I'm not a big horror guy, so I didn't know what to expect. I ended up enjoying more than I thought I would. Good mix of horror and action. Only complaint is that there isn't a lot of backstory that's established. You just jump right into the action, without figuring out who the characters are or the setting. Other than that, it was pretty good. ( )

A long time ago in a blog post way, way in the past...

I read a novel that combined two things I hold true in my heart, zombies and Star Wars - the real Star Wars, not those prequel abortions (with the slight exception of Revenge of the Sith as I have a soft spot for bad guys winning). I discovered the novel in the most absurd way - I discovered it on 4Chan. Before Star Wars: Death Troopers, I never heard of Joe Schreiber. To be honest, I never did much venturing to read some of his none Star Wars books. I'm thinking about it now, though.

Darth Scabrous, the Sith Lord, discovered a lost plan from a predecessor. A elixir for immortality. All he needs is the Murakami orchid, an orchid so rare that it can only be found in one location - the Jedi Agricultural Corps. In order for the orchid to remain alive, it must be accompanied by a Jedi with plant growth skills. When a bounty hunter kidnaps Hestizo Trace and her orchid charge, her brother, Rojo, finds himself on a rescue mission on Odacer-Faustin, home to a Sith academy.

It's easy to overlook all the major players of this novel when cutting it down to a summary. The fact alone that it opens at the Sith academy leads the reader to believe that every character plays some important role - and they do, sorta. Maybe. They carry their own plot line, if that means anything to you.

What keeps me from loving this novel is Schreiber's insistence on killing every single character that I loved. Even though I know it's rare for a Jedi and Sith to work with each other, it's still bothering that none of them ever, well, meet. ( )

Up front I will say that I think this was a lot better than his previous book, Death Troopers, which I also read. Having said that, it is a book I liked, but it was not a great book. Nice popcorn kind of entertainment. I don't really have much negative to say about it. I did find the zombie as result from an experiment to be interesting, and a nice touch in the Star Wars universe. As I have said before, SW franchise is pretty good about taking whatever is trendy, in this case, zombies, and adapting it into a Star Wars setting. I think this one worked out pretty well. The idea of a Jedi being able to telepathically communicate with plants was interesting too I thought.

Personally, in terms of the expanded universe, I find that I am liking these new novels taking place in the days of the Old Republic. Maybe because I find the Sith overall interesting. Plus the Jedi were around as well. I think there is a lot of room to work on for authors in this setting.

Fans of the zombie genre who happen to like Star Wars too will probably like it. For those who are not that big into Star Wars, but like zombies, they may like it as well. It is accessible enough for non-Star Wars readers I think. Anyhow, I liked it. ( )

Fun horror story set in the Star Wars universe. ( )

Zombie (Rakghoul) Apocalypse meets a Sith academy in the star wars universe. A must read for fans of star wars and zombie movies. ( )