Death Troopers

With the recent success of the Disney show ‘The Mandalorian’, which blends the ‘Star Wars’ universe with themes and visuals more common in spaghetti westerns or samurai films, there been a bit of a resurgence in discussions of the genre-bending nature of George Lucas’s most famous creation. The original films borrow happily, affectionately and, most importantly, successfully, from a range of cultural sources: WW2 dogfight flicks, Arthurian legend, Buck Rogers and Greek mythology. One genre that ‘Star Wars’ has never really done, on screen at least, is horror. In his 2009 novel ‘Death Troopers’ Joe Schreiber attempts to right that wrong.
Despite the fact that it tries something new, ‘Death Troopers’ isn’t going to show more win any awards for originality. It’s basically a viral zombie outbreak story set in the ‘Star Wars’ universe, but it’s none the worse for that. It’s an enjoyably tense and fairly gruesome tale that will entertain both ‘Star Wars’ and horror fans. On that point, it’s worth noting (if this kind of thing matters to you) that this is part of what Disney calls ‘Legends’. According my son (who that kind of thing does matter to), that means it’s not canon.
The book is set on an Imperial prison barge that gets infected with a suitably horrifying virus. It’s told primarily from the perspectives of a teenage prisoner, an Imperial guard and one of the prison doctors. There are also appearances from some characters fans will recognise and enjoy.
I’m a huge fan of genre mash ups that are done well, and ‘Death Troopers’ is fun even if it doesn’t completely nail things. It’s fast-paced, gory, and entertaining in a derivative sort of a way. It captures the ‘Star Wars’ vibe very well, but what it lacked for me was a real connection with the characters. I liked the story, but I never felt particularly invested in the outcome. show less

I went on a quest at the library to find Star Wars novels that I could read. I have been wanting to dive more into the extended universe. However, it is rather difficult to find some that stand on their own without extended knowledge of the extended universe and events occurring in it. I picked up this novel only because it said Star Wars and because it took place between movies 3 and 4, which leaves for a large gap. Also, upon reading the synopsis, it appears that this novel stands on its own. Which I can easily testify to after reading it.

Star Wars Death Troopers is essentially zombies in space on Star Wars spacecraft with two of the most beloved and recognizable characters from the movies. The only other Star Wars related thing is show more the fact that there are Stormtroopers, droids and of course an Empire plot which is never too fully revealed but is discussed enough to make sense and reveal the sheer evil deviousness behind it. There is a mention of Darth Vader and the Emperor, but no appearances. This book requires no prior knowledge of Star Wars in order to be enjoyed.

I read this book in one evening, I was too into it to even consider putting it down. At some times I was forced to, but those intervals did not last very long, and I must admit, neither did the book. It went by incredibly quick. This book turns out to be rather short which is understandable when you consider that only so much can happen in a story confined to 2 settings and full of an army of undead.

While thoroughly enjoyable, this book is not for those who are squeamish and balk at sentences filled with blood and dismemberment among other things. There's your fair warning. Read at your own risk.

I had gotten so into this book that when I finished and went to lay down for bed I couldnt recall if I was really at home or still stuck up in that abandoned Star Destroyer full of zombies. Took me a little while to get my wits together and remind myself that it was after all, just a book.

Death Troopers is a novel full of thrilling, chilling terror and action. Very good if you're into horror or zombies. Its a plus if you like Star Wars. Also very nice for a short break considering its lack of lengthiness. show less

The Imperial prison barge Purge breaks down and its only hope is to scavenge a nearby ghost ship Star Destroyer. However, the boarding crew brings back something truly terrible. I won't go into too many spoilers, but this book was a quick and gruesome Star Wars zombie story. It's very fast paced and has a couple of familiar faces. However, the book has faults. I had a hard time imagining the characters as they weren't fleshed out and the pacing was a little too frantic. Details were seriously lacking. (The Star Destroyer was never even given a name!) I enjoyed the concept but the execution could have been better. Horror is one of my favorite genres and I had high expectations for my first Stars Wars horror book. Sadly, they were mostly show more unfulfilled. If this is was not a Star Wars book, it probably would have been just two stars but I'll give it three for concept and speed. show less

God help me, but I liked this book. I didn't want to and didn't really think I would, but well, I did...and most likely because I didn't expect much from it in the first place.

When I first heard of a Star Wars book about zombies, I could only predict disastrous results. Zombies are fine and good, but I couldn't imagine their presence in my beloved Star Wars universe; it just didn't feel right. But I can't deny I was curious. I saw that Death Troopers was also a fairly short read, so I picked it up.

A whaddya know, a few chapters in and I actually started having fun. I mean, wookiee zombies? And there was that delightful surprise when a couple of old friends showed up...

Sure, there were lots of plot holes and things that didn't make any show more sense, but that was fine because this book was also everything its cover promised -- blood, gore, dismembered body parts, flesh eating Stormtroopers and Imperial zombies, children being put through the most horrible and terrifying situations, etc. I mean, you don't pick up a book like this and expect anything more. It delivered where it was supposed to, and that's what matters to me.

That said, it's probably pretty obvious, but this is not your family-friendly general-audience type of Star Wars book. A little kid would probably have nightmares after reading this.

Anyway, now I'm thinking about picking up Red Harvest, Schreiber's other zombie/Star Wars mash-up book that was released a few months ago...and trying not to feel dirty for it. These books belong in my closet of guilty pleasures for sure. show less

I can't say I'm into horror really, but I am in favor of a tie-in line that branches out and tries something new and different, so I was excited when Death Troopers was announced.  Zombies in Star Wars aren't new-- the Vector miniseries included something very similar-- but the explicit horror focus is.  I mean, look at that amazing cover!

Unfortunately, this is a case of the idea being better than the execution.  The cover is amazing... but it's pretty much the most amazing part of the book.  It starts off so sloooooow, though once the zombies show up, it never stops moving, and it Schreiber's good enough that it carried me through in only a couple sittings.  The characters are flat and pretty cliché (though I liked the medical show more droid).  Despite being "horror" there's only one scene I thought was scary... though it was very chilling.  There's also a surprise appearance that I think could have made me groan quite easily, but worked very well in execution.  So not great, and maybe not even good, but worth the brief amount of time it took to read, and praiseworthy in concept if nothing else. show less

The zombie craze comes to the Star Wars universe.

This book was interesting, if nothing else. The horror aspect, as well as the descriptions of gore and carnage, certainly takes Star Wars to a place it's never been before. It gave it a grittier feel, which I rather liked. I feel like the characters were a little flat, but hey, that's probably not what you're picking this book up for, am I right?

I thought the book was suitably creepy. Reanimated corpses are good for that much, at least, and the fact that the main characters knew some of the corpses in question really played on that. Add in the setting of a mostly deserted Star Destroyer, huge and yet claustrophobic at the same time, covered in bloodstains and full of nooks and crannies show more for zombies to hide, and Schreiber really has something working.

The only thing I really didn't like was the inclusion of two very well known characters from the Star Wars universe as main characters. In general, I'm sure the novels that contain the core characters are better received than those that don't; in this case, however, I felt like it really took something away from the story. You know these two are going to survive, and that drained most of the tension from any scenes they were in. I have to believe that horror is most effective when you don't know if the characters are going to have their brains gobbled out or not.

The rest of the crew was up for grabs, though, and I'm glad that not all of them made it through. Each time one of them met an end, it raised the stakes for everyone else, really kicked it up a notch. Overall, this was pretty cool. I'll have to pick up something else by Mr. Schreiber to see how well he handles mainstream horror (if there is such a thing). show less

First off I completely understand why the FANBOYS hated this book when it came out in 2009. By that time the zombie trope was very thinned out. However, Simon Pegg has said that the zombie genre is a setting not a plot line.
There is nothing special in Death Troopers. It is Star Wars zombies. If you want to read that then pick it up. Schreiber has an ability in this book for amazing descriptions of horror. I listened to the audiobook version and the addition of foley slaps and moist movement sounds made all the difference.
This is not high art but in October of 2020 this was precisely what I needed that I didn't know I needed. Like all good Star Wars novels this will now send me into the author's back catalogue.

Four stars because you show more could do a lot worse. IE The Walking Dead. show less