In TFA, Phasma was caught dead to rights by two of the most accomplished heroes of the Rebellion.
So, she chose to survive and acquiesced to their demands.
In TLJ trailer, it appears she was instrumental in the destruction of Lukes Jedi Temple and supposedly has a much larger role in the film so Id argue the verdict is still very much out on just how badass (or not) she actually is.
Also, Fett was always a bitch. The most badass thing he does in Empire is tattle on the heroes and wait for Empire to swoop in and handle the details so he can collect his reward.
Regardless of how much people hate AoTC, Jango was the true badass, taking Jedi head-on.
I just finished it. It's....alright. Not bad but not great.
I personally don't think the format of the story was a good choice. I wanted to learn about who phasma was on a personal level, and choosing to have it told from the perspective of third party relaying it to another third party after having it told from another third party makes it feel very removed emotionally. Cardinal says it's Siv's story, not Phasma's, and he's right. There are so many times where Siv is just sitting there wondering what Phasma thinks because we never get an insight into her thoughts, and Phasma herself rarely bothers to tell her subordinates anything in the first place. As a result, I learn about Phasma's history, but I can't help but feel like I missed out on getting into her mind, what she thought and how she personally felt about all her actions.
Phasma's adventure itself is fine. It's certainly a different sort of thing from the typical star war's story, and I totally get what the OP means about the Mad Max feel of it. If you're just looking for a romp where Phasma kicks a lot of ass, it's alright. My favorite part was where she killed the
king of the city, making her the king in his place, then when the dude was explaining how she needs to actually govern, she's just decides to gtfo because she can't be fucked to do that and just wants to join the first order instead.
Then there is the framing device, which is helpful in learning about the first order if you needed that. Personally, I found the 'it's about order vs chaos' thing to be trite and vague. Cardinal talks about how the first order is about making sure that everyone is properly represented so people and issues aren't marginalized, but he in no way specifies who or what issues the New Republic is marginalizing. Early on, that stuff grated, but the further the book goes on,
the more it's really about Cardinal's feelings of having his father figure die and realization that the organization he's a part of doesn't really share his values, the stronger that narrative gets. SW needs to go for the heart from the start if it's not gonna commit to the mind.
Overall, I just feel this book is extremely middling, unfortunately, especially since I'm reading a REEEEEEALLY superior book concurrently with this one which makes it look bad in comparison (
The Broken Earth series by NK Jemisin, if you're wondering
). If the sheer idea of a Star Wars story with a Mad Max coat of paint is something you want to see, then that's probably the best thing you're gonna get out of it. As someone who legit wanted a character exploration of Phasma, this isn't quite it. We definitely learn about her and some of her actions make a lot more sense in Episode 7 as a result, but I wanted to fully immerse myself in her head, and we don't quite get that.
It's a really fucking weird ass book with a crazy bizarre framing device and pacing that trips over itself frequently, but it's worth it for how ice cold you find out Phasma is. She's one of the scariest people in canon and we're lucky her and Vader never crossed paths.
Not the best Star Wars book and not even the best Star Wars book released that day, but it's still worth go.
I just got done finishing it up. It was a decent read, not the best, but it was entertaining. Phasma is definitely something else. After reading that, it seems silly she was dispatched so easily in TFA. However, her escaping from Starkiller Base is more plausible now
