There have been a lot of Mad Max comparisons to Delilah S. Dawson's Phasma, particularly to Mad Max Fury Road. The tale of Phasma’s journey across the irradiated desert on the planet Parnassos certainly has a lot in common with George Miller’s blood-and-gasoline opus but ultimately beyond the ruthless desperation, backstabbing, and war and bleak, desert like setting, there isn't really any characters to root for, the way Miller had you rooting for the women in Fury Road. Phasma in Dawson's cannon novel remains elusive, distant, and cold. But what we do learn is that she is a ruthless killing machine, who will stop at nothing to survive. It's sad that the films never really capitalized on just how brutal and frightening of a character she really is because it is intriguing stuff. I would have loved a plot thread where she was hunting down Finn killing everyone in her path. Who knows maybe she isn't dead? She is resourceful and I mean if Darth Maul can survive being cut into half, surely phasma can survive being blown up in space right?

Anyway, I digress. This is a fine and often intriguing novel that fills us in on not only how Phasma came to the first order, but how the first order formed and recruited, and how General Armitage Hux achieved his rank. The story is framed by an interrogation. Resistance agent Vi Moradi finds herself in the clutches of Cardinal, a stormtrooper training officer who wants to get revenge on Phasma for usurping some of his duties and his value in the Supreme Leader’s eyes. Vi knows Phasma’s history second hand, and so it’s through this thirdhand account that we get the Parnassos sequence. It's actually the characters VI and Cardinal the story short of centers around and they are clearly the most fascinating characters. For all the history we dig up on Phasma, we never dive deep into her state of mind, we never see her as an innocent little girl, we just see her a ruthless, cunning warrior who will stop at nothing to survive. This might be for the best.

Phasma is simply a juggernaut. With Phasma, maybe it's better to keep her thoughts a mystery. We don't need everything spelled out for us. ( )

It's the beginnings of a good book. However, you spend most the novel waiting for the story to actually start and it never really does. Told well though, with a viewpoint via First Order interrogation that's perhaps more intriguing than Phasma's origin story. ( )

This review first appeared on scifiandscary.com

‘Phasma’ (or to give it the full title it has on Amazon ‘Star Wars: Phasma: Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Star Wars the Last Jedi)’ a moniker with more colons than a proctologist’s conference) is one of the new official Star Wars novels that have been released since the universe was rebooted by Disney. Aside from the movie novelisations of the original trilogy which I loved as a kid, I think the only other Star Wars book I’ve read was ‘Splinter of the Mind’s Eye’ by Alan Dean Foster, the very first original Star Wars novel, which was published in the late 70s. All that should tell you that whilst I like Star Wars I’m not a mega fan. This review should be read with that in mind, especially when I inevitably screw up some piece of series lore.

As you’d expect from the title, ‘Phasma’ tells the story of Captain Phasma, the super kick ass and excessively polished female stormtrooper from ‘The Force Awakens’ and ‘The Last Jedi’. I’ll confess to having thought she was a completely awesome character in the movies, and clearly I wasn’t alone, as not every henchperson gets their own spin off novel, not matter how shiny they are. Purely on the basis of Phasma’s presence I thought the book would be fun, but what I didn’t expect was for it to be quite as accomplished, entertaining and (dare I say it) polished as it is.

I think it’s the structure that makes it work so well; rather than being a straight retelling of Phasma’s origins, Delilah S Dawson instead frames the story as the lengthy interrogation of a Rebel spy, Vi Moradi, by a First Order stormtrooper, Captain Cardinal. Cardinal has a grudge against Phasma, for reasons that are revealed as the book progresses, and Moradi possesses information that he believes can unseat his rival from her position of power.

The relationship that develops between the two works perfectly, and the way the story within a story distances the reader from Phasma (who is fascinating in small doses but whose taciturnity and air of mystery makes her border on the dull in anything except action scenes) allows Dawson to play to the titular character’s strengths – smashing stuff up and being ruthless. In reality, whilst Phasma’s name is on the cover, the book really belongs to two other women – the spy Morodi and Siv, a healer in the same primitive tribe that Phasma comes from. The stories of Phasma’s early life and initial contact with the First Order are relayed to Cardinal by Morodi, who in turn learned them from Siv who was present for the events. The three contrasting women, Morodi, Siv and Phasma, are the core of the book, and it’s a testament to the newfound inclusivity of the Star Wars series, that it is women rather than men that carry the novel.

The structure also lends itself well to a Star Wars story – it’s deliberately episodic, which plays to the series’ fondness for memorable set pieces, and there are a number of fun SF spectacles to enjoy. Battles between stormtroopers and primitive warriors, vicious alien wolves, insane droids, flesh eating beetles – none of it is desperately original, but all of it is told with an energy and panache that make for a really fun read. Throw in some nice commentary on the dangers of unrestrained capitalism and the origins of fascism and ‘Phasma’ ends up being a thoroughly entertaining read – exciting, politically savvy, amusing, imaginative and even a little moving at times – it’s the perfect book-shaped companion to the modern Star Wars cinematic experience. What’s more, it doesn’t get so bogged down in nerdy detail that you need to be a massive fanboy or girl to appreciate it. ( )

I listened to this as an audiobook and I'm glad I did. This was remarkably produced and it has made me try more and more audio versions of books on my TBR, especially Star Wars books.

This book is a backlist for the Litsy #starwarsbuddyread

Dawson does a great job giving us Phasma's story. I truly enjoyed nearly everything about this book and though I had a few small things I did not enjoy, those are unique to me as a Star Wars fan and they didn't detract me from my enjoyment.

There is a lot of action; great battle scenes and Phasma really is a badass. Her upbringing and leadership skills are unparalleled in this story and you are torn between rooting for her and despising her because she's so resourceful yet ruthless. A perfect combination. It makes so much sense why she joined the First Order.

This is also told from Resistance spy Vi Moradi to First Order Captain Cardinal. It connects these two characters for Galaxy's Edge: Blackspire so I recommend reading this prior to that one.

**All thoughts and opinions are my own.** ( )

I rarely give five star reviews, but Delilah S. Dawson knocked this one out of the park. ( )