·· Novels
About S.D. Perry
S.D. Perry is the sole novelist for the Resident Evil series. She novelizes the games, but is also responsible for two original books: Underworld and Caliban Cover. The original books chronicle journeys of both canon and original character. Her “original” characters, John and David, were former members of a S.T.A.R.S. branch in Maine and are now working with Leon, Claire and Rebecca in bringing down Umbrella. Yeah, admittedly, S.D. Perry's work can feel very much like a fanfic, but what do you except from a novel based on a game? Her work isn't Nobel Prize worthy, but it's entertaining and surprising creative.
Unfortunately, Perry is notorious of “favoring” certain characters, most notably, Rebecca, who she has admitted is her favorite. I will praise Perry, however, for giving Sherry a backbone. In one scene, Claire attempts to sugarcoat how she has to murder the monsters, and Sherry responds, “You mean kill everything. I’m twelve, you know. I’m not a baby.” Interestingly enough, Perry contradicts herself by describing Claire as never “talking down” to Sherry, which she clearly does (both in the games, and here in the novel).
City of the Dead
Miss Birkin first appears in chapter eleven, where it is fully explained how Sherry got to the police station, how long she was there, and whom she had seen and run into. In the novel, Sherry had been in the station for almost four days and was often hiding in the ventilation shafts. The girl was living off of candy from vending machines and constructed a camp with blankets and chairs.
Claire, having traveled throughout the police station, eventually makes her way to Sherry’s hideout. At first Sherry is confused and scared, but Claire is able to calm the girl down. Sherry gives a short explanation to Claire about the monster chasing her, a monster that, to Sherry, “is much worse than the zombies.” Sherry runs off soon after, similar to the game.
After Claire finished searching the station’s basements, the two meet up in Chief Irons’ office. The girl informs Claire about the city’s mysterious murders and then explains why she is hiding in the police station. Apparently, she was called by Annette and told not to leave the house. Mrs. Willis, a neighbor, cooked dinner for Sherry that night. Later, Annette called again and told her daughter that both William and her were stuck at the facility. A day later, Sherry was told to go to the police station. Sherry explored Mrs. Willis’ house, but the woman was nowhere to be found.
After Sherry’s story, Claire informs the girl of the need to get out of the police station. Together, they find a switch in the office. Sherry presses the switch, and a secret door in the wall is revealed, as well as an an elevator that travels down to the labs and sewers. Claire convinces Sherry to stay behind while she makes sure the coast is clear. Claire and Irons have a confrontation, just like the game, but it is ended when the mutated Birkin attacks the chief.
After Claire returns to Sherry, she leads the girl back down to the sewer/lab area, where they get a glimpse of Mr. X. They are able to dodge the monster, but in the rush, Sherry ends up falling into one of the suction tanks, becoming separated from the Redfield. Because of the separation, Claire is forced to continue her journey without the blonde. Eventually, Claire meets up with Annette, who tells her about the G-Virus, William, and all the in-betweens. The two agree it is better to continue on their own paths, but are set on finding Sherry as well.
Claire locates Sherry in the area where the girl landed from the suction tank. They are more than relieved to see each other, but continue their search for an escape. Claire makes it a point to ask Sherry about the G-Virus by inquiring is she has any kind of container she may have been asked to hold. Sherry tells Claire neither her mom or dad ever had her hold onto something similar to a vial or container. Shortly after, Claire asks Sherry about the locket she wears around her neck. She makes a small joke about how it might be a picture of Sherry’s boyfriend, and Sherry quickly states that she doesn’t have a boyfriend and that boys her age are immature. Simply, Sherry gives the explanation of Annette giving her the locket.
The two continue to explore the sewer and lab area. After a long, drawn-out search, they are able to locate the train that will take them out of the city. Claire contacts Leon about the discovery and they make plans to meet up. The three are able to board the train, leaving the nightmare of Raccoon City. When the train makes its stop out of the city, the three are forced to explore the outskirts of the city. Soon, they encounter a car. Inside are John, David and Rebecca. Claire tells the people “an Umbrella accident” happened. Having experienced the company’s nightmares, John, David and Rebecca nod in response and take their new companions to refugee.
Underworld
Underworld is S.D. Perry’s second original novel. Sherry does not appear in the book, but she is surprisingly mentioned. Perry’s scenario of where Sherry went is quite different and peaceful, unlike the game's canon. Claire and Leon seem to have shielded Sherry of any emotional trauma, not letting her know that her parents caused the outbreak. Now, Sherry is living with her aunt, Kate Boyd (Annette’s sister), in California. Kate is a criminal lawyer and described as “nothing like her sister.”
CODE: Veronica
Sherry does not appear in this novel either; however, Claire tells Steve about the incidents in Raccoon City, and it is mentioned that she even explains the situation of Sherry, as well. There is no update to how Sherry is doing in California, but it is alluded to that she is safe and sound.
Differences from the Game
S.D. Perry relies solely on the games when novelizing them and very rarely has any outside source to follow. Because of this, she has been forced to come up with her own scenarios, thus causing many contradictions to the game series. Sherry was only revealed to be in Wesker's care after CODE: Veronica X was released alongside the Wesker's Report DVD. Therefore, there was no way for Perry to know about Sherry's situation.
Perry also chose to write City of the Dead in the Claire B/Leon A scenario, which has been revealed in the Archives book to be the “non-canon” version of the game. Because of this, Sherry is never infected with William’s embryo in the novels, which may end up causing complications for Perry's future novels, if being infected is vital to Sherry's character development.
The ending of City of the Dead is, of course, completely different, due to the RE3 epilogues not having been released at the time the novel was written. Instead, Perry's chooses to go by her own scenario. She has Leon, Sherry and Claire meet up with Rebecca and two original characters: David and John.
Because Sherry is with her aunt, Kate, unlike in the games, where she is with Wesker, Perry will have to do massive explaining on how Sherry ended up in Wesker's care. Nevertheless, Perry is bound to create a reasonable solution, as she has managed to correct her mistakes in past novels. That is, of course, if she chooses to continue writing for Resident Evil. Her last novel was published in 2004.
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