Star Wars: Red Harvest Review

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(More customer reviews)Okay, okay, I hate revealing ANYTHING about the story you are about to read, but if you are buying this book and can't tell by the cover that there will be zombies (and Sith), well then I am sorry to spoil the surprise, but it should be rather obvious.
So, a Star Wars zombie book with our favorite bad guys. But is it any good? Yeah. It is a fun ride, and while I would be tempted to give it 4 stars, there are certain aspects to the Star Wars universe that are introduced that struck me as new and different. Some books are fun to read (like the first Thrawn) because they completely change everything you thought was cool about Star Wars. Other books are worth reading because the story is solid--but the real beauty is the implications the story leaves behind; the questions it raises. IMHO this book falls in the second category.
The plant life in this story is food for thought when you extrapolate that into the overarching SW universe and the Jedi order. Much room for growth, here there is! I like the main Jedi character. I think you will like her as well. She opens up the world of the Jedi past the hack and slash we see in the movies. It shows a much deeper understanding of the Force--something that would be interesting to see explored more deeply in future novels. I think that's what I really liked most about this book. It is less "Luke Skywalker/Han Solo Star Wars," and more "a day in the life of the supporting cast." It adds to the scope of the world of Star Wars but it feels like a behind the scenes story that shows us how things can go wrong in the very places that create heroes and villains, not just on Death Stars and in capitals like Coruscant.
Is it safe for kids? Hmmm... I would put the minimum reading age at 14-15, keeping in mind that it's almost impossible to reach that age without seeing at least one zombie movie or playing a zombie video game, or some other shooter game with gore and blood. While there are moments of descriptive mayhem, it was pretty tame considering this is supposed to be a horror novel. I enjoyed the story, I was deeply afraid my favorite characters would die (you will have to read the book to see if they did), and the villains were villainous to say the least, but it is not a book that will give you nightmares or send you into therapy. It is about as scary as a Victorian horror novel. Like I said--I liked it, but it wasn't Stephen King scary.
If you must know the basic details of the, keep reading; but if not, just now that it is a very dark story with lots of unpleasant surprises and some very "not nice people." I feel as if we are being set up for a larger story, as if this is the beginning of a new area of problems for both the Republic and the Empire. Just for that reason alone it is worth reading.
Okay--so some of the basics of the story without revealing the plot. The story takes place for the most part at an outlying Sith academy where young men and women are trained in the ways of the Force; the dark side of course. In a school like this there is no room for weakness. You fail, you die. It is a much purer way of understanding nature than we see in the mamsy-pamsy Jedi academies where we get to play with flowers and bunnies. The teachers are a bit less forgiving and a bit more exacting in their instruction methods. It would have been nice to see more of this though, as it takes something of a backseat to the real action. The beauty of the Sith students is that the biggest do well but not necessarily as well as the smaller, more determined ones. This educational facility is really all about who can survive by any means at their disposal, not just who is "stronger in the Force." This is good soil for future Sith stories.
Fortunately for us though a lot of that goes out the window with the zombies show up. Zombies present a problem unseen before in the SW universe: You can shoot them with a blaster, you can chop them with your lightsaber. Um...okay, then what? And what would happen if a Jedi, or worse, a Sith were infected with zombie powers? Well, I guess you would have to read the book to find out.
Please note: As of this time I have not yet read Death Troopers. That will be next on the list, even though it seems to go backwards in time. Nonetheless, this novel stands well on its own and definitely sets us up for a future story where we will DEFINITELY see gruesome carnage.
In any case, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy it.

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