Review: Red Harvest by Joe Schreiber (Spoiler Free)

Joe Schreiber delivers a gore filled follow up to his previous Star Wars horror novel Death Troopers, in this Old Republic era novel.  Was it a bloody good 
novel, or just  plain bloody?

 I) SETTING

Red Harvest is set in 3645 BBY, primarily at the Sith Academy on Odacer-Faustin, there are also a limited number of scenes on Marfa at the site of a Jedi Agriculture Corps lab facility.

Joe Schreiber, author of Red Harvest

II) Unofficial Dramatis Personae:

Hestizo "Zo" Trace, Agricultural Corps Jedi
Dail'Niss, Neti Sith Librarian
Murakami Orchid (Sentient plant)
Rojo Trace, Male Jedi Knight
Pergus Frode, Sith Academy Mechanic
HK, HK Droid (Model # unknown)
Mnah Ra'at, Sith Academy Student
Xat Hracken, Sith Combat Master
Darth Scabrous, Sith Lord, Head of Academy
Dranok, Male Human,Bounty Hunter
Wim Nickter, Sith Acolyte
Lord Shak'Weth, Sith Blademaster
Rance Lussk, Sith Acolyte
Tulkh, Whiphid Bounty Hunter
Jura Ostrogoth, Sith Acolyte
Scopique, Zabrak Sith Acolyte
Kindra, Female Sith Acolyte

III) STORY

One of the biggest early criticisms of Red Harvest has been the length of the novel.  At 242 pages of story (Story starts on page 3 an ends on 244), this novel clocks in as one of the slimmest of Star Wars hardcovers.  It should be noted that Death Troopers was also very slim, at 232 pages (starting on page 3 and ending on page 234).  Though Death Troopers seems to be printed on a thicker stock of paper and also includes a longer excerpt from Fate of the Jedi: Outcast on pages 236 through 265.  The excerpt in Red Harvest is from John Jackson Miller's forthcoming Star Wars novel: Knight Errant and goes from pages 247 to 256.  So in reality Red Harvest is actually longer then Death Troopers in terms of page count, it is just produced in such a way to feel very thin.

As Yoda would say, "Size matters not," what matters is whether the story was satisfying and in the end was it worth the money you paid for it.  In my mind both of Joe Schreibers' novels where very good in their own right, but they feel less like Star Wars then the traditional EU novel.  The concept that a virus could cause a zombie like transformation is hardly the weirdest thing that has been created in the Expanded Universe, and I am not sure how to describe the tension that I feel between these works and other EU works, except in terms of  "feeling like Star Wars" and "not feeling like Star Wars."  All that being said, I actually liked Red Harvest a lot more then I liked Death Troopers and I think it felt more like a Star Wars story the Death Troopers did.

While Red Harvest is a relatively short novel, it doesn't feel like one.  While we have a ton of characters and received multiple points of view, the key is that there is really just one major plot line once everyone gets to Odacer-Faustin.  The star of this novel is really the exponentially expanding virus outbreak and the book is made up of how this rapidly expanding virus effects and interacts with the different characters that are introduced.  No subplots on politics or slavery in this one, its a tooth and nails fight for your life against a seemingly endless army of zombies that have the training and ability to use the force.  If that doesn't sound like a fair fight to you, its because its  not.

Schreiber creates great dramatic tension by crafting a virus that is highly transmissible the are or aren't they infected, plays a large part in much of the novel as characters undergo changes.

There are some very interesting characters and very cool scenes in this novel.  While I was slightly disappointed with Darth Scabrous, who turns out to be rather dumb about his master plan.  Once he reveals what he is up to, there are some pretty big flaws in his plan that seemingly could have been solved before things got out of hand.

I favorite characters in no particular order Mnah Ra'at (Sith Acolyte), Dail'Niss (Sith Librarian), HK Droid, and the bounty hunter Tulkh.  Ra'at is cool because what he lacks in physicality he makes up for in pluck and determination.  Dail'Niss is an interesting character, a bit like an evil Ent from Lord of the Rings.  HK is interesting because of his self awareness and self preservation instincts that kick in, and well the cool weapons are nice too.  Tulkh is just an interesting character a hulking Whiphid with a bad attitude and who is very handy with a spear.     


There are some weird parts of the book, my least favorite is the use of the orchid later in the novel and how it is used against the Sith zombies.

By far my favorite thing in the book is the Tauntauns, I won't spoil it for those who haven't read the novel, but if you thought Luke and Han had a bad experience with Tauntauns, you haven't seen anything yet. 

IV) CONCLUSIONS

Overall, Joe Schreiber crafts a fun book, that is full of over the top gore.  Its not particularly scary, though there are a few interesting twists and surprising fates for certain characters.  I enjoyed it, but I am not sure how it really fits into the EU and it feels like a horror novel set in the Star Wars universe instead of a Star Wars novel with horror in it. 

 I give Red Harvest 7.0 out of 10 lightsabers.

Read Chapter Previews 1-8 below and decide if Red Harvest is for you...

Download Red Harvest Chapter 1: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 2: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 3: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 4: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 5: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 6: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 7: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 8: Here

Order Red Harvest from Amazon.com: Here

Follow Joe Schreiber: Twitter @joeschreiber1 and his blog, http://www.scaryparent.blogspot.com/

Preview Review: Red Harvest by Joe Schreiber: Chapter 8 *SPOILERS*

Warning: The following contains spoilers for the forthcoming novel, Red Harvest.

StarWars.com has released the 8th and final chapter excerpt for Joe Schreiber's latest Star Wars Horror novel, Red Harvest.  Red Harvest tells the origin story of the zombie virus that first appeared as an Imperial bio-weapon in the novel Death Troopers.

Random House Description: 

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.

There are cool flowers like Mario's fire flower that give you a quick change of clothes and the ability to shoot fireballs, and then there are flowers that turn you into mindless darkside zombies.  Darth Scabrous is going to get his hands on one of these very rare black orchid flowers and zombie hijinks ensue.


Chapter Dramatis Personae:
Rojo Trace, Male Jedi Knight
Lieutenant Norch, Male, Republic Officer
Captain Tekla Ansgar. Female, Republic Officer

Summary:

The Chapter 8 (Polyskin) excerpt opens at the scene of a  crashed Sith Warship on the planet Geonosis.  We are introduced to an aloof Jedi Knight Rojo Trace, who is the brother of one of the books main characters Hestizo "Zo" Trace a member of the Jedi AgriCorps and the person whom is bonded with and nurturing the rare black orchid flower. 

Rojo gets in a turf battle with a bureaucratic Republic officer Lt. Norch, and gets some unneeded attention by the Jedi Fan Club member Republic officer Captain Tekla Ansgar. 

 After asserting his authority over the crash site and warning the Republic personnel away because of a pocket of dangerous gas the Sith Warship crashed into, Rojo jumps down into the crash site using the force to levitate down and into an opening in the ship.

While investigating the ship, Rojo has a force vision of his sister in danger and pain, "blindsided by a storm of disjointed images: the shaft of a spear, dripping with blood; a flash of green; a whiff of something rancid and feral. His nostrils burned with the stench of a place that had been bottled up too long, a place of death and solitude and agonized last breaths."

Thoughts and Impressions:

Mr. Schreiber has a particular aspect to his writing that many Star Wars authors ignore, that is in depth visual descriptions of his new characters.  We have already seen this with the introduction of Darth Scabrous, but we get the same treatment in Chapter 8 for Rojo Trace. 

Chapter Excerpt #1:  

He was a dark- haired man of unremarkable build and complexion, tall and steady and vaguely handsome in a way that didn’t draw attention to the unshaven jawline, the green eyes, and the faintly smiling lips. Yet for every moment that he stood motionless outside the tent—perhaps listening, perhaps not—a sense of intensity seemed to gather around him, a sense of acute psychological awareness of its own rarefied state.

 I think many of the authors are in the habit of not including such descriptions for two reasons, either the characters are movie characters and we should have an image in our head already what they look like, or the  characters are previously established characters in the EU, and similarly they feel that they have been described sufficiently in the past.

I enjoy getting these in depth descriptions of these characters, it helps fill out the chapters, and if you are new to the EU or to those characters in particular it helps give you a better grasp of who is who in the universe.

In terms of characters introduced in this chapter we really only get Rojo Trace, as both Republic officers are there for him to play off of.  Initial impressions of Rojo are that he is really kind of a jerk.  Is he actually a jerk or is he just a Jedi with particularly poor interpersonal skills?  I suppose we will have to wait until the full novel to find out.

Mr. Schreiber does a very nice job describing Rojo's use of the force, making it easy to visualize not only what he is doing but how he is doing it.

Chapter Excerpt #2: 

Shearing downward through the chasm, he summoned the Force, generating a cushion of resistance beneath him until he felt his free fall slackening, the crater walls slowing down, individual molecules mesh-ing to buffet his descent. Now, with a little bit of concentration, he could see every crack and divot in the rock as it passed.

The weirdest part of the excerpt was what seems to be Rojo Trace channeling Liam Neisson's character from the 2008 movie Taken.

Chapter Excerpt #3:

Listen to me, Trace told him. I don’t know who you are, but I am in possession of a very special set of skills. If you bring my sister back right now, unharmed, then I’ll let you go. But if you don’t, I promise you, I will track you down. I will find you. And I will make you pay.

Quote from the movie Taken via IMDB.com

Bryan: I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.

 I don't mind this throwback to the movie Taken, as it is one of my recent favorites, as well as the fact that it comes from an actor who appeared in Episode I: TPM as Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, but it took me out of the reading of the excerpt for a minute because it sounded so familiar.  Some fans may have issue with this however. 



Read Chapter Previews 1-8 below and get hooked on some Sith Zombies...

Download Red Harvest Chapter 1: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 2: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 3: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 4: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 5: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 6: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 7: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 8: Here

Pre-Order Red Harvest from Amazon.com: Here

Follow Joe Schreiber: Twitter @joeschreiber1 and his blog, http://www.scaryparent.blogspot.com/

Red Harvest Chapter 8: Excerpt Online

An 8th excerpt has been posted for Joe Schrieber's new novel, Red Harvest due out next Tuesday Dec. 28th.

Look for a final preview on the blog before the book is released as well as a post release review.

For now read chapter 8:
http://www.starwars.com/vault/books/redharvest/chp8/index.html

Star Wars: Red Harvest by Joe Schreiber Chapter 7 Excerpt

Starwars.com has released another excerpt from Joe Schreiber's new Sith Horror novel Red Harvest.  Chapter 7 is now on-line.


Read Chapter Previews 1-7 below and get hooked on some Sith Zombies...

Download Red Harvest Chapter 1: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 2: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 3: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 4: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 5: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 6: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 7: Here

Pre-Order Red Harvest from Amazon.com: Here

Follow Joe Schreiber: Twitter @joeschreiber1 and his blog, http://www.scaryparent.blogspot.com/

Preview Review: Red Harvest by Joe Schreiber: Chapter 6 *SPOILERS*

Warning: The following contains spoilers for the forthcoming novel, Red Harvest.

Now that the good folks at Lucasfilm and Del Ray have us hooked on Joe Schreiber's latest novel Red Harvest, after 5 excellent chapter excerpts, they give us just a taste of Chapter Six with a short two page excerpt. 

Chapter Dramatis Personae:
Pergus Frode, Sith Academy Mechanic
HK, HK Droid (Model # unknown)

Oh poor Pergus Frode, we hardly knew you.  I have a feeling you are not long for this book.  If there is one thing that the Expanded Universe has taught me, its that even though they may pay well, don't work for the Sith.  It usually ends badly.  For Mr. Frode, I think he is going to be neck deep in removing a flight computer when someone is going to give him a little nibble.

 Chapter Excerpt:  

Pushing back his mission cap to scratch his head, Frode turned his
attention speculatively back to the bounty hunter’s vessel. “You
know,” he remarked casually, “a ship like that’s gotta carry a pretty sophisticated
flight computer.”
“Statement: I’m sure I wouldn’t know anything about that, sir. The
equipment of such vessels is not part of my programming, and—”
“You don’t think Lord Scabrous would mind if I yanked her out, do
you?”
The HK regarded him blankly.
“You know, set it aside. Scrap- market value on that thing’s not too
shabby.”
“Statement: I’m sure you could help yourself,” the droid said, with
bottomless indifference, already turning away to go about its business.
Settling his cap back on his head, Frode nodded and got his tools,
whistling a little under his breath as he did so.
Maybe, he thought, tonight would turn out well after all.

 I wonder what role HK is going to play in the novel.  Could HK be our protagonist?  As a droid he would be immune to the virus and as an HK unit he should be able to defend himself well.  I am really curious to see what role he plays in the story.  

Read Chapter Previews 1-6 below and get hooked on some Sith Zombies...

Download Red Harvest Chapter 1: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 2: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 3: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 4: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 5: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 6: Here

Pre-Order Red Harvest from Amazon.com: Here

Follow Joe Schreiber: Twitter @joeschreiber1 and his blog, http://www.scaryparent.blogspot.com/

Preview Review: Red Harvest by Joe Schreiber: Chapter 5 *SPOILERS*

Warning: The following contains spoilers for the forthcoming novel, Red Harvest.



It's back....Starwars.com just can't help itself from giving away Joe Schreiber's new novel for free.  While this does certainly create a buzz for the book, it also is going to make for a rather curious reading experience when the full novel arises.  Once you have already read the early chapters, do you just start where the free previews left off or do you actually start from the beginning.  Even if I have read the preview chapters, I usually re-read them in the context of the full novel, however I have noticed that its sometimes laborious and I am itching to skip through the stuff I have already read to dig into the brand new material.

I will say, that so far I am really enjoying Mr. Schreiber's writing, the descriptions, characterizations, and action have all been superb.


In the latest excerpt we are given Chapter 5: Pain Pipe.  (Pages 31-35)

Chapter Dramatis Personae:

Mnah Ra'at, Sith Academy Student
Xat Hracken, Sith Combat Master

Review:

This excerpt gives us a very interesting interaction between only two characters, a combat instructor at the Sith Academy and one of his students. While the Sith Master is a beast of a man physically described as built like an Aqualish.  In contrast we have his 17 year old who is undersized, but what he lacks in physical ability he seems to make up for in drive, he thirsts for power.  What a good little Sith.

Chapter Excerpt #1:

Hracken nodded to himself. He’d expected as much. From the moment
he’d arrived here, Lussk had set the pace for the academy’s most
driven pupils, all of whom wanted to fight, train, and study as intensely
as he did. What none of them seemed to understand was that there
could only be one Lussk, and those who challenged him found themselves
sharing the fate of Nickter, among others.
Still, Master Hracken had to admit that he found Ra’at’s ambition
intriguing. Ra’at was easily the smallest in his class, wispy- haired and
fine- featured, and two years of training hadn’t added more than a few
ounces of muscle to his spindly frame. But he had deep steel in him, a
kind of gritty, semi- psychotic rage, and a will to power that drove him
to do whatever was necessary to get ahead. He also had some very peculiar
ideas. It was Ra’at, after all, who had started the rumors that
Darth Scabrous himself was abducting students and taking them up to
the tower in an effort to find one powerful enough to succeed him.
He’d argued the case so successfully that some of the students—and
even a few of the Masters—wondered if he might be right.

The "pain pipe" which gives the chapter its name is the Sith combat simulator.  In my head I am picturing an evil version of ABC's Wipeout.  But not only does or wee lil'Sith Ra'at do well in the simulator, he kicks its but and impresses his teacher.  We will see more interacting between these two and others in the full novel I am sure.

On his way leaving his training session, Ra'at also gives us a look into his personality, and while they are both Sith students Wim Nickter is a much more sympathetic character.  Ra'at seems to be very stereotypically Sith in his desires.

Chapter Excerpt #2:

Ra’at felt the requisite twinge of jealousy. The tracks in the snow
meant that Lord Scabrous had brought visitors here, very recently. The
Sith Lord had invited them into his sanctum, and they had stepped inside.
Ra’at, who had never been inside the tower and could only imagine
its secrets, wondered who the visitors had been. Lussk? Nickter?
One of the Masters?
Slipping off his glove, Ra’at placed one bare hand directly on the
closed hatchway, imagining for a moment that he could feel the power
pulsating out from inside, power that he would do anything to possess.
Someday, he thought, I’ll go through there myself.
Until then, he would keep practicing.

Lets face it, sometimes the Sith are just plain more fun to read about then the Jedi.  Joe Schreibers' Sith appear to be some real bad boys.   I can't wait for more....

Read Chapter Previews 1-5 below and get hooked on some Sith Zombies...

Download Red Harvest Chapter 1: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 2: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 3: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 4: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 5: Here

Pre-Order Red Harvest from Amazon.com: Here

Follow Joe Schreiber: Twitter @joeschreiber1 and his blog, http://www.scaryparent.blogspot.com/

Preview Review: Red Harvest by Joe Schreiber: Chapter 4 *SPOILERS*

Warning: The following contains spoilers for the forthcoming novel, Red Harvest.


In what hearkens back to old serial novels, Starwars.com continues to release Joe Schreiber's novel Red Harvest chapter by chapter.  This is a very curious move.  If the novel is complete enough to release this much of it so far, why not push up the publishing date to before Christmas and attempt to get a bump in sales?

Is it part of some test balloon of viral marketing?  Get a cult following for a novel before its released and see how it effects sales?  I'm not really sure what Del Ray/Lucasbooks is thinking with their approach to this novel, but what I do know is that so far so good.  This book looks awesome.

So far we have gotten a close up view of Sith Training, Sith Alchemy, and Sith Bullying.  But the latest chapter is like something out of Thomas Harris' Hannibal Lecter novels.


Chapter Dramatis Personae:

Pergus Frode, Sith Academy Mechanic
Darth Scabrous, Sith Lord, Head of Academy
HK, HK Droid (Model # unknown)
Skarl, Nelvaanian Male, Bounty Hunter/Tracker/Dinner
Dranok, Male Human,Bounty Hunter

Knights of the Old Republic fans will be excited over the inclusion of the HK Droid.  Statement: Stupid Sith Meatsacks. 

Chapter Excerpt #1:

“Statement: It’s through here, sir,” the HK said, gesturing up at the
tower. “Right this way.”
Dranok paused in his tracks and looked up. He’d seen some weird
architecture in his time, but the Sith Lord’s tower was unsettling in a
different way. It was imposing, yes, and much taller than it had looked
from the air, but there was another quality to it, an indefinable sense of
wrongness, as if it had been built at some unnatural angle so that it
seemed to curl down on top of him like an immense black claw. He’d
once overheard talk in some spaceport about the Sith, how they’d
learned to manipulate spatial geometry itself, creating buildings that
were, in themselves, detached from physical reality. The guy telling the
story had claimed you could get lost inside a Sith labyrinth and never
escape. Dranok had dismissed it as a lot of drunken superstition, but
looking at the tower now, he wasn’t sure. He didn’t like standing in
front of it, and liked even less the idea of going inside.

Not only does Schreiber make the Sith creepy, he makes their architecture creepy.

We also get a nice description of Lord Scabrous:  Chapter Excerpt #2

The bounty hunter froze at the sound of his own name, the voice
turning his breath to dry ice in his lungs. Up ahead, standing between
him and the exit, a tall, dark- cloaked figure gazed back at him from the
other side of a long stone table. Dranok realized that he was looking into
the face of a man with long, refined features, the aquiline nose, raked
brow, and prominent cheekbones stretched out until they were almost
a caricature of arrogance. Thick gray hair, a strange silvery blue color,
swept back away from his forehead. The figure extended one longfingered
hand, gesturing him forward, and at the same moment Dranok
saw the man’s eyes flicker and pulse as if reflecting the burst of
some far- off explosion.

We also found out that the particular black orchid that Lord Scabrous is after has a name, its Murakami Orchid.

We also get some confirmation that Lord Scabrous has probably been training Rance Lussk, because he uses the same Dark Side technique that Lussk used on his fellow student Wim Nickter.

Chapter Excerpt #3:

He stared at what lay underneath, sudden horror piling up inside
his throat like a clogged siphon. It took less than a second to realize
that the shaggy thing in front of him was the severed, stewed head of
his partner, Skarl. The Nelvaanian’s mouth had been pried open wide
enough to accommodate the ripe red jaquira fruit that had been thrust
between its jaws. Dead, boiled eyes gaped up at him with what almost
looked like accusation....

“Every traitor makes a meal of his allies.” Scabrous held up a knife
and fork in front of the bounty hunter’s face. “This is your last meal,
Dranok, and you must eat it, every morsel. That is the offer I present
to you. If you can do that, I will allow you to walk out of here alive.”
Dranok recoiled, struggling harder to pull himself free. But the only
part of his body that he could move was his right hand, the one that
Scabrous was allowing him to lift in the direction of the dining uten-
Star Wars: Red Harvest 29
sils. Jaw clenched, he grasped the knife from the Sith Lord’s hand—
and then thrust it forward, as hard as he could.

 The chapter preview also ends on  a cliffhanger and what appears to be the first appearance of our zombie friends....

Read Chapter Previews 1-4 below and get hooked on some Sith Zombies...

Download Red Harvest Chapter 1: Here
Dowload Red Harvest Chapter 2: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 3: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 4: Here

Pre-Order Red Harvest from Amazon.com: Here

Follow Joe Schreiber: Twitter @joeschreiber1 and his blog, http://www.scaryparent.blogspot.com/

Red Harvest Chapter 4: Released on Starwars.com

Star Wars.com continues the serialized release of Joe Schreiber's forthcoming novel Red Harvest.

Chapter 4 is now online in PDF form.

StarWars.com article

Direct PDF download link

Look for a Preview Review of Chapter 4 later this weekend...

Preview Review: Red Harvest by Joe Schreiber: Chapter 3 *SPOILERS*

Warning: The following contains spoilers for the forthcoming novel, Red Harvest.


In what hearkens back to old serial novels, Starwars.com continues to release Joe Schreiber's novel Red Harvest chapter by chapter.  We now have 3 chapters out but given its December 28th release date, I would not be surprised if they go up to Chapter 5, to try to slowly build an audience for the novel.

After the 3 short chapters we have received, I am invested in the characters and I am anticipating the novel much more then I was when we first learned about this prequel to Death Troopers. I actually enjoy Schreiber's shorter chapters, I think it makes books easier and quicker to read, especially if your busy and not reading it in long sittings, it makes for more convenient stopping points.

Chapter 3 is subtitled, Deep-Down Trauma Hounds.  In this chapter we see our unfortunate Sith whipping boy Wim Nickter, and well he is worse off then when we last saw him.

Nickter has become an unwilling lab rat for the twisted Sith Lord Scabrous (Scabs to his friends).  What exactly is Scabs doing to poor Wim, well that's not entirely clear.  Nickter has at least 6 tubes running from a pump into his spinal column.  The pump is filled with a yellowish/red liquid.  We also have some creepy black lotus flowers and a Sith Holocron for good measure.

Schreiber does a particularly good job in this chapter setting a creepy and evil tone.  Scabs is one of the creeper Sith Lords we have been introduced to, and this is only a glimpse of what we will see in the full book I am sure.

What is the fate of Nickter?  Does he day, another in what appears to be line of failed Sith evil botany experiments?  Or does he become the blood slobbering Sith Zombie that appears on the cover of the novel?

I was only so so on Mr. Schreiber's Death Troopers novel, it was a good read, but didn't feel enough like Star Wars for me.  So far in the first three chapters of Red Harvest, I think Mr. Schreiber has nailed the tone and feel of Star Wars.  This book looks like a keeper to me, I'm sure it will make a killing.....muahhaaahaaa

Download Red Harvest Chapter 1: Here
Dowload Red Harvest Chapter 2: Here
Download Red Harvest Chapter 3: Here

Pre-Order Red Harvest from Amazon.com: Here

Follow Joe Schreiber: Twitter @joeschreiber1 and his blog, http://www.scaryparent.blogspot.com/

Red Harvest Chapter 2: On-line serial preview of the novel continues...

If they are prepared to release the first two chapters on-line, why not bump up the novel on the publishing calendar to before Christmas?  Missed opportunity or looking to cash in on the gift card market?

Read the chapter Excerpt in PDF here.

Preview Review: Red Harvest by Joe Schreiber: Chapter 1 *Spoilers*

What is Red Harvest?

Red Harvest is Joe Schreiber's follow up to last years Death Troopers.  It will be released December 28th in Hardcover and Unabridged audio CD.  Its a short hard cover novel coming in at only 272 pages.  It is available for pre-order on Amazon for $17.82. Blurb:

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.

Chapter 1: Preview Review  *SPOILERS*

Setting: 3645 BBY, Sith Academy on Odacer-Faustin,  Dueling Ring.


Chapter Dramatis Personae: Wim Nickter, Sith Acolyte;  Lord Shak'Weth, Sith Blademaster; Rance Lussk, Sith Acolyte.

Summary:

In a scene familiar to those who have read Drew Karpyshyn's Darth Bane novel Darth Bane: Path of Destruction, in the first chapter we are taken to a Sith training academy.  We are introduced to a Sith Blademaster reminscent of Lord Kasim, in the person of Shak'Weth.  We have a duel between Lussk the undisputed strongest student at the academy, someone that has defeated and destroyed dueling opponents, and unassuming Sith Wim Nickter.  But this duel is not all it seems, and Lussk has ulterior motives in choosing Nickter as his dueling partner, as he tries some rare Sith mind control technique to dominate Nickter's will and leaves Nickter lucky to be alive.  At least alive for now....

Chapter Excerpt:

I own you, maggot, it said, the strength of the other cadet’s will booming through Nickter’s skull, and you will do as you’re told.  No. Nickter’s jaw clenched, summoning what remained of his resolve.
He understood now that his only hope lay in freeing himself, wresting his will away from Lussk’s authority. What the other acolyte was practicing on him now was obviously some advanced Force mind control technique learned from one of the Sith Lords at the academy, perhaps at the knee of Scabrous himself. Had the rumors of his secret tutelage been true after all? Whatever the case, for reasons known only to Lussk, he’d decided to try it out this morning on Nickter, and Nickter had nothing to counter with.

Impressions:

I purchased and enjoyed Mr. Schreiber's novel Death Troopers.  That being said, it didn't really have the feel of Star Wars to me. I gotta say this book has me much more excited.  Ancient Sith and Jedi are a lot more interesting then an Imperial Prison Barge.  I really enjoyed the Darth Bane novels, so the chance in this brief glimpse to see some more of Sith training and the ultra competitive nature of Sith academies is entertaining to read.  Is Nickter going to be our luck Sith Zombie survivor? Or an early victim?  Should be interesting to see.  The two characters I am most interested in don't appear in this excerpt.  The mysterious Lord Scabrous and failed Jedi Agricorps member Hestizo Trace.  Why does Trace help a Sith?  There is a ton of potential for interesting story telling with that character.

The chapter is only nine pages long, if most of the book follows a similar pace it could be a short novel with small chapters which makes for a very quick read.  There have been some good short SW novels, but much of the time with the sub-300 page books it seems like there was missed storytelling opportunities within the structure of the story.  The idea of Sith sorcery is not new, we have seen it a number of times including recently in Darth Bane: Rule of Two, with the technobeasts created by Sith Lord Belia Darzu. It will be interesting how far Schreiber goes with this zombie virus and whether this book feels like Star Wars. 

To read the full chapter excerpt in PDF click HERE.