Star Wars

Feb 21, 2010 Jason (FNORDinc) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed, reviewed-on-fnordinc

like an unconcerned lover, meeting you for a “nooner”, Death Troopers is quick and dirty. it doesnt ask you how you are doing or if you are getting close. when it is finished, it rolls out of bed and leaves you staring, asking “what exactly just happened”. you feel a little dirty, then you shower and get back to work. in the end, it is still a nooner, so who can scoff at that? not i.

a little background info to explain the above..

as a kid, i was an avid book reader. you put it in front of me, and...more

8 likes · like · see review

Jun 25, 2012 Brendan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, adventure-thriller, fiction, scifi, zombies

Star Wars zombies. Yep, you read it right. Death Troopers follows the adventures of several inmates and workers on an Imperial prison barge that finds itself adrift in space right next to a ghost ship Star Destroyer with the lights on but nobody home… or so it seems! A few thoughts:

- I haven’t read any Star Wars novels before, but this one fit other fictionalizations of the SW universe that I’ve encountered (comics, video games, the RPG). It assumes the reader knows the universe well, but doesn...more Star Wars zombies. Yep, you read it right. Death Troopers follows the adventures of several inmates and workers on an Imperial prison barge that finds itself adrift in space right next to a ghost ship Star Destroyer with the lights on but nobody home… or so it seems! A few thoughts:

- I haven’t read any Star Wars novels before, but this one fit other fictionalizations of the SW universe that I’ve encountered (comics, video games, the RPG). It assumes the reader knows the universe well, but doesn’t demand that the reader know too much background information, at least that I can see. It’s possible that some of the characters are from other novels and I just didn’t know that (Wookiepedia doesn’t indicate any). I like the chronological layout of all the SW novels in the timeline at the beginning of the novel. There’s something nerdily satisfying about complete and consistent canons.
- The writing was distinctly action fiction, with solid descriptions of action and decent, if quick, characterizations. The focus on the narrative moving forward with a briefly developed explanation of the zombie virus. Not provocative or evocative syntax, but I suspect the SW brand limits the scope of a writer’s vocabulary in order to keep the book at an accessible level to hit the YA market.
- When I think about the writing here, I wonder whether it was really any worse than some of the other action-oriented genre fiction I’ve read, like William Shatner’s Tekwar or William Deitz’s Legion of the Damned. My instinct is that it was more limited, but not only because the novels need to hit a specific market. I think writing within an established universe limits your ability to be creative about world-building, and one of the thing the cheesiest action sf has that this misses is new worlds to explore. Ironically, the familiar setting removes a crucial element of novelty.
- Minor spoiler: It turns out I don’t like reading novels with Han Solo in them. Han feels like an enigma to me, a brash adventurer with a good side (Sam Spade/ Rick Blaine in space?), and so to know his inner thoughts, as we do several times in the novel, undermines that mystery. That said, I was pretty surprised to find anyone from the main stories here. Who knew Han and Chewy had a run-in with space zombies less than five years before they met Luke in Tatooine?

Death Troopers is fine for what it is, an adventure novel within an established universe. But it also underwhelms for character development and syntax. Schreiber’s concept left open the possibility for a sequel, but he also wrote in a safety net so that the novel could be a standalone without the reader wondering what happened to the zombies.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Feb 28, 2013 Samuel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: star-wars, horror

I have always been terrified of scary stuff ever since my childhood nightmares (I don't think they were nightmares anymore just an overactive imagination or a haunted house). I tried to keep away from the scary, bloody, suspenseful things either because they were too dark and scary for me or too dark and scary for my mom. And I practically followed what my mom said.

So when I heard such good stuff about this book, I was like "Well, let's find and see what we can about it." There were some fan-ma...more I have always been terrified of scary stuff ever since my childhood nightmares (I don't think they were nightmares anymore just an overactive imagination or a haunted house). I tried to keep away from the scary, bloody, suspenseful things either because they were too dark and scary for me or too dark and scary for my mom. And I practically followed what my mom said.

So when I heard such good stuff about this book, I was like "Well, let's find and see what we can about it." There were some fan-made videos that promoted it that I saw were really cool. You readers should check them out.

SPOILER: THIS IS SPOILER AND STAR WARS HEAVY. SCROLL DOWN TO THE END IF YOU WANT TO SKIP IT.

It starts with a prison ship that somehow doesn't have a good hyperdrive and it gets caught by a tractor beam from an Imperial Star Destroyer. At first everyone is all like, "Cool! At last! We can drop off these spineless, dangerous people or at least have some more protection for a while." And the captain's all like, "Uh, we haven't heard from the ship. Send some guys up. See if we can find out what's going on." Rule #1: When entering an unresponsive ship that you know can carry over a thousand crew and has enough firepower to blow up your ship, send trained professionals with a LOT of firepower to board.

The awesome thing in the beginning is that we don't really get a good look at the zombies until midway. Until the group splits up after all coming together. The zombies are actually not called zombies in this book. Apparently, that term "zombie" is not in the galactic dictionary. They are pretty much described like a zombie with their clothes in tatters, some of them with flesh peeling or ripped open. I know that there is this signature sound that they make and I can't quite remember how it went. (Anyone who remembers can comment below.) So this is the type of style in which movie makers who make zombie-movies should follow. But if all the movie-makers did this then it'll get cheesy and lose its touch. (Ugh, I'm going off track).

A big, but well known, surprise when this came was the introduction of our lovable original characters, Han Solo and Chewbacca. Guess what? They're on their way to prison. Now, we don't know if this is before Battle of Yavin or after Battle of Yavin, so either way we can't let these two become zombies anyway. So, apparantley, like in any zombie epidemic, you've got the guys who are left unscathed when the sickness entered the prison ship. And now they have to fight their way off an infested ISD.

Now, here is where we get to the start that this zombie state is actually a sickness. I've always seen zombies come out of graves and would eat people and then go back under the ground at light. Or some voodoo type ritual. This was the first time that I read of a sickness that could create a zombie state. And 3 years later I know that it is a possibility for some sort of disease to destroy the mind up to its basic functions. These zombies are fast (which I kinda don't like), they have a ton of numbers on their side (really like), they act dumb in some scenes (classic), and in some they become smart (wait, what? I thought you said that they were dumb?) Apparently, the fluid, the sickness, re-engineered by the Empire in this mad laboratory, can adapt given some time. It acts like a hive mind; once one zombie knows how to say, fire a blaster, then they all can.

Oh, and there's one more bit. Apparently, when the zombies all start flying out of the Star Destroyer they all just die because there is a limit on how far the fluid can retain control over all of it's little minions. Really? That's gonna be the big finish? No indication on what's gonna happen to the rest of the zombies stuck on the star destroyer? So, I guess that Joe Schreiber likes to let the readers decide on what's gonna happen. Let us make up a story that the star destroyer lands on a planet with culture similar to Medieval Japan and have samurai aliens fight against Imperial armor covered zombies. Actually, that would be kinda cool to see. Hmm.

In conclusion, I had a lot of fun with this book. It has the feel of a true horror which just a few licks of classic in it. It is not one for the faint of heart, so let me warn you, but it is very good one to read for all of those horror readers and star wars readers and horror/star wars readers. Seriously, if you've never seen star wars but you love horror this book is the best of both worlds. It was vice versa with me.

This book is one that I highly recommend to just about anyone especially a fellow star wars fan. (less)

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 04, 2012 Liz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: awesomesauce, braaaaains, fun-ride, decent-writing, must-read, shiny, horror, science-fiction

Turn off your brain and go with it!

I suspect this is one of those books which people will either love or hate. If you're a zombie fan, then you'll probably love this; if you hate zombies, you won't like this book. I'm not a die-hard reader of Star Wars books, but I'm a huge zombie fan so I had to give this a try.

There's nothing new here, I'll say that right now, but in this case the old works just fine. People trapped on a small ship, the crew dying around them, corpses disappearing, and then th...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 18, 2011 Jeremy Stephens rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-of-2011

This was like the movie "I Am Legend" if it were in space. The only thing I didnt like about this book was that it seemed like this book wasn't originally written as a star wars novel but then later various references and characters were added in so that it could be labeled as a Star Wars novel. The plot was lacking in detaials- especially character development and information on why the situation on the star destroyer occurred. a back story or two would have been nice. i was tempted to give th...more

4 likes · like · see review

Sep 28, 2012 Jeff Cothern rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When the Imperial prison barge Purge–temporary home to five hundred of the galaxy’s most ruthless killers, rebels, scoundrels, and thieves–breaks down in a distant, uninhabited part of space, its only hope appears to lie with a Star Destroyer found drifting, derelict, and seemingly abandoned. But when a boarding party from the Purge is sent to scavenge for parts, only half of them come back–bringing with them a horrific disease so lethal that within hours nearly all aboard the Purge die in ways

...more

like · see review

May 23, 2013 David rated it 3 of 5 stars

Death Troopers holds much promise at the outset. Zombies in Star Wars. Need I say more? And there are zombies. My main problem is it takes so long to see them. There are 234 pgs in the novel but the Zombies only appear on page 133. I don't know about you but I want to see zombies no more than 60 pgs in (1/4), not halfway.

I was also unsatisfied with the ending. Still and all it held my attention. It was also cool to see Han and Chewbacca. Both are well written and act the way you'd expect them to...more

like · see review

Jan 19, 2013 Jordan Steinhoff rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. So this was a pretty enjoyable book.

Star Wars and zombies. A great mix, you'd think, so why only 3 stars?

No half grades and this was going to be a 4 star book until the introduction of Han Solo and Chewie.

This was a great piece of EU fic with all new characters and a decidedly non-SWstandard premise. There were moments of tension when you wondered who would live and who would die. All the characters were either likeable or disliked, depending on their role and everybody had a role to play.

Standa...more

like · see review

Dec 18, 2012 Unai rated it 3 of 5 stars

En esta incursión del género zombie en el universo Star Wars, nos encontramos un par de años antes de los sucesos del Episodio IV: Una nueva esperanza. Podría haber ocurrido en cualquier otro momento, pero es que se da el caso de que tanto Han Solo como Chewie, se ven metidos en este tremendo lío que supone un estallido zombie en la flota imperial.

Un Wookie Zombie no es cosa de broma
Nuestros viejos amigos viajan “cómodamente” en las celdas de aislamiento de la nave prisión imperial “Purga”. A bo...more En esta incursión del género zombie en el universo Star Wars, nos encontramos un par de años antes de los sucesos del Episodio IV: Una nueva esperanza. Podría haber ocurrido en cualquier otro momento, pero es que se da el caso de que tanto Han Solo como Chewie, se ven metidos en este tremendo lío que supone un estallido zombie en la flota imperial.

Un Wookie Zombie no es cosa de broma
Nuestros viejos amigos viajan “cómodamente” en las celdas de aislamiento de la nave prisión imperial “Purga”. A bordo de dicha nave penitenciaria, un buen número de presos son conducidos a alguna colonia penal del imperio, cuando en su camino sufren una avería en los propulsores en una zona mas bien yerma del espacio. Muy convenientemente, localizan cerca un destructor imperial al que pedir ayuda, pero cuando se aproximan, los bioscaners muestran que no hay apenas rastro de las mas 10.000 almas que suelen poblar un destructor. Apenas hay una docena de signos de vida.

Desde la Purga y mientras vamos conociendo a algunos de los presos, a algún psicópata imperial y a la doctora Zahara Cody, se envían un par de grupos al destructor, pero solo uno vuelve y parece traer consigo alguna clase de enfermedad que no es detectada por los bioscanners. En pocas horas la enfermedad hace estragos y con una tasa de mortalidad del 99,7% solo unos pocos son inmunes a ella, siendo la doctora una de ellos. A partir de su inmunidad sintetiza un antivirus, pero no queda ya nadie a quien inocularlo excepto los presos que están en las celdas de aislamientos y que tan bien conocemos.

A partir de aquí, se dará una lucha por la supervivencia del grupo inmunes protagonistas muy agravada en cuanto los cadáveres desaparecen y empiezan a aparecer en modo zombie colmena, con comportamientos extraños y cierta capacidad de aprendizaje y no tan descerebrados como pudiéramos esperar. Al fin y al cabo, si hay via libre para que los zombies sean infectados en la tierra, como para no haberla en el espacio profundo y preterito de Star Wars.

Al principio me temía yo que quedara una historia demasiado buen rollista donde todo le saliera bien a todo el mundo, pero enseguida se me ha quitado esa inquietud y he podido “respirar tranquilo” en ese aspecto. No es que sea una historia terriblemente compleja ya que tampoco dan para mas sus 250 paginas, pero al menos no nos andamos con lios de jedis o siths que distraigan del hecho claro y rotundo de tener que buscarse la vida para sobrevivir a una horda de miles de zombies que pueblan ambas naves imperiales.

Para esos temas se acaba de publicar, por el mismo autor, Joe Schreiber, una precuela titulada “Red Harvest” , aunque muy anterior en el tiempo que tiene lugar en una academia Sith y a la que tengo ya ganas de echarle el guante en cuanto salga por estos lares. En cuanto a la historia de “Las Tropas de la Muerte”, tengo que decir que el personaje de la Doctora Zahara Cody me ha parecido muy goloso y puede que me lo agencie como background a rolear para hacerme una healer en el The Old Republic. Eso de niña rica de buena familia imperial con conciencia humanitaria que decide como destino, ser medico en una barcaza prisión y su torta de realidad me ha gustado bastante.

Los personajes de Han Solo y Chewbacca son comparsas de la historia y mas un reclamo que otra cosa, porque el resto de personajes son mucho mas interesantes, ya no solo la mencionada doctora, sino también el oficial imperial psicópata, el par de hermanos Coreallianos y la historia previa con el padre de estos e incluso el droide medico “Basura” son personajes mas interesantes y con mas matices que el par de contrabandistas por excelencia.

En resumidas cuentas, he disfrutado mucho con el libro, no deja de ser un entretenimiento puro y duro, pero que abre las puertas al genero de terror en Star Wars y que parece que ha tenido una buena acogida. Por de pronto yo estoy deseando pillar por banda el “Red Harvest”, lo compraré y es que no hay quien pueda resistirse a esa portada de Sith infectado. T-Virus + Midiclorianos + Fuerza + reverso tenebroso= flipada total que hay que leer si o si. Recomendable, aunque no barato, 18€ por 250 paginas. En el espacio, también pueden comerte el cerebro.(less)

like · see review

Nov 21, 2012 Aaron rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: skip-it

I had put off reading this book for a long time because I did not want to be disappointed. When I first heard about Death Troopers, I was a bit excited. The concept seemed to be pretty exciting: horror set in the Star Wars Universe. As much as I wanted to rush out and buy this book to read, I waited. My fear was that the book would fall far short of my expectations of the initial concept and leaving me feeling annoyed. I finally gave in and picked up this book from the local library. After devou...more I had put off reading this book for a long time because I did not want to be disappointed. When I first heard about Death Troopers, I was a bit excited. The concept seemed to be pretty exciting: horror set in the Star Wars Universe. As much as I wanted to rush out and buy this book to read, I waited. My fear was that the book would fall far short of my expectations of the initial concept and leaving me feeling annoyed. I finally gave in and picked up this book from the local library. After devouring within two days, I knew one thing was for certain.

I should have trusted my instincts and never read this book.
The one positive thing I will say up front is that the concept the book based on is sound; mysterious outbreak in space that leads to a slaughter of beings from a force no one understands. Everything else is a negative that in the book feeling nothing more than a seventh grade pulp fiction project.

Let’s begin by looking at character development or the lack there off. The author tosses out over half a dozen characters at your early in the book that you can play the “who will live” game. The problem is that no effort is given to developing any backstory or attempting to build a relationship between the reader and the characters. This results in zero impact when the characters stop dropping like flies. What effort is given to develop the characters is used to great broad clichés that make the read think of them not by name, but by stereotype (i.e. “Guard With Heart Of Gold”, “Whiny Kid Brother”, “Angry Violent Inmate”). To make matters worse, the author drops two iconic Star Wars characters into the story at the halfway point and it total disrupts the focus on the primary characters.

The plot and pacing are also issues with the book. While the author does toss you right into the mix of the action early, the middle of the book begins to drag as pages are created to fill in the gaps until it is time for the ending. There are also a lot of plot hooks that are left dangling like the idea of psychological screen for Imperials and its usage or the relationships of other inmates interacting with the main characters. It also left me with a lot of questions like why didn’t they check the logs of the derelict they boarded to see why it was a derelict or why the heck were their only two escape pods (holding 4 people total) on a ship with a staff of at least ten. It was things like this that kept taking me out of the book and disrupting the flow.

I also had a problem with the prose in this book. Some critics have stated that this book is full of wonderful descriptions and gory depictions that should not be read by young readers. I would have to say they were reading the wrong book. Descriptive narration is kept to a minimum and is basic at best when it is used. I also noted a few places where the author chose to “tell and not show” (pet peeve of mine). As for the gore, it was at most a PG-13 and a weak one at that. For those that would like to see a good example of good, check out Infected: A Novel by Scott Sigler where he describes a character performing self mutilation. I was squirming by the midpoint of that passage.

I wouldn’t recommend this book to any one. Life is too short to waste your time on reading poorly written or average books and this is one of them. I enjoy pulp fiction and quick reads as much as anyone, but this novel fell short of even that bar.
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Oct 19, 2012 Scott Rhee rated it 4 of 5 stars

George Lucas created a monster back in the late '70s when he introduced the world to "Star Wars". What started as a fun space-opera fantasy film consisting of a dramatis personae of roughly nine major characters has exploded into a multi-billion dollar franchise and a steadily-growing universe of new stories. Fans call it the Expanded Universe, and there are literally hundreds of new authors constantly adding to it with new novels either carrying on the storylines started by Lucas in his six fil...more George Lucas created a monster back in the late '70s when he introduced the world to "Star Wars". What started as a fun space-opera fantasy film consisting of a dramatis personae of roughly nine major characters has exploded into a multi-billion dollar franchise and a steadily-growing universe of new stories. Fans call it the Expanded Universe, and there are literally hundreds of new authors constantly adding to it with new novels either carrying on the storylines started by Lucas in his six films or creating entirely new storylines within the same fictional universe. To be fair, some of those novels haven't been that great, but as someone who has read several of them (not even close to all of them, however), I can honestly say that a majority of them have been very good to excellent. Many of these authors stretch the boundaries of the "Star Wars" universe, branching out into interesting cross-genre experiments. One "Star Wars" series extrapolates the challenges a war-time medical unit faces during the Clone Wars (essentially "ER" in space) while another one involves a former Jedi knight-turned-private eye on the dark streets of planet Coruscant. Author Joe Schreiber, in "Death Troopers", has struck upon the brilliant and ingenious concept of combining "Star Wars" with one of my favorite genres: zombies. This book is literary candy for a geek like me, and it should be required reading for anyone who loves "Star Wars" AND zombies. This book is not for everyone, though, notably anyone with a weak stomach. Schreiber's book is graphically violent and gory, a description one does not often hear with other "Star Wars" books. So, be forewarned. The book takes place on the Imperial prison barge Purge. When the prison ship experiences technical difficulties on the edges of explored space, it is either luck or misfortune that a Star Destroyer is discovered parked in space not far from them. The problem: the Star Destroyer appears to be completely deserted. Readings indicate that there is no life on board. When two boarding parties leave Purge to investigate, only one returns. Those that return appear to be violently ill and dying from some kind of viral infection. Before quarantine protocols can be initiated, the prison ship is quickly infected. Inmates, guards, stormtroopers are all dying from what appears to be a violent hemorragic fever. It spreads quickly and completely. Only a handful of survivors are left, due to natural immunity, including Dr. Zahara Cody, the ship's medical officer; the teenaged Longo Brothers; Jareth Sartoris, the ruthless Captain of the Imperial prison guards; and two others who were kept safe due to the fact that they were in solitary confinement during the outbreak. (I'm not going to reveal who these two are, because their appearance is a fun little surprise for "Star Wars" fans. I'll give you a hint: one of them is big and hairy...) Just when they think the worst is over, however, the corpses of the dead appear to be reanimating. They are not friendly, and they have an insatiable hunger for human flesh. I'm not going to lie: this book made me giddy as a schoolgirl. Who would have ever thought to combine "Star Wars" and zombies, And do it so well? Joe Schreiber, that's who. He's my new hero...(less)

like · see review

Sep 05, 2012 Ed Dexter rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: scifi, star-wars, zombies, horror

Despite all the hype about the first Star Wars/horror novel, it was just pretty ok for a Star Wars story. I will say, the author handles the horror parts very well and there's appropriate gruesomeness throughout the story. The story also moves along quick and it's one of those books where you want to read just one more chapter before you put it down. The chapter titles are also interesting. A great thing about the book is that it's self-contained and you don't need a Masters in the Expanded Univ...more

like · see review

Sep 04, 2012 Tom Flynn rated it 3 of 5 stars

Death Troopers is essentially Zombies+Star Wars. It goes off fairly well, but may grow tiresome to those who are not fans of the series. It should be read quickly, and with gusto.

We follow the remnants of the inmates of an Imperial prison ship and its crew, as they attempt to find a way to survive an enemy that has never been seen before. It's short, and there isn't much character development, but there isn't supposed to be. It's designed as a short, action-intensive easy read that's supposed to...more

like · see review

Jun 07, 2012 Vincent Ribaya rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

A light horror novel had sex with a Star Wars novel. It was a sincere, loving union; and from that love birthed the novel Death Troopers.

Author Joe Schreiber makes his Star Wars debut with this awesome zombie-plus-Star Wars novel that makes the Rakghoul Plague and the Geonosian Brain Worm look like Padawan training.

Reading Death Troopers was a complete joyride. To go through an epic plot with flesh-eating zombies roaming around the setting of a derelict Star Destroyer was something that just tug...more

like · see review

Apr 28, 2012 Sam Ang rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Star Wars

Shelves: sci-fi, horror, star-wars

Full review in the following link: http://bookunderthesun.blogspot.com/2...

Imagine zombies roaming around in the Star Wars galaxy, and this is the outcome. The plot itself is nothing new: a ship met some malfunction, stalled in the middle of nowhere, met a ghost ship, entered and bring back unspeakable horrors (you know what it is), everyone become zombies, a few protagonists died, a few finally survived and left, blah blah blah... Well, at least that is the gist of it. Sounds familiar? If it do...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 08, 2012 Ryan Lawler rated it 4 of 5 stars

Death Troopers is a horror based Star Wars novel written by Joe Schreiber and published Del Rey. While the idea of horror based Star Wars may not appeal to everyone, the thought of zombie storm troopers hunting down Rebel scum just seems to resonate with my inner geek. Putting the fanboy bias aside, this is a well thought out story that does a good job of bringing the undead into the Star Wars universe without coming off as cheesy or contrived.

The story is set just prior to the events from "A Ne...more Death Troopers is a horror based Star Wars novel written by Joe Schreiber and published Del Rey. While the idea of horror based Star Wars may not appeal to everyone, the thought of zombie storm troopers hunting down Rebel scum just seems to resonate with my inner geek. Putting the fanboy bias aside, this is a well thought out story that does a good job of bringing the undead into the Star Wars universe without coming off as cheesy or contrived.

The story is set just prior to the events from "A New Hope" and follows the crew of an Imperial prison barge who become stranded when the barge breaks down on route to a prison colony. As they drift through empty space, they come across a derelict Star Destroyer from which they hope to salvage enough parts to repair the barge. A boarding party is sent to retrieve the parts from the Star Destroyer but when they come back they bring with them a deadly virus that kills the living and reanimates the dead. For the half dozen survivors immune to the virus, they quickly become locked in a desperate fight for survival against hordes of undead looking for fresh meat to eat.

Death Troopers is not the type of story that is going to grip you with fear like some other horror stories, however, there is a nice balance between the action and suspense sequences that can really keep you on edge. The pacing and the dialogue feel quite natural and really help to build and maintain the suspense for most of the book. That said, the writing contains some pretty big flaws with Schreiber guilty of using a lot of language that I feel does not belong in the Star Wars universe (for instance "ditto"), and of using way to much Star Wars imagery which often adds very little to the story while simultaneously killing the suspense for me. Yeah, I get it, this is a Star Wars book, but you don't need to keep on reminding me of that fact every couple of pages.

The Star Wars universe offers rich source of material for any author willing to use it, and Schreiber has shown with Death Troopers that you do not need to be limited to the traditional Sci-Fi / Fantasy guidelines in order to make a Star Wars novel really work. While there are some big flaws, they are for the most part cosmetic and are overshadowed by some brilliant action scenes towards the end of the book. While this is a must read for all Star Wars fans, it can also be enjoyable for anyone who likes their horror set to moderate.(less)

like · see review

Mar 25, 2012 Erin rated it 2 of 5 stars

I'll be blunt. I'll read any book that involves Star Wars or Zombies. I'll also give them a lot of slack because I enjoy the subject matter to a childlike degree. So you would think a book that combines both would be something of an orgasmic experience for my eyes.

Nah.

It was....ok. The biggest problem I seem to have is "WHY"? What is the point of this book? It honestly seems to have been created simply to capitalize on the zombie craze, and has little to no other merit. There are several charact...more

like · see review

Mar 16, 2012 Donovan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, sci-fi

What can I say? Star Wars and Zombies was going to be fun...and it was!
Although slightly on the silly side and a little bit simple (probably due to the age demographic of the audience) it was a fun read. All the Star Wars elements were there and the plot left hings open for more...I WANT MORE!!!

Plot ***Spoilers***
The Imperial prison barge Purge, temporary home to five hundred of the galaxy's most ruthless killers, rebels, scoundrels and thieves, breaks down in a distant, uninhabited part of spac...more What can I say? Star Wars and Zombies was going to be fun...and it was!
Although slightly on the silly side and a little bit simple (probably due to the age demographic of the audience) it was a fun read. All the Star Wars elements were there and the plot left hings open for more...I WANT MORE!!!

Plot ***Spoilers***
The Imperial prison barge Purge, temporary home to five hundred of the galaxy's most ruthless killers, rebels, scoundrels and thieves, breaks down in a distant, uninhabited part of space. Its only hope appears to lie with a Star Destroyer drifting nearby, derelict and seemingly abandoned. When a boarding party from the Purge is sent to scavenge for parts, only half of them come back, bringing with them a contagion so lethal that within hours, almost all aboard the Purge are dead - the half-dozen survivors are two teenage brothers, Kale and Trig Longo, a ruthless captain of the guards, Jareth Sartoris, and the chief medical officer, Zahara Cody, all of whom seem to possess natural immunity.

The Purge's onboard computer informs Cody that there are also two survivors in isolation, and Cody leaves the medibay to release them and administer an antidote synthesized from her blood by the incumbent 21B medical droid "Waste". The isolated prisoners are Han Solo and Chewbacca who initially are sceptical of the situation, however allow her to immunize them, and make their way back to medical. Upon returning to medical they find it empty, and Waste destroyed. The dead have become undead and begin to hunt the survivors who are forced to abandon Purge and take shelter in the Star Destroyer, unaware that the Destroyer is not the better place to be.

All the survivors are separated: Sartoris faces the few living survivors who have become cannibalistic, and are hiding in an Imperial Assault shuttle previously captured by the Star Destroyers tractor beam. Solo & Chewbacca make their way to the bridge in an attempt to either fly the Destroyer, or at least turn off the tractor beam. Kale dies from an infected wound, returns to life as a zombie, and is subsequently killed again by Trig. Cody finds herself in the Destroyers medbay, and with the aid of the destroyers own 21B discovers the cause of the contagion: Codenamed Blackwing, it is an artificially created virus - intended to slow the onset of decay and rigor mortis, and increase the healing capacity of the human body prior to death. The Destroyer was taking it to an isolated outpost for testing. However, the contagion - characterised by a grey goo - leaked from its containers and infected the entire ship, converting its 8,000 crew into the undead. Cody observes from her vantage point that the remaining ships in the docking bay are being filled with the zombies - they are attempting to leave the Destroyer and spread their contagion throughout the galaxy.

After escaping from the shuttle, Sartoris meets up with Solo, Chewbacca & Trig, then sacrifices himself to allow them to escape, after revealing he has been bitten by an undead and is himself turning into a zombie. They return to the shuttle and successfully leave the destroyer, but discover a zombie has made it aboard the shuttle, and has killed the two remaining original survivors. The zombie is shot by Cody - who they had previously thought killed when the shuttle ready room she was hiding in was destroyed by the zombies - and she points out that the rest of the escaped ships are no longer controlled - as they watch two infested Tie fighters collide with each other and explode. Cody theorises that Blackwing is only effective when in range of the original contagion source on the Destroyer, and that now removed from the source the zombies have again "died".

The four survivors leave the Destroyer and now-derelict ships, and find a planet where they sell the shuttle to a pirate group. Solo and Chewbacca leave to re-buy their impounded ship, while Cody and Trig use their share of the sale to visit a distant planet - home to one of the dead prison guards, and deliver a note he was in the process of writing when Blackwing took him.(less)

like · see review

Dec 06, 2011 Christopher rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: star-wars

This was a very good and original story for the expanded Star Wars universe. Joe Schreiber writes a very convincing horror story set in a time just before Episode IV. And considering the amounts of blood that gets sprayed around in this book, I doubt a movie or TV version would get anything but an R rating. Though I am not personally afraid of zombies, this book did remind me of the necromorphs from the great video game, "Dead Space," and I must tip my hat to Schreiber for conjuring up those sup...more

like · see review

Sep 02, 2011 Tarl rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: star-wars, horror

I read Horror. I read StarWars. I like zombies.
What more could I ask for?
NOT THIS.
*ahem*
Let me lay it out. The plot could be anything, be it aliens, zombies, whatever. It doesn't feel very StarWars to begin with. Yes, Han is there, and no, that's not a spoiler. Sadly, that's actually a saving grace, as without him and Chewie, this book would have been even more dreadful and would have gotten a one star rating.

This book is full of things that happen as a coincidence, yet instead of happening onc...more I read Horror. I read StarWars. I like zombies.
What more could I ask for?
NOT THIS.
*ahem*
Let me lay it out. The plot could be anything, be it aliens, zombies, whatever. It doesn't feel very StarWars to begin with. Yes, Han is there, and no, that's not a spoiler. Sadly, that's actually a saving grace, as without him and Chewie, this book would have been even more dreadful and would have gotten a one star rating.

This book is full of things that happen as a coincidence, yet instead of happening once or twice, it happens all the time. Specially with zombies that are related to the person suddenly appearing out of the blue, JUST when it will make an impactful moment. Or something will happen that will help the people in the story just appears out of thin air. It quickly grows tiresome. I mean, yes, the father of the kids suddenly appears...but he was dead before the virus hit, and from the way the virus works, it doesn't reanimate dead tissue, but takes over a living organism and then kills it only to take over. So why is he walking around, plus, wouldn't his body have been destroyed by the authorities? This IS a prison barge of the Imperials...I doubt they would have that kind of caring.

But I digress.

The characters are flat, one dimentional characters. Sure they care for each other, cry a lot, sob a lot, have issues with seeing their loved ones or coworkers stumbling after them looking for flesh, but there's NO character building. Even the main character, one of the brothers, doesn't evolve as a character throughout the entire story. He never becomes something more than he is in a horrific situation.

Someone said this story leaves you like a lover after a whirlwind night in bed, wondering what happened and feeling a little dirty. Honestly, this story leaves you feeling like you contracted an STD. The only reason it got two stars is that it wasn't as badly written as it could be. That's saying something.

I WAS thankful there weren't any Jedi, another reason for the two stars. (and not one) Too often there's a temptation to use Jedi in ANY StarWars story, needed or not. This one at least was left to normal 'mortals' as it were.

My advise, leave this one on the shelf. Don't spend money on it. It's not worth it. It was a book written to capitalize on the zombie market, and feels like it was rushed from the number of tropes in it. If one more person sees their family member come at them, or there's the repenting bad guy (who was shown to have no redeaming qualities, even with his brief flashback), or the hoard of zombies crowded into the turbines (really, he could barely see the bottom, and suddenly he can make them out clear as day?).

Just...don't.
Get a good zombie collection, or something with an actual story to it. Not something that reads like the wall of a bathroom stall. (and not in an amusing way either) If it seems like I am being cruel and without positives to this story, I really, really wish I could. I honestly WANT to say something good about it, but it's that hard. I'm sorry Joe Schreiber, this book probably made you a lot of money, but I am sure you can write a lot better stuff. (and most likely have)(less)

1 like · like · see review

Aug 11, 2011 Elizabeth Usual rated it 2 of 5 stars

I see a lot of reviews for this book where the reviewer says either "I don't like Star Wars" or "I don't like horror". I love both, and am therefore the ultimate reviewer of this book.

There were some really good points to this book. The ship's doctor's experience working on an Imperial prison barge is about as politically deep as the Star Wars universe gets at its best, providing an introduction to critiques of the prison industrial complex. While it's not like reading an Angela Davis or bell h...more I see a lot of reviews for this book where the reviewer says either "I don't like Star Wars" or "I don't like horror". I love both, and am therefore the ultimate reviewer of this book.

There were some really good points to this book. The ship's doctor's experience working on an Imperial prison barge is about as politically deep as the Star Wars universe gets at its best, providing an introduction to critiques of the prison industrial complex. While it's not like reading an Angela Davis or bell hooks article, it's a genuine introduction to politics in a way that the galaxy far, far away hasn't seen since Michael Stackpole's X-Wing series. Beyond that, this book uses lots of 5 dollar words, which I -- a 26 year old female with an above average vocabulary -- didn't know. I became familiar with the words morass, gelid, ovipositor, and saw several others which haven't stuck with me. Therefore, if you're a parent of a middle school or high school kid who wants to read this book, I'd shrug and let them. It'll teach some vocabulary, and maybe provide the foundations for later critical review.

The bad news is, this book utterly failed for me as a horror story. The zombie sickness starts out as a fatal disease, and is far too effective, leaving very few characters to actually be in danger by the time the corpses come back to life, not too mention too much coincidence of who is naturally immune, whereas within the Star Wars universe having a more alien diverse cast of species who were different enough to not be affected would have been more believable (Did I really just write that?). Any writer of zombie or slasher fiction worth their royalties should know to let more characters survive the initial sickness, because the smaller the group of characters being pursued by zombies, the higher percentage will survive, and thus our fear is lowered at every instance. The number of times a zombie actually gets someone is far too low in this book, and once you as the reader figure that out you will not feel any significant jeopardy for the characters. It doesn't help that the book is only 250 pages long, and you don't really encounter any zombies until page 150.

TL;DR: Too much sickness, too little zombie.

Also, the book relies on some surprise "celebrity cameos" -- one of the few true surprises of the book, I highly recommend not reading more reviews if you want to maintain the surprise -- who the reader knows are not in jeopardy because we see them alive elsewhere in the series, and more damningly, fail to do anything truly bad ass, instead just hanging around for their star power.

It's a diverting read, and has educational points to enough of a degree that you can feel like you tricked your kid into reading something of value, but for sheer entertainment value, if you close your eyes and picture "Star Wars" and "Zombies" together, you can probably do better than this within the confines of your own imagination.(less)

like · see review

Jul 24, 2011 NJMetal rated it 3 of 5 stars

Death Troopers marks my return to the Star Wars genre after hiatus that has now spanned several years. A return I would not have made had I not recieved the book as a brithday present. To my delight, I find myself happy to have revisited that galaxy far, far away.
The most striking thing about the book is the cover. A bloody battered stormtrooper helmet bloodied, cracked and hanging by a hook thru one of the lenses from a chain. Immeditaly one can see this is not your typical Star Wars story. The...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 23, 2011 Luke Baldock rated it 3 of 5 stars

I don't usually travel into the world of the Star Wars extended universe. But let's face it, with that cover and the promise of Star Wars meets zombies, who can resist. I certainly couldn't and I'm glad I took the plunge. It was a fairly short read and I finished much faster than I expected, mostly because the back of the book contains a few chapters from other stories. Still, I didn't feel short changed at all. It is pretty much a zombie film in space. With a few references removed and specific...more

like · see review

Jun 27, 2011 Blake Northcott rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you love zombies, you’ll like this book.

If you love Star Wars, you’ll really like this book.

And if your two favourite things in the entire world happen to be zombies AND Star Wars, you’ll probably have an orgasm before you finish reading the first chapter.

I was originally drawn to this book by the cover, and by the fact that I needed an audio book to listen to on a long drive, and this filled my three criteria: it was unabridged, around 6 hours in length, and looked interesting.

The Story

Deat...more

like · see review

Jun 13, 2011 Brian rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. While being a fun twist to the Star Wars Universe (A sci-horror) it lacked the sticking power that the other novels have. The characters were all pre-molded and while i could put that aside, Schreiber decided to use two of the most iconic characters from all of Star Wars. Chewbacca and Han Solo were both in this book. It might seem like a big spoiler... but there really is no back story to it other than "they caught us and here we are". The book takes place before New Hope... and so there isn't...more

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 25, 2011 Curt rated it 2 of 5 stars

I am not a Star Wars fan. I enjoy the original trilogy films, but beyond that, I have no interest. So why would I read a Star Wars book and expect to enjoy it? A couple of reasons. First, I like to try different genre stuff. Maybe I'm missing something. Zombie Storm Troopers? That's kinda hard to resist. Also, I heard an interview with Joe Schreiber, and he seems like a good egg. So why not give it try?

Mr. Schreiber is a competent writer. There were no glaring mistakes or serious plot holes. The...more

like · see review

Jun 21, 2010 Amanda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Well, well, well. Zombies+Star Wars. Some may say it spells disaster, but it was pretty legit. This is definitely no epic tale of doom, but Joe Schreiber gets the job done.

Schreiber uses a simplistic zombie formula: the virus. As zombie lovers know, zombies are usually created by spells(people waking the undead who suddenly develop a thirst for brains or voodoo), or virus(contagious through bite etc.). The rage virus is kind of a cheater zombie, but Schreiber uses the classic. It's a virus that...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 19, 2010 Ryan rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a very easy read even for someone who is not entirely familiar with the Star Wars universe (it helps if you have the basic background given in the movies). Upon first reading the book's jacket the plot sounded similar to the episode "Bushwhacked" from the tv series 'Firefly', which is what initially caught my attention. The story moves quickly and makes the book hard to put down. The characters were interesting and well written. I would have definitely given it 5 stars except for the las...more

like · see review

Jan 28, 2010 Eric rated it 3 of 5 stars

I really wanted this book to be filled with win. Star Wars plus Zombies! How could that be bad? Well, it’s not bad. That’s not exactly the ringing endorsement anybody really wants though, is it?

First problem is that I’m genuinely not a fan of the horror genre. I like the occasional horror movie but I skip all the torture porn, green filter wannabe ghost scary, splatter fest 30 year old reboot give me your money for something you’ve seen before crap. IF it’s good I’m very into it, but the kind of...more I really wanted this book to be filled with win. Star Wars plus Zombies! How could that be bad? Well, it’s not bad. That’s not exactly the ringing endorsement anybody really wants though, is it?

First problem is that I’m genuinely not a fan of the horror genre. I like the occasional horror movie but I skip all the torture porn, green filter wannabe ghost scary, splatter fest 30 year old reboot give me your money for something you’ve seen before crap. IF it’s good I’m very into it, but the kind of things that scare me aren’t the same things that scare most folks. Death Trooper felt like a very standard eliminator to me – you know bunches of people are going to die, but who actually makes it out in the end? That would require a depth of caring about the characters that I just didn't get.

Second problem is that I *am* a fan of Star Wars. This is a two-fold struggle for any author. There’s the battle against nostalgia plus the weight of trying to ram a new story into an existing, rigid story line. This story pulls off the part about fitting into the time line really well (as if there were any choice in the matter), but I was really underwhelmed by the powerful opportunity to use known characters. I won’t spoil the details here, but it seemed flat compared to what it could have (or should have) been. Staying away from the known characters altogether would have been a better option here. There was no chance that the known characters would be eliminated and that takes away from the suspense in an elimination based story.

I don’t want to give the impression that I didn’t like the book. I did like it, I just desperately wanted it to be more than it was. It was a very fast read with good pace and interesting action scenes. I know this would make an excellent movie – one I would pay to go see in the theater. Let’s hope we get to see a movie version of this. I’d love to see zombies wandering around a star destroyer on the big screen with all the squishy bits in surround sound.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 07, 2009 Carla rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book takes a fun concept---zombies + Star Wars---and fails to deliver on its promise. The plot itself is a fairly standard horror/zombie story that could have taken place anywhere, and the Star Wars details are simply layered over the top. The structure of the plot is well done, but there are some serious problems with the book as a whole.

The inclusion of two characters famous from the movies [I won't mention their names, as to not spoil it:] was rather pointless, especially since Death Tro...more

2 likes · like · see review

topics	posts	views	last activity
Star Wars Zambis	7	8	Apr 22, 2013 03:12pm
Review on book	29	27	Feb 24, 2013 11:10pm

title link	preview: Star Wars: Death Troopers
avg rating	preview: Star Wars: Death Troopers Goodreads rating: 3.53 (2241 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6310782-star-wars?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320537605l/6310782.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6310782-star-wars?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Star Wars: Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber[/url]

Star Wars: Death Troopers (Star Wars)

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (10)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Books by Joe Schreiber

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Star Wars: Death ...

Quotes from Star Wars: Death Troopers