I’ve currently been working my way through some of the Star Wars canon novels. So far I’ve read The Force Awakens novelization, Bloodline, The Perfect Weapon, Lost Stars, Leia, Princess of Alderaan, and Phasma. I love the variety in these novels. You get everything from the novelization of the movies, to stories with new characters that take place in the Star Wars universe, to background stories of characters you are familiar with from the movies. The latter is what you get with Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson.
We obviously first learn about Phasma from The Force Awakens. She is a captain in the First Order, working with General Hux. She quickly becomes a nemesis of Finn when he defects from the First Order. This relationship becomes a part of Finn’s storyline throughout both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. But where did she come from? How did she become a captain? Phasma answers all of these questions.
Without giving away any spoilers, I will say that Phasma’s backstory is surprising, at least it was to me. The story telling is secondhand (well, actually thirdhand, if that’s even a thing) to another captain in the First Order. I’ll leave out the reasons and the circumstances, but I will say I’d find it interesting learn more about this other captain and what became of him as well.
While Phasma’s backstory was somewhat surprising, what we learn about her and her personality is not. Again, I don’t want to spoil too much, but this is a well-written and interesting telling of a story about a character that I think most people would be interested in learning more about.
If you’re interested in learning more about the background and characters in the Star Wars movies, I highly recommend checking out some of the canon novels. I haven’t been disappointed in any of them so far, and I definitely think they give the movies more depth. Phasma will give you a lot more insight into both the First Order, General Hux, and of course the story of Phasma herself. Check it out along with The Perfect Weapon, also written by Delilah S. Dawson.