Moon Fate

Deathlands #16

by James Axler

HUNTED

Generations have passed since a nuclear blast all but turned America to dust. Out of the ruins emerges a band of warrior-survivalist, led by a one-eyed man called Ryan Cawdor. In the quest to find a better life, they embark on a perilous odyssey across the ravaged wasteland known as Deathlands.

An ambush by a roving group of mutant Stickies puts Ryan and Krysty Wroth in the clutches of a tyrant who plans a human sacrifice as a symbol of his power. The execution is set to take place at the new moon - one night away. Ryan devises an escape plan but is betrayed by another prisoner. As they break for freedom, the Stickie leader unleashes a team of hunter-trackers among the maze of narrow canyons of the Southwest. For Ryan and Krysty, there's nowhere left to run...

In the Deathlands, the only thing that gets easier is dying.

Genres: Post Apocalyptic, Adventure, Science Fiction, Fiction, Action, Audiobook, Dystopia

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1992

About the author

https://www.graphicaudio.net/our-prod...

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3.25 out of 5]

Moon Fate is the sixteenth novel in a very long series of post-apocalyptic men's adventure science fiction. They were all published as by James Axler (except for the first one), but numbers two through thirty-three were all written by Laurence James. The set-up is that there was a nuclear war in the near-future Y2K (the series launched in 1986), and the books are set a century or so after that. The core team members are Ryan Cawdor (a one-eyed man of action), J.B. Dix (Ryan's sidekick, who wears a hat and has massive knowledge of weapons), Krysty Wroth (a sexy red-haired mutant who becomes Ryan's partner), Doc Tanner (a 19th century gentleman who was trawled through time and so he's now muzzy headed), Dr. Mildred Wyeth, another cryogenic time-traveler and J.B.'s significant other, and Dean, Ryan's son who popped up in a recent book. Also, Jak Lauren is back after taking a couple of volumes off; he's an albino little tough guy who doesn't talk much. Ryan and J.B. used to work for The Trader, commander of a war-wagon, but take off on their own when they discover a matter-transmitter in a redoubt that leads them into decades of adventure. Now they flit from redoubt to redoubt via mat trans, having adventures and fighting until it's time for the next book. This one picks up where the previous book ended, Ryan having rescued Dean; when they get back their friends are gone, and so it's search mode again. There are mutant stickies and Ryan and Krysty are captured for human sacrifice by the full moon. Lots of chasing about with fighting, sex, and violence. Yet another old friend returns. The ending is sort of a cliffhanger: "Ryan opened his eye, realizing something had gone appallingly, hideously wrong." The colorful cover, another good one by Michael Herring, has the traditional boots with a weapon and a nifty weird little green lizard (who looks like the Geico gecko auditioning for a Chinese restaurant cosplay mascot contest and the ever-ubiquitous Deathlands daisies.

[Lionel Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story picks up exactly where the last one leaves off with Ryan coming back after having rescued his son. But as is always the case in the Deathlands, trouble is always just around the corner. In this case trouble comes in the form of a blonde haired mutant from Ryan's past. I thought that this enemy was an especially interesting one and would have liked to see him in some other stories. Alas the way this one ends that does not seem like it will be the case and that is my one complaint about the story. The one thing that makes the Deathlands books better than some of the other Golden Eagle titles is that it has continuity and one story leads to another. If you are going to use this format it makes sense to have reoccurring characters and adversaries much like a comic book and I think that in this cast the author missed a great chance to do this with a character that was really interesting and left a lot of possibilities for more character development. All in all, other than the disappointing end, this was a good Deathlands books and if you are a fan of the series you will like this one.

[Katy Lohman · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ally returned. Unexpectedly intelligent foes (well, at least one). A raging mass of killers out of nowhere, bringing more problems wherever they go. As always, beware of preachers.

When Ryan and Krysty return from finding Dean (and saving) in northern sulfur mines, they find a ruined homestead and many bodies. They must find their friends and learn what happened.

Very much one of those books I kept having to read, to find out what happened next.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ryan and Dean look for their friends, Black Plague victims show up, intelligent stickies kidnap Ryan and Krysty, horrifying torture, horrifying rape by a mutie, gun violence, close calls. Standard but good stuff in this episode. The ending was kind of abrupt and odd with missing time. Then it ends with "and then he realized something horribly wrong happened." The end.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Par for the course. Kind of a weak ending.

[Ralph McEwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you've been reading / listening to the series in order #15 starts here (Jak Laren's ranch) leads right back to here which is where this story starts. Then there a disaster, a chase, a reunion, an attack, a chase, the final battle and the moving on. Yet the devil is in the details and you will just have to find those out for yourself.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An average apocalyptic adventure story. This one takes a century after the last war and now there are mutants running around the earth. Recommended

[Lee Coen · Rating 5 out of 5]

just listened to this entire book on CD..the miles flew by...