Lit Red Harvest or Deathtroopers. Which should I read first?

I would read DT before RH.

 

Contrary to what everybody and their brother seems to think, including Lucas, a prequel is not a start point! Death Troopers should be deemed the first book.

 

Read Death Troopers, feel free to skip the other one.

 

It didn't make sense to me. If they'd seen zombies before, you'd have thought it would come up somewhere. It felt like a forced way to get known people in the book.

 

Don't read, the audiobooks are much better.

 

Yeah, I've often said the audiobooks' campy b-movie sound effects probably added loads to my enjoyment of DT and RH.

 

For me that's covered by Han's quip in Mos Eisley cantina, he's seen "a lot of strange things".

 

Neither. Waste of time - both of them.

 

That and his line in the Falcon. Can't quote it exactly, but something about how he's flown from one end of the galaxy to the other, and seen lots of strange things, but nothing to make him believe in the Force. Seeing something like what he saw in Death Troopers isn't going to make Han want to pick up any hokey religions.

Besides, I don't think Star Wars actually has a word for "zombie".

 

I preferred the book version when it's

"too many to believe there couldn't be something like this Force. Too many to believe there could be some such controlling my actions."

 

I say read Death Troopers first. Red Harvest wasn't so good.

 

I like Taken, so I am not sure what to think about Red Harvest intentionally borrowing many elements from Taken.

 

Read Death Troopers first. I still found Red Harvest enjoyable, and it was a fun page-turner, but I have to agree that DT was the better of the two books. I can't fault Schreiber for the Taken fiasco as tie-in writers have nasty deadlines and he was most likely running out of time. He has a steady and demanding job as it is, writing isn't the only thing that he does. You know, it could also be an homage or an Easter egg, rather than view it with malicious intent as everyone seems wont to do.

 

Stop being biased TrakNar, and look at the Taken thing [correctly?]/differently. No one is claiming it with malicious intent. We all know it is what it is - "an easter egg" or "homage". And don't use the "he has a demanding schedule so he had to plagiarize" as a legitimate excuse. It is what it is - an easter egg. And a piss-poor one at that, an obvious, in your face, as subtle as your Mother in Law telling you your no good for her daughter, "homage". It was bad, unneeded, and detracted from the novel. End of story.

 

Schreiber haters gonna hate.

 

If you're going to soldier on, I would say read them in release order. Death Troopers takes place in a more familiar time period, doesn't get bogged down much by explanation, just lets the insanity happen, and I think has the better atmosphere of the two books. It's a better introduction to the style.

Red Harvest is a lot weirder, with unexpectedly sentient characters, more magic and dark side involvement, a setting only familiar to those who are aware of TOR, and is tangentially related to DT. I actually liked both of them, but that is the order I would say to dive in.

 

People pointing out the truth are going to point out the truth. Facts are gonna be facts.

 

How are you able to see the screen? I'm just wondering, is all. I would figure that something would be blocking your way.

 

With dripping sarcasm? I know liking things ironically is mainstream now, and not just the domain of Animal Collective fans anymore, but I wouldn't call being so bad that it leaves a permanent mark in your brain being a "redeeming quality".

 

Care to elaborate?

 

I really have to read RH one day and see if I notice anything. I think I really liked in-joke/quotes like that in my teens and happen to groan at them now - I can't believe both Allston and Traviss got away with "Han shot first" jokes, and then there was this "The Empire always strikes back" thing in NJO which, according to the poll we had one time, is one of the favourite scenes ever on these boards. All horrible, in my personal opinion. Also big up in that list was "None shall pass", which to me (as a huge fan of Stover and Traitor) is almost as groanworthy as anything medieval/fantasy-style in B5. Thing is, I tend to filter the last one out since it's just a hint at general pop culture, not a SW in-joke that's a comment on something that comes down as personal preference.

So where was I? I haven't seen Taken and probably won't, and even if I did I'm not sure whether I would memorize any lines. So I'm wondering whether I would notice the "debacle" at all.

 

While we're criticising authors for including intertextual references in their works, let's not forget about:



Oh right, nobody cared.

 

Your oh so unique way of interacting with people. Your vision seems a bit clouded by something of which I cannot put my finger on, but it seems to drive your actions and your responses quite clearly. Are you this nice to everyone you encounter, or am I just special enough to deserve your attitude?

 

I can at least say that I am trying to be nice.

Back to the topic...

Red Harvest. While it's not as good as Death Troopers, it was still an enjoyable read. Schreiber's medical knowledge really shines through once again. I think he would be an ideal fit for another MedStar series, due to his medical background.

 

YOU WILL RESPECT THE SKY HOUSE.

Anyway, Death Troopers is okay. It's effective horror, not diminished by Han and Chewie's presence, that creates a solid atmosphere of dread and runs with it. It's nothing special, but it's entertainment. Red Harvest, on the other hand, doesn't execute the atmosphere as effectively, it feels more generic, the characters are poorly developed and lack a sympathetic anchor, and a lot of the story decisions just don't land. It's a pass.