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cyris_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
ayaktruk's review against another edition
3.0
Zombie sheik invades the Star Wars universe. Fun stuff from the author who brought us Death Troopers. Slow to start, but boy, what an ending.
A different peek into the world of the Jedi and the ever expanding universe of the Sith (what ever happened to "there are always only two Sith...a master and an apprentice?)
A different peek into the world of the Jedi and the ever expanding universe of the Sith (what ever happened to "there are always only two Sith...a master and an apprentice?)
nelson5190's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It's a good horror story set in the old Republic.
modernzorker's review against another edition
3.0
I'm of the opinion that Joe Schreiber should keep writing stories based in the Star Wars universe. Based on what I've seen from both Death Troopers and now Red Harvest, he's got plenty of talent and it's kind of refreshing to traipse through an R-rated sector of the galaxy from time to time. And of course, nothing says lovin' like some zombie action. Hopefully Schreiber is allowed to continue his output, because eventually he'll hit his stride and deliver an exceptionally awesome Star Wars novel. Red Harvest shows he's working towards that.
Death Troopers, while a fun and action-filled, gore-soaked story, was hamstrung by the inclusion of two characters with guaranteed script immunity, obliterating most of the suspense from the book once they were introduced. With setting Red Harvest as a prequel to Death Troopers and putting it thousands of years in the past, during the time of the Old Republic, Schreiber discards the yoke that held down his first book and truly all bets are off.
I can just picture him sitting down, outlining the story, taking some cues from the Knights of the Old Republic video games and adding his own little elements and characters, giggling as he envisions what horrible fates are about to befall everyone. You thought the zombies from Death Troopers were bad? Just wait until you see what Darth Scabrous's malicious little concoction does when it gets its tendrils into dedicated Force users with access to lightsabers.
There are probably too many minor characters in this story--the students at the Sith Academy all tend to blend together, Roja Trace's inclusion seems like more of a nod to Liam Neeson in "Taken" than truly applicable to the plot, and several bounty hunters come, go, and come back again throughout the all-too-brief 250 pages. On the other hand, watching the Sickness spread through the Academy is enjoyable, and what's a good zombie story without a ridiculous body count? So even if most of the students (and let's face it, most of the masters as well) are there simply to get fed to the jaws of the red death, that's OK by me. You might even find yourself almost feeling sorry for Kindra towards the end. Almost.
Hestizo, though? I disagree with the reviewers here who said they didn't like her. I loved Zo. She worked perfectly as a Jedi who is not only completely out of her element but also buried up to her eyebrows in a horrible situation. This isn't a woman who is used to taking the battle to the front lines--she's a botanist who spends most of her Force time talking with and growing plants in a glorified greenhouse. When little kids dream about growing up and becoming Jedi Knights, her job isn't what they have in mind. So yes, she's going to need help, and she's fortunate that her bounty hunter captor is smart enough to realize that she's a valuable ally.
There's nothing quite like a good villain, and Scabrous certainly hits all the right notes when it comes to a Sith: he values personal power above all else, has no qualms about torturing his own students to death in pursuit of his goals, and is even marginally intelligent enough to take steps to slow his own contamination until he can lay his hands on the final ingredient. One only wishes his final undoing could have been worse.
So Red Harvest is a lot of fun. It's fast-paced, easy-to-read, contains plenty that will gross out the weaker-stomached among us, and it left me wanting more. That's my main gripe about Red Harvest: at just over 250 pages, it's entirely too short especially when you consider all the extra Expanded Universe trivia and excerpts that pad nearly another 100 pages into the count to make it fit as a hardback. Really, I appreciate the history lesson and all, but if you're going to deliver a 350-page hardback, is it too much to ask that at least 90% of those pages be devoted to the story advertised on the cover? I'm sure Schreiber had nothing to do with that decision, so I'm not holding it against him, but it's still irritating and resulted in a four-star book receiving a three-star review.
In the end, I just want Schreiber to keep writing Star Wars horror novels. They don't have to be zombie-themed (though I certainly don't mind this at all), they just need to be fun. He's proven he can do fun, so I'm more than willing to keep reading his work.
Death Troopers, while a fun and action-filled, gore-soaked story, was hamstrung by the inclusion of two characters with guaranteed script immunity, obliterating most of the suspense from the book once they were introduced. With setting Red Harvest as a prequel to Death Troopers and putting it thousands of years in the past, during the time of the Old Republic, Schreiber discards the yoke that held down his first book and truly all bets are off.
I can just picture him sitting down, outlining the story, taking some cues from the Knights of the Old Republic video games and adding his own little elements and characters, giggling as he envisions what horrible fates are about to befall everyone. You thought the zombies from Death Troopers were bad? Just wait until you see what Darth Scabrous's malicious little concoction does when it gets its tendrils into dedicated Force users with access to lightsabers.
There are probably too many minor characters in this story--the students at the Sith Academy all tend to blend together, Roja Trace's inclusion seems like more of a nod to Liam Neeson in "Taken" than truly applicable to the plot, and several bounty hunters come, go, and come back again throughout the all-too-brief 250 pages. On the other hand, watching the Sickness spread through the Academy is enjoyable, and what's a good zombie story without a ridiculous body count? So even if most of the students (and let's face it, most of the masters as well) are there simply to get fed to the jaws of the red death, that's OK by me. You might even find yourself almost feeling sorry for Kindra towards the end. Almost.
Hestizo, though? I disagree with the reviewers here who said they didn't like her. I loved Zo. She worked perfectly as a Jedi who is not only completely out of her element but also buried up to her eyebrows in a horrible situation. This isn't a woman who is used to taking the battle to the front lines--she's a botanist who spends most of her Force time talking with and growing plants in a glorified greenhouse. When little kids dream about growing up and becoming Jedi Knights, her job isn't what they have in mind. So yes, she's going to need help, and she's fortunate that her bounty hunter captor is smart enough to realize that she's a valuable ally.
There's nothing quite like a good villain, and Scabrous certainly hits all the right notes when it comes to a Sith: he values personal power above all else, has no qualms about torturing his own students to death in pursuit of his goals, and is even marginally intelligent enough to take steps to slow his own contamination until he can lay his hands on the final ingredient. One only wishes his final undoing could have been worse.
So Red Harvest is a lot of fun. It's fast-paced, easy-to-read, contains plenty that will gross out the weaker-stomached among us, and it left me wanting more. That's my main gripe about Red Harvest: at just over 250 pages, it's entirely too short especially when you consider all the extra Expanded Universe trivia and excerpts that pad nearly another 100 pages into the count to make it fit as a hardback. Really, I appreciate the history lesson and all, but if you're going to deliver a 350-page hardback, is it too much to ask that at least 90% of those pages be devoted to the story advertised on the cover? I'm sure Schreiber had nothing to do with that decision, so I'm not holding it against him, but it's still irritating and resulted in a four-star book receiving a three-star review.
In the end, I just want Schreiber to keep writing Star Wars horror novels. They don't have to be zombie-themed (though I certainly don't mind this at all), they just need to be fun. He's proven he can do fun, so I'm more than willing to keep reading his work.
johnbreeden's review against another edition
4.0
Well, that was not exactly what I expected. It was much better.
In Red Harvest, the director of a Sith academy, Darth Scabrous, has discovered a secret, ancient Sith formula for eternal life and obtains the most important ingredient, a Force-sensitive orchid, and it's Jedi keeper. What he unleashes upon his Academy is an unbelievable horror.
First, I want to say I was not expecting a Star Wars book with psychic plants and zombies. I wasn't even aware of any Force-sensitive plants, like the Neti, until this book. I am reading the books based on in-world chronology, and this is possibly my favorite so far.
As I'm going to limit myself to one major point of focus, I liked Joe Schreiber's handling of the characters in this book. There are two reasons. First, every novel and short story I have read up to this point has shown the Sith to be, in my opinion, whiny. I suppose that's not a technical term, but I think it applies. When I read Revan, I could not escape just how petty and complaining Darth Scourge was. I realize the basic traits of the Sith make them self-centered and brooding. I think Red Harvest handles those characteristics much better than any I've read so far. The students are full of themselves, but also have a respect and awe for the Masters. The Masters, primarily Scabrous, are definitely self-serving, but have a more mysterious and powerful air about them.
The second reason I like Schreiber's representation involves the character flow. It is true that our focus and strongest connection is to be with Zo, the Jedi, but I felt some connection with each major student. What makes the handling of this so good to me is that we have expectations for each of the Sith characters, and we travel with them from the beginning all the way up to their deaths, which I didn't expect. Knowing that the Sith students were mostly cannon-fodder, I kept waiting for one to end up being involved in saving Zo and her companions, even tangentially, but instead each Sith led us to another to follow just before they succumbed to the plague. That is perhaps the one letdown, that after expecting each in turn to be the key to her survival, they simply fall to the plague. The students are dominoes, and we stand with each one through until their fall to the ground, knocking us over to the next in the sequence. I didn't dislike any of the Sith in this story like I have in previous. Instead, I appreciated them as a progression leading through the story.
Overall, this was one of my favorite Star Wars novels. I will definitely be watching for more in the series by Joe Schreiber.
In Red Harvest, the director of a Sith academy, Darth Scabrous, has discovered a secret, ancient Sith formula for eternal life and obtains the most important ingredient, a Force-sensitive orchid, and it's Jedi keeper. What he unleashes upon his Academy is an unbelievable horror.
Spoiler
First, I want to say I was not expecting a Star Wars book with psychic plants and zombies. I wasn't even aware of any Force-sensitive plants, like the Neti, until this book. I am reading the books based on in-world chronology, and this is possibly my favorite so far.
As I'm going to limit myself to one major point of focus, I liked Joe Schreiber's handling of the characters in this book. There are two reasons. First, every novel and short story I have read up to this point has shown the Sith to be, in my opinion, whiny. I suppose that's not a technical term, but I think it applies. When I read Revan, I could not escape just how petty and complaining Darth Scourge was. I realize the basic traits of the Sith make them self-centered and brooding. I think Red Harvest handles those characteristics much better than any I've read so far. The students are full of themselves, but also have a respect and awe for the Masters. The Masters, primarily Scabrous, are definitely self-serving, but have a more mysterious and powerful air about them.
The second reason I like Schreiber's representation involves the character flow. It is true that our focus and strongest connection is to be with Zo, the Jedi, but I felt some connection with each major student. What makes the handling of this so good to me is that we have expectations for each of the Sith characters, and we travel with them from the beginning all the way up to their deaths, which I didn't expect. Knowing that the Sith students were mostly cannon-fodder, I kept waiting for one to end up being involved in saving Zo and her companions, even tangentially, but instead each Sith led us to another to follow just before they succumbed to the plague. That is perhaps the one letdown, that after expecting each in turn to be the key to her survival, they simply fall to the plague. The students are dominoes, and we stand with each one through until their fall to the ground, knocking us over to the next in the sequence. I didn't dislike any of the Sith in this story like I have in previous. Instead, I appreciated them as a progression leading through the story.
Overall, this was one of my favorite Star Wars novels. I will definitely be watching for more in the series by Joe Schreiber.
beardomancer's review against another edition
2.0
Not bad but it used some unnecessary pop culture references from around the time it was written breaking immersion from the overall story.
kb_208's review against another edition
3.0
If you like Star Wars and zombies, then this is the book for you. This is by no means an essential book in the SW universe, but it is an interesting read that is quite enjoyable. I'm not really into zombie stuff, but this was pretty good.
goodverbsonly's review against another edition
4.0
ZOMBIES
for someone who hates zombies, i'm completely obsessed with star wars zombies, they're always so fun. i am getting tired of the sith academies and the sith masters, but i am getting close to being done with this era of star wars novels so we can do some high republic stuff and focus on jedi which is really what i want.
especially bc the jedi in this are fun! i love a jedi greenhouse and a jedi who's best friend seems to be a plant. very sad ending for said flower and also all the sith teenagers who turned into zombies.
for someone who hates zombies, i'm completely obsessed with star wars zombies, they're always so fun. i am getting tired of the sith academies and the sith masters, but i am getting close to being done with this era of star wars novels so we can do some high republic stuff and focus on jedi which is really what i want.
especially bc the jedi in this are fun! i love a jedi greenhouse and a jedi who's best friend seems to be a plant. very sad ending for said flower and also all the sith teenagers who turned into zombies.
anarcho_zymurgist's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75