Author Mike Chen tells us how he got inside the Emperor’s head for his story in the new Star Wars anthology, From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back. 

The author of acclaimed science fiction novels Here and Now and Then and A Beginning at the End, as well as the upcoming We Could Be Heroes, Mike is one of 40 scribes featured in From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the film, it features stories told from the points of view of 40 different characters, from obscure cult favourites to major players in the saga. 

Mike’s story, Disturbance, is told from the point of view of Emperor Palpatine himself. It explains Palpatine’s thought process leading up to his first on-screen appearance, and answers one of the biggest lingering questions in the saga – how did the Emperor find out about Luke Skywalker? 

A longtime friend of the show, Mike tells us about writing this iconic Star Wars villain; introducing his daughter to Star Wars; having his prose voiced by Sam Witwer and much more! 

From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back is available now wherever you buy books, in print, ebook and audio. 

Follow @MikeChenWriter for more of his work.  

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.