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Deathlands #9
Red Equinox
Three generations after nuclear blasts all but vaporized the Earth, a group of warrior survivalists led by a charismatic man named Ryan Cawdor roam the hostile environment called Deathlands.
Their quest becomes a grim struggle for survival as they search for a better life beyond the nuke-ravaged cities. And it is one such harrowing journey that brings them to the heart of Moscow.
Beneath a mantle of chemical clouds an strontium snow, the former jewel in Russia's crown is teeming with a bizarre mix of mutated beings and old enemies all intent on killing Ryan and his band of post-holocaust survivors.
A new dark age has dawned with the hope of a promised land. But in the Deathlands, hope is not enough.
299 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 1989
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 27, 2025
Condition: Good. Spine cracking but no other serious wear.
The post-Homeward Bound entries in the Deathlands series have shown the books in something of an experimental period, playing around dramatically in scope and style, with mixed results in terms of individual successes. Red Equinox continues this tendency with its callback to #2 in the series, Red Holocaust, sending the team via mat-trans teleporter to Mother Russia herself, inevitably bringing them into conflict with those reds left standing at the end of the prior novel. The result, somewhat surprisingly, is a strong entry to the series; while the monster-of-the-week conceit of the Deathlands series is one of the only things that keeps the otherwise utterly unwieldy number of entries sustainable, it goes to show that some level of dreaded continuity can actually result in pretty strong moments. Red Equinox is entirely readable as a standalone volume, but experiencing Red Holocaust prior absolutely adds to the experience; the sheer harshness of the earlier book (one of its strongest qualities) is largely repeated here. The ticking time bomb of newcomer Rick’s ALS threatening to kill him before he can repair the mat-trans gateway to provide an exit for the team is surprisingly effective and believably tense- it’s fairly certain that Rick won’t survive the end of the book (thank God,) but his success in repairing the facility is not. Coming right off the heels of another major character death in the previous book, the stakes are high, and the nearly nonstop action creates a density not quite achieved in most of the other books.
I think the Deathlands series is at its best when operating in unfamiliar territory- the Russians here and in Red Holocaust, the native tribe of Pony Soldiers, or even in small moments like the Lovecraftian raft attack in Homeward Bound. While the competence of Cawdor and company is always a pleasure, they’re most interesting when outmanned, outgunned, and on the back foot for reasons outside of their control. Red Equinox is a real fight for survival from first to last page, defined by its lack of available resources and quickly closing emergency exit. It has its missteps, like they all do- Rick still fucking sucks (I think he might have originally been planned to be a more permanent addition to the party before James realized just how much he would ruin the dynamic) and the strange streak of patriotism throughout just seems clunky and at odds with the tone of the series. Released shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall, it’s still high on a steady supply of Cold War anxiety (which the series is fundamentally founded on, really,) but it rings rather hollow in a series so otherwise focused on the senselessness of nuclear war and pitch-black cynicism toward established humanist values. None of this is enough to diminish the overall impression of the book, however- it’s as violent, bleak, and dynamic as you’ve come to expect from the series, and stands as a very solid entry after a few which I didn’t find particularly compelling.
One last note: the several dream sequences in this novel are some of the strongest prose work I’ve seen in the series: legitimately alien, distressing, and evocative. I hope this tendency is expanded upon in the future.
https://hideousrecollection.substack.com
The post-Homeward Bound entries in the Deathlands series have shown the books in something of an experimental period, playing around dramatically in scope and style, with mixed results in terms of individual successes. Red Equinox continues this tendency with its callback to #2 in the series, Red Holocaust, sending the team via mat-trans teleporter to Mother Russia herself, inevitably bringing them into conflict with those reds left standing at the end of the prior novel. The result, somewhat surprisingly, is a strong entry to the series; while the monster-of-the-week conceit of the Deathlands series is one of the only things that keeps the otherwise utterly unwieldy number of entries sustainable, it goes to show that some level of dreaded continuity can actually result in pretty strong moments. Red Equinox is entirely readable as a standalone volume, but experiencing Red Holocaust prior absolutely adds to the experience; the sheer harshness of the earlier book (one of its strongest qualities) is largely repeated here. The ticking time bomb of newcomer Rick’s ALS threatening to kill him before he can repair the mat-trans gateway to provide an exit for the team is surprisingly effective and believably tense- it’s fairly certain that Rick won’t survive the end of the book (thank God,) but his success in repairing the facility is not. Coming right off the heels of another major character death in the previous book, the stakes are high, and the nearly nonstop action creates a density not quite achieved in most of the other books.
I think the Deathlands series is at its best when operating in unfamiliar territory- the Russians here and in Red Holocaust, the native tribe of Pony Soldiers, or even in small moments like the Lovecraftian raft attack in Homeward Bound. While the competence of Cawdor and company is always a pleasure, they’re most interesting when outmanned, outgunned, and on the back foot for reasons outside of their control. Red Equinox is a real fight for survival from first to last page, defined by its lack of available resources and quickly closing emergency exit. It has its missteps, like they all do- Rick still fucking sucks (I think he might have originally been planned to be a more permanent addition to the party before James realized just how much he would ruin the dynamic) and the strange streak of patriotism throughout just seems clunky and at odds with the tone of the series. Released shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall, it’s still high on a steady supply of Cold War anxiety (which the series is fundamentally founded on, really,) but it rings rather hollow in a series so otherwise focused on the senselessness of nuclear war and pitch-black cynicism toward established humanist values. None of this is enough to diminish the overall impression of the book, however- it’s as violent, bleak, and dynamic as you’ve come to expect from the series, and stands as a very solid entry after a few which I didn’t find particularly compelling.
One last note: the several dream sequences in this novel are some of the strongest prose work I’ve seen in the series: legitimately alien, distressing, and evocative. I hope this tendency is expanded upon in the future.
https://hideousrecollection.substack.com
May 24, 2019
Not quite as formulaic as some previous entries. Not as much sex or graphic violence, either. The main bad guy wasn't some kind of crazy cult leader. So it was nice to step out of the norm (in a different country even) a little bit. Trade a puppy for the sad but inevitable demise of Rick, the freezie, from his Lou Gehrig's disease.
June 20, 2017
I enjoyed this the way that only a Russophilic person who likes dystopic fiction could.
August 24, 2023
This one ends on a cliff hanger, which I find interesting as they're generally written by house writers, so the next book wasn't necessarily written by the same person.
August 25, 2014
This was one of my favorites so far in the series. Richard was a nice addition for a part time. I'm not sure where they are going to go with the dog (Zorro) but it might be a nice addition. The final scene with the singing of the National Anthem, wrapped in a flag with the evil of Russia bearing down on them was pretty great. Good Cliffhanger at the end. I'm already on to the next.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 8, 2011
Audio book. I definitely recommend reading earlier episodes of this series to get the most out of this book. I converted tape into (90) MP3 files. This book is registered on bookcrossing.com and is being sent to a sister is Arizona.
November 15, 2013
A downturn in the series. Hopefully things will pick up in the next book.
What is the point of a cliffhanger ending followed by previews of later books in the series that seem to signify that the cliffhanger was meaningless?
What is the point of a cliffhanger ending followed by previews of later books in the series that seem to signify that the cliffhanger was meaningless?
January 26, 2016
An average apocalyptic adventure story. This one takes a century after the last war and now there are mutants running around the earth. Recommended
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews