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Discover Captain Phasma’s mysterious history in this “Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi” novel.
One of the most cunning and merciless officers of the First Order, Captain Phasma commands the favor of her superiors, the respect of her peers, and the terror of her enemies. But for all her renown, Phasma remains as virtually unknown as the impassive expression on her gleaming chrome helmet. Now, an adversary is bent on unearthing her mysterious origins—and exposing a secret she guards as zealously and ruthlessly as she serves her masters.
One of the most cunning and merciless officers of the First Order, Captain Phasma commands the favor of her superiors, the respect of her peers, and the terror of her enemies. But for all her renown, Phasma remains as virtually unknown as the impassive expression on her gleaming chrome helmet. Now, an adversary is bent on unearthing her mysterious origins—and exposing a secret she guards as zealously and ruthlessly as she serves her masters.
381 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2017
About the author
Delilah S. Dawson
158 books2,241 followersDelilah S. Dawson is the New York Times-bestselling author of Star Wars: Phasma, Black Spire: Galaxy's Edge, and The Perfect Weapon. With Kevin Hearne, she writes the Tales of Pell. As Lila Bowen, she writes the Shadow series, beginning with Wake of Vultures. Her other books include the Blud series, the Hit series, and Servants of the Storm.
She's written comics in the worlds of Marvel Action: Spider-Man, Lore's Wellington, Star Wars Adventures, Star Wars Forces of Destiny, The X-Files Case Files, Adventure Time, Rick and Morty, and her creator-owned comics include Star Pig, Ladycastle, and Sparrowhawk.
Find out more at www.whimsydark.com.
She's written comics in the worlds of Marvel Action: Spider-Man, Lore's Wellington, Star Wars Adventures, Star Wars Forces of Destiny, The X-Files Case Files, Adventure Time, Rick and Morty, and her creator-owned comics include Star Pig, Ladycastle, and Sparrowhawk.
Find out more at www.whimsydark.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,443 reviews
April 19, 2023
OMG I loved this book. I was very dubious about reading this book. Actually I went into reading this book with zero expectations, at best I hope to get more insight into what could happen or new characters in the Last Jedi. In the Force Awakens Captain Phasma had two lines and I though her getting thrown into the garbage disposal was a fitting end to a forgettable character. Considering all this I was expecting a short story novella type book, this is nothing of the sort it is 380 page book with very no wasted space. My only complaint is I would have liked it longer towards the end. I have to give Delilah S. Dawson total credit for really breathing life into the character writing this great book.
This is an origin story told like a legend, with a little mix of the Sharazada tales in Arabian Night. I loved every bit of this book. Excellent writing, a great mix of tension and action. We also meet a couple of new character who could be involved in the New Jedi, as well as continuations from the Aftermath trilogy. After this book I hope that Phasma has a more prominent role in the up coming movie.
Born on a planet where toughness was not just a way of life but a necessity for survival Phasma was already among the greatest warriors among her people, during the course if this book I saw how this primitive warrior woman, evolved into the poster woman of the First Order. the lengths she would/needed to go to survive and how she would excel. There is also a battle of faith and philosophies going on in the background, with another character, and there are hints that there might be even more to Phasma then even she know about.
This is a great book, the author/writer made me care about a character I was ready to forget, (or probably had forgotten about), the moment the movie finished. She also got me to care about the side characters, and there was great continuity from previous books. All in all one of the best Disney era Star Wars books I have read.
This is an origin story told like a legend, with a little mix of the Sharazada tales in Arabian Night. I loved every bit of this book. Excellent writing, a great mix of tension and action. We also meet a couple of new character who could be involved in the New Jedi, as well as continuations from the Aftermath trilogy. After this book I hope that Phasma has a more prominent role in the up coming movie.
Born on a planet where toughness was not just a way of life but a necessity for survival Phasma was already among the greatest warriors among her people, during the course if this book I saw how this primitive warrior woman, evolved into the poster woman of the First Order. the lengths she would/needed to go to survive and how she would excel. There is also a battle of faith and philosophies going on in the background, with another character, and there are hints that there might be even more to Phasma then even she know about.
This is a great book, the author/writer made me care about a character I was ready to forget, (or probably had forgotten about), the moment the movie finished. She also got me to care about the side characters, and there was great continuity from previous books. All in all one of the best Disney era Star Wars books I have read.
October 27, 2017
3 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2017/10/26/...
Billed as the secret history behind the First Order’s most notorious and ruthless Stormtrooper, Star Wars: Phasma was released to great anticipation from fans who wanted to learn more about the eponymous character whose chrome-plated presence was woefully underutilized in The Force Awakens. This being a Star Wars novel though, and knowing how they always tend to oversell the reality in their blurbs, I’d already braced myself not to expect too much, which turned out to be a wise decision. Basically, what we have here is an origin backstory for Phasma—or at least as close to one as we’re going to get anyway, coming from a third-hand retelling. However, if you’re coming to this novel hoping to find out more about her personality or discover what makes her tick, then be prepared for disappointment because this book is completely devoid of any kind of real characterization.
Star Wars: Phasma begins with an introduction to Resistance spy Vi Moradi, who will be the one actually telling this story. While running a mission for General Leia Organa, Vi is captured by the First Order and is immediately held for questioning at the hands of the red-armored trooper known as Captain Cardinal, who already seems to know a lot about his prisoner. But the Resistance knows about Cardinal too, especially of the bitter antagonism between him and his colleague Captain Phasma, so it’s no surprise to Vi when the first thing her captor asks her is for more information about his greatest rival. After all, Vi’s ship’s log show that she has just come from the desolate planet of Parnassos, Phasma’s home world, and Cardinal is hoping the Resistance smuggler’s eidetic memory will hold some incriminating evidence about his enemy so he can use it to take her down.
So Vi indulges Cardinal by telling him a story, heard second hand from a friend named Siv who grew up in the same clan with Phasma herself. In the beginning, Phasma and her brother Keldo were co-leaders of the Scyre, deciding that adopting an isolationist strategy will be their clan’s best chance at survival in the harsh conditions of Parnassos. However, that was before General Brendol Hux’s ship fell from the sky. Along with Siv and a few other of her warriors, Phasma rescues the stranded Hux and his escort of Stormtroopers, and after interacting with them she discovers that there’s a whole galaxy beyond the confines of her dying world. Understanding that the First Order General can help her learn more—and to become more—the ambitious Phasma agrees to guide him across the merciless desert, in exchange for passage off-planet once they reach the pickup point. But plenty of dangers lurk beneath the Parnassian sands, and before long the expedition is beset with all kinds of problems.
The result is a Mad Max-like adventure that takes up the majority of the pages in this novel, and it’s a perfectly decent, action-oriented story if that was all you were expecting. For those expecting a more in-depth character study, however, you’re going to be out of luck. As I mentioned before, this is Phasma’s history told through not just one but two intermediaries—good for preserving the mystique behind this enigmatic character, I suppose, but not so good when it comes to letting readers understand her. This was essentially a play-by-play of how Phasma went from being the best warrior of a small clan on some insignificant backwater planet to become head trainer and leader of all the First Order’s military troopers, making her one of the most powerful and infamous figures in the galaxy. On the other hand, almost nothing can be gleaned about her character on a deeper level, or how she became the cold-hearted and ruthless soldier that she is. We’re simply to accept that she’s always been an evil badass, even when she was just a young girl.
Furthermore, I feel that the characterization might have suffered a little from the writing. While I find Delilah S. Dawson’s prose well-suited to urban fantasy and YA, for a Star Wars novel such as this, her style might just be a tad overwrought and excessive. Her depictions of the characters are also rather two-dimensional and uninspired; from Vi and Cardinal to Brendol Hux to Phasma, everyone’s motivations are predictable and can be summed up in a handful of words.
That said, overall I wouldn’t say this book was too bad, considering it’s the author’s first full-length Star Wars novel. Phasma is still far from being in the same league as, say, Claudia Gray’s brilliant Lost Stars or Bloodline, but it’s a start, and if nothing else, I’m glad that the shiny Stormtrooper captain is finally getting some much needed attention in the lead up to the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Audiobook Comments: I love January LaVoy and it’s always a pleasure to listen to her narrate a Star Wars novel. As usual, she delivered a great performance, and even sounded a lot like Gwendoline Christie whenever she had to say Phasma’s lines, which impressed me a lot. I would never not recommend a Star Wars audiobook!
Billed as the secret history behind the First Order’s most notorious and ruthless Stormtrooper, Star Wars: Phasma was released to great anticipation from fans who wanted to learn more about the eponymous character whose chrome-plated presence was woefully underutilized in The Force Awakens. This being a Star Wars novel though, and knowing how they always tend to oversell the reality in their blurbs, I’d already braced myself not to expect too much, which turned out to be a wise decision. Basically, what we have here is an origin backstory for Phasma—or at least as close to one as we’re going to get anyway, coming from a third-hand retelling. However, if you’re coming to this novel hoping to find out more about her personality or discover what makes her tick, then be prepared for disappointment because this book is completely devoid of any kind of real characterization.
Star Wars: Phasma begins with an introduction to Resistance spy Vi Moradi, who will be the one actually telling this story. While running a mission for General Leia Organa, Vi is captured by the First Order and is immediately held for questioning at the hands of the red-armored trooper known as Captain Cardinal, who already seems to know a lot about his prisoner. But the Resistance knows about Cardinal too, especially of the bitter antagonism between him and his colleague Captain Phasma, so it’s no surprise to Vi when the first thing her captor asks her is for more information about his greatest rival. After all, Vi’s ship’s log show that she has just come from the desolate planet of Parnassos, Phasma’s home world, and Cardinal is hoping the Resistance smuggler’s eidetic memory will hold some incriminating evidence about his enemy so he can use it to take her down.
So Vi indulges Cardinal by telling him a story, heard second hand from a friend named Siv who grew up in the same clan with Phasma herself. In the beginning, Phasma and her brother Keldo were co-leaders of the Scyre, deciding that adopting an isolationist strategy will be their clan’s best chance at survival in the harsh conditions of Parnassos. However, that was before General Brendol Hux’s ship fell from the sky. Along with Siv and a few other of her warriors, Phasma rescues the stranded Hux and his escort of Stormtroopers, and after interacting with them she discovers that there’s a whole galaxy beyond the confines of her dying world. Understanding that the First Order General can help her learn more—and to become more—the ambitious Phasma agrees to guide him across the merciless desert, in exchange for passage off-planet once they reach the pickup point. But plenty of dangers lurk beneath the Parnassian sands, and before long the expedition is beset with all kinds of problems.
The result is a Mad Max-like adventure that takes up the majority of the pages in this novel, and it’s a perfectly decent, action-oriented story if that was all you were expecting. For those expecting a more in-depth character study, however, you’re going to be out of luck. As I mentioned before, this is Phasma’s history told through not just one but two intermediaries—good for preserving the mystique behind this enigmatic character, I suppose, but not so good when it comes to letting readers understand her. This was essentially a play-by-play of how Phasma went from being the best warrior of a small clan on some insignificant backwater planet to become head trainer and leader of all the First Order’s military troopers, making her one of the most powerful and infamous figures in the galaxy. On the other hand, almost nothing can be gleaned about her character on a deeper level, or how she became the cold-hearted and ruthless soldier that she is. We’re simply to accept that she’s always been an evil badass, even when she was just a young girl.
Furthermore, I feel that the characterization might have suffered a little from the writing. While I find Delilah S. Dawson’s prose well-suited to urban fantasy and YA, for a Star Wars novel such as this, her style might just be a tad overwrought and excessive. Her depictions of the characters are also rather two-dimensional and uninspired; from Vi and Cardinal to Brendol Hux to Phasma, everyone’s motivations are predictable and can be summed up in a handful of words.
That said, overall I wouldn’t say this book was too bad, considering it’s the author’s first full-length Star Wars novel. Phasma is still far from being in the same league as, say, Claudia Gray’s brilliant Lost Stars or Bloodline, but it’s a start, and if nothing else, I’m glad that the shiny Stormtrooper captain is finally getting some much needed attention in the lead up to the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Audiobook Comments: I love January LaVoy and it’s always a pleasure to listen to her narrate a Star Wars novel. As usual, she delivered a great performance, and even sounded a lot like Gwendoline Christie whenever she had to say Phasma’s lines, which impressed me a lot. I would never not recommend a Star Wars audiobook!
January 30, 2019
Surviving is merciless!
This is a prose novel, part of the new canon of "Star Wars".
PHASMA'S DARK PAST
I got an odd feeling while reading this novel, since most of it, it's told by a third one, instead of the actual Phasma, in fact, Phasma appeared (in real time) until the final climax of the book.
So, it's a book of Phasma and at the same time, kinda not.
But, don't get me wrong, since the story is quite strong, since it's a book about a villain, and certainly Phasma is merciless when it's about her own survival.
A Resistance spy is captured by the First Order, but soon she's taken to a secret room where a competitor Stormtrooper captain (with red armor, but it's not that one who has been appearing in Star Wars: Resistance) known as "Cardinal" and that he's obsessed about finding out the dirty stuff of Phasma's past to use it to get her falling from grace in the eyes of the First Order High Command.
Since the spy wanted to survive too and it's not like that she's being asked about Resistance's inner info, she decided to tell everything she knows about Phasma's past, after a previous travel to Phasma's native world, where she got Phasma's story through a living witness.
Phasma is a merciless person, and she doesn't care about anybody but herself, and any chance of improving her existence, and in this book you'll learn about her long journey to be able to leave that forgotten planet, for any means necessary.
And even after being successful of leaving her world (it's not a spoiler since it's obvious that she became a First Order Stormtrooper officer, duh!), Phasma isn't loyal to anybody but herself and her own precious survival.
True survival is a lonely path.
This is a prose novel, part of the new canon of "Star Wars".
PHASMA'S DARK PAST
I got an odd feeling while reading this novel, since most of it, it's told by a third one, instead of the actual Phasma, in fact, Phasma appeared (in real time) until the final climax of the book.
So, it's a book of Phasma and at the same time, kinda not.
But, don't get me wrong, since the story is quite strong, since it's a book about a villain, and certainly Phasma is merciless when it's about her own survival.
A Resistance spy is captured by the First Order, but soon she's taken to a secret room where a competitor Stormtrooper captain (with red armor, but it's not that one who has been appearing in Star Wars: Resistance) known as "Cardinal" and that he's obsessed about finding out the dirty stuff of Phasma's past to use it to get her falling from grace in the eyes of the First Order High Command.
Since the spy wanted to survive too and it's not like that she's being asked about Resistance's inner info, she decided to tell everything she knows about Phasma's past, after a previous travel to Phasma's native world, where she got Phasma's story through a living witness.
Phasma is a merciless person, and she doesn't care about anybody but herself, and any chance of improving her existence, and in this book you'll learn about her long journey to be able to leave that forgotten planet, for any means necessary.
And even after being successful of leaving her world (it's not a spoiler since it's obvious that she became a First Order Stormtrooper officer, duh!), Phasma isn't loyal to anybody but herself and her own precious survival.
True survival is a lonely path.
December 13, 2022
Book #1 Nephew chooses my December TBR
May 10, 2018
Have you ever started a book and found that you were really enjoying it…yet months later, you realized that for whatever reason, you still hadn’t gotten around to finishing it? For me, that’s Delilah S. Dawson’s “Phasma”: I started it way back in early February, found myself digging it more than I thought I would, became genuinely invested in the story and where it was leading…and yet, three months later, I found that for whatever reason, I’d only completed about half of it. Part of that I chalk up to life being busy – in the last three months, I’ve had less time to just sit and read, which has been a real bummer - but still: life’s busyness has never prevented me from finishing a book before (especially a book that I was actually enjoying). With the release of “Solo: A Star Wars Story” in a few weeks (and its accompanying “Last Shot” quietly begging me to try and finish it before seeing the new movie), I figured now was the time to finally buckle down and finish “Phasma.” And voila: I finally did it.
Anyway, don’t take my delay in finishing the book as a critique of its quality: as it is, “Phasma” is a pretty solid “Star Wars” novel, one that mixes your typical Star Wars-antics with a nice heaping of “Mad Max: Fury Road” (for the most part, it’s as cool a combination as it sounds). Not all of it works – aside from Phasma herself, most of the supporting characters are fairly forgettable, and Dawson’s plotting – while it never necessarily drags – is just a bit too episodic in nature for my own personal taste – but still: the fact that I even felt compelled to finish “Phasma”, and never gave up on it over the course of three months, speaks to its quality. It may not be the best Star Wars novel of the new canon – that honor still goes, in my mind, to Paul S. Kemp’s “Lords of the Sith” - but as a deep-dive into one of the sequel trilogy’s more intriguing and underserved characters, it’s more than satisfying.
Anyway, don’t take my delay in finishing the book as a critique of its quality: as it is, “Phasma” is a pretty solid “Star Wars” novel, one that mixes your typical Star Wars-antics with a nice heaping of “Mad Max: Fury Road” (for the most part, it’s as cool a combination as it sounds). Not all of it works – aside from Phasma herself, most of the supporting characters are fairly forgettable, and Dawson’s plotting – while it never necessarily drags – is just a bit too episodic in nature for my own personal taste – but still: the fact that I even felt compelled to finish “Phasma”, and never gave up on it over the course of three months, speaks to its quality. It may not be the best Star Wars novel of the new canon – that honor still goes, in my mind, to Paul S. Kemp’s “Lords of the Sith” - but as a deep-dive into one of the sequel trilogy’s more intriguing and underserved characters, it’s more than satisfying.
December 21, 2017
Let's be honest, the only reason I read this book was for Armitage Hux wearing a robe and how he doesn't want to keep Kylo Ren waiting.
Except for Armitage Hux (You're doing amazing sweetie), I did not like this book.
Every character made horrible decisions that made no sense or outright contradicted themselves.
Am I really suppose to feel bad/think Phasma is the Evillest Evil to Ever Evil who only cares about her own survival when everyone she killed kinda were asking for it? Not a single one was a good person and their actions directly endangered everyone. I'm so sorry but I don't feel that bad about the warlords getting ambushed, or the enslaving droids being turned off, or any of the other 'bad' things that happened in this Mad Max ripoff.
LOTS of a Spoilers ahead
We open with the most annoying Resistance figher in existence knitting a sweater when she's told to go to this planet where everyone else who goes to this planet disappears without a trace because surely it won't happen AGAIN. She's immediately captured by the First Order. Thanks Leia.
A stormtrooper in red with the stupid name of Cardinal (that doesn't even make sense. Do they have redbirds in space? Space birds?) thinks she has information on Phasma and really wants to tattle on her for something so he kidnaps, tortures, and interrogates Vi which is where we get most of the story... which is where a big technical fail happens: Vi is telling the story she heard from the POV of Siv and yet it reads as prose rather than a narration except for random first person bits like "Oh, I had to explain what a so-and-so was" that completely derailed everything. It's very jarring.
Anyway, we start with the Scrye, the clan we're told Phasma originally belonged to (which was retconned later in the book), who are a noble race of people just trying to survive and protect this ancient artifact/spaceship/mining base/whatever from the other maraudering clans in the area (of which there is one). Oh, yeah, they got this sacred place, like, a few years ago after murdering Phasma's family when Phasma let them in because her family weren't into the whole 'not dying for stupid reasons' thing and thought the empty ship thing that provided shelter and not much else was worth getting their entire family slaughtered for - look, they got what they wanted. Phasma did save her brother though, by stabbing him in the leg so he couldn't help and they ended up having to amputate the leg because everything is poison (or something).
So the Scrye, who were no better than anyone else in this shit world, are just so into peace ya'll! Even when the warlord from the Claws - the only other clan in the area - is defeated, Phama's brother and co-leader decides 'Hey, let's make peace with these guys instead of moving into their totally not a deathtrap land where we'd be safer and not, you know, hanging off of rocks over a shark infested ocean!' with Phasma being all "are you fucking serious?".
Because it's totally reasonable to expect a bloodthirsty warlord to NOT try again once he's recovered. I mean, that would be silly!
(Also, I think the warlord is suppose to be an alien who walks on his hands and uses his feet to hold his sword. I don't know, it's stupid but hilarious to imagine.)
OH, LOOK, a way to escape/a fresh source of supplies just fell from the sky! Should the Scrye go for it? Nah, we'd have to go through Claw territory and break the peace treaty because that's so important in a wasteland where your current clan LIVES ON FUCKING ROCK SPIRES HANGING OVER A SHARK INFESTED OCEAN. DID I MENTION THE SHARKS ARE REALLY BIG?! LIKE THE SHARK FROM JAWS ONLY 100 TIMES BIGGER KIND OF BIG!
Phasma: ... I'm going to get those supplies so we don't, you know, die.
So, RELUCTANTLY, they let her and warriors go and enter the Claw territory and look, it was an asshole who fell from the sky! And he promises to call for help! Warlord, kinda being obvious he wasn't going to tell the Scrye about this anyway, uses Phasma's presence as an excuse to BARTER FOR THE ONLY CHILD THEY HAVE in exchange for not killing them.
Yelp, I feel so bad when this guy dies, truly only a heartless monster would murder such a sweet soul.
They bring General Abusive Asshole aka Brendol Hux (also, since when was he a general? He was basically a high school principle before!) back to the Scrye to show them 'Hey, we can get off this death trap of a planet!' "...Nah, it cool." "...Well, how about a few of us go and bring back help?" "UH, HOW ABOUT NO." "ffs"
So Phasma takes General Asshole and her warriors to go take him back to his ship so they can get off this hellhole of a planet and they encounter blood-drinking beetles that somehow live in the sand, a few mutated wolves, and a random scouting party who had sleds driven by lizards. We don't know where they came from or where they were going and they're never brought up again. Oh, and their mode of transportation was slaughtered instead of, you know, used by them to get to the ship faster.
Blah blah blah, we're shown, once again for the millionth time in a Star Wars canon book, that Stormtroopers are actual human beings with personalities that somehow survive that oh, so intense brainwashing the First Order puts them through that leaves them no better than mindless drones. Apparently, it's still okay to slaughter them wholesale because, you know, the good guys are doing it so that makes it okay! (Remember kids, it's not murder if they're on the opposite side!)
General Asshole is poisoned and OH, WHAT LUCK! A RANDOM DROID APPEARS ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AND TAKES THEM TO A HIDDEN BASE.
"We'll heal your friend!" "Oh, great!" "How you going to pay us for that?" "uh..." "You can work for us until your debt is paid! Or we can throw you all out and let your friend die." "..."
So they work in the mine for a week or so with the droids being oddly cultish and worshiping their creators until Brendol turns them off at the main control panel and Siv, the character who told the story to Vi who's now telling it to Cardinal, JUST FEELS SO BAD YOU GUYS. I MEAN, I WOULD TOTALLY FEEL BAD THAT THE BEINGS ENSLAVING ME ARE NEVER GOING TO WAKE UP AGAIN. SO SAD YOU GUYS.
Also, Siv is pregnant. A point that'll come up later.
They get some jeeps or some shit and continue on and OH THEY GET CAPTURED AGAIN... by a bloodthirsty cannibal cult thingy that wants them to fight to the death for their entertainment and maybe eat them. Phasma gets beat all to hell but the crowd liked that so they got some food. Next day, they get weapons to fight the same goliath as yesterday who goes down immediately. At this point, Phasma orders Siv to kill him even though he can't move, is bleeding out, and is going to die before the hour is out anyway with no way to save him. Siv doesn't kill him and says it's mercy (Uh, honey, that ain't mercy.) This plot points comes in later.
Phasma kills the king - the crowd loves it - and is now the new king and she kills the guy who says 'uh, it doesn't work that way...'. I guess we're suppose to feel bad about these guys as well. Did I mention they were cannibals and made people fight for food while the other half of the population watched? Cuz that's a thing that happened.
Yep, totally unjustified deaths all of them.
They keep on trucking and make it to a fence separating them from General Asshole's crashed ship where they meet a... random alien. Guess they had to throw another one in SOMEWHERE and that's what it feels like: Thrown In. Also, he's covered in the blood-eating beetles because they're friends. Sure.
They're talking to Insect Guy when they're attacked from behind!... By the Scyre and Claws (lead by Phasma's so noble and totally pacifistic brother) who can't be assed to leave their territory to save their own lives but going after a tiny group of deserters is TOTALLY WORTH LEAVING EVERYTHING THEY KNOW BEHIND AND BRINGING EVERY SINGLE PERSON WITH THEM ON THIS DANGEROUS MISSION JUST TO, YOU KNOW, KILL THESE 4 OR 5 PEOPLE WHO WERE LEAVING ANYWAY. (Sigh)
Phasma, her warriors, and the two remaining troopers kill everyone, including one of their own because she had a twisted ankle and would slow them down. This is one of the contradictions that annoys the hell out of me: They're suppose to be all for bringing people to join the Stormtrooper program (the promise Asshole seems to be making them) and yet this fit, young girl with a twisted ankle is more of a hindrance than Tubby McAsshole is? Even carrying her wouldn't slow them down as much as his fatass would/did!
Anyway, they get through the fence and get radiation sickness because the people who lived on the planet before, despite being VASTLY more advanced than us, still used Nuclear power and did so badly and blew everything up because of dumb.
They find the ship (Which was Palpatine's favorite yacht... okay, sure, use artifacts from the regime you worship as personal vessels while scouting planets. That's totally not disrespectful or anything. Fuck off.) They call for help and OH, LOOK! THE REST OF THE SCYRE AND CLAWS ATTACK... and get slaughtered again but not before Siv's boy toy is murdered accidentally on purpose by his brother who is shocked by this turn of events (what, did the guy come all this way to hug it out and the knife slipped? What did he think he was there to do?).
Soon, all that's left is Phasma's brother and the little kid that they brought along because that's a smart thing to do. Phasma kills him - as you do to people in post-apocalyptic hellscape planets who are too dumb to live - and is about to kill the kid as well (because why not) when General Asshole reminds them they need children for the Stormtrooper program.
Okay, cool.
Rescue comes and they tell Siv "Lol, not you." Because she didn't kill the already dying guy and that was deemed 'soft'. First off: Guy died a horrible painful death instead of a quick one. Again, that ain't mercy. Secondly: SIV IS PREGNANT. LESS THAN A FEW SENTENCES AGO THEY WERE ALL FOR ANY RECRUITS THEY COULD GET BUT, NOPE, LETS LEAVE NOT ONE BUT TWO NEW RECRUITS BEHIND BECAUSE ???? ALSO, ISN'T THAT THE POINT OF THIS FAMED 'BRAIN WASHING/REPROGRAMMING' THING THE FIRST ORDER IS SO EVIL FOR DOING? McAsshole might not have known about the pregnancy but he's still giving up a new recruit over something so fucking stupid! THIS IS WHAT THE BRAINWASHING IS FOR! IF YOU DON'T THINK SHE CAN FIGHT SHE CAN STILL PROBABLY LEARN OTHER TASKS. YOU HAD STORMTROOPERS WHO'S JOB WAS BEING A FUCKING JANITOR.
I just think, more and more, that this 'Stormtroopers are brainwashed' is just something someone made up and they can't even remember why they made it up but everyone just goes with it because reasons.
Anyway, Siv finds a bomb shelter or some bullshit full of not Cultish Droids who have all the meds and food she could ever want and Phasma leaves the planet and General Asshole reminds everyone he's an asshole by blowing up all the cities/people that tried to kill them. Can't blame him too much but most of those places were already dead/empty.
(also there's a scene with Armitage Hux talking to the little kid they brought in and it's very cute and he's actually good with children? WTF?)
We get back to Vi and Cardinal and Cardinal's just '... that helps me in absolutely no way.' So Vi outright tells him "Hey, Phasma murdered your mentor, General Asshole". We're never given a reason why beyond Phasma doesn't want anyone to know her past FOR SOME REASON THAT IS NEVER EXPLAINED. No one cares where she came from, no one in the First Order cares about what she did, this changes absolutely nothing... and yet....?
Cardinal does the only tolerable thing and goes to tell Armitage Hux about this so we can see The Robe and have a whole new slew of Kylux smut fics to enjoy and look, Armie already knew. He knows everything.
(also, am I suppose to feel bad that General Asshole, who abused his own son relentlessly all his life and is a mass murderer like everyone else in this book, is now exploded? This book as strange morals).
Armitage calls Cardinal an idiot to his face (proving once again why he's the only good part of this book) and cuts him off from more of his responsibilities and whatever.
Apparently, Cardinal's never learned that Snitches get Stitches and Phasma comes to kick his ass ( Or something like that, I'm 86% in and I've resorted to skimming, idk).
Book more or less ends with Vi escaping with Cardinal and Phasma going after them because "NO ONE CAN KNOW ALL THE COOL SHIT I DID". We're still not given a reason why this matters to Phasma when it changes absolutely nothing.
This whole book was, more or less, an attempt at an explanation for why Phasma caved instantly and let down the shields of Starkiller base.
This did not do that. If anything, it made it worse.
OH, SHE'LL DO ANYTHING TO SURVIVE!!1! What, did she think the rebel intruders were just going to let her go if she did what they said? That they weren't going to do something devastating to the base that would potentially get a lot of people, including herself, killed? "Oh, the traitor from before and a couple of old Rebel heroes want me to lower the shields? *Shrug* Okay, I don't see the harm in that! What nice guys."
If this was the case, she would have just pretended to let the shield down while sounding a silent alarm.
UGH.
I guess read it if you like Star Wars stuff or, like me, are Kylux trash and want to read about The Robe first hand.
(edit: Fixed a few typos)
Except for Armitage Hux (You're doing amazing sweetie), I did not like this book.
Every character made horrible decisions that made no sense or outright contradicted themselves.
Am I really suppose to feel bad/think Phasma is the Evillest Evil to Ever Evil who only cares about her own survival when everyone she killed kinda were asking for it? Not a single one was a good person and their actions directly endangered everyone. I'm so sorry but I don't feel that bad about the warlords getting ambushed, or the enslaving droids being turned off, or any of the other 'bad' things that happened in this Mad Max ripoff.
LOTS of a Spoilers ahead
We open with the most annoying Resistance figher in existence knitting a sweater when she's told to go to this planet where everyone else who goes to this planet disappears without a trace because surely it won't happen AGAIN. She's immediately captured by the First Order. Thanks Leia.
A stormtrooper in red with the stupid name of Cardinal (that doesn't even make sense. Do they have redbirds in space? Space birds?) thinks she has information on Phasma and really wants to tattle on her for something so he kidnaps, tortures, and interrogates Vi which is where we get most of the story... which is where a big technical fail happens: Vi is telling the story she heard from the POV of Siv and yet it reads as prose rather than a narration except for random first person bits like "Oh, I had to explain what a so-and-so was" that completely derailed everything. It's very jarring.
Anyway, we start with the Scrye, the clan we're told Phasma originally belonged to (which was retconned later in the book), who are a noble race of people just trying to survive and protect this ancient artifact/spaceship/mining base/whatever from the other maraudering clans in the area (of which there is one). Oh, yeah, they got this sacred place, like, a few years ago after murdering Phasma's family when Phasma let them in because her family weren't into the whole 'not dying for stupid reasons' thing and thought the empty ship thing that provided shelter and not much else was worth getting their entire family slaughtered for - look, they got what they wanted. Phasma did save her brother though, by stabbing him in the leg so he couldn't help and they ended up having to amputate the leg because everything is poison (or something).
So the Scrye, who were no better than anyone else in this shit world, are just so into peace ya'll! Even when the warlord from the Claws - the only other clan in the area - is defeated, Phama's brother and co-leader decides 'Hey, let's make peace with these guys instead of moving into their totally not a deathtrap land where we'd be safer and not, you know, hanging off of rocks over a shark infested ocean!' with Phasma being all "are you fucking serious?".
Because it's totally reasonable to expect a bloodthirsty warlord to NOT try again once he's recovered. I mean, that would be silly!
(Also, I think the warlord is suppose to be an alien who walks on his hands and uses his feet to hold his sword. I don't know, it's stupid but hilarious to imagine.)
OH, LOOK, a way to escape/a fresh source of supplies just fell from the sky! Should the Scrye go for it? Nah, we'd have to go through Claw territory and break the peace treaty because that's so important in a wasteland where your current clan LIVES ON FUCKING ROCK SPIRES HANGING OVER A SHARK INFESTED OCEAN. DID I MENTION THE SHARKS ARE REALLY BIG?! LIKE THE SHARK FROM JAWS ONLY 100 TIMES BIGGER KIND OF BIG!
Phasma: ... I'm going to get those supplies so we don't, you know, die.
So, RELUCTANTLY, they let her and warriors go and enter the Claw territory and look, it was an asshole who fell from the sky! And he promises to call for help! Warlord, kinda being obvious he wasn't going to tell the Scrye about this anyway, uses Phasma's presence as an excuse to BARTER FOR THE ONLY CHILD THEY HAVE in exchange for not killing them.
Yelp, I feel so bad when this guy dies, truly only a heartless monster would murder such a sweet soul.
They bring General Abusive Asshole aka Brendol Hux (also, since when was he a general? He was basically a high school principle before!) back to the Scrye to show them 'Hey, we can get off this death trap of a planet!' "...Nah, it cool." "...Well, how about a few of us go and bring back help?" "UH, HOW ABOUT NO." "ffs"
So Phasma takes General Asshole and her warriors to go take him back to his ship so they can get off this hellhole of a planet and they encounter blood-drinking beetles that somehow live in the sand, a few mutated wolves, and a random scouting party who had sleds driven by lizards. We don't know where they came from or where they were going and they're never brought up again. Oh, and their mode of transportation was slaughtered instead of, you know, used by them to get to the ship faster.
Blah blah blah, we're shown, once again for the millionth time in a Star Wars canon book, that Stormtroopers are actual human beings with personalities that somehow survive that oh, so intense brainwashing the First Order puts them through that leaves them no better than mindless drones. Apparently, it's still okay to slaughter them wholesale because, you know, the good guys are doing it so that makes it okay! (Remember kids, it's not murder if they're on the opposite side!)
General Asshole is poisoned and OH, WHAT LUCK! A RANDOM DROID APPEARS ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AND TAKES THEM TO A HIDDEN BASE.
"We'll heal your friend!" "Oh, great!" "How you going to pay us for that?" "uh..." "You can work for us until your debt is paid! Or we can throw you all out and let your friend die." "..."
So they work in the mine for a week or so with the droids being oddly cultish and worshiping their creators until Brendol turns them off at the main control panel and Siv, the character who told the story to Vi who's now telling it to Cardinal, JUST FEELS SO BAD YOU GUYS. I MEAN, I WOULD TOTALLY FEEL BAD THAT THE BEINGS ENSLAVING ME ARE NEVER GOING TO WAKE UP AGAIN. SO SAD YOU GUYS.
Also, Siv is pregnant. A point that'll come up later.
They get some jeeps or some shit and continue on and OH THEY GET CAPTURED AGAIN... by a bloodthirsty cannibal cult thingy that wants them to fight to the death for their entertainment and maybe eat them. Phasma gets beat all to hell but the crowd liked that so they got some food. Next day, they get weapons to fight the same goliath as yesterday who goes down immediately. At this point, Phasma orders Siv to kill him even though he can't move, is bleeding out, and is going to die before the hour is out anyway with no way to save him. Siv doesn't kill him and says it's mercy (Uh, honey, that ain't mercy.) This plot points comes in later.
Phasma kills the king - the crowd loves it - and is now the new king and she kills the guy who says 'uh, it doesn't work that way...'. I guess we're suppose to feel bad about these guys as well. Did I mention they were cannibals and made people fight for food while the other half of the population watched? Cuz that's a thing that happened.
Yep, totally unjustified deaths all of them.
They keep on trucking and make it to a fence separating them from General Asshole's crashed ship where they meet a... random alien. Guess they had to throw another one in SOMEWHERE and that's what it feels like: Thrown In. Also, he's covered in the blood-eating beetles because they're friends. Sure.
They're talking to Insect Guy when they're attacked from behind!... By the Scyre and Claws (lead by Phasma's so noble and totally pacifistic brother) who can't be assed to leave their territory to save their own lives but going after a tiny group of deserters is TOTALLY WORTH LEAVING EVERYTHING THEY KNOW BEHIND AND BRINGING EVERY SINGLE PERSON WITH THEM ON THIS DANGEROUS MISSION JUST TO, YOU KNOW, KILL THESE 4 OR 5 PEOPLE WHO WERE LEAVING ANYWAY. (Sigh)
Phasma, her warriors, and the two remaining troopers kill everyone, including one of their own because she had a twisted ankle and would slow them down. This is one of the contradictions that annoys the hell out of me: They're suppose to be all for bringing people to join the Stormtrooper program (the promise Asshole seems to be making them) and yet this fit, young girl with a twisted ankle is more of a hindrance than Tubby McAsshole is? Even carrying her wouldn't slow them down as much as his fatass would/did!
Anyway, they get through the fence and get radiation sickness because the people who lived on the planet before, despite being VASTLY more advanced than us, still used Nuclear power and did so badly and blew everything up because of dumb.
They find the ship (Which was Palpatine's favorite yacht... okay, sure, use artifacts from the regime you worship as personal vessels while scouting planets. That's totally not disrespectful or anything. Fuck off.) They call for help and OH, LOOK! THE REST OF THE SCYRE AND CLAWS ATTACK... and get slaughtered again but not before Siv's boy toy is murdered accidentally on purpose by his brother who is shocked by this turn of events (what, did the guy come all this way to hug it out and the knife slipped? What did he think he was there to do?).
Soon, all that's left is Phasma's brother and the little kid that they brought along because that's a smart thing to do. Phasma kills him - as you do to people in post-apocalyptic hellscape planets who are too dumb to live - and is about to kill the kid as well (because why not) when General Asshole reminds them they need children for the Stormtrooper program.
Okay, cool.
Rescue comes and they tell Siv "Lol, not you." Because she didn't kill the already dying guy and that was deemed 'soft'. First off: Guy died a horrible painful death instead of a quick one. Again, that ain't mercy. Secondly: SIV IS PREGNANT. LESS THAN A FEW SENTENCES AGO THEY WERE ALL FOR ANY RECRUITS THEY COULD GET BUT, NOPE, LETS LEAVE NOT ONE BUT TWO NEW RECRUITS BEHIND BECAUSE ???? ALSO, ISN'T THAT THE POINT OF THIS FAMED 'BRAIN WASHING/REPROGRAMMING' THING THE FIRST ORDER IS SO EVIL FOR DOING? McAsshole might not have known about the pregnancy but he's still giving up a new recruit over something so fucking stupid! THIS IS WHAT THE BRAINWASHING IS FOR! IF YOU DON'T THINK SHE CAN FIGHT SHE CAN STILL PROBABLY LEARN OTHER TASKS. YOU HAD STORMTROOPERS WHO'S JOB WAS BEING A FUCKING JANITOR.
I just think, more and more, that this 'Stormtroopers are brainwashed' is just something someone made up and they can't even remember why they made it up but everyone just goes with it because reasons.
Anyway, Siv finds a bomb shelter or some bullshit full of not Cultish Droids who have all the meds and food she could ever want and Phasma leaves the planet and General Asshole reminds everyone he's an asshole by blowing up all the cities/people that tried to kill them. Can't blame him too much but most of those places were already dead/empty.
(also there's a scene with Armitage Hux talking to the little kid they brought in and it's very cute and he's actually good with children? WTF?)
We get back to Vi and Cardinal and Cardinal's just '... that helps me in absolutely no way.' So Vi outright tells him "Hey, Phasma murdered your mentor, General Asshole". We're never given a reason why beyond Phasma doesn't want anyone to know her past FOR SOME REASON THAT IS NEVER EXPLAINED. No one cares where she came from, no one in the First Order cares about what she did, this changes absolutely nothing... and yet....?
Cardinal does the only tolerable thing and goes to tell Armitage Hux about this so we can see The Robe and have a whole new slew of Kylux smut fics to enjoy and look, Armie already knew. He knows everything.
(also, am I suppose to feel bad that General Asshole, who abused his own son relentlessly all his life and is a mass murderer like everyone else in this book, is now exploded? This book as strange morals).
Armitage calls Cardinal an idiot to his face (proving once again why he's the only good part of this book) and cuts him off from more of his responsibilities and whatever.
Apparently, Cardinal's never learned that Snitches get Stitches and Phasma comes to kick his ass ( Or something like that, I'm 86% in and I've resorted to skimming, idk).
Book more or less ends with Vi escaping with Cardinal and Phasma going after them because "NO ONE CAN KNOW ALL THE COOL SHIT I DID". We're still not given a reason why this matters to Phasma when it changes absolutely nothing.
This whole book was, more or less, an attempt at an explanation for why Phasma caved instantly and let down the shields of Starkiller base.
This did not do that. If anything, it made it worse.
OH, SHE'LL DO ANYTHING TO SURVIVE!!1! What, did she think the rebel intruders were just going to let her go if she did what they said? That they weren't going to do something devastating to the base that would potentially get a lot of people, including herself, killed? "Oh, the traitor from before and a couple of old Rebel heroes want me to lower the shields? *Shrug* Okay, I don't see the harm in that! What nice guys."
If this was the case, she would have just pretended to let the shield down while sounding a silent alarm.
UGH.
I guess read it if you like Star Wars stuff or, like me, are Kylux trash and want to read about The Robe first hand.
(edit: Fixed a few typos)
December 24, 2022
If you're into Star Wars, then this is an opportunity to fanboy-fangirl out with the background to one of the mysterious villains of that universe. Fans get an opportunity to peek behind the façade of the First Order where masks are very important to the cause as they are used to hide the machinations of leadership. Not all of the villains are physically disfigured the way Darth Vader was. Here, Phasma uses her mask to hide her identity from the people of her home planet where she was an important member of her tribe. No spoilers here, but the masking is significant. I found the novel fascinating and very entertaining; not necessarily important enough to alter appreciation of the series, but certainly amplifies what amounts to a very minor character. I think that her total screen time aggregates to 20 minutes over the course of two movies. Have you had enough Star Wars, yet? If your answer is no, this may help. I clearly loved it. Regardless of the fact that I thought Phasma was going to be a bigger deal than she was.
September 6, 2017
Read the full review at my site Digital Amrit
But if you are to join me, you must look to your pride, Phasma. You must learn to gracefully accede to a superior’s will. Would you rather be right or would you rather be alive?
Introduction
‘Phasma’, part of the new Star Wars canon, is written by Delilah S Dawson. It is, as the name implies, the ‘origin’ story of the eponymous character, set after ‘Return of the Jedi’ but before ‘The Force Awakens’.
Recommendation
“Phasma’ was a let down. I had reasonably high expectations from this book since it was the first new canon book I was reading. Phasma was the other reason to looking forward to it. ‘Phasma’ is the mysterious figure who while appearing to be a badass, somehow let’s herself be captured in ‘The Force Awakens’. I was looking for motivations which could help explain her better and this book does a semi-decent job of doing so.
The biggest gripe I have with this book is the fact that Phasma comes out of it as a one dimensional character. She will do anything to survive. And unfortunately, this book is told from the perspective of other characters. We never get a glimpse of what goes on inside Phasma’s head. Ultimately, She remains the same chrome armour wearing mysterious entity, at the end of the book. Cardinal (the one person who has an actual character arc) and the rest of the characters were more interesting.
I found the pacing to be a bit off too. The book dragged quite a bit – especially around the encounters in the desert. There was nothing original about these encounters and the writing could not save the book from being a bore.
But if you are to join me, you must look to your pride, Phasma. You must learn to gracefully accede to a superior’s will. Would you rather be right or would you rather be alive?
Introduction
‘Phasma’, part of the new Star Wars canon, is written by Delilah S Dawson. It is, as the name implies, the ‘origin’ story of the eponymous character, set after ‘Return of the Jedi’ but before ‘The Force Awakens’.
Recommendation
“Phasma’ was a let down. I had reasonably high expectations from this book since it was the first new canon book I was reading. Phasma was the other reason to looking forward to it. ‘Phasma’ is the mysterious figure who while appearing to be a badass, somehow let’s herself be captured in ‘The Force Awakens’. I was looking for motivations which could help explain her better and this book does a semi-decent job of doing so.
The biggest gripe I have with this book is the fact that Phasma comes out of it as a one dimensional character. She will do anything to survive. And unfortunately, this book is told from the perspective of other characters. We never get a glimpse of what goes on inside Phasma’s head. Ultimately, She remains the same chrome armour wearing mysterious entity, at the end of the book. Cardinal (the one person who has an actual character arc) and the rest of the characters were more interesting.
I found the pacing to be a bit off too. The book dragged quite a bit – especially around the encounters in the desert. There was nothing original about these encounters and the writing could not save the book from being a bore.
November 14, 2017
3.5 to 4 stars. I liked this book a great deal more than "Inferno Squad". It's a relief that Phasma's not played for laughs here (like in Force Awakens when Han and Finn throw her in a garbage chute.) The Phasma in this book is incredibly ruthless, singleminded, driven, violent. This is what I expected to see when she first walked onscreen.
This story takes place in two places, Parnassos, Phasma's home planet 10 years ago, and aboard a First Order star destroyer, Absolution. Vi Moradi, a Resistance spy, is captured by a storm trooper captain known as Cardinal who sports blood red armour. He's not a fan of Phasma, and interrogates Vi to get dirt on Phasma as he knows one of Vi's recent stops was to Parnassos. Problem is, Vi's way smarter than he is and she carefully manipulates him during his interrogation of her.
Though I just can't believe nobody on Absolution's bridge would have noticed a ship caught in the tractor beam and brought into a hangar and a woman taken off the ship, Cardinal somehow has managed to get her to a room with no one noticing. Ok, once I moved past that, I could deal with the rest of the story, as Vi relates what she learned on Parnassos through her conversations with a former member of Phasma's band, Siv. Siv is no dainty creature, and is a warrior trained by Phasma, but who also fulfills a medical and spiritual role for the band. And Phasma is scary, even as a teen.
Siv and Vi are interesting women, and I hope we get to see Vi Moradi again. And Vi likes knitting and keeps dropping stitches, which I totally understand.
This story takes place in two places, Parnassos, Phasma's home planet 10 years ago, and aboard a First Order star destroyer, Absolution. Vi Moradi, a Resistance spy, is captured by a storm trooper captain known as Cardinal who sports blood red armour. He's not a fan of Phasma, and interrogates Vi to get dirt on Phasma as he knows one of Vi's recent stops was to Parnassos. Problem is, Vi's way smarter than he is and she carefully manipulates him during his interrogation of her.
Though I just can't believe nobody on Absolution's bridge would have noticed a ship caught in the tractor beam and brought into a hangar and a woman taken off the ship, Cardinal somehow has managed to get her to a room with no one noticing. Ok, once I moved past that, I could deal with the rest of the story, as Vi relates what she learned on Parnassos through her conversations with a former member of Phasma's band, Siv. Siv is no dainty creature, and is a warrior trained by Phasma, but who also fulfills a medical and spiritual role for the band. And Phasma is scary, even as a teen.
Siv and Vi are interesting women, and I hope we get to see Vi Moradi again. And Vi likes knitting and keeps dropping stitches, which I totally understand.
February 28, 2018
Let's get this over with. Phasma. I've got two confessions to make. First, this book took me about two months to finish. Second, I finished reading Phasma about a week ago, but I really didn't feel like reviewing it.
That's how much this book drained me guys. Thank goodness it is over.
Now before I begin, I have to let it be known that I felt the need to change my rating system and update a few older reviews to accomodate this clunker's one star.
THE STORY: The purpose of this book is to tell the backstory of the chrome armored badass Captain Phasma, but it goes about that goal in an uneccessarily complicated way:
We open with a Resistance Spy named Vi Moradi as she is captured by the First Order. A red armored captain named Cardinal interrogates her, because he wants to get some dirt on Phasma. The backstory is then relayed through Vi Moradi as she is interrogated.
But wait! It gets even more unnecessarily complicated! Vi's story is actually a second hand account from a member of Phasma's tribe named Siv! So yes, you've heard right, this is a third hand telling of Phasma's backstory. What... the... KRIFF?
THE BAD: This book was an agonizingly boring read, and finishing it felt like a chore. The only reasons I decided to finish it were because I spent around 20 dollars to get the hardcover so I could read it before the last jedi, and because I wanted to review it. At least now I get to plaster it in this goodreads review.
Based on the advertising it seems like this book wants to tell Phasma's backstory so readers can be more excited for her (in retrospect) under-use in The Last Jedi. However, in execution, that's not the case at all. Much like how the novel "Revan" didn't know whether it wanted to be a conclusion to Revan's story from KOTOR, a conclusion to Meetra Surik's story from KOTOR 2, or a prequel to the jedi knight storyline from SWTOR, Delilah S. Dawson's Phasma has no clue whether it wants to be about Vi Moradi's dire imprisonment, Cardinal's ambition to overthrow Phasma, or well, Phasma's backstory.
The main problem with the way Phasma's story is told is that you don't actually learn anything about Phasma. Yes, we learn that she was born on the dying world of Parnassos, gets discovered by Brendol Hux, and her main goal is self preservation/survival. Whoop de do, I can learn all that by reading/listening to somebody else's review. I could also get a more consise telling from Wookiepedia. I don't just read these books for information about a character. I expect to get an emotionally satisfying story with characters I can get invested in, and this book gave me absolutely none of that. I didn't get the sense that any of the Parnassos characters changed one bit. Heck, it felt like Phasma was the most boring character in this entire book.
Well, we know Phasma herself was a total dud in terms of character, what about everyone else? I guess I can give the book a little bit of credit in that Siv has occasional bursts of likeability, but even she comes off as a generic optimist trying to protect her unborn child. The other Parnassos characters have no discernible personality either.
Now lets get to Cardinal and Vi Moradi. They HAVE to have some more character because this book is from their points of view right? Nope, because this book is still essentially focused on delivering the backstory of Phasma, they come off just as dull. The book tries to make Vi sympathetic by mentioning her brother a few times, and tries to make you root for Cardinal because he wants to reform the first order, but the book does not spend enough time developing these characters for me to root for them.
I guess it's notable that Dawson tried to write the book with a different and unique storytelling device, but wow does it backfire. I wish it was just a straightforward Phasma POV book, because I think it could have at least done its job if not actually turn out a good book. As is, I found the novel to be completely impersonal and bland.
THE GOOD: The book has a couple of redeeming qualities, even if they are very minor.
Dawson does a good job with worldbuilding. The apparently Mad Max inspired Parnassos was a commendable attempt at introducing a new and different world into the star wars galaxy, but it also feels like a believable part of the galaxy even if most of the book is actually largely devoid of of star wars' traditional blasters, spaceships, and lightsabers.
The battle sequence that served as the climax for Phasma's backstory also has a decent emotional payoff for the character of Siv.
It's also kind of neat to see a first order POV in Captain Cardinal. The only problem is that the canon has made a point to showcase the imperial perspective in the Rebels episode "Through Imperial Eyes", as well as books like Lost Stars and Inferno Squad. With that in mind, especially because the FIrst Order is the continuation of the galactic empire, this perspective doesn't feel fresh and the other stories that I mentioned before all did it better than this book.
I guess that in the end, the backstory itself is compelling enough. The problem is not that I didn't believe that it fit with her character, it's just that the story was told in one of the most painfully unengaging star wars book I have read in a while.
I'll also give the book credit in that there was nothing that outright offended me. Despite the completely misguided storytelling device, the writing itself was perfectly competent, and the action scenes were well written enough that they provided a passable break from the agonizing slog that characterized this book.
THE CONCLUSION: Final rating is 1.5 Stars. There was nothing in particular that outright angered me, but this novel was so impersonal and so boring that it made the experience of reading it painful. Star Wars: Phasma was not as bad as Alan Dean Foster's novelization of The Force Awakens, but it has cemented itself as my least favorite novel in the canon that isn’t a novelization. Don't get me wrong, I'd read this again before Fatal Alliance any day, but even the much maligned Heir to the Jedi was better. At least that one was mercifully short, and it was so awkward that you could almost laugh at it (unintentionally).
Poor Captain Phasma. Being a prominent female villain with a really cool design and played by Gwendoline Christie, she had so much potential. But the marketing push for her before Last Jedi completely missed the mark- it left most people disappointed with her role in The Last Jedi and left me with two totally forgettable stories in the star wars canon. I'll admit I would't mind seeing her one more time in Episode 9, but I'm starting to think that between Force Awakens, Last Jedi, this book, and the 4-issue miniseries, the Phasma character as a whole has been not just a mess, but a failure. If you are itching for a Phasma story, you don't have a single option that I would say is good, but between this and the comic by Kelly Thompson, I'd go with the comic. It's boring too, but it doesn't waste nearly as much of your time, and you can enjoy Marco Chechetto's brilliant artwork.
I don't hate Delilah S. Dawson, or even her writing. I found her star wars short story "The Perfect Weapon" centering on Bazine Netaal to be really entertaining. I can tell that she has good, creative ideas and while she's no Claudia Grey, does understand how to write in the star wars galaxy. Also, to be fair, this was her first feature length Star Wars novel, even if he has some other previous novels under her belt. Even though I strongly disliked this book, I would be perfectly willing to give her another chance if she was tasked with another star wars novel to write. But holy kriff, the force was not strong with her this time around.
That's how much this book drained me guys. Thank goodness it is over.
Now before I begin, I have to let it be known that I felt the need to change my rating system and update a few older reviews to accomodate this clunker's one star.
THE STORY: The purpose of this book is to tell the backstory of the chrome armored badass Captain Phasma, but it goes about that goal in an uneccessarily complicated way:
We open with a Resistance Spy named Vi Moradi as she is captured by the First Order. A red armored captain named Cardinal interrogates her, because he wants to get some dirt on Phasma. The backstory is then relayed through Vi Moradi as she is interrogated.
But wait! It gets even more unnecessarily complicated! Vi's story is actually a second hand account from a member of Phasma's tribe named Siv! So yes, you've heard right, this is a third hand telling of Phasma's backstory. What... the... KRIFF?
THE BAD: This book was an agonizingly boring read, and finishing it felt like a chore. The only reasons I decided to finish it were because I spent around 20 dollars to get the hardcover so I could read it before the last jedi, and because I wanted to review it. At least now I get to plaster it in this goodreads review.
Based on the advertising it seems like this book wants to tell Phasma's backstory so readers can be more excited for her (in retrospect) under-use in The Last Jedi. However, in execution, that's not the case at all. Much like how the novel "Revan" didn't know whether it wanted to be a conclusion to Revan's story from KOTOR, a conclusion to Meetra Surik's story from KOTOR 2, or a prequel to the jedi knight storyline from SWTOR, Delilah S. Dawson's Phasma has no clue whether it wants to be about Vi Moradi's dire imprisonment, Cardinal's ambition to overthrow Phasma, or well, Phasma's backstory.
The main problem with the way Phasma's story is told is that you don't actually learn anything about Phasma. Yes, we learn that she was born on the dying world of Parnassos, gets discovered by Brendol Hux, and her main goal is self preservation/survival. Whoop de do, I can learn all that by reading/listening to somebody else's review. I could also get a more consise telling from Wookiepedia. I don't just read these books for information about a character. I expect to get an emotionally satisfying story with characters I can get invested in, and this book gave me absolutely none of that. I didn't get the sense that any of the Parnassos characters changed one bit. Heck, it felt like Phasma was the most boring character in this entire book.
Well, we know Phasma herself was a total dud in terms of character, what about everyone else? I guess I can give the book a little bit of credit in that Siv has occasional bursts of likeability, but even she comes off as a generic optimist trying to protect her unborn child. The other Parnassos characters have no discernible personality either.
Now lets get to Cardinal and Vi Moradi. They HAVE to have some more character because this book is from their points of view right? Nope, because this book is still essentially focused on delivering the backstory of Phasma, they come off just as dull. The book tries to make Vi sympathetic by mentioning her brother a few times, and tries to make you root for Cardinal because he wants to reform the first order, but the book does not spend enough time developing these characters for me to root for them.
I guess it's notable that Dawson tried to write the book with a different and unique storytelling device, but wow does it backfire. I wish it was just a straightforward Phasma POV book, because I think it could have at least done its job if not actually turn out a good book. As is, I found the novel to be completely impersonal and bland.
THE GOOD: The book has a couple of redeeming qualities, even if they are very minor.
Dawson does a good job with worldbuilding. The apparently Mad Max inspired Parnassos was a commendable attempt at introducing a new and different world into the star wars galaxy, but it also feels like a believable part of the galaxy even if most of the book is actually largely devoid of of star wars' traditional blasters, spaceships, and lightsabers.
The battle sequence that served as the climax for Phasma's backstory also has a decent emotional payoff for the character of Siv.
It's also kind of neat to see a first order POV in Captain Cardinal. The only problem is that the canon has made a point to showcase the imperial perspective in the Rebels episode "Through Imperial Eyes", as well as books like Lost Stars and Inferno Squad. With that in mind, especially because the FIrst Order is the continuation of the galactic empire, this perspective doesn't feel fresh and the other stories that I mentioned before all did it better than this book.
I guess that in the end, the backstory itself is compelling enough. The problem is not that I didn't believe that it fit with her character, it's just that the story was told in one of the most painfully unengaging star wars book I have read in a while.
I'll also give the book credit in that there was nothing that outright offended me. Despite the completely misguided storytelling device, the writing itself was perfectly competent, and the action scenes were well written enough that they provided a passable break from the agonizing slog that characterized this book.
THE CONCLUSION: Final rating is 1.5 Stars. There was nothing in particular that outright angered me, but this novel was so impersonal and so boring that it made the experience of reading it painful. Star Wars: Phasma was not as bad as Alan Dean Foster's novelization of The Force Awakens, but it has cemented itself as my least favorite novel in the canon that isn’t a novelization. Don't get me wrong, I'd read this again before Fatal Alliance any day, but even the much maligned Heir to the Jedi was better. At least that one was mercifully short, and it was so awkward that you could almost laugh at it (unintentionally).
Poor Captain Phasma. Being a prominent female villain with a really cool design and played by Gwendoline Christie, she had so much potential. But the marketing push for her before Last Jedi completely missed the mark- it left most people disappointed with her role in The Last Jedi and left me with two totally forgettable stories in the star wars canon. I'll admit I would't mind seeing her one more time in Episode 9, but I'm starting to think that between Force Awakens, Last Jedi, this book, and the 4-issue miniseries, the Phasma character as a whole has been not just a mess, but a failure. If you are itching for a Phasma story, you don't have a single option that I would say is good, but between this and the comic by Kelly Thompson, I'd go with the comic. It's boring too, but it doesn't waste nearly as much of your time, and you can enjoy Marco Chechetto's brilliant artwork.
I don't hate Delilah S. Dawson, or even her writing. I found her star wars short story "The Perfect Weapon" centering on Bazine Netaal to be really entertaining. I can tell that she has good, creative ideas and while she's no Claudia Grey, does understand how to write in the star wars galaxy. Also, to be fair, this was her first feature length Star Wars novel, even if he has some other previous novels under her belt. Even though I strongly disliked this book, I would be perfectly willing to give her another chance if she was tasked with another star wars novel to write. But holy kriff, the force was not strong with her this time around.
January 11, 2018
Good insight into a character sadly neglected in both films, but much as I enjoyed learning about Phasma, it was the frame story and the character of Cardinal that really captured me. I hope Dawson's plans include a future Star Wars novel featuring Vi and Cardinal...
February 15, 2018
This book is a prequel to The Force Awakens. This one tells the story of Phasma's home world and how she became a member of the First Order.
Firstly, I have to say I am not the biggest fan of Captain Phasma and I do not understand all the hubbub for her character. I think the first two movies has done nothing for her character. That changes with this book as the author fleshes her out. Phasma is a cold, fierce warrior and she is a perfect fit for the First Order. This book asks if Phasma is that type of person or is she a product of her planet. Her planet has been devastated by an accident and is not the easiest place to live. Phasma sees that the First Order might be a way out and she does what it takes to grab this chance.
I was never bored with this book but it never truly grabbed me either. I liked the minor characters and the journey to the destination reminded me of dystopian novels where a group has to overcome obstacles before they achieve their goal. This book did make me appreciate the character more than I did before reading this novel.
Firstly, I have to say I am not the biggest fan of Captain Phasma and I do not understand all the hubbub for her character. I think the first two movies has done nothing for her character. That changes with this book as the author fleshes her out. Phasma is a cold, fierce warrior and she is a perfect fit for the First Order. This book asks if Phasma is that type of person or is she a product of her planet. Her planet has been devastated by an accident and is not the easiest place to live. Phasma sees that the First Order might be a way out and she does what it takes to grab this chance.
I was never bored with this book but it never truly grabbed me either. I liked the minor characters and the journey to the destination reminded me of dystopian novels where a group has to overcome obstacles before they achieve their goal. This book did make me appreciate the character more than I did before reading this novel.
October 17, 2017
Probably the best of the Disney era SW books I've read. Told as a story within a story, Phasma's and the framing story both work.
Vi is a rebellion spy captured by the First Order. One of their officers wants information on Phasma and is willing to torture her to get it. So Vi slowly delves out Phasma's life on Parnassas as told to her by someone who grew up with her. Parnassas is a dying planet, her people struggling to survive. When General Brendal Hux crash lands on Parnassus, Phasma sees it as an opportunity to escape the planet to a new life. So she and her warriors take Gen. Hux across the post-apocalyptic landscape to his ship.
While Vi is telling Phasma's story, she's trying to win Cardinal over to her side. Cardinal is looking for a reason to get rid of his rival Phasma. Hopefully, we'll actually see some of these characters in Last Jedi.
Vi is a rebellion spy captured by the First Order. One of their officers wants information on Phasma and is willing to torture her to get it. So Vi slowly delves out Phasma's life on Parnassas as told to her by someone who grew up with her. Parnassas is a dying planet, her people struggling to survive. When General Brendal Hux crash lands on Parnassus, Phasma sees it as an opportunity to escape the planet to a new life. So she and her warriors take Gen. Hux across the post-apocalyptic landscape to his ship.
While Vi is telling Phasma's story, she's trying to win Cardinal over to her side. Cardinal is looking for a reason to get rid of his rival Phasma. Hopefully, we'll actually see some of these characters in Last Jedi.
February 25, 2018
What a mess! This confusing book makes me pine for the original Expanded Universe: Thrawn, the Yuuzahn Vong, Corran Horn...MUCH better than this dreck!
October 14, 2022
Interesting book! As a fan of Game of Thrones, the image of Phasma of course brings memories! But this novel takes her to a whole another level. A lot of background on her and her rise in the First Order. Strong, bold, and relentless!
4.3 Stars
Spoiler Alert
There were definitely some weird aspects of the novel I’m not so sure I liked. Her background in her home planet is something like Arrakis from dune. The way they honored their dead and all. Just felt like a totally unnecessary copy of Herbert’s works. Aside from that, a very fun read!
4.3 Stars
Spoiler Alert
There were definitely some weird aspects of the novel I’m not so sure I liked. Her background in her home planet is something like Arrakis from dune. The way they honored their dead and all. Just felt like a totally unnecessary copy of Herbert’s works. Aside from that, a very fun read!
November 19, 2017
Im a massive Star Wars Fan and I felt like Phasma just isnt main character material. The story felt like the components around her were more important and Phasma was just related or involved in anytjing that occurred. Continues some great backstory information but overall not the strongest Star Wars novel.
September 23, 2017
It’s a somewhat difficult time for Star Wars fans. On the one hand, there is a steady stream of new books and movies, and it’s fun to live in a world that is again Star Wars–crazy. On the other hand, the announcement that J. J. Abrams will direct Episode IX more or less ensures that nothing new or surprising will happen to conclude the new trilogy.
In such a world, it would be nice if a new Star Wars novel could be relied upon to be at least “okay,” or even “meh.” Unfortunately, and with rare exceptions, the standard for the new canon seems to be “blah.” It’s clear that the written word is not particularly important to Disney/Lucasfilm.
Phasma is one of the worst of an already mediocre canon of novels. To be fair, author Delilah Dawson was given a poisoned chalice: Here, write about this character that everyone thought was going to be awesome, but actually turned out to be lame. Oh, and you can’t write from that character’s own perspective. Nor can you describe what her face looks like without her helmet on. And you can only use General Hux, not Kylo Ren or Snoke. And even though this will be called “Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” this story will be set before The Force Awakens, so you won’t actually be giving any details about The Last Jedi. Oh, and one more thing—we want you to focus on a character who wears bright red Stormtrooper armor and is named Cardinal.
I imagine most authors would, rightly, walk away pretty quickly from such an arrangement.
Dawson repays that “deal that’s getting worse all the time” with some embarrassingly clunky writing. Though she avoids “I have a bad feeling about this” (how did that happen??), she does manage to reference just about every Star Wars film in uncool ways. Episode 1: “a particularly vicious Dug” (38); Episode 7: “more green than Siv had ever seen in her entire life” (169); Episode 4: “She’s getting too old for this sort of thing” (322). And Brendol Hux’s reply to Torben’s question “I’ve never walked on sand. . . . What’s it like?” (102) will either make you chuckle or make you chuck the book across the room. I don’t want Star Wars authors to show off what superfans they are by referencing everything possible, in the dorkiest ways, from Star Wars films.
The quoting isn’t limited to Star Wars. Dawson is also, apparently, a fan of The Dark Knight:
Dawson also has some verbal tics that are really odd. In particular, she loves using a “For all that” construction that is, to my ears, unnatural. And she uses it all the time. Here’s an excerpt where that phrasing occurs three times in just two paragraphs:
There are other little moments of “How did an editor stet this?” Lines like, “By the time she was five, Ylva’s child was old enough to hunt frogs and urchins and contribute to the clan, so she was given the name Frey” (37). Surely she meant “Ylva’s child was big enough.” “Old enough” is like saying, “By the time she was five, she was five.” (Also, there’s no further explanation of what “Frey” means. Does it mean “5-year-old frog-hunter”? Who knows.)
But you know, I’ll give Dawson extra points for the boldness to open a chapter with this line:
Something new this story introduces into Star Wars: “That suggests there was either a nuclear weapon used here or an accident at a factory that made such weapons” (247). That seems to me a very dangerous idea to bring into Star Wars. If that galaxy has the possibility of nuclear weapons, then why does the Empire invest so many resources into weaponizing Galen Erso’s kyber crystal research? The Empire drains the galaxy of raw materials to build the Death Star, but why not just level a planet with atomic blasts? Surely that is cheaper and yields a similar effect, right?
The plot of Phasma is ridiculous—people can see the smoke rising from a crashed spaceship, but even on speederbikes and motorized vehicles traveling across flat desert land, it takes them days and days to reach the crash site, and en route they completely lose track of what direction they’re supposed be going?—and does nothing to further Star Wars other than introducing the very creepy “detraxor” devices that suck the “life essence” from recently deceased corpses. But the weirdest thing about the narrative technique is that it is essentially a Keyser Söze story—but without the twist at the end. I mean, it is completely obvious all the way through that , but the reveal never comes! The story doesn’t make any sense otherwise.
I don't know if there would have been any way to make Phamsa cool. But I know that she is now officially, canonically awful. Too bad.
In such a world, it would be nice if a new Star Wars novel could be relied upon to be at least “okay,” or even “meh.” Unfortunately, and with rare exceptions, the standard for the new canon seems to be “blah.” It’s clear that the written word is not particularly important to Disney/Lucasfilm.
Phasma is one of the worst of an already mediocre canon of novels. To be fair, author Delilah Dawson was given a poisoned chalice: Here, write about this character that everyone thought was going to be awesome, but actually turned out to be lame. Oh, and you can’t write from that character’s own perspective. Nor can you describe what her face looks like without her helmet on. And you can only use General Hux, not Kylo Ren or Snoke. And even though this will be called “Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” this story will be set before The Force Awakens, so you won’t actually be giving any details about The Last Jedi. Oh, and one more thing—we want you to focus on a character who wears bright red Stormtrooper armor and is named Cardinal.
I imagine most authors would, rightly, walk away pretty quickly from such an arrangement.
Dawson repays that “deal that’s getting worse all the time” with some embarrassingly clunky writing. Though she avoids “I have a bad feeling about this” (how did that happen??), she does manage to reference just about every Star Wars film in uncool ways. Episode 1: “a particularly vicious Dug” (38); Episode 7: “more green than Siv had ever seen in her entire life” (169); Episode 4: “She’s getting too old for this sort of thing” (322). And Brendol Hux’s reply to Torben’s question “I’ve never walked on sand. . . . What’s it like?” (102) will either make you chuckle or make you chuck the book across the room. I don’t want Star Wars authors to show off what superfans they are by referencing everything possible, in the dorkiest ways, from Star Wars films.
The quoting isn’t limited to Star Wars. Dawson is also, apparently, a fan of The Dark Knight:
“You sound like someone who doesn’t even know he’s just a tool for a tyrant.”Sigh.
“And you sound like someone who just wants to watch the galaxy burn.” (51)
Dawson also has some verbal tics that are really odd. In particular, she loves using a “For all that” construction that is, to my ears, unnatural. And she uses it all the time. Here’s an excerpt where that phrasing occurs three times in just two paragraphs:
For all that she had her bundle strapped to her chest, Ylva fought as ferociously as anyone, taking down two Claw fighters with the rusty saw blades Phasma had taught her to wield. Even Keldo took down a Claw for all that he could fight only in place, tethered to his stone spire by lines and forced to fight on one foot.“For all that” appears over and over and over in this book. And it’s not meant to be a verbal tic of the storyteller within the story, because it happens in other sections of the book, too.
But Phasma was the warrior who did the most damage. Clad in her mask and climbing spikes, she was strong, tall, quick, and the master of every weapon she carried. For all that Balder had the physical advantage, Phasma fought like she craved death at the enemy’s hand, like she longed to fall on Balder’s b’hedda, a famed Dug weapon he’d painstakingly crafted from an old mining blade. (40-41)
There are other little moments of “How did an editor stet this?” Lines like, “By the time she was five, Ylva’s child was old enough to hunt frogs and urchins and contribute to the clan, so she was given the name Frey” (37). Surely she meant “Ylva’s child was big enough.” “Old enough” is like saying, “By the time she was five, she was five.” (Also, there’s no further explanation of what “Frey” means. Does it mean “5-year-old frog-hunter”? Who knows.)
But you know, I’ll give Dawson extra points for the boldness to open a chapter with this line:
Once an ongoing peace had been established with Balder’s tribe, things should’ve been good for Phasma and the Scyre. Or at least as good as they could be on a primitive world where every day was a fight just to eat while also not falling between rocks and getting eaten by sharks. (55)Star Wars has been trying to replicate Boba Fett for all the years since the original trilogy. It hasn’t yet worked: Darth Maul (though they have tried so hard, bringing him back from the dead, repeatedly, to make him cool), General Grievous, and even a “related” Fett, Jango. But there’s just no way to engineer something that will be so satisfying and intriguing to fans as the original Fett. And having a new would-be Fett replacement put on a Mandalorian helmet (from the description on page 158, perhaps it’s meant to be Sabine’s?) just feels insulting and gimmicky.
Something new this story introduces into Star Wars: “That suggests there was either a nuclear weapon used here or an accident at a factory that made such weapons” (247). That seems to me a very dangerous idea to bring into Star Wars. If that galaxy has the possibility of nuclear weapons, then why does the Empire invest so many resources into weaponizing Galen Erso’s kyber crystal research? The Empire drains the galaxy of raw materials to build the Death Star, but why not just level a planet with atomic blasts? Surely that is cheaper and yields a similar effect, right?
The plot of Phasma is ridiculous—people can see the smoke rising from a crashed spaceship, but even on speederbikes and motorized vehicles traveling across flat desert land, it takes them days and days to reach the crash site, and en route they completely lose track of what direction they’re supposed be going?—and does nothing to further Star Wars other than introducing the very creepy “detraxor” devices that suck the “life essence” from recently deceased corpses. But the weirdest thing about the narrative technique is that it is essentially a Keyser Söze story—but without the twist at the end. I mean, it is completely obvious all the way through that , but the reveal never comes! The story doesn’t make any sense otherwise.
I don't know if there would have been any way to make Phamsa cool. But I know that she is now officially, canonically awful. Too bad.
February 2, 2019
This book breathes new life into Phasma, a character who had little more than a bit part on The Force Awakens. This is both a good and a bad thing. Now that Phasma has become a bona fide character in the Star Wars cannon, what role she is set to play in The Last Jedi is very important; given the momentum generated in this book to build her up as a ruthless career soldier with high ambitions and the Marvel comic (of which I’ve not read) it’s obvious there are plans to break the ‘Stormtrooper as cannon fodder’ typecast and have her develop into an important figure in the First Order along with Kylo Ren, Snoke and Armitage Hux.
While this book is all about Phasma and her adventurous origin story, it’s the use of characters such as Cardinal, Vi Moradi, Siv and Brendol Hux which make this book as good as it is. I thought the storytelling aspect was a great way to add lore to the legend that is Captain Phasma. The book largely centers around captured rebel spy Vie as she tells the story of how Phasma came to be a vital member of the First Order. Through an unconformable interrogation at the hands of Cardinal, a Stormtrooper decked out in red who is responsible for brainwashing and training the next generation of Stormtroopers, Vie spills all she knows when harshly asked to do so under sufferance. He sees Phasma as a threat and uses Vi as a means to end Phasma’s rise in the ranks.
The world building is exceptional; Parnassos, a world ravaged by nuclear disaster is as important as the characters themselves, listening to the audiobook this world really came to life thanks to great storytelling, pitch perfect narration (thanks January LaVoy) and some nifty special sound effects.
There's also a nice easter egg for readers of the new cannon with one of my favorite characters in Rae Sloane (A New Dawn, Aftermath trilogy) being mentioned in a nice nod to continuity.
My rating: 5/5 stars. Great all the way through and introduces a handful of characters I hope to see more of in either film/novels.
Review also appears on my blog: http://justaguywholikes2read.blogspot...
While this book is all about Phasma and her adventurous origin story, it’s the use of characters such as Cardinal, Vi Moradi, Siv and Brendol Hux which make this book as good as it is. I thought the storytelling aspect was a great way to add lore to the legend that is Captain Phasma. The book largely centers around captured rebel spy Vie as she tells the story of how Phasma came to be a vital member of the First Order. Through an unconformable interrogation at the hands of Cardinal, a Stormtrooper decked out in red who is responsible for brainwashing and training the next generation of Stormtroopers, Vie spills all she knows when harshly asked to do so under sufferance. He sees Phasma as a threat and uses Vi as a means to end Phasma’s rise in the ranks.
The world building is exceptional; Parnassos, a world ravaged by nuclear disaster is as important as the characters themselves, listening to the audiobook this world really came to life thanks to great storytelling, pitch perfect narration (thanks January LaVoy) and some nifty special sound effects.
There's also a nice easter egg for readers of the new cannon with one of my favorite characters in Rae Sloane (A New Dawn, Aftermath trilogy) being mentioned in a nice nod to continuity.
My rating: 5/5 stars. Great all the way through and introduces a handful of characters I hope to see more of in either film/novels.
Review also appears on my blog: http://justaguywholikes2read.blogspot...
May 13, 2018
5 🌟
Nice to be able to learn more about Phasma and her origins. She seems dangerous though. Hux better watch himself and everyone else should too. Hope Cardinal will join the Resistance. Also hope that Siv and Torbi will be okay. RIP everyone that died.
Nice to be able to learn more about Phasma and her origins. She seems dangerous though. Hux better watch himself and everyone else should too. Hope Cardinal will join the Resistance. Also hope that Siv and Torbi will be okay. RIP everyone that died.
October 7, 2017
I was pretty excited when Phasma was announced, that I wrote down my initial thoughts about what we might learn about Phasma: “I'm wondering if the reason we didn't get to know much about Phasma in TFA is because her backstory would give away a lot of surprises for TLJ, and maybe she has a larger role in the story than we have been shown. I'm not saying she's linked to any specific character, but I am hoping the character becomes a significant part of the franchise.”
Phasma’s story is told by Vi Moredi, as she was told by a woman named Siv. It starts out with Vi, a Resistance spy, being captured by the First Order, then secretly being interrogated by Captain Cardinal, who forces Vi to tell him about Captain Phasma after he learns that Vi had visited Phasma’s home planet of Parnassos. After receiving electric shocks, Vi tells him what Siv, a woman from Parnassos, told Vi about her journey with Phasma across the dangerous wastelands of Parnassos after Brendol Hux crashed on the planet.
Phasma is a pretty decent read, however, there are a few problems. One, I think it would’ve benefited just telling it through Siv’s point of view, or even Phasma’s (which it does go to Phasma’s third person limited at the end). I was more interested in Siv and her story than Phasma. It did showcase Phasma’s badassary and did give us a heck of a lot more character than we saw in TFA, but I still feel like I don’t know enough about her after reading it and there still is some mystery to her character. This format of telling Phasma’s story suffers because there are parts we are just told and not showed. Just like the last chapter, we didn’t need to have the entire story told by Vi Moredi, especially the scene where we learn Phasma’s dirty little secret.
The story is a bit repetitive at times. I really wanted to know more about Phasma’s time with the First Order since that seemed to be what Cardinal was more interested in as he wanted to take down his rival. The scenes in the desert do develop her character and actually show she will do anything to survive and is willing to betray others to get what she wants. We spend way too much time on Parnassos. I felt a couple of the scenes weren’t necessary to the plot and could’ve cut the length of the book down by at least 50 pages. Also, do chickens and cardinals exist in this galaxy?
The story also develops Armitage Hux as well, though just a bit as he isn’t in the story very much. They also tease us with an appearance of Kylo Ren, but he’s only mentioned and I felt that was a let down. I didn’t expect him to become a major part of the story or even have any of our questions about him answered, but I would’ve liked to had him for just a moment.
In the end, I felt I cared more about Vi, Siv, and Cardinal than I did about Phasma. I would’ve liked to have known what became of all three as they tease more conflict near the end. Maybe they’ll have another book about what happens to Cardinal and Vi? Or they’ll make an appearance in TLJ? I don’t know. It’ll be interesting to see how this directly connects to TLJ. I can see how this connects to TFA as it gives more insight into Phasma’s character. Maybe it will all make sense once TLJ comes out in December.
***1/2 out of *****
Phasma’s story is told by Vi Moredi, as she was told by a woman named Siv. It starts out with Vi, a Resistance spy, being captured by the First Order, then secretly being interrogated by Captain Cardinal, who forces Vi to tell him about Captain Phasma after he learns that Vi had visited Phasma’s home planet of Parnassos. After receiving electric shocks, Vi tells him what Siv, a woman from Parnassos, told Vi about her journey with Phasma across the dangerous wastelands of Parnassos after Brendol Hux crashed on the planet.
Phasma is a pretty decent read, however, there are a few problems. One, I think it would’ve benefited just telling it through Siv’s point of view, or even Phasma’s (which it does go to Phasma’s third person limited at the end). I was more interested in Siv and her story than Phasma. It did showcase Phasma’s badassary and did give us a heck of a lot more character than we saw in TFA, but I still feel like I don’t know enough about her after reading it and there still is some mystery to her character. This format of telling Phasma’s story suffers because there are parts we are just told and not showed. Just like the last chapter, we didn’t need to have the entire story told by Vi Moredi, especially the scene where we learn Phasma’s dirty little secret.
The story is a bit repetitive at times. I really wanted to know more about Phasma’s time with the First Order since that seemed to be what Cardinal was more interested in as he wanted to take down his rival. The scenes in the desert do develop her character and actually show she will do anything to survive and is willing to betray others to get what she wants. We spend way too much time on Parnassos. I felt a couple of the scenes weren’t necessary to the plot and could’ve cut the length of the book down by at least 50 pages. Also, do chickens and cardinals exist in this galaxy?
The story also develops Armitage Hux as well, though just a bit as he isn’t in the story very much. They also tease us with an appearance of Kylo Ren, but he’s only mentioned and I felt that was a let down. I didn’t expect him to become a major part of the story or even have any of our questions about him answered, but I would’ve liked to had him for just a moment.
In the end, I felt I cared more about Vi, Siv, and Cardinal than I did about Phasma. I would’ve liked to have known what became of all three as they tease more conflict near the end. Maybe they’ll have another book about what happens to Cardinal and Vi? Or they’ll make an appearance in TLJ? I don’t know. It’ll be interesting to see how this directly connects to TLJ. I can see how this connects to TFA as it gives more insight into Phasma’s character. Maybe it will all make sense once TLJ comes out in December.
***1/2 out of *****
May 19, 2020
Phasma was actually a surprisingly delightful read. I've been reading these new canon Star Wars books for awhile and anything that isn't written by Claudia Grey seems to be mediocre at best. Yet, Delilah Dawson has proven me wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Phasma starts off with a resistance spy getting captured and interrogated by a Captain of the first order who wants to take down Phasma because he is jealous of her rank and rise through the first order. The resistance spy then tells Captain Phasma's origin story. It is a surprisingly brutal origin story too. It is probably the most action packed Star Wars story I have read in the new canon. People literally get eaten by bugs and turned into water which is terrifying.
I have read many complaints of people being disappointed that the story isn't told from Phasma's point of view, yet I find reading from a third party is probably the best way to view her origin story. Phasma isn't like Thrawn or Tarkin, she isn't a character with multiple layers of intrigue and manipulation. You don’t need to be afraid of what Phasma is thinking like Thrawn. You need to be afraid of what she is capable of with just a few words and her fists. She is a fighter and sometimes a betrayer. The viewer knows who she is and what she is going to do since the chapter she is introduced. I feel like reading the book from her perspective would just be boring. Phasma has a one track mind. She isn't concerned about making friends to achieve a goal like her commanding officers or past officers before her. Sometimes she even seems stupid with her decison making, so I am kind of glad to not read from her point of view. Plus reading from a third party makes Phasma seem more of a monster. It takes away her human aspect which I believe Delilah Dawson was trying to do and she did it well.
All in all I would recommend this book for the Star Wars lover of the old and the new canon.
Phasma starts off with a resistance spy getting captured and interrogated by a Captain of the first order who wants to take down Phasma because he is jealous of her rank and rise through the first order. The resistance spy then tells Captain Phasma's origin story. It is a surprisingly brutal origin story too. It is probably the most action packed Star Wars story I have read in the new canon. People literally get eaten by bugs and turned into water which is terrifying.
I have read many complaints of people being disappointed that the story isn't told from Phasma's point of view, yet I find reading from a third party is probably the best way to view her origin story. Phasma isn't like Thrawn or Tarkin, she isn't a character with multiple layers of intrigue and manipulation. You don’t need to be afraid of what Phasma is thinking like Thrawn. You need to be afraid of what she is capable of with just a few words and her fists. She is a fighter and sometimes a betrayer. The viewer knows who she is and what she is going to do since the chapter she is introduced. I feel like reading the book from her perspective would just be boring. Phasma has a one track mind. She isn't concerned about making friends to achieve a goal like her commanding officers or past officers before her. Sometimes she even seems stupid with her decison making, so I am kind of glad to not read from her point of view. Plus reading from a third party makes Phasma seem more of a monster. It takes away her human aspect which I believe Delilah Dawson was trying to do and she did it well.
All in all I would recommend this book for the Star Wars lover of the old and the new canon.
January 24, 2018
This is probably the first of the "Newer Improved and better tasting" Star Wars Disney book that I've liked. It does have its flaws but those are grounded in the silliness of this "new" SWG. I'll be blunt-Th First Order is not scary. They seem rather soft. When the Cardinal character -what a dumbfucking name especially since it is implied in the book that it implies his rank as well as his color. The problem is where the hell did anyone in the SWG universe see a Cardinal (as in of the Catholic Church) or a cardinal bird? It's this sophomoric level of logic that turns me off from the Disney Star Wars.
The only character here with any personality and a prayer of surviving in the Empire of old is Phasma. She is ruthless and strong. Perhaps she ought to be running the First Order. This is the story of a rebel spy captured by the Cardinal who dishes out dirt on Phasma's origins.
As an origin story it's not bad-that's the main reason this book got the 3 stars. The Cardinal-Rebel-Phasma nexus is a stretch. As is Cardinal's response after decades of duty. Both seem forced just so the story wouldn't be simply an origin story. Sadly the non-Phasma origin parts are rather limp- much like the First Order itself. In their training they sound far too easy going. Not my thing at all. But I will give this story credit for shining some light on Phasma. At least SHE is an interesting character. If you like the New Star Wars you'll like this. I don't but even I thought this was a good story.
The only character here with any personality and a prayer of surviving in the Empire of old is Phasma. She is ruthless and strong. Perhaps she ought to be running the First Order. This is the story of a rebel spy captured by the Cardinal who dishes out dirt on Phasma's origins.
As an origin story it's not bad-that's the main reason this book got the 3 stars. The Cardinal-Rebel-Phasma nexus is a stretch. As is Cardinal's response after decades of duty. Both seem forced just so the story wouldn't be simply an origin story. Sadly the non-Phasma origin parts are rather limp- much like the First Order itself. In their training they sound far too easy going. Not my thing at all. But I will give this story credit for shining some light on Phasma. At least SHE is an interesting character. If you like the New Star Wars you'll like this. I don't but even I thought this was a good story.
August 1, 2018
i feel like Dawson took a post-apocalyptic novel out of her closet and slapped Star Wars characters into it. a nuclear meltdown? chickens? butterflies? these are not Star Wars things.
and the conceit of the story: that tortured prisoner Vi is nattering on endlessly about the windswept grey sand and Siv's tender inner feelings is patently ludicrous. Cardinal is likewise an absurdly naive idiot who gets what he deserves. and Phasma? this does not develop or improve her character in any really interesting way.
and did anyone who has seen The Force Awakens or read the Aftermath series expect Armitage Hux to have any other reaction at the end? that was about the only vaguely in-character thing in the whole book and it's telegraphed practically from the start.
the only way this book works is if you believe everyone in it is a thoroughly unreliable narrator and there's actually something else going on entirely. this was insanely disappointing on practically every level.
and the conceit of the story: that tortured prisoner Vi is nattering on endlessly about the windswept grey sand and Siv's tender inner feelings is patently ludicrous. Cardinal is likewise an absurdly naive idiot who gets what he deserves. and Phasma? this does not develop or improve her character in any really interesting way.
and did anyone who has seen The Force Awakens or read the Aftermath series expect Armitage Hux to have any other reaction at the end? that was about the only vaguely in-character thing in the whole book and it's telegraphed practically from the start.
the only way this book works is if you believe everyone in it is a thoroughly unreliable narrator and there's actually something else going on entirely. this was insanely disappointing on practically every level.
Shelved as 'did-not-finish'
July 3, 2024dnf 59% idk maybe i’ll come back to this one but i feel like the structure is impeding my ability to connect with the characters
October 3, 2017
My original PHASMA (STAR WARS) audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.
After writing the Star Wars short story, The Perfect Weapon, Delilah S. Dawson returns to a galaxy far, far away with the full-length novel, Phasma. I’m a fan of Dawson’s work, and it’s great fun seeing her playing around in one of my favorite cinematic universes and helping to build and expand upon the new canon of expanded universe tie-ins centering around the trilogy of Star Wars films.
After being captured and taken aboard an Imperial ship, Resistance fighter Vi Moradi engages in a battle of wits with a crimson-clad Stormtrooper named Cardinal. He wants information on Captain Phasma, which Moradi possesses, and as the interrogation unfolds she shares with him the true story of Phasma – who she is, where she’s from, and the lengths she will go to in order to survive.
Dawson does a superb job painting a vivid portrait of Phasma, giving this character an engaging history and motivation. While the filmic depiction of Phasma in The Force Awakens was fairly forgettable, her novelized origin story is far from it. Dawson takes us around the apocalyptic world of Parnassos and the Scyre clan Phasma has sworn allegiance to. What emerges from this, in the wake of a crashed Imperial ship and the rescue of its crew by Phasma and her fighters, is a story of survival in a harsh desert world where life is short and brutal, and survival and murder often go hand in hand. Dawson puts a decidedly Mad Max-style spin on her Star Wars story here, and it’s a welcome change of pace.
My only wish/hope is that we get to see more of Vi Moradi in the future. Although Moradi is our gateway into Phasma’s history, there’s not a lot of room for her to shine elsewhere with so much of the narrative space occupying a time ten years in the past. Phasma becomes wonderfully fleshed out and whole, and is certainly a more engaging character here than in her (thus far) single movie appearance, but I really wanted to learn more about Moradi as the book wore on. She’s an engaging Resistance fighter and Dawson does such a good job writing Moradi and her repartee with Cardinal that it’s impossible not to want more of her, or for her to be the singular narrative focus.
On the narration front, January LaVoy does a terrific job bringing Phasma, both the book and the character, to life. This was my first time listening to LaVoy’s work and I was suitably impressed. She keeps the pace moving nicely and adopts an array of inflections to separate character’s dialogue. As is typical of other Star Wars audiobook productions, the narration is accompanied by a host of sound effects and music, helping to amplify the urgency of the narration or underscore the more emotionally resonant beats. The various audio elements work together to create a highly polished and well-produced audiobook, and one that fits firmly within the stylistic realm of the Star Wars universe.
After writing the Star Wars short story, The Perfect Weapon, Delilah S. Dawson returns to a galaxy far, far away with the full-length novel, Phasma. I’m a fan of Dawson’s work, and it’s great fun seeing her playing around in one of my favorite cinematic universes and helping to build and expand upon the new canon of expanded universe tie-ins centering around the trilogy of Star Wars films.
After being captured and taken aboard an Imperial ship, Resistance fighter Vi Moradi engages in a battle of wits with a crimson-clad Stormtrooper named Cardinal. He wants information on Captain Phasma, which Moradi possesses, and as the interrogation unfolds she shares with him the true story of Phasma – who she is, where she’s from, and the lengths she will go to in order to survive.
Dawson does a superb job painting a vivid portrait of Phasma, giving this character an engaging history and motivation. While the filmic depiction of Phasma in The Force Awakens was fairly forgettable, her novelized origin story is far from it. Dawson takes us around the apocalyptic world of Parnassos and the Scyre clan Phasma has sworn allegiance to. What emerges from this, in the wake of a crashed Imperial ship and the rescue of its crew by Phasma and her fighters, is a story of survival in a harsh desert world where life is short and brutal, and survival and murder often go hand in hand. Dawson puts a decidedly Mad Max-style spin on her Star Wars story here, and it’s a welcome change of pace.
My only wish/hope is that we get to see more of Vi Moradi in the future. Although Moradi is our gateway into Phasma’s history, there’s not a lot of room for her to shine elsewhere with so much of the narrative space occupying a time ten years in the past. Phasma becomes wonderfully fleshed out and whole, and is certainly a more engaging character here than in her (thus far) single movie appearance, but I really wanted to learn more about Moradi as the book wore on. She’s an engaging Resistance fighter and Dawson does such a good job writing Moradi and her repartee with Cardinal that it’s impossible not to want more of her, or for her to be the singular narrative focus.
On the narration front, January LaVoy does a terrific job bringing Phasma, both the book and the character, to life. This was my first time listening to LaVoy’s work and I was suitably impressed. She keeps the pace moving nicely and adopts an array of inflections to separate character’s dialogue. As is typical of other Star Wars audiobook productions, the narration is accompanied by a host of sound effects and music, helping to amplify the urgency of the narration or underscore the more emotionally resonant beats. The various audio elements work together to create a highly polished and well-produced audiobook, and one that fits firmly within the stylistic realm of the Star Wars universe.
July 25, 2019
My husband and I picked this up from the shelf at the library at the last minute before our road trip. The only reason we listened to it is there was nothing else to do in the car for 28 hours (each way).
This was so poorly written. Every phrase, every sentence was a cliche, and the “writer” had no idea. It was like she took a challenge to write a book using only 500 words of the English language: Enemies are “dispatched.” There is never another way to kill them. Feet “scrabble to find purchase.” “This next one is a doozy” is said twice, word for word. Get the idea?
The “writer” was tasked with writing a backstory about Phasma, a minor character in the Disney Star Wars sequels. I was hoping for a series of lifelong events. Instead, about 80 percent of the book is Phasma hiking through the wilderness in a Dune-meets-Mad-Max sort of way. She just kept throwing obstacles at the characters until the word count quota was met. Besides the hiking through the wilderness, the rest of it was kind of interesting.
The characters are all flat and cliched. Phasma is the determined survivalist with no conscience who lets nothing get in her way. The story alternates between present and past, where a Resistance spy is interrogated by a rival of Phasma’s. This spy is the most irritating character ever invented. Think Celaena Sardothien on steroids. She is “thin and wiry” with auburn hair but super tough and always ready with “witty” one-liners to throw at her opponent. I was waiting for this character to tie in to Phasma’s life on a personal level, but that never happened.
In addition to the poor writing, there are huge logical errors in the story.
Phasma and her crew overcome overwhelming obstacles to get to Point X, then her rival crew just happens to show up all fit and healthy. The book talks about days becoming monotonous after a certain incident, and then they’re talking about the incident that happened “yesterday.” A TIE fighter has a hyperdrive, even though we all know they are short-range fighters only. The band of fighters gets attacked and totally forgets they have weapons and tanks.
Then there are anachronisms, for lack of a better word. A red stormtrooper is called Cardinal. They have cardinals in the Star Wars universe? Or Catholics? Nuclear weapons leave radiation behind. Star Wars has nuclear weapons? That they use? Things like this feel too earth-like.
So overall, the book was very meh.
Book Blog
This was so poorly written. Every phrase, every sentence was a cliche, and the “writer” had no idea. It was like she took a challenge to write a book using only 500 words of the English language: Enemies are “dispatched.” There is never another way to kill them. Feet “scrabble to find purchase.” “This next one is a doozy” is said twice, word for word. Get the idea?
The “writer” was tasked with writing a backstory about Phasma, a minor character in the Disney Star Wars sequels. I was hoping for a series of lifelong events. Instead, about 80 percent of the book is Phasma hiking through the wilderness in a Dune-meets-Mad-Max sort of way. She just kept throwing obstacles at the characters until the word count quota was met. Besides the hiking through the wilderness, the rest of it was kind of interesting.
The characters are all flat and cliched. Phasma is the determined survivalist with no conscience who lets nothing get in her way. The story alternates between present and past, where a Resistance spy is interrogated by a rival of Phasma’s. This spy is the most irritating character ever invented. Think Celaena Sardothien on steroids. She is “thin and wiry” with auburn hair but super tough and always ready with “witty” one-liners to throw at her opponent. I was waiting for this character to tie in to Phasma’s life on a personal level, but that never happened.
In addition to the poor writing, there are huge logical errors in the story.
Phasma and her crew overcome overwhelming obstacles to get to Point X, then her rival crew just happens to show up all fit and healthy. The book talks about days becoming monotonous after a certain incident, and then they’re talking about the incident that happened “yesterday.” A TIE fighter has a hyperdrive, even though we all know they are short-range fighters only. The band of fighters gets attacked and totally forgets they have weapons and tanks.
Then there are anachronisms, for lack of a better word. A red stormtrooper is called Cardinal. They have cardinals in the Star Wars universe? Or Catholics? Nuclear weapons leave radiation behind. Star Wars has nuclear weapons? That they use? Things like this feel too earth-like.
So overall, the book was very meh.
Book Blog
November 6, 2017
STAR WARS: PHASMA is a book which I think really shows what the biggest problem with current Star Wars tie-in fiction is, which is the fact nothing is allowed to happen. This is the life story of Captain Phasma, the cowardly but dangerous leader of the First Order's Stormtroopers who brought down the shields of Starkiller Base when someone pointed a gun at her.
The entirety of the book is meant to reconcile the fact she's meant to be terrifying but rolled on her fellow Imperials at the first sign of trouble. About the only time I ever think a cowardly but dangerous villain has ever worked in my history of reading fiction was Cobra Commander in the old Sunbow cartoon--so I'm not sure if this dual characterization was ever meant to work.
So what is Phasma's deal? Basically, she's Furiosa from Mad Max: Fury Road. It turns out she grew up in a post-apocalypse PG-13 savage land where she developed no morals but how to survive. This is actually a pretty awesome backstory but is kind of muted by the fact Star Wars is family friendly so the level of desperation and evil on display is kind of muted. It's like when they did adaptations of Conan the Barbarian, Robocop, and Rambo for kids.
It doesn't help we're really not following Captain Phasma either but a Stormtrooper named Cardinal, who draws immediate questions like, "Do they have Cardinals in Star Wars? Birds or red-robed high ranking priests of the Catholic Church?" He's one of the "Good" Imperials who has been cheerfully educating thousands of children to be soldiers for the Empire before, OH MY FORCE, realizing that this is a bad thing.
I'm a big fan of Imperials and humanizing them. That's why I wrote Lucifer's Star as sort of an homage to Star Wars' villains. I also note a lot of people dont seem to understand how indoctrination works as they seem to think being educated in soldiery from birth turns people into soulless robots when it actually just tends to turn them into mentally unstable fanatics as indoctrination isn't Hollywood mind-control. However, I do find it weird that the guy in charge of making ruthless killing machines doesn't seem to realize he's working for the bad guys--I wonder if he was a Grand Admiral Sloane appointment.
Overall, much of the book fails from the fact we don't really get to know Phasma much more than when we met her. She's a two-dimensional monster at the start of the story and remains a two-dimensional monster at the end. Cardinal is interesting as a character but I can't help but find him a bit unbelievable.
5/10
The entirety of the book is meant to reconcile the fact she's meant to be terrifying but rolled on her fellow Imperials at the first sign of trouble. About the only time I ever think a cowardly but dangerous villain has ever worked in my history of reading fiction was Cobra Commander in the old Sunbow cartoon--so I'm not sure if this dual characterization was ever meant to work.
So what is Phasma's deal? Basically, she's Furiosa from Mad Max: Fury Road. It turns out she grew up in a post-apocalypse PG-13 savage land where she developed no morals but how to survive. This is actually a pretty awesome backstory but is kind of muted by the fact Star Wars is family friendly so the level of desperation and evil on display is kind of muted. It's like when they did adaptations of Conan the Barbarian, Robocop, and Rambo for kids.
It doesn't help we're really not following Captain Phasma either but a Stormtrooper named Cardinal, who draws immediate questions like, "Do they have Cardinals in Star Wars? Birds or red-robed high ranking priests of the Catholic Church?" He's one of the "Good" Imperials who has been cheerfully educating thousands of children to be soldiers for the Empire before, OH MY FORCE, realizing that this is a bad thing.
I'm a big fan of Imperials and humanizing them. That's why I wrote Lucifer's Star as sort of an homage to Star Wars' villains. I also note a lot of people dont seem to understand how indoctrination works as they seem to think being educated in soldiery from birth turns people into soulless robots when it actually just tends to turn them into mentally unstable fanatics as indoctrination isn't Hollywood mind-control. However, I do find it weird that the guy in charge of making ruthless killing machines doesn't seem to realize he's working for the bad guys--I wonder if he was a Grand Admiral Sloane appointment.
Overall, much of the book fails from the fact we don't really get to know Phasma much more than when we met her. She's a two-dimensional monster at the start of the story and remains a two-dimensional monster at the end. Cardinal is interesting as a character but I can't help but find him a bit unbelievable.
5/10
October 5, 2017
"Phasma" may be the best book yet of the new Star Wars canon. I know, I know, high praise. "But Joe, what about 'Lost Stars? What about 'Thrawn'?" People, people, you've got to trust me here.
I think we can all agree that Captain Phasma was (how shall I put this?) rather underutilized in "The Force Awakens." She looked cool, sounded cool, but ultimately ended up being a footnote in the story. A very shiny, chrome-plated footnote, but a footnote all the same.
Then along comes the book "Phasma." This book is the love child of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and The Usual Suspects. The story begins with a rebel spy being captured by The First Order and interrogated by a cardinal colored stormtrooper named...wait for it...Cardinal. He wants to know about one thing...Phasma. Who is she? Where does she come from? What can he use against her?
Luckily for him, this particular rebel has quite a story to tell about our shiny anti-hero and boy is it a doozy.
It has it all:
- Tribes!
- A Quest!
- Nuclear Fallout!
- Crazy Robot Religious Zealots!
- Mad Max Style Madness!
We even get to find out where Phasma got her distinctive armor which is a special treat for all Star Wars super fans.
Without giving too much away, I hope we hear a lot more from many of the characters introduced in this book. 5 stars!
I think we can all agree that Captain Phasma was (how shall I put this?) rather underutilized in "The Force Awakens." She looked cool, sounded cool, but ultimately ended up being a footnote in the story. A very shiny, chrome-plated footnote, but a footnote all the same.
Then along comes the book "Phasma." This book is the love child of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and The Usual Suspects. The story begins with a rebel spy being captured by The First Order and interrogated by a cardinal colored stormtrooper named...wait for it...Cardinal. He wants to know about one thing...Phasma. Who is she? Where does she come from? What can he use against her?
Luckily for him, this particular rebel has quite a story to tell about our shiny anti-hero and boy is it a doozy.
It has it all:
- Tribes!
- A Quest!
- Nuclear Fallout!
- Crazy Robot Religious Zealots!
- Mad Max Style Madness!
We even get to find out where Phasma got her distinctive armor which is a special treat for all Star Wars super fans.
Without giving too much away, I hope we hear a lot more from many of the characters introduced in this book. 5 stars!
September 9, 2017
A surprisingly excellent story. It's a rather complex story within a story, both engaging, both taking you on a journey along with the characters. Each shifting POV character's story was well done...and I was into each of those characters. Not easy to balance and pull off well.
September 17, 2017
It doesn't feel like Star Wars.
It feels like Disney's forced reaction to complaints that Phasma didn't have a larger role in Force Awakens. The story doesn't really add to the overall universe.
It feels like Disney's forced reaction to complaints that Phasma didn't have a larger role in Force Awakens. The story doesn't really add to the overall universe.
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