A new franchise that would captivate audiences for multiple generations began in 1977 when "Star Wars: A New Hope" landed in theaters. While Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader and others became household names, the film also introduced a range of ancillary characters worthy of having their stories told.

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Del Ray Books plans to let readers learn more about these individuals for the 40th anniversary of "A New Hope" in a new anthology titled "Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View." The book will be filled with 40 stories from more than 40 authors and follow characters "from X-wing pilots who helped Luke destroy the Death Star to the stormtroopers who never quite could find the droids they were looking for."

Many of the authors contributing to the anthology teased their involvement using the hashtag #OperationBlueMilk on Twitter. The current list of authors is below, with more to be announced closer to the book's release date in October:

  • Ben Acker & Ben Blacker

  • Renee Ahdieh

  • Tom Angleberger

  • Meg Cabot

  • Rae Carson

  • Adam Christopher

  • Zoraida Cordova

  • Delilah S. Dawson

  • Paul Dini

  • Alexander Freed

  • Jason Fry

  • Christie Golden

  • EK Johnston & Ashley Eckstein

  • Paul Kemp

  • Mur Lafferty

  • Ken Liu

  • Griffin McElroy

  • John Jackson Miller

  • Nnedi Okorafor

  • Daniel José Older

  • Mallory Ortberg

  • Madeleine Roux

  • Gary D. Schmidt

  • Cavan Scott

  • Sabaa Tahir

  • Glen Weldon

  • Chuck Wendig

  • Gary Whitta

  • And more!

The participating authors have agreed to donate their compensation to the nonprofit organization First Book. Other companies donating include Penguin Random House ($100,000), and Disney/Lucasfilm will provide 100,000 children's books, all totaling $1 million.

Available now for preorder, "Star Wars: A Certain Point of View" arrives in October.