Star Wars: Red Harvest

Decent thriller set in the Old Republic era, when a Sith Lord on Zyost is making deadly experiments with potentially doomsday consequences. (Spoilers to follow...)This book was a bit odd with the Biblical references, the author personifies the infection as sort of having a consciousness and will of its own, somewhat demonic, as it says to certain Sith students, "Let me in". Then the librarian dropped the phrase "Seek my face" several times... odd. Combining Star Wars with a zombie plague is possible, but the truth is I started to get a bit bored half ways through this book. I've seen enough Walking Dead etc. I don't come to Star Wars to read about endless zombies. Also, it most "undead" lore, zombies can be killed by decapitation or destroying the head/brain. That did not seem to be the case in this book. Which leads to my question, you can say that a force imbued infection reanimates dead bodies, but for any body to function it requires a nervous system, you can't move arms or legs or bite or turn your head unless there is a brain. Is the author suggesting more of a possession? Wherein the "infection" is a kind of demonic force that is running the body now? A bit confusing on the logic upon closer look.Okay, Kindra is the "perfect" feminist character, a sith acolyte who stands up to the boys and emasculates them with her intense warrior skills whenever they question her choices (hard eye roll). At least they gave her a suitable death, and she did demonstrate her darkside proclivity when she cuts her peers legs off at the calf muscles in order to save herself from the oncoming horde.Finally, Zo, (Hestizo) probably the chief protagonist, is arguably the weakest Jedi I have ever seen, I realize that her specialty was plant telepathy and botany, but she is basically a helpless captive the entire time and can't even defend herself against a (non force-using) bounty hunter with a spear! Zo was pretty pathetic and wound up strapped to a Dark Lord's altar prepared for sacrifice before it occurred to her to use the Force to fight back or attempt an escape. Feel bad for her brother, he seemed like a badass Jedi until he was sliced up the middle by Darth Scabrous...

Don't pick up this book and not expect zombies and gore...I loved this book! It was fast-paced and exciting to read, and the implications to the overarching saga are subtle, but interesting. The Force is so present in this story that it is almost cerebral. Schreiber is a master of creating environments, and the planet Odacer-Faustin is creepy and stunningly visual in its layout. The Old Republic era is rich and full of possibilities, but I did not feel alienated by this story at all; I could jump right in. In many ways, this can serve as a jumping off point for new EU readers or those in-between stories or series.I love the personal journey of Hestizo Trace as she grows from secluded Jedi plant expert to battle-scarred action heroine. Her unique power, the ability to communicate with Force-sensitive plants, is a wonderful and essential element in this tale, and it increases the expanded universe's portrayal of Force objects and beings to include flora.The Sith students and their academy are interesting in that their ambition and lack of caring for each other seethes throughout every early training and conversation scene. This is not a school we'd want to attend with hazings, blackmail, and humiliation so great that some students quit or commit suicide. We get a few glimpses at the driving forces behind some of these Sith apprentices, and each one is fascinating enough to allow you to think that, had the sickness not taken them out, some powerful Sith lords could have developed on this planet. You care for a few of these students, even if they are evil - ones who are or have been shamed and are pushing themselves to do better. Darth Scabrous, the master of the academy, is based on an element introduced in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith in that he is obsessed with the concept of eternal life. This also connects the book to its predecessor, set shortly before the Battle of Yavin, in which it is revealed that Darth Vader was attempting to recreate some of what Scabrous and the ancient Darth Drear did before him. That bit of Sith continuity really makes this story fit into the grander universe even though it can stand on its own.There are twists and turns throughout the novel, and I won't spoil them. This is a quick and frightening read that is a great, mostly unrelated companion to the adventures of the Skywalker family. Hestizo Trace has an epic, one-book adventure full of Sith villains, kidnapping, violence and gore, fights, unusual friendships, talking plants, and an epic conclusion that includes a ritual sacrifice. In all, Hestizo gets a whole hero's journey in the novel. I found the ending satisfying and the tone just right: Not celebratory, but intimate. I would actually love to know about what happened next!**I just read a review in which the reader refused to call Hestizo a Jedi because she was a part of the Agricultural Corps and not the Jedi Order. The back of the book and the story, itself, indicate that Hestizo is there because of a special ability- not a lack of ability. It is obvious that Hestizo is a competent Jedi, as she is able to escape from being strapped to a stone slap using the Force only, but she has the extra power of plant telepathy. I've now read the novel twice, and other comments cannot convince me to see Hestizo as a screaming horror story victim. I see her as a very developed Jedi who possibly downplayed her warrior potential for the benefit of her telepathic powers... until this novel.

This is "Waling Dead" meets Star Wars, managed by "My teenage Sith Acadamy horror story". There is more gore and blood then actual Star Wars itself. Darth Scabrous is delusional and obviously is the worst principal, obsessed with power that he would create a virus to wipe out everything, turning other Sith into flesh eating zombies.Less than decent character development - You meet a character, you think there is more to their story, then they die. Well, then we didn't really need their name, and this happens a lot in the book.This makes the later seasons of Walking Dead somewhat bearable. The book has some great moments and is well written in that aspect, but when something evil infects something that is already evil, how much more can you go, really?This was the least favorite book in my Old Republic binge, and I wouldn't recommend kids reading it reads more like a gruesome zombie novel than actual Star Wars. It's just "meh".

I love the particular Old Republic era that this takes place in. It sticks close to the lore of the EU and has plenty of references to other EU material in it. The story is fine and the narration is excellent. I will say it does give me the vibe that the author had a foot fetish though. There were a couple of scenes where it went into quite a bit of detail about how smelly the foot or sock in someone's mouth were. But hey if I can watch and enjoy Quentin Tarantino films I don't see why this is a problem.

Ok Star Wars horror book

THE STORY:Sith Lord Darth Scabrous has discovered an ancient Sith secret which he believes will allow him to live forever but which instead unleashes a plague of ravenous undeath on the students of a Sith Academy.WHAT'S GOOD:The character of Jedi Knight Rojo Trace makes for an enjoyable counter point to the lesser characters in the book, being a pragmatic and single-minded Jedi the likes of which we don't see too often. I also enjoyed the concept that the zombie plague is a result of a Sith attempt at immortality.WHAT'S BAD:This book is something of a prequel to 'Death Troopers' but doesn't stand up well in comparison to that book. Where 'Death Troopers' focused on a small group of likeable survivors aboard an atmospherically claustrophobic derelict spaceship, here we're introduced to a much wider cast of characters, each one less well conceived and less believable than the last, all milling about in the snow. Also, there's only so many dozen times you can read about someone gorily battling slavering zombies before getting bitten and then turning into a slavering zombie before the whole thing gets irritatingly repetitive. Throw in elements such as an unintimidating Sith Lord whose Darth name is only out-ridiculoused by the discovery that he's following the teachings of one 'Darth Drear', a Jedi apprentice who's wetter than a kipper and, of all things, a psychic flower and you have a recipe for disaster. Even this book's best element, the hardcore Jedi Knight Rojo Trace, is ruined by the fact that the author shamelessly and inexplicably lifts dialogue for him verbatim from the movie 'Taken'.OVERALL:Put simply, trash.

I read Death Troopers which was fantastic! Just seen this second book of Star Wars Zombie Horror and oh, what a ride!! There should be film studios looking to make these, seriously. One of the best books i have ever read! Just buy it and see...

I was looking forward to reading this book, I had read Death troopers, and when this was announced I thought cool another Star Wars horror book. But I was disapointed in this one. It was a very weak story, one person gets infected, then the rest are infected. There was no depth to the story, no build up to the main part of the book, and the ending felt rushed. And it didn't feel like a Star Wars book, like death troopers did. (Death troopers was writen by the same auther, for those that don't know).Over all this book was quite a let down.

Lately I have really been getting in to the Star Wars Novels. I purchased all the "The Old Republic" books as well as the "Lost Tribe of the Sith" book. All of these were Fantastic. Then I purchased this... what a crash to earth. Terrible isn't the word. The main Jedi character actually steals Liam Neeson's famous speech from Taken word for word. The other main Jedi character then goes on to refer to herself as "Taken"... at this point I had to give up.Lazy writing and blatant plagiarism.

This was actually quite enjoyable. I liked it even more than Death Troopers. It's non stop from start to finish and difficult to put down