Series: Star Wars
Author: Joe Schreiber
Released: 2010
Rating: 3/6
Basic Plot: The era of the Old Republic is a dark and dangerous time, as Jedi Knights valiantly battle the Sith Lords and their ruthless armies. But the Sith have disturbing plans—and none more so than the fulfillment of Darth Scabrous’s fanatical dream, which is about to become nightmarish reality.
Unlike those other Jedi sidelined to the Agricultural Corps—young Jedi whose abilities have not proved up to snuff—Hestizo Trace possesses one extraordinary Force talent: a gift with plants. Suddenly her quiet existence among greenhouse and garden specimens is violently destroyed by the arrival of an emissary from Darth Scabrous. For the rare black orchid that she has nurtured and bonded with is the final ingredient in an ancient Sith formula that promises to grant Darth Scabrous his greatest desire.
But at the heart of the formula is a never-before-seen virus that’s worse than fatal—it doesn’t just kill, it transforms. Now the rotting, ravenous dead are rising, driven by a bloodthirsty hunger for all things living—and commanded by a Sith Master with an insatiable lust for power and the ultimate prize: immortality...no matter the cost.
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The Horror Elements
Let's start off with the good stuff. There is one reason to read this book and it's for the killer zombies. The times it focuses on the zombies and lovely death scenes this book shines. If it was a movie it'd be a glorious b-horror movie. I admit I read it because I wanted to see how zombies would fit into the Star Wars universe. And they fit in fine. Problems arise when focus is given to the characters.
The Characters
The characters all do what they need to do. The big bad is out to do whatever for the sake of immortality, there is the student that is the best and wants even more power, there is the brother that is out to rescue his sister, and all the rest can be named by their importance to the plot. This doesn't mean the characters are godawful. I felt myself caring for some and they do what is needed in this type of story. So I didn't mind.
The Length
The length of the book is good for what it is. The pacing doesn't slow down so that the plot can't linger too long on any one sub-plot. This makes any defects of the novel easy to glance over since so much gory glory is happening. While having the characters given more depth would've been great, the fact is that this novel is telling a type of story that doesn't need that.
Final Thoughts
Rojo Trace, aka Hestizo Trace's brother, has something strange happen to him. He gets hit on by a woman who has a thing for banging Jedi, I guess. But it's only one scene and not commented on that much. Just glanced over and I had to stare at that part for a good five minutes before moving on. That was the biggest WTF moment of the novel. If you don't like zombies or gore, I wouldn't recommend reading this book. But if you're a Star Wars fan and have to read and see everything in the Expanded Universe, you'll have to read this no matter what I say.
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