Dork Side Book Review — Star Wars: Phasma
Our spoiler-free first impressions on the novel Star Wars: Phasma…
Force Friday II launched the events of the Journey to The Last Jedi, featuring two highly anticipated novels in Star Wars: Phasma and Leia: Princess of Alderaan.
With more of a presence on the toy shelves than in The Force Awakens, Star Wars fans have been itching for more of the mysterious chromed-Captain.
We finally got our wish, with Delilah S. Dawson giving us a deep look into the origins of the First Order’s Stormtrooper leader. The novel does not disappoint and definitely makes up for the lack of Phasma in Episode VII.
Photo credit: Lucasfilm
With a flashback style of storytelling, we begin just prior to the events of The Force Awakens, with General Leia sending one of her spies on a mission to get Intel on the activities of the looming First Order.
The spy is captured by an agent of the First Order, who goes by the name of the Cardinal. The Crimson Trooper is apparently a rival of Phasma and wants information on the chromed-Captain, in order to bring her down, after Phasma had gained a majority of his former power.
The novel shifts back and forth between two different time-frames, just prior to The Force Awakens and 10 years before TFA, where we learn more about Phasma’s origins.
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We visit Phasma’s scarce outer-rim home planet of Parnassos, where she is recruited by Brendol Hux — not to be confused with Armitage Hux from The Force Awakens — of the First Order. We learn how Phasma quickly climbs the ranks of the First Order’s military and just how much of a skilled, bad ass fighter she really is.
Photo credit: Lucasfilm
Having Leia in the novel was a bit of a surprise for me, and it’s a nice compliment to the other new release, Leia: Princess of Alderaan, seeing the growth of the princess during that 34-year gap in-between both novels. I recommend reading both at the same time and alternating back and forth between the two.
Delilah S. Dawson skillfully takes us through many twists and turns, with a few surprises along the way, that connects us to The Force Awakens and the upcoming The Last Jedi. She also gives us some fun Easter eggs, that are a huge payoff for those who have kept up with all venues of the Star Wars canon.
Photo credit: Lucasfilm
For fans that were hoping for some Snoke and Kylo Ren, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but we only get a mention of the shadowy leader of the First Order and nothing much on the Master of the Knights of Ren. To be fair on the latter, Kylo most likely joined forces with Snoke about five years after the main events of the novel, so a heavy presence would not make any sense. I also would rather the movie give more details on Snoke, even though I would not have complained about some early teasers from the novel.
Phasma, as we know from the lack of Cardinal in The Force Awakens, does win her showdown with the Crimson leader, but we will let the book dive into how that goes down.
The novel is a must read prior to seeing The Last Jedi and will leave you on the edge of your seat the entire time.
Next: Fun Easter eggs from the newest Star Wars visual guide
Stay tuned to Dork Side of the Force for a full-spoiler review on Star Wars: Phasma, coming soon. You can order the novel Phasma here.