Red Harvest

By: Joe Schreiber

As a prequel to Death Troopers, this novel expands on the Star Wars Zombie universe, where the dead come back to life, by revealing the origins of the virus.

Plot: At the Sith academy on Odacer-Faustin, a twisted Sith Lord named Darth Scaborous has a dream, where immortality can be achieved, and all it will take is a flower. There is just a single problem.  The virus created by this black orchid, grants immortality, but at the price of one's soul.

Review:  That pretty much sums up the whole novel.  Originally title "Black Orchid" this novel was renamed due to the fact that the title sounds like a romance novel.  However, the novel should have been titled "Resident Evil: Star Wars" and it would have removed the need to read it.  If you, the reader, are looking for plots within plots, galactic battles or anything you've come to expect in the Star Wars universe, look elsewhere.  The sole purpose of the novel is to explain the origin of the Death Trooper's virus.  Possibly, in the future, more plots will develop in other novels, but for right now, it is just one zombie killing after another.

The saving grace of the book is the non-stop action that never ceases throughout the entire novel.  Short chapters that are used to just explain the necessary plot points, leaving tons of room for gruesome action.  Also, expect tons of fear and betrayal that comes with any Sith academy.

So in short, unless you're looking for a quick paced, relatively short novel to read in an airport or on a plane, then skipping this book would not put you out of the loop in the Star Wars time line.