Finn's Story by Jesse J. Holland
This was a great re-telling of Force Awakens with some choice insights from Finn's POV. I actually enjoyed the fast pace and new view on events quite a lot. Also, the bond between Rey and Finn is clear throughout this entire book and it really is beautiful.
We learn about Finn's first real mission which involved "keeping order" in a mining colony called Pressy's Tumble. According to Captain Phasma, enemy agents were fomenting rebellion among the miners and this site was mining a valuable ore "crucial to the First Order's plans." As is expected, when Phasma enters the room where negotiations are being held, her nearly immediate order is "Kill them." Everyone but Finn follows orders. And Phasma declares, "You're now stormtroopers." I had no idea there was an instance before Jakku where Finn disobeyed orders and refused to take lives. I just checked and this scene is not even in the Force Awakens novelization. I was sure Tuanul was Finn's first real mission. Apparently not.
We get Finn's inner feelings on the matter of his duties with this post-Tuanul: "Slip had died for nothing. Even worse, his death had come as they were terrorizing and killing innocent people. That wasn't what they had trained for. The First Order was supposed to represent peace and stability, not fear and death. I can't do this anymore, he thought." So it seems he made a conscious decision in that moment to leave the First Order somehow someway.
And Finn took off his helmet once back on the Star Destroyer because he needed to really breathe and nausea was inundating him as he asked himself, "What am I going to do?"
Turns out Finn wants to go separate ways with Rey so he doesn't have to tell her the truth about his background. He'd rather just avoid her and ignore the truth than be honest...and I don't blame him.
This is probably made clearer in the movie than I remember, but in this book it is very clear that Finn has absolutely no idea how to help out the Resistance on Starkiller Base and his absolute sole motivation for going is rescuing Rey. For example: "Finn almost told the truth; that he had no idea how to disable the shields. But then he realized that might be his only chance to rescue Rey." So he goes on to of course say, "I can disable the shields...But I have to be there, on the planet."
And then we all know he reveals, once on the planet, that his job duty on Starkiller Base was just sanitation and he says that he doesn't know how to disable the shields. "I'm just here to get Rey."
After Han, Chewie, and Finn decide to stuff Phasma in a trash compactor, the narrative says, "Sanitation for the win." Haha!
I loved the moment when Finn is watching Kylo and Han talking. "Kylo even took off his helmet. And that was when Finn saw it: the resemblance between the two men. It all became clear, though it made zero sense. Han was Kylo's father." Love the inclusion of this inner dialogue.
And the book ends of course with Finn's last moments in the movie which was really cool. "But the pain was all consuming, and more and more of his body was getting numb. A darkness was falling over him; he couldn't fight it anymore. Rey, he thought before his mind went blank. Rey was his only hope." Awww. This really speaks to his first conscious moments in The Last Jedi.
Factoid tidbits:
- Nines was the TR-8R trooper who fought Finn with the riot control baton.
- Rathtars have twelve tentacles!
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