From the Bookshelf of The Expanded Universe…

Star Wars: Death Troopers

Joe Schreiber

Start date: October 1, 2013

Finish date: October 31, 2013

Discussion: Holocronies Reading Room

Why we're reading this: Just in time for Halloween, one of the EU's very own zombie books! Just be sure to guard your brain close…more
[close] Just in time for Halloween, one of the EU's very own zombie books! Just be sure to guard your brain closely.

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What Members Thought

Oct 19, 2012 Scott Rhee rated it really liked it

Shelves: zombies, horror, old-canon-legends, star-wars, space-horror, science-fiction

I wrote this review in 2012. For some reason, "Star Wars" fans and zombie film fans don't often mix, so this book is very definitely for a niche audience. If you've kind of gotten tired of the sentimentality and seriousness of "The Walking Dead" (I know it's the zombie apocalypse but could someone please just tell a fucking joke or crack a smile once in a while?), this book harkens back to a time when even zombie movies had a bit of fun. Throw in the sappy silliness of a space opera, and you've I wrote this review in 2012. For some reason, "Star Wars" fans and zombie film fans don't often mix, so this book is very definitely for a niche audience. If you've kind of gotten tired of the sentimentality and seriousness of "The Walking Dead" (I know it's the zombie apocalypse but could someone please just tell a fucking joke or crack a smile once in a while?), this book harkens back to a time when even zombie movies had a bit of fun. Throw in the sappy silliness of a space opera, and you've got a winner...

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... ...more

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Jul 24, 2011 Jenny McD. rated it liked it

Shelves: star-wars

I was expecting not too much since I had read Red Harvest before this. I did enjoy it a lot more than I expected too. It probably deserves a 4 star but I'm just not huge on the entire zombie genre. If you read this book expecting Jedi's you will be disappointed but luckily some awesome smugglers show up. ...more

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Sep 02, 2012 Saul Perez rated it it was amazing

Shelves: syfy, starwars

This was a nice horrific twist on the classic Expanded Universe storytelling. The "zombie apocalyptic" environment that we're so used to now-a-days helped this story move so much faster. With the intensity around every corridor, and the suspense that an intelligent group of the 'living-dead' were nearby. It made you want to run with Trig, Han, and Chewie.

I half-expected there wouldn't be any recognizable characters in this story to allow for a lot of creativity in where it lead to. But with the ...more

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Mar 27, 2011 William rated it liked it

Shelves: paperback, star-wars

I liked the premise of putting Zombies and Star Wars together, but I never felt close to the characters that Schreiber introduced to the Star Wars universe and felt that their background stories could have been better fleshed out. The surprise appearance of Han Solo and Chewbacca was welcome, but they rarely got any real limelight and mainly played the role of minor characters. Some of the action scenes were particulary gory, and the horror fan in me loved it, but the very linear storyline was p ...more

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Mar 25, 2011 Amber rated it it was amazing

I won a copy of this book from the blog Fiction State of Mind.

I'm a huge Star Wars fan, and zombies are cool too, so I was expecting to love this book. I kinda did. I'm glad it didn't star the main cast of the movies, though I was pleasantly surprised by Han and Chewie's appearance.

Death Troopers was a lot gorier than I've come to expect from Star Wars novels, but it's fitting, being a zombie horror novel and all.

The book is quite a quick read and easy to get into. I really enjoyed it! ...more

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Feb 09, 2011 Stephen Van Ness rated it really liked it

This book is violent, gory, and frightening. I enjoyed it a lot. It would easily earn a five or four star rating... if it weren't for the author making the dumb decision to include star wars characters that we all know and love. Come on! If there is a character from a movie that takes place years in the future, we know the entire cast won't die! Overall an enjoyable read for anyone who is sick of the normal level of Star Wars violence. ...more

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