Star Wars: Red Harvest Book Review

Star Wars: Red Harvest, was written by New York Times Bestselling Author, Joe Schreiber. This novel is the fifth event on the Legends novel timeline. This tale takes place during the Old Republic Era. It takes place 3,645 years before A New Hope.

SUMMARY

A Dark Lord of the Sith intends to live forever. He’s on a personal quest to make it happen, by experimenting on unwilling Sith students, at his very own Sith Academy. This Sith needs a special ingredient for his sinister concoction, a Murakami orchid, s a force sensitive flower.

The Sith, Darth Scabrous, has hired bounty hunters to search for the precious flower. When the prize is brought to him, it comes with baggage… a Jedi that’s bound to it. Without the Jedi, the flower would die.

Chaos ensues. Darth Scabrous manages to bring the dead back to life. In the process, an infectious disease is born and spreads quickly throughout the academy. In the horror, the bounty hunter and the Jedi, fight for survival as they desperately search for a way off the planet, Odacer-Faustian.

CHARACTERS

There are a few interesting characters but the only two I’ll mention are Darth Scabrous and Hestizo Trace.

First up is Darth Scabrous: He’s in charge of the Sith Academy on Odacer-Faustin. He dwells in his high tower, shrouded in mystery. Scabrous is disturbing, he lusts after an immortal life. His madness drives him to commit heinous acts and experiments on his own Sith students.

Hestizo Trace: She’s a Jedi in the Agricultural Corps. She has a life/force bond to the rare Murakami black orchid. She is pretty confused but has valid reasons for that. She isn’t the greatest Jedi when it comes to battle. Her primary focus is on her flora understanding. She is focused and has a strong telepathic power.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

I honestly don’t really know how I feel about this book. It was entertaining but geez, it gets into some weird places. Yes, Star Wars is a fantasy, a sci-fi fantasy. Red Harvest feels less sci-fi and more like a horror fantasy with a few elements of Star Wars. Druid-like Jedi and zombies… talking trees and force flowers.

Joe Schreiber is an excellent writer when it comes to character development and descriptions. The way he describes events are unique and so very gory. It’s so good how he does it. I’d say the way he writes gore, is nastier to read than it would be to see.

I liked most of the Characters, though the bounty hunter, Tulkh seemed to have changed his personality throughout the story. The others were consistent. I like how the main Jedi character has some deep thoughts and internal soul searching going on.

So, do I recommend you read Star Wars: Red Harvest? Sure. It’s not spectacular, but it isn’t horrible. Pick this up around Halloween.

RATING

I will give this book a C. It was fun, weird, and creepy, but only “great” half the time.