Happy Halloween - Star Wars Edition

After months away from blogging of any sort, I felt that it was about time to get myself caught up on things. Lets see... I've stepped down from my salaried position at work, got a new car, went back to school, and had a complete meltdown of my finances. So my recent distraction from this little project can at least be partially justified. Anyway, seeing that Halloween is upon us, I broke down and bought myself a copy of the unabridged audio book of Deathtroopers by Joe Schreiber.

I'm not going to dwell on the nuances of the audio presentation, but I will say that for the most part the few music and sound effect cues were appropriate in helping set the mood; although most of the foley work involved adding the nigh constant addition of engine rumble beneath the naration ( I would add that the effect given to the Skin Hill chapter was suitably gruesome ).

I have to admit that the concept of a Star wars horror novel intrigued me from the first moment I heard of it. The mix didn't seem too (pardon the pun) alien, as there were plenty of "scary moments" in the original trilogy: Luke's skeletonized aunt and uncle, the trash compactor monster, the wampa on hoth, the rancor etc. The idea of zombie stormtroopers seemed a bit far fetched, but I was willing to roll with it. My biggest question was how they were going to pull it off.

As it turned out, what we are given is a fairly standard resident-evil style romp in space. The walking dead are provided via an imperial bio-weapon project gone horribly awry. For newcomers to the expanded universe this is a good thing, as the concept of force ghosts, sith talismans and bizzare alien species might have required far more exposition.

The drawback to this approach is that at times it feels not quite star-warsey enough. Thankfully, we are treated to the inclusion of a pair of original trilogy characters to help the story feel grounded in universe, and I must say that the characterizations are for the most part spot-on.

The book's nigh astronomical body-count is provided from the mostly nameless guards and prisoners of the imperial prison barge Purge, as well as an unnamed and equally undead imperial star destroyer. From the moment that the virus takes hold, our meager handfull of protagonists and anti-heroes feel hopelessly outnumbered and out matched, as these are "fast zombies" who can learn....

In all I found the book to be entertaining, if at points nauseating, as Schriber has a true talent for describing the most gruesome medical anomalies with fearsome detail. The emergency surgery scene with Dr. Zahara Cody and Kale Longo is truly squirm inducing. The action scenes are taught and concise, allowing for easy comprehension of the orientation and movements of all players.

I would be amiss if I didn't mention that while there are indeed zombie stormtroopers in the book, the title is a bit of a misnomer, as these are not a true army of the damned, more of a seething, churning mob of undead with a few troops sprinkled in for flavor.

As for the grand experiment of mixing horror with Star Wars, I would say it was a success. A few out of universe references ( a certain Lynrd Skynrd refrence comes to mind) aside, the package we've received is compelling and cast with characters that while not completely fleshed-out, are easy to root for. I'm aware that Mr. Schriber is working on another Star Wars horror novel (not a sequel) and I can honestly say I'm looking forward to seeing his next effort.