intimidating, but on the whole, there are some really high-quality pieces of Star Wars fiction in here.

In case you haven't kept tabs on the book, the conceit here is that the book follows the path of Star Wars: A New Hope, but without telling the story from the perspectives of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa, Han Solo, or even Darth Vader. But there are characters who we do know that get their stories, and some we don't

We're talking being close to tears sometimes. It's not just that the writing in those stories is particularly exquisite (though Gray's, Pierce Brown's "Desert Son," Nnedi Okarafor's "The Baptist," Wil Wheaton's "Laina", and "The Red One" from Rae Carson are among the most emotional stories. Some of those I expected. Some of those I didn't). It's that their chosen subjects are particularly ripe for intriguing takes.

There's still a lot of humor in this book, too, though, which helps balance it out. Sometimes it's subtle. Sometimes it's less so. I marked Charles Soule's "The Angle" as one to watch out for, and it didn't disappoint for its wry humor. There are a couple more stories that get funny, but I don't want to spoil everything.

NEXT: Ahch-To is not that 'far, far away'

This is a book that you have to experience for yourself if you're a Star Wars fan. Even if not all the stories quite worked for this reviewer, it's impossible to deny that every writer felt very strongly about contributing to this project. It shows through in their writing. This is a book you could read slowly, story by story, or just consume in great big gulps, maybe even one sitting, like you would for A New