Book Review: Deathlands 65: Hellbenders

Deathlands 65: Hellbenders by Andy Boot
Release Date: March 2004
Publisher: Worldwide Library / Gold Eagle
Audience: Mature
Pages: 352  [<- the redoubt code, coincidence?]
Buy the Book: Amazon
Book Rating: 2/5
Buy the Audiobook: Graphic Audio
Audiobook Rating: 3/5







Deathlands Hellbenders is the next in the ongoing series following Ryan Cawdor and his travelling companions as they venture across the nuke blasted landscape of 22nd century America. In this book Ryan and his group jump into a redoubt that is occupied by a group of vengeful survivors known as the Hellbenders. With each and every member of the Hellbenders physically or mentally tortued by the barons from two villes, yet still alive, they are hell-bent (hence their name) on destroying the towns. When a trade is planned between the two, it is the perfect time for revenge. Ryan and his friends, stuck in bed with the Hellbenders, must wage a war that is not their own.

If you want the short review, this book is boring, sloppy at times, and unimaginative. I would recommend skipping it as nothing of note happens in this book. The only interesting thing mentioned is that the CD they got from Silas back in TN they are still trying to access. This book glosses over logistical problems. For example, somehow the Hellbenders got into the redoubt but its not explained. If they guessed the code really quick, howcome all the redoubts are not run over by people? The book is very muddled; we see bits and pieces of Charity (one of the villes) but the barons aren't introduced until the final pages and are shortly killed off.

Honestly, this book was pretty bland and even the main story arc is not all that interesting. The shootout with 3 convoys of people along with military wags is somehow made boring. There is this whole subplot about Dean and old technology that really doesn't pan out also. I could go on, but I would be citing other reasons why this book is boring. Even the audiobook, though well done as usual, seems to be a lazy effort by the voice actors, changing their voices slightly to be different characters.

All in all, I recommend skipping this novel in the series unless you're a completionist. You aren't missing anything.

Book Review: Deathlands 64 - Bloodfire

Deathlands 64 - Bloodfire by Nick Pollotta
Release Date: December 2003
Publisher: Worldwide LIbrary/ Gold Eagle
Audience: Mature
Pages: 352
Buy the Book: Amazon
Book Rating: 5/5
GraphicAudio Length: 7 hours
Buy the Audiobook: GraphicAudio
Audiobook Rating: 5/5






This is one of the better Deathlands book in quite a while. After destroying Rockpoint Ryan and his band leave across the desert to the nearest Redoubt. Also, Ryan, receiving word that the Trader has started operations again, hopes to meet up with him again as well. However, unexpectedly, J.B. uncovers a city hidden and preserved since skydark. However, hitting the motherload proves a curse as the city full of the dead and sec-hunter droids soon becomes a charnel house as every mutant and faction within 100 miles heads to the city to feast upon the dead and living alike and loot the city of its treasures. Did I mention the city is on fire? And an acid rainstorm is on the way? Blue Kool-Aid? And more?

I think the main reason I enjoy this book a lot is because of the city. Much like the book with the arena in the sunken city in Las Vegas and the city in the Islands in the Pacific, the majority of the book takes place in a city that has survived since the nuclear holocaust and includes a large amount of urban warfare and it is cool to see the various ways Ryan and his crew both utilize the city's resources to survive, and the tactics they use fighting various enemies.

As far as the storyline goes in regards to the Trader, it is a bit of a letdown, I won't spoil anything, but while the story arc is good, it just doesn't have much to do with the plotline that goes through these two books. Other than the fact that they are at war with Baron Gaza, they really have no bearing on the plot. While Deathlands novels tend to be somewhat formulaic at times, I enjoy the novels that have actual bearing on the overall plot of the Deathlands series more. This and book 63 fall in the middle of those two ends, more than just another novel in the series, but not too much more.

In short, 64 is one of the better novels in the series, and you really don't need to read 63 to enjoy 64.

Book Review: Deathlands 63: Devil Riders

Devil Riders by Nick Pollotta
Release Date: September 2003
Publisher: Worldwide Library/Gold Eagle
Audience: Mature
Pages: 346
Buy the Book: Amazon
GraphicAudio Length: 7 hours
Buy the Audiobook: GraphicAudio
Book Rating: 3/5
Audiobook Rating: 3/5






Book Synopsis:
Legend Reborn: Stranded in the salty desert wastes of West Texas, Ryan and his companions find pre-Dark wheels and set out on a treacherous journey across inhospitable terrain. Hopes for a hot meal and clean bed in an isolated ville die fast when the companions run into a despotic baron manipulating the lifeblood of the desert: water. But it's his fortress stockpiled with enough armaments to wage war in the dunes that interests Ryan, especially when he learns the enemy may be not other than the greatest - and long dead - Deathlands legend: the Trader.

Review:
"A good old fashioned water monopoly" Doc Tanner's comment in regards to the ville they encounter sums up the second half of the novel as the companions, in the middle of a salt desert in Texas, enter a barony only to face a long bloody fight to escape as the baron is convinced they are agents of the thought long dead Trader. Ryan and his companions, faced with their own deaths, question the certainty of Trader's death so long ago...

Much like the previous book, 'Devil Riders' has little, if anything, to do with the Devil Riders, a biker gang. Their purpose in the book is to operate as a Trojan Horse for Trader's troops to infiltrate a ville of cannibals. However, the ruse is immediately uncovered and Trader's troops promptly blow the ville sky-high, making the Devil Riders for all intents and purposes, worthless.

My main problem with this book is that it serves as a 'setting up of the pieces' for the author, the only point showing that Ryan, Traders troops, the baron, and his men, are all going to meet up and have a big fight. Unlike the Gate trilogy, the first book in this entry doesn't really operate as a stand-alone novel. The plot of this novel is their clash with the baron and destroying his town, but, as I said, it feels more like a vehicle to move the necessary people into the necessary position rather than plot plot. Not to mention the plot is extremely rushed. No sooner do they get into town do they get attacked, then uncover the hidden water supply, blow it up, and escape into the desert.

However, despite this, the book kept me interested enough to see it through to the end, though, upon reflection, the book's plot, as it stands, really has no consequence other than possibly reintroducing the Trader. That, and the city, regardless of how little we see of it, is pretty interesting. I will hold my opinion on whether it is a read or skip until I finish the trilogy.


GraphicAudio Component:
Like the last audiobook, my complaints are similar. 1. They still have the new voice actor for Krysty which I don't care for. 2. The scream of the millipedes the companions fight for the first half of the book gets extremely annoying after the 20th time. Otherwise, a decent rendition of the book.

Book Review: Deathlands 62: Damnation Roadshow

Damnation Roadshow by Alan Philipson
Release Date: June 2003
Publisher: Gold Eagle
Audience: Mature
Pages: 352
Buy the Book: Amazon
GraphicAudio Length: 7 Hours
Buy the Audiobook: GraphicAudio
Book Rating: 2/5
Audiobook Rating: 2/5






Book Synopsis:
Monsters, Muties, and Freaks: Eerie remnants of pre-Dark times linger a century after the nuclear blowout. But a traveling road show gives new meaning to the word chilling. Ryan and his warrior group have witnessed this carny's handiwork in the ruins and victims of unsuspecting villes. Even facing tremendous odds does nothing to deter the companions from challenging this wandering death merchant and an army of circus freaks. And no one is aware that a steel-eyed monster from the past is preparing a private act that would give Ryan star billing . . .  

Review:
This book is probably one of the weakest entries in the series in recent memory. Damnation Roadshow suffers from a divided interest with the multiple storylines that occur in the book. Essentially you have the first storyline in which Ryan and his companions face off against the mysterious and mythical Magus and (now that Wolfram is dead) his traveling carnival. The second storyline involves a small town which is ruled by a religious leader of sorts which maintains control over his subjects with the help of a local biological oddity. It seems as if the author had two ideas, but neither idea was substantive enough to fill a whole book and so both storylines were cobbled together and, as such, neither story arc feels fleshed out or given adequate attention. [Full Review Below]

The GraphicAudio Component:
Personally, I did not like this particular GraphicAudio book that much. The voice actor for Krysty was changed to the voice actor who did the voice of the leader of The Gate Amazons and that voice actor does nothing to alter her voice, so it sounds like Ryan and the The Gate leader are traveling together now. Also, throughout the story arc with the carnival they use the stereotypical carnival music in the background that, after awhile, gets annoying. That and the whining of Crecca's sticky started to grate on me after awhile. The GA rendition of the second storyline was good, however, lightning and other sound effects for the bioweapon added to the ambiance. 

Book Review: Deathlands 61: Skydark Spawn

Skydark Spawn by Edo Van Belkom
Release Date: March 2003
Publisher: Gold Eagle
Audience: Mature
Pages: 352
Buy the Book: Amazon
Graphic Audio Length: 7 Hours
Buy the Audiobook: GraphicAudio
Book Rating: 3/5
Audiobook Rating: 5/5 






Book Synopsis:
Foul Impetus: In the relatively untouched area of what was once Niagara Falls, Ryan and his fellow wayfarers find the pastoral farmland under the despotic control of a twisted baron and his slave-breeding farm. Ryan, Mildred and Krysty are captured by the baron's sec men and pawned into the cruel frenzy of their leader's grotesque desires. JB, Jak and Doc enlist the aid of outlanders to organize a counter strike - but rescue may come too late for them all.


Review:
Overall, this story is a relatively bland entry in the series and seems to rely too heavily upon the novelty of a society fashioned after the lifestyle of Hugh Hefner (men and women having multiple partners, having sex daily, etc, etc...) and, as a result, does not take advantage of the more interesting aspects of novel. For example, excluding the two times the companions travel to the Alaskan redoubt, this is the groups first foray into Canada. I have always enjoyed the novels in the Dealthands series that take them out of the country; at this point in the series the history and general terrain of America is pretty much known and it is interesting to see how the rest of the world has fared since the nuclear war between America and Russia.

Another problem I have with this book (well, I suppose a number of the books) is the title. Going into the book, one would assume the central concern of companions would be with this 'Skydark Spawn' given that it the title of the book. However, the skydark spawn is rarely utilized by the author and operates more as a interested onlooker throughout the book.

Despite my problems with the book, the two story arcs in the book are fairly humorous. The three companions trapped inside Fox Farms come up with interesting ways of navigating the farm life and surviving the sadomasochistic whims of the baron and his men (including one of the most painful moments I've come across in the series involving Krysty and a knife) while the companions rescuing Ryan, Krysty, and Mildred come to a unique solution to break into the farm.

For me, the most interesting piece of information given in this book is the history behind the skydark spawn. Apparently the government wasn't the only group funding top secret R&D...

The GraphicAudio Component:
 Skydark Spawn was a decent entry in GraphicAudio's audiobook renditions of the Deathlands Series. Particularly in the third act of the book which includes an extended firefight for the control of Fox Farms is fun to listen to as it includes several large caliber machine guns, something which isn't in many of the books and its nice to hear something besides the companions usual arsenal. The voice acting for all the characters beyond the companions is done quite well, especially Baron Fox. While the book doesn't add much to the Deathlands series, its a good listen via GA.