Books Journey to the Last Jedi: Phasma

Spoiler

Judging by Brendol's age, it looks like this is within five years of Empire's End; ten years at the most. Interesting to see the FO took on its name early.

 

And hey since we're talking Phasma, here's the full jacket too featuring CARDINAL.

 

Now, is Cardinal's armor unique or is that standard for whatever branch of the FO he's part of?

 

Spoiler

See, this is why I'm going to need both the Sinrebirth and AdmiralNick22 takes on this book before buying. (Yes, decided to cancel the preorder as I want to see what reception this gets here first, but also, as I haven't seen TFA there's far less, even zero, reason for me to get this immediately)

As it is, I agree having Hux present does indeed date the book, which in turn gives us a far more active FO far earlier and no one saw any trace of it for 25 years or so? That just comes across to me as a hard sell.

 

Two hours? Goddamn gannet.

 

Wait. You havent seen TFA?

 

Quite seriously, no. The reasons for my not doing so are better set out here:
http://eleven-thirtyeight.com/2016/...-ive-chosen-not-to-see-the-force-awakens-yet/

Do I still intend to hold off until Ep 9 and 2020? Well, TLJ is likely to be the lynchpin around which I do or don't pull it off.

(If TLJ goes badly, I'll probably opt for the 'watch on Netflix / Amazon' on the cheap / for free options for the ST)

Regardless of how it eventually turns out, it's been an interesting experiment thus far.

 

...

I just... Ok then.

 

Put it this way - if the reports and chatter here and elsewhere are that TLJ manages to do the cinematic equivalent of TUF for the ST then there's probably no way I'll be able to resist seeing that in the flicks.

 

I just don't understand.

You're staying away from a movie you are readily able to watch, but still discuss it without having seen it, while following a set of arbitrary rules of discussion, with your gauge of whether you will see it being purely based on another movie which you also will not see and the buzz surrounding it.

This is all while reading the new comics and watching the new shows.

 

Of course it's arbitrary, but I'm only setting out my reasons for what I'm up to. Admittedly, the big spanner in the works for me recently was that there was a less of a plan than was thought, so yeah, that was a downer. (Does explain quite a lot in terms of what stories we do and don't have though.)

But even so, I know I'll enjoy it more being able to follows the strands across the trio from TFA to TLJ to Ep 9. (That and I'm finding it harder to remember stories these days, especially when there's years between the pieces.)

Don't overlook that SW is a multi-era set-up, so regardless of whatever reservations I might have about one of those, I'm entirely able to enjoy the others - it's not all or nothing.

 

What I'm saying is that its contrived and largely pointless. Especially since you went out and read a synopsis for it anyways.

 

Spoiler

I quite liked seeing the book would touch on the early FO. I hope we don't only learn about its structure but a little on how it formed. I do, however, imagine that will be reserved for another story. But this likely means we will see more former Imperials than Brendol Hux, which could be cool. It will be interesting if this means Sloane will appear; I hope so, I'd like to see her role in to FO and what she's currently doing

Also, from the excerpt I'm confident Phasma is going to receive an interesting backstory. That alone is enough to make me very excited. I've wanted to learn more about her for a long time.

Spoiler

I also go the impression that this was set earlier in the timeline. I think the FO's activity was isolated to the unknown regions. The NR wouldn't have much, if any, contact with that section of the galaxy, so them not noticing anything makes sense. This works with what we saw in Empire's End with Brendol Hux already starting ad presumably planning on continuing his training program after Jakku. The whole idea of the ending was the Imperial remnant was going to rebuild there which would suggest a lot of activity. Plus they did manage to hide a lot of ships there and build Starkiller Base in secret. Then Bloodline implies hidden shipyards out there (Lady Carise mentions the fleeting being retrofitted). The galaxy is big, so if the NR doesn't send scouts into the unknown regions they wouldn't notice anything. I'd imagine the FO was careful about preventing people from escaping and informing the NR of their existence.

 

Summaries are always inadequate. For instance, back in the days before the Internet was what it is now, before streaming, before videos were easily available for SF TV, I started watching Babylon 5 about 2/3 of the way through series 3, so numerous events were, technically, 'spoiled', for me.

Except..... Except they weren't because a paragraph can't do the execution justice. The ep Severed Dreams was a case in point, I knew the rough structure of it before I saw it, it still blew me away because there was so much to it that a summary couldn't possibly cover.

I do wonder why the idea of wanting to wait and watch parts 1-3 of a 3-part story is so strange in an age of DVD blitzing of entire series - it's more or less the same idea - instead of watching a series from week to week, you get the box set and blitz the lot. This is the same notion, just applied to a film trio.

 

That's kind of my point.

Why be here, discussing various post-TFA topics when you don't have an actual grasp of the movie? I understand that you technically can, but I dont imagine that its satisfying at all, especially since its about things you voluntarily won't see for another three years.

If I read up on the summary of, say, Narcos, I don't then go on to a forum about it and invest myself in future episodes that I won't see for an arbitrary amount of time. Not only does that defeat the point of not watching it, but it makes my experience worse when I do reach it.

 

Did you take a look at the article I linked? Because that remains my best attempt at laying out why I decided to do this. I wanted to try something a little different because by the time of the Great Reboot, I'd racked up 20 years or so of engagement in SW. It could be said my viewing of TFA, whenever I get around to it, will be akin to a bigger version of Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut ending. e.g. TFA's lack of politics? Bloodline covered that.

I've engaged in very little, even zero, detailed discussion of TFA because, come on, how could I? I'll always cede that to others who have, the object for me isn't to 'win' in that sense.

The Sequel Trilogy is a major part of SW sure, but it's still a part and I'm enjoying the other ones more, I'll get to it later, it's going nowhere.

 

Based on Starkiller and the size of FO forces we're seeing ahead of TLJ, they'd not only need a large infrastructure base already established before they fled to the UR, but to draw considerable resources from the galaxy proper.

 

I totally get Jedi Ben desire to wait to watch the movies until we have more of the story revealed to us. That is what I do with most tv shows (don't start watching until they are several seasons in). Only thing I would do different is avoid message boards so I don't get spoiled but I don't get the impression Jedi Ben minds spoilers that much.

Spoiler

In regards to the excerpt. Yeah as long as they are just searching for people within the Unknown Regions it still fits into canon.

 

Phasma and Poe are the only characters who i liked from TFA
I hope the novel is good

 

Couple of corrections as it was late last night:

Haven't gone and read a complete summary of TA, that holds no interest for me - no, I'm going by the chatter around here and use that as a guide as to when is a good point for me to really engage with the ST films. Thing is there's other aspects of the discussion that did get my interest - for instance I don't find the Starkiller concept a problem, it's a logical extension of the Imperial superweapon mentality. Similarly, no film knowledge is required to comment on ship design, say a new weapons ship that just got revealed, for which I like the concept far more than the design output. The talk around TFA here tends to be less with the plot and more the overall impact on SW, so the same points tend to recur but I think it's fair to say cover only a fraction of the totality of the film.

Had forgot I had come across Phasma in Before the Awakening, so there is a link there. Although, given what almost everyone has said about Phasma and TFA, I'm wonering if not seeing it is an advantage for reading this book.

Thanks Jammin and no, I'm not too concerned with them because of the gap between info and actual presentation of it in the films. (Also how many of us have tried a TV series, not got on too well and then get told: Stick with it, it gets much better from point X. (With point X being several episodes or an entire season later.))

Finally, I might just grab the hardback if only to get it before it goes out of print and skyrockets in price! Which has happened - see Tarkin, Lords of the Sith

 

Indeed, there have been quite a few hints Palpatine was establishing a massive presence there well before Endor. Those warships and crews need a well developed supporting infrastructure.

 

True, with Thrawn giving him the info to safely navigate the regions too.