Publisher: LucasBooks

Author: Joe Schrieber

Release Date: 2/28/2012

Pages: 320

MSRP: $7.99 (Paperback, Digital), $19.99 (Hardcover)

Recommended Audience: Young Adult

On the low-slung area of the galaxy is a frozen planet called Odin-Fauster where a Sith Academy lies. Here also lies Darth Scabrous who is trying to make himself immortal, but in the process raises the dead. Joe Schrieber takes a second swing at a Star Wars novel but falls flat on this one. The book is full of characters you never really care about, and a weird Force power that involves growing plants. This also takes place thousands of years after A New Hope, so don’t expect any well-known Star Wars characters here.

You follow the tale of Hestizo Trace (a really stupid name) who winds up on this planet and is trying to stop Scabrous and also escape. The book bounces around the children of the Sith Academy, but you never really care for them because they play bit roles, and only appear in a few chapters. In fact, I never really cared for any of the characters because Joe doesn’t take much time to build their personalities and make you care for them. The book is a short 250 pages (with 50 pages of excerpts from other books), so the ending gets rushed with a small amount of filler.

I like Joe’s different take on zombies where they can’t get killed at all. Even when they are torn to pieces they still squirm and move about. The fact that Trace is a Jedi, and is a weakling, is really bothersome because she seems to always forget she can use the Force. Her brother is the only other Jedi in the story, but even he has some weakness issues. The best part about the book is that you realize just how sick and twisted the dark side of the Force, and the Sith can be. The kids at the academy turn on each other and only help out if it benefits them. Other than this the story is pretty mediocre at best.

I just didn’t really get a good Star Wars feeling out of Red Harvest like I did Death Troopers. The zombies didn’t seem like zombies, but something that has evolved because they are unstoppable. This is a nice twist, but if you put characters you never care about, weak Jedis, and jarring pacing then you have a Star Wars novel that leaves you wanting more.