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The Skydark Chronicles #3
SHADOW FORTRESS
FORGED FROM THE RUINS
A planet ravaged by the apocalyptic blast of 2001 gave birth to a new world of savagery--and a new breed of hero. In a land where violence rules with absolute authority, Ryan Cawdor and his wayfarer survivalists roam the strange, nascent twenty-second century, living by their own creed of honor as they continue their search for a sanctuary they can call home.
ETERNAL QUEST
In what was once the nuclear testing ground of the predark world, the Marshall Islands are now the kingdom of the grotesque Lord Baron Kinnison. Here in this world of slavery and brutality the companions have fought a fierce war for survival, on land and sea--yet the crafty baron still conspires to destroy these interlopers. Activating a twentieth-century hot air balloon left untouched by the blast, they escape to the neighboring pirate-ruled Forbidden Island, with the baron's sec men in hot pursuit--and become trapped in a war for total supremacy of this water world. Not even Deathlands can deny the human will to survive.
A planet ravaged by the apocalyptic blast of 2001 gave birth to a new world of savagery--and a new breed of hero. In a land where violence rules with absolute authority, Ryan Cawdor and his wayfarer survivalists roam the strange, nascent twenty-second century, living by their own creed of honor as they continue their search for a sanctuary they can call home.
ETERNAL QUEST
In what was once the nuclear testing ground of the predark world, the Marshall Islands are now the kingdom of the grotesque Lord Baron Kinnison. Here in this world of slavery and brutality the companions have fought a fierce war for survival, on land and sea--yet the crafty baron still conspires to destroy these interlopers. Activating a twentieth-century hot air balloon left untouched by the blast, they escape to the neighboring pirate-ruled Forbidden Island, with the baron's sec men in hot pursuit--and become trapped in a war for total supremacy of this water world. Not even Deathlands can deny the human will to survive.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 27, 2018
First off, a spider is an arachnid, not an insect. I have no idea why the writer didn't realize that, nor why the editors let that huge mistake through, but they did. (Especially when the crabs were correctly identified in the previous book)
Closing off the Skydark Chronicles, this book feels very much like the author had just run out of steam. Even though this book crawls with action, most of it seems unimportant as the companions fight to reach a gateway and get off the island. Characters who were important in the previous three books either get chilled through deus ex machina, or in the case of the Baron, through what basically amounts to a footnote at the end of the novel.
I did enjoy references to elements from previous Deathlands novels, such as the mention of The People, which made me want to reread that book as it is one of my more favorite in the series. I also liked how the droids were handled as well as combated by the companions. It gave a certain level of realism to the story and made the companion's race to the complex a lot more desperate. The sheer number of times they had to leave equipment behind was extremely nice, and made things feel a little more desperate.
Unfortunately, as mentioned, this story felt rushed. Elements, such as the Pilots, really don't get fleshed out fully, instead just getting a quick mention and that's it. Hell, the companions hadn't even known about the Pilots being in the Firebirds as at no point did they ever see them, and then conveniently one of them mentions they saw it inside a broken apart rocket. (talk about shoehorning it in) It disrupted the flow of the story and made me wonder why they spent so much time building these things up in the previous books if only to pretty much forget about them in this story.
In the end, this was a harder novel to read for a series where I can pretty much get through a book in a couple days, if not less. Trilogies in the Deathlands series can be done well, but the writer has to pace themselves and sometimes it seems as if they are too used to writing one off stories rather than ones that span a longer amount of time. But really, at this point, if you are reading the Deathlands series, you are going to keep going. (like myself) Just don't start reading the series at this point or it may just turn you off the series.
Closing off the Skydark Chronicles, this book feels very much like the author had just run out of steam. Even though this book crawls with action, most of it seems unimportant as the companions fight to reach a gateway and get off the island. Characters who were important in the previous three books either get chilled through deus ex machina, or in the case of the Baron, through what basically amounts to a footnote at the end of the novel.
I did enjoy references to elements from previous Deathlands novels, such as the mention of The People, which made me want to reread that book as it is one of my more favorite in the series. I also liked how the droids were handled as well as combated by the companions. It gave a certain level of realism to the story and made the companion's race to the complex a lot more desperate. The sheer number of times they had to leave equipment behind was extremely nice, and made things feel a little more desperate.
Unfortunately, as mentioned, this story felt rushed. Elements, such as the Pilots, really don't get fleshed out fully, instead just getting a quick mention and that's it. Hell, the companions hadn't even known about the Pilots being in the Firebirds as at no point did they ever see them, and then conveniently one of them mentions they saw it inside a broken apart rocket. (talk about shoehorning it in) It disrupted the flow of the story and made me wonder why they spent so much time building these things up in the previous books if only to pretty much forget about them in this story.
In the end, this was a harder novel to read for a series where I can pretty much get through a book in a couple days, if not less. Trilogies in the Deathlands series can be done well, but the writer has to pace themselves and sometimes it seems as if they are too used to writing one off stories rather than ones that span a longer amount of time. But really, at this point, if you are reading the Deathlands series, you are going to keep going. (like myself) Just don't start reading the series at this point or it may just turn you off the series.
June 14, 2019
Decent dark read. Fun stuff. =)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews