Book Review: Star Wars - Phasma
Another book review!
And yet another Star Wars book. If you can't tell yet, I have a little thing for the franchise, and will undoubtedly continue referring to it and reviewing books within the Expanded Universe.
This book was ... interesting.
I'll start with the things it did well: First, the writing style was very different, but executed quite well. It's largely told as a flashback from the point of view of a Resistance spy that learned things about Capt. Phasma's origins. However, we also get breaks in the story that allow us to see things that are happening in the present—namely, what's happening while the spy is telling the story. This is told in the present tense, which gives a clear line of demarcation when we switch back to Phasma's origin.
Second, the feel of the book—the atmosphere, if you will—is great. You can really get a feel for how brutal her upbringing was and how she rose above it.
Those are the two main positive parts of the book. Now here are some of the downsides:
First, it feels unresolved. I'm not going to say how exactly, but the fact is that when the book ended, I found myself asking, "Is that it?" It just seemed to ... stop. Like there was nothing else left. It all felt anti-climactic.
Second, some scenes felt forced (no Star Wars pun intended). They either felt like they had no real relevance or they felt like they just went on, and on, and on, and on. Because of this, it seems to me that the book could have been condensed down quite a bit and focused more on her later exploits. To me, that's what's really important. While I found the backstory good, it wasn't the grand, awesome story I was expecting.
Lastly, I think the book was just crushed under the expectations put upon it. I personally was psyched to read it, then when I did, I found myself let down. It's more than the "Is that it?" question. It's more like, "Oh. That's it." I found it extremely disappointing, although it in no way reflects on the author's ability. As I mentioned, her execution was spot-on. The thing that was lacking was the material she had to work with. Whether that comes down on the story group at Disney/Lucasfilm or somewhere else, they should have given the author a lot more to work with.
So, here are the pluses and minuses.
Positive
Writing and execution
Feel/atmosphere
Negative
Unfulfilling
Bloated due to insufficient material
Over-hyped
I can't bring myself to give it one star, but I feel that three stars might be giving it a little too much. I don't want to give it two stars, but that's probably what it deserves.
In the end, I give Star Wars - Phasma 2 1/2 stars out of 5. A bit below average, but certainly not for the strength of writing.
Thanks for wreading!
Jeff
And yet another Star Wars book. If you can't tell yet, I have a little thing for the franchise, and will undoubtedly continue referring to it and reviewing books within the Expanded Universe.
This book was ... interesting.
I'll start with the things it did well: First, the writing style was very different, but executed quite well. It's largely told as a flashback from the point of view of a Resistance spy that learned things about Capt. Phasma's origins. However, we also get breaks in the story that allow us to see things that are happening in the present—namely, what's happening while the spy is telling the story. This is told in the present tense, which gives a clear line of demarcation when we switch back to Phasma's origin.
Second, the feel of the book—the atmosphere, if you will—is great. You can really get a feel for how brutal her upbringing was and how she rose above it.
Those are the two main positive parts of the book. Now here are some of the downsides:
First, it feels unresolved. I'm not going to say how exactly, but the fact is that when the book ended, I found myself asking, "Is that it?" It just seemed to ... stop. Like there was nothing else left. It all felt anti-climactic.
Second, some scenes felt forced (no Star Wars pun intended). They either felt like they had no real relevance or they felt like they just went on, and on, and on, and on. Because of this, it seems to me that the book could have been condensed down quite a bit and focused more on her later exploits. To me, that's what's really important. While I found the backstory good, it wasn't the grand, awesome story I was expecting.
Lastly, I think the book was just crushed under the expectations put upon it. I personally was psyched to read it, then when I did, I found myself let down. It's more than the "Is that it?" question. It's more like, "Oh. That's it." I found it extremely disappointing, although it in no way reflects on the author's ability. As I mentioned, her execution was spot-on. The thing that was lacking was the material she had to work with. Whether that comes down on the story group at Disney/Lucasfilm or somewhere else, they should have given the author a lot more to work with.
So, here are the pluses and minuses.
Positive
Writing and execution
Feel/atmosphere
Negative
Unfulfilling
Bloated due to insufficient material
Over-hyped
I can't bring myself to give it one star, but I feel that three stars might be giving it a little too much. I don't want to give it two stars, but that's probably what it deserves.
In the end, I give Star Wars - Phasma 2 1/2 stars out of 5. A bit below average, but certainly not for the strength of writing.
Thanks for wreading!
Jeff
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