There have been all kinds of books based on video games over the years, but some of the best around are the Resident Evil books by S.D. Perry. Consisting of seven books in total, S.D. Perry’s Resident Evil novelizations include five book that adapt the stories of specific games, as well as two completely original stories.
With it being the Resident Evil franchise’s 30th anniversary, I have done a massive deep-dive, marathoning all the games, watching all the movies, and of course, reading all the books. I read through the Resident Evil books multiple times in high school, but it’s been years since I last read them.
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I had a blast reading through the Resident Evil books again, especially since I was playing through the games at the same time. S.D. Perry does a fantastic job of translating the video games to the novels, adding more depth to the characters and perfectly describing the layout of each game. Perry’s books also include some interesting expanded lore and original characters, some of which appear in her original novels, though other times they are featured in the novelizations of the games as well.
List of All S.D. Perry Resident Evil Books
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy (novelization of Resident Evil)
Resident Evil: Caliban Cove (original novel)
Resident Evil: City of the Dead (novelization of Resident Evil 2)
Resident Evil: Underworld (original novel)
Resident Evil: Nemesis (novelization of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis)
Resident Evil – Code: Veronica (novelization of Code: Veronica)
Resident Evil: Zero Hour (novelization of Resident Evil Zero)
BUY YOUR COPIES OF THE RESIDENT EVIL BOOKS RIGHT HERE!
This article will have MAJOR SPOILERS for the Resident Evil books and video games, so proceed with caution.
The Resident Evil Books Have Great Original Characters
One of the most important original characters in S.D. Perry’s Resident Evil novels is Trent, a mysterious Umbrella executive who helps various characters fight back against the company by offering clues on how to solve puzzles in the Spencer Mansion and providing insider info on secret labs. Trent’s motivations are eventually explained at the end of the original novel Resident Evil: Underworld – his parents were killed by Umbrella, and he wants revenge, simple as that.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Easy (5)
Medium (7)
Hard (10)
Start
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Easy (5)Medium (7)Hard (10)Start
Based on my Amazon purchases, the last time I read through the series was in 2019 when I bought the collection. I couldn’t find them anywhere for the life of me, and so I purchased them again. About halfway through my reading marathon, I found the old books. SIGH.
Trent, complete with his signature trench coat, was always an interesting addition to the RE lore, and it would have been great to see his story to completion. Sadly, the Resident Evil books end with the novelization of Resident Evil Zero, and we never get to read about Trent and co. finally taking down Umbrella once and for all.
David and John
David and John are two other original characters created for S.D. Perry’s Resident Evil novels. In the novels, S.T.A.R.S. is a worldwide organization that has been compromised by Umbrella. David is a British S.T.A.R.S. agent who takes up the fight against Umbrella, organizing a raid at an Umbrella lab in Maine, which is what the second novel, Caliban Cove, is all about. John is another ex-S.T.A.R.S. who David trusts. They are initially joined by two other characters named Steve and Karen, but they don’t make it out of Caliban Cove alive.
In the books, David and John are just as important to the fight against Umbrella as characters like Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine. In fact, David is basically the leader of the resistance in the books. They are mentioned in the novelizations of the games in passing, but are prominently featured in both the Caliban Cove novel and the other original RE novel, Underworld.
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Underworld’s Monsters Steal the Show
Out of all the S.D. Perry Resident Evil novels, the one that is perhaps the most fun to read is Underworld. In Underworld, the team of David, John, Leon S. Kennedy, Claire Redfield, and Rebecca Chambers travel to a secret Umbrella facility in the Utah desert called The Planet. The Planet is a testing ground for Umbrella’s BOWs, featuring distinct biomes that the characters have to fight their way through if they hope to survive.
The Resident Evil: Retribution movie features a plot that’s eerily similar to Underworld, but not executed nearly as well.
Not only did Perry create original characters for the novels, but she also invented some original Resident Evil monsters. There are pterodactyl-like monsters that the characters have to fight, as well as mutated goats that spit acid. Infected scorpions were also featured in Underworld, though one would eventually appear in the Resident Evil video games via Resident Evil Zero.
The coolest monster in Underworld is the book’s take on a Tyrant. Called “Fossil,” Underworld’s Tyrant monster is described as a huge humanoid beast with a dinosaur-like head. Perry’s description makes it sound downright terrifying, and it would have been awesome to see it appear in the video games.
Caliban Cove, to its credit, also has some original creatures. It features the Trisquads, which are effectively zombies that have been programmed to use guns. Similar enemies would eventually pop up in the awful Resident Evil: Survivor first-person shooter game, though that’s likely a coincidence. Caliban Cove also features huge aquatic monsters and its own mad scientist villain.
Continuity Errors Are the Only Downside to the Resident Evil Books
When S.D. Perry started writing the Resident Evil books, much of the franchise’s lore had yet to be established. Perry had to fill in some blanks and expand the universe on her own, and that inevitably created continuity errors. For example, it’s heavily implied in the beginning of the City of the Dead novelization that Jill Valentine left Raccoon City with Chris and the others, but we know that’s not accurate because of the events of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.
Resident Evil Zero is where things get really messy for the continuity of the Resident Evil books. The books firmly establish that Rebecca Chambers’ first encounter with Umbrella monsters happened at the mansion, but Zero Hour completely contradicts this. It also creates timeline issues with the villainous Albert Wesker and exactly how much time passed between the Bravo Team helicopter going down in the woods and when Alpha Team was deployed.
The Resident Evil books establish White Umbrella as the part of the company involved in the illegal biological weapons research. There’s also an Easter egg that reveals White Umbrella was partially funded by a “Mikami” and “Kamiya,” a nod to Resident Evil 1 director Shinji Mikami and Resident Evil 2 director Hideki Kamiya.
The Resident Evil video games themselves have their own continuity errors, with Zero the culprit there as well. The later Resident Evil books contain a disclaimer about continuity and timeline errors, which is the best that could have been done given the circumstances. The books are still wildly entertaining to read, even if things don’t match up perfectly.
Will There Ever Be More S.D. Perry Resident Evil Books?
The continuity errors are an unfortunate reality of adapting an ongoing video game series like Resident Evil, but it’s still a shame that the books didn’t continue. The Umbrella Chronicles would have been a great way to wrap up Trent’s story and the conflict with Umbrella, and it would have been awesome to see how Perry would have handled the more action-oriented games like Resident Evil 4 and 5. Resident Evil 6 with its four campaigns could have potentially been made much more coherent by a novelization that lined everything up chronologically.
There have also been novelizations of the live-action Resident Evil movies.
S.D. Perry did an interview with Exposition Break back in 2024 where she discussed her time working on the Resident Evil books. During the interview, Perry revealed that she was approached about doing a novelization of RE4, but Capcom had decided to pull away from publishing. “The deal ended up not going through,” Perry explained. Later in the interview, Perry did say that she would be interested in returning to the Resident Evil books, so maybe one day we can get novelizations of the rest of the series or maybe more original novels. They would be day one buys for me, for sure.
