Ah…Captain Phasma. When we first saw that gleaming chrome armor in the trailer for The Force Awakens, we were in awe! Intrigued! Who was this mysterious woman, with so much power in the First Order? The Captain Phasma we ended up getting was…well. I guess you could say that she didn’t live up to some fans expectations.

Thus Captain Spasma was born.

Now I don’t personally have too much of a problem with how the good Captain was portrayed in the movies (she IS a minor character), but I can totally see where people are coming from. Captain Phasma, like a good handful of the new characters, was in need of some fleshing out.

Enter Phasma, a book released in the build-up to The Last Jedi (yeah yeah I know I’m way late on this one). I’m going to give it to you straight: this book RULES. I was actually riveted through the entire story, unable to guess what was going to happen next. Phasma not only gets a back story, she gets a darn good one. This book not only makes answers questions we’ve had about her, but also sheds light on why she made some of the decisions she did. If you want to go in completely unspoiled stop now. If you’re a fan of the new movies and want a good Star Wars book to jump into, this would be an excellent start.

An Epic Genre Mash-Up

The premise of Phasma involves a Resistance spy who has gotten herself captured by the First Order. Her captor, a stormtrooper captain in shiny red armor, begins the process of extracting the precious information that he knows she has: who is Captain Phasma? Turns out our intrepid Resistance spy is fairly long-winded, and a gifted story teller to boot, so Cardinal gets the long version.

As she recounts the tale, we learn that Phasma basically came from nothing. That’s a common Star Wars archetype, but Phasma REALLY came from nothing. Think Tatooine was bad, Skywalkers? Phasma’s homeplanet Parnassos basically consists of deserts where everyone and everything wants to kill you, and an ocean where everyone and everything wants to kill you. In a world where someone aged 30 would be considered elderly, Phasma became a fierce warrior and leader of her people. It’s then that General Brendall Hux (father of the General Hux we know and love) crash lands, giving Phasma and her warriors a shot at a better life if they can reunite him with his ship and mysterious First Order.

What follows is an insanely brutal and dangerous journey that just keeps getting crazier. What first looks like a tale of warring tribes quickly turns into a harsh desert survival story (complete with what has to be the ickiest, most shocking Star Wars death on record). Then we get shades of Mad Max as various parties pursue team Phasma across the desert sands. As if that wasn’t crazy enough, the book goes full Gladiator somewhere around the middle, returns to Mad Max for good measure, and finishes up in the present timeline with some good old fashioned political thriller action.

The author, Delilah S. Dawson, has crafted an insane epic that even the most condescending of Star Wars fans would probably enjoy. Come for Phasma’s origins, but stay for the tense, gripping plot and fantastic characters.

A Peak Behind the First Order Curtain

Episodes VII and VIII have done a great job so far of setting up the First Order as formidable bad buys for the new generation. However, their origins have needed some fleshing out almost as much as Phasma’s. And no, before you start foaming at the mouth about Snoke, we don’t find out much more about him.

We do, however, get to know a lot more about the First Order as a whole. As Captain Cardinal questions (and tortures) his captive, we see a lot about the inner workings, especially when it comes to Hux and Son’s stormtrooper academy. Cardinal himself was plucked from the sands of Jakku when the last remnants of the Empire made their final escape, so his staunch pro-First Order brainwashing serves as a good example of what the average First Order soldier has been taught to believe.

Cardinal himself is in charge of the training of stormtrooper “recruits,” aged about 8 and under. What’s really fascinating is that not only is he fantastic at his job, but he’s also extremely caring and beloved to his trainees. In short, he’s actually a pretty nice guy. The man that we get to know throughout the novel proves to be more complex than he originally appears. Cardinal has to face a reckoning between the First Order who gave him a better life and whose mission he believes in, and the First Order who kills and uses people (including himself and his beloved recruits) at a whim. Using such a normal, likable man as the lens held up to examine the First Order yields some really interesting results.

We also get an answer to why General Hux Sr. wasn’t around in TFA, and boy is it a doozy.

Spasma No Longer

It should come as no surprise that in a book called Phasma, the standout character is Captain Phasma. Thanks to this book, we understand more about the truly terrifying woman underneath the chrome armor. The main theme that Dawson hits on over and over in the book is that Phasma is a person who will do anything and everything it takes to survive. On Parnassus, she did some cold-hearted things to people who completely trusted her, all in the name of advancing herself. In one of the most chilling parts of the entire book, we even see a young, 12 year old Phasma going to frightening lengths to put herself in a better position.

Casting Phasma as a character who will ensure her own survival at any cost also helps us understand her least shining moment in The Force Awakens; why did she so easily disarm the shields for Finn and Han? It’s not because she arrogantly thought Starkiller Base would be safe without them. It’s not because she’s a coward. It is because Phasma is ultimately loyal to no one but herself. Not her tribesman. Not her niece. Not Brendall Hux, Kylo Ren or Snoke. Only herself. Cardinal suspected that about her in the first place, and had to learn the hard way that it was unfortunately true.

Phasma also lends some credence to one of my favorite Episode IX theories: that the chromedome is still not dead. Why go to the trouble of building up this character with an iconic design, and then write an entire book about how dedicated she is to self-preservation if you were going to have her go from a patented FN-2187 stroke of good luck? Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I contend that it is because she will live on, putting everyone around her in danger again and again to ensure her own survival.

Closing Thoughts

If I somehow haven’t made myself clear, Phasma is right up there with the best of Star Wars literature, and shows how high these books can soar when a talented author gets her hands on them. If you’re like me and mostly listen to books these days, know that the audiobook procution is excellent and also has my hearty endorsement.

Phasma is also an encouraging sign moving forward of what kind of treatment Disney will give to the minor characters with less screen time. I can’t wait to see what else is in store for the galaxy far, far away, and hope that Delilah S. Dawson continues to be a major part of it.

Final Score

10/10 deadly golden beetles.

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