Books Journey to the Last Jedi: Phasma

I get what you're saying about how the story starts. Give it a little time.

Ugh... that's a terrible story analogy. Truly. I never really understood the hubub about the series. It's...ok.

Sent from my Moto X-Wing

 

I'm not seeing how they drew that conclusion, even at a general level.

 

Because Cardinal is crimson and he serves a new "Empire"?

 

The Hux subplot may also apply:

Spoiler

Hux is like the Palpatine clone - being "poisoned" on the instructions of his subordinate. With Cardinal seeking to avenge what was done to him, once he's found out.

 

Yes, this exactly. The conflict between Phasma and Cardinal reminds me of Jax and Kanos.

 

Ohhhh hoho I just got to the end. You're a GoT fan, right? I remember you made that GoT comment (unrelated to this thread) a little while ago. The ending had what I think was a massively well-hidden GoT reference:

Spoiler

Brienne's shield has a comet on it as the sigil. In the books, it's her ancestor Duncan the Tall's house sigil (from the Dunk and Egg side series G.R.R. Martin wrote). In the last chapter, when Phasma crafts her the armor, she likens the fallen ship to a comet.

I dunno if that was intentional, but super nerdy if it was. I approve.

I still didn't really like the book though. I didn't hate it. It was just super depressing and I hated everyone in it. I guess that was the point. It definitely served its function, and was perfect for Phasma. It's mainly just one of those cases where the genre and me don't jive. I will say it had some great characterization. Better than most novels, because you can "see" the characters performing every little action. Dawson's attention to detail is excellent.

 

Lol. I am... but TBH...totally missed the nod.

I appreciate you recognize some of the strengths of the book, particularly characterization (even if you hated all the characters...), but that book still isn't your bag.

I love character-heavy stories, so...

I also think the structure was complex and well done. I also just liked the story.

It is dark and depressing. But also with a splash of hope.

Honestly...I wish there were more objective disagreements of this nature...in recognizing how others just like different things and less "my opinion is obviously better than yours."

Sent from my Moto X-Wing

 

I finished the book a week or so ago, and I've been trying to piece together my thoughts on the book. I'm still not sure if I enjoyed it or not.

I curious to know if anyone else felt the very beginning and the very ending were a little too convenient, plot-wise.

Spoiler

Vi Moradi was sent to a specific location in space to scout out the possibility of First Order ships. She gets there and there are indeed FO ships and they capture her. The kicker is, Captain Cardinal was on one of those ships and has been specifically hunting down Moradi for some period of time. And Moradi has committed to memory virtually all of the Resistances' intel on Captain Cardinal. And so they finally meet, but only due to random coincidence? I think the beginning would have been stronger if we see Cardinal capture Moradi after tracking her down--but then I suppose that means the FO would likely have been aware of Moradi's capture, which they weren't in the book.

Then at the end, Moradi and Cardinal escape the Absolution and it's entire legion of stormtroopers and TIE fighters seemingly without a fight or obstacle. Granted, this is all done through Cardinal's POV and he wasn't exactly "all there" at that point in time, so that could certainly be the reason, but them having to fight their way out wasn't how it came across in the book. It seems all too easy to get out without a fight.

Anyone else have an opinion on this?

 

I think you've answered your own question.

Meanwhile, for those who have either read the book or do not mind spoilers, a new article, some language as a stylistic choice is in it:
http://eleven-thirtyeight.com/2017/09/phasma-v-inferno-squad-dawn-of-empire/

 

Interesting novel. Between this novel and the comic, we have a completely new understanding of Phasma and what makes her tick. Both the novel and comic also give us some understanding of why Phasma lowered the shields in TFA. I am assuming Phasma will have a much greater role in TLJ based on her getting the spotlight of this novel and in the comics mini-series, but we shall see. Really interested to find out what happened to Rae Sloane in between Aftermath: Empire's End and Phasma. Also, will any of these characters make cameos in TLJ along the same lines as Snap Wexley did in TFA? Phasma was worth reading.

 

I finished the audiobook yesterday. Eh, it was alright.

Yeah, we understand what makes Phasma tick, before I didn’t really have an opinion of her since we didn’t really know anything about her. Now, again I suppose I understand her but I don’t like her.

Try to post more later.

 

I like Siv a lot. Siv was the best part of this book for sure. Vi and Cardinal were kinda meh to me, I liked them sometimes but not as much other times. Phasma was greatly written but a terrible person, I really hate her after all of this. Which is where I think the book wanted me to put her. I am not sure if I liked the story or not. It was very well written, this author is incredibly good and I have been once again sucked in by one of her books, I may try to read one of her non Star Wars ones. However, I am not the biggest fan of the events themselves. I did not relate with any of the characters much, Vi really annoyed me at some parts, and I felt it ended slightly too soon. I hope to see more of Siv and Cardinal though, and this felt like they were not just trying to tie up every loose end like most of the neu novels have done.

Also the story of Brendol Hux was great (I may have misspelled his name), I loved that part so much. He was such a great villain, I knew he was going to die and kinda spoiled myself to how, but not fully spoiled it so it came as a shock.

I hope Rae Sloane is alive, from the brief mentions it sounds like she could be alive, but could also be dead. From all that they hinted at from her being one of the "original leaders" (however it was worded) to Phasma saying Cardinal was being phased out, to little Hux having daddy Hux killed, it feels like leadership may change quite often and nobody seems safe.

I am also glad we got to see how Phasma got her armour from Sheev's yacht, after they had teased that years ago.

 

Just started reading this, but I have to say that I'm ~1/4 of the way in, and at this point I'm thinking I'll just return it to the library and read a few synopses. I don't feel "hooked" yet... I don't feel like I'm actually getting to know any of the characters, or that I'm picking up on very much good or interesting information (may be that I'm just not far enough in yet?). I'm not a huge fan of the torture scenes and of the dark tone in general. I guess I'm wondering from those who have finished it if it's just more of the same all the way to the end, or if the tone and pace change partway through the book or towards the end. (And for people who didn't love it, if there was something later in the book that you feel made it worth reading that maybe I should hold out for instead of just reading summaries. )

 

To the above comment, it gives a pretty good insight for how young Hux and Phasma think. It also helped me understands how first order really works. They have leaders, and those leaders eventually die and get replaced with new leaders. Nobody really cares for the grunts, but the grunts care for the cause. I think it really highlights who the First Order is and what they want. Also we get some Rae Sloane mentions.

As for the brutality and senseless violence (which is relevant to the story but is still senseless) it really does not stop. Especially about 2/3 or 3/4 of the way through, the final confrontation on the planet really just hits the nail on the head for how it is nothing but senseless killing. They make a point to establish that is part of who Phasma is though.

If you do not like it, I would recommend plot synopsis online. I did not hate it, but I did not think it was the best story either. It was a mediocre story written by a really good author. Siv is awesome though.

 

I agree about it being super dark, and as I mentioned earlier, I didn't like it overall because of that either. But if Del Rey came to me and asked if they shouldn't do something similar again, I'd say no, totally go for it. Star Wars novels shouldn't all be encouraging tales about heroes like Marvel movies. You've got the opportunity to run a gamut of stories with the whole GFFA, from every genre. Bad guy stories should not be fun times and moral preaching.

And there's totally a difference between "I didn't like this because it's depressing" vs "I didn't like this because it's super offensive" or whatever. There were some old EU books that I felt were espousing some shady things (ex: at least one of the Republic Commando books had the message that torture was OK in war if it got results). In the Phasma book, it was clear the "protagonists", even Siv when she turned against her people, were in the wrong, and that Phasma wasn't supposed to be a character you wanted to emulate. I was cool with that.

So yeah I didn't like the book on some grounds, but I still want people to read it and Del Rey/Disney to do more "different" stories like it.

 

Yeah, I wouldn't say either this or Inferno Squad are going for 'you will enjoy this happy story' vibe. Instead they're being very up-front about what they are - which ought to be commended.

 

Great, thanks everyone. Sounds like the book serves its intended purpose, and probably just isn't my style. I'll probably read a bit further to see if I can get more into it, and if not, just read some synopses.

 

Did anyone see the author's Tweets about her fan-casting for the characters? I'm about to start reading this and I'd be interested in seeing who she had for each character. I'll search for it myself but if anyone has the link handy, I'd appreciate it!

 

I didn’t see. Link?


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https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/913895871498063872

My PHASMA fancasting:
Cardinal: Kalani Robb
Vi Moradi: Danai Gurira
Torben: Jason Momoa
Siv: Lisa Bonet
Keldo: Alexander Skarsgård
PHASMA fancasting, con't:
Carr: Eric Christian Olsen
Gosta: Zendaya
Brendol: Brendon Gleeson
Churkk: @ChuckWendig
Balder: Antonio Banderas

 

I felt like the planet Parnassus was a major character in of itself. Overall, the book was enjoyable. Many Star Wars books tend to slowly scratch away at the mystery of the Force or the Jedi. But not this one. It is one big canvas showing us Phasma and the First Order. Good from beginning to end - highly recommended.

 

Reading through the book and it's really good! But...

Spoiler

Man, Carr's death was super gruesome.

 

Book is decent so far, I started to read it right after reading Thrawn so for me it's kind of a step down, but it's still very fun to read.

 

Late to the party on this one because I read the Leia book first. As far as your observation Hopeless for a while I thought Frey might end up being Rey as well. But nope. Frey ends up spending ten years in the First Order and I also couldn't see the FO just dropping off a teen who was showing Force Potential. I do think though it might be a hint that Rey's backstory will end up being similar to Frey's (where she came from a struggling upbringing prior to being abandoned).

Cool that they name dropped Sloane a few times. Hard to say rather she is still alive at this point. I think all we can gather is that she is likely retired. She would be in her 70's at this point in the timeline (she was in her mid 40's during the Aftermath trilogy).

All in all a very good book. I liked the fact that it was basically a second hand story being told to us of events that happened years prior. Thought the book would end with Cardinal and Vi finding Siv again. However given the book is titled 'Phasma' having the last scene be of her is probably a little more fitting.