Books: Star Wars: Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson (2017)

"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."

While billed as the secret history behind the First Order’s most notorious (and underutilized new character within the movie franchise) Stormtrooper, Delilah S. Dawson’s Star Wars: Phasma seemed designed to help fans get a better glimpse into this new character (a tactic that Disney is now using so they don’t have to bother with characterization on screen) who looked to be a breakout villain. But basically, what we have here is a backstory for Phasma—but told from a third-hand retelling (which is just a horrible way to write a tale). No one, not even the captured Rebel repeating this information onto another high ranking Stormtrooper named Captain Cardinal, even considers that the stories of Phasma’s upbringing are whole truths, lies, or could be given by an unreliable narrator. So if you’re coming to this novel, as I was, hoping to find out more about her personality or discover what makes Phasma tick, then be prepared for disappointment because this book is completely devoid of any kind of real characterization.

The problem with these new canon books is that while they can often offer more clarity and motivations of these new characters, they still need to have an interesting back story. Phasma is still mostly a cipher here, and even the rationale of Cardinal trying to solve a “murder” seems suspect. While the analogy that the First Order is model for the rise of the Nazi’s, Star Wars: Phasma offers no new wrinkle here, they are what you think they are and they have no redeemable value.

 

I’m unsure why Dawson took this route with Phasma, who could’ve been more than the sum of her chrome parts we’ve seen in both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. I don't have an issue media of books, comics, and animated TV shows being used by Disney to flesh out certain character’s back story -like Phasma and probably Snoke- but I do want something more interesting, more worthy than what is presented here.