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Deathlands #19
Deep Empire
Once an idyllic chain of inlets running from Key Largo to Key West, the Florida Keys have become an isolated universe of grotesquely mutated wildlife and bizarre submarine malformations. Blind seventy-foot sea snakes lurk among the reefs around underwater volcanoes, while typhoons and pirates turn the crystal waters above into a death zone. But Ryan Cawdor and his band of warrior-survivalists find a slice of heaven in this ocean hell at a marine research center ereated to further the amazing promise of the dolphins. Here, a brilliant scientist offers the perfect vacation of sun, fishing and fun. Until Ryan discovers this post-holocaust aquatic paradise is a hoax and gentle dolphins are being mutated into killers. Welcome to the Deathlands, and the future nobody planned for.
420 pages, Audio CD
First published December 1, 1993
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134 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 1, 2011
Okay, I understand this is part of a series and I don’t know all the back story (it’s not hard to figure out), but it was still disappointing. It has a great start. Really. It’s almost appealing the way these people have to live—on the run in a lawless world, no ties anywhere and going wherever fate takes them.
But the second half suffocates from unclear motivation and deux ex machina. What exactly were the scientists doing that was wrong? So they’re training dolphins to defend their island, so what? It struck me that you have to do what you must to survive in this savage new world, so weren’t the scientists doing just that? What’s the problem?
It doesn’t matter, for an earthquake solves the entire dilemma. A promising start, but nothing becomes of it.
But the second half suffocates from unclear motivation and deux ex machina. What exactly were the scientists doing that was wrong? So they’re training dolphins to defend their island, so what? It struck me that you have to do what you must to survive in this savage new world, so weren’t the scientists doing just that? What’s the problem?
It doesn’t matter, for an earthquake solves the entire dilemma. A promising start, but nothing becomes of it.
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May 31, 2020In this story, the group finds themselves in what appears to be a beautiful settlement focused on the study of dolphins and other sea life, but as in all Deathlands stories, everything is not what it seems. When I first started reading this story I thought it was going to be a repeat of the Crater Lake story from a few episodes earlier with evil scientists working on some world-ending experiment. But that is not the case. Rather this is a rather slow-moving story which seems like it's intended to be more filler for later stories than really making this one very entertaining. If you are a fan of the series this one is worth the read but this is not the best story in the series and does very little to advance the story.
July 23, 2025
Coming back to this series is like walking into a room full of old and valued friends in this installment Ryan, Krysty, Dean, Mildred, J.B. Dix, Michael Brother, and of course Doc Tanner make a trans mat jump into what used to be Florida...Landing in the Keys or what's left of them they come across a marine research center that is like a little slice of Heaven in the post nuclear holocaust Hell called the Death Lands until they find out the dolphins at the center are being trained to kill and the scientist running the show is weak, spineless and a coward...with Pirates, Typhoons huge waves and blind mutant sea snakes lurking about Ryan and the band of friends with him may have a tough time getting back to making a new jump
September 17, 2018
This was as forgettable as all the others. Something you can kind of pass the time with.
I don't remember anything specific about this but I am certain the group saw the biggest, most, worst etc etc something. It is a feature of these books that I despise that each time they see some Barron or some Mutant or some Ville, its always the biggest they've ever seen or the most disgusting they've ever seen.
If you have made it to book 19 in the series then you know what to expect, gang go somewhere, gang get in a gun fight, gang go somewhere else..
I don't remember anything specific about this but I am certain the group saw the biggest, most, worst etc etc something. It is a feature of these books that I despise that each time they see some Barron or some Mutant or some Ville, its always the biggest they've ever seen or the most disgusting they've ever seen.
If you have made it to book 19 in the series then you know what to expect, gang go somewhere, gang get in a gun fight, gang go somewhere else..
July 2, 2019
Neat ideas - how do you mess up killer dolphins? - but not great execution on this one.
March 12, 2022
Not the best in the series, but there was a giant sea serpent that got taken out by trained attack dolphins, so there's that.
March 6, 2013
Deep Empire is the nineteenth book in Gold Eagle's ongoing Deathlands saga, still going strong decades after the books were first published. The stories are written now by a various selection of authors under the House Pseudonym of James Axler, as are the connected Outlanders novels, but this, one of the original novels, was written by original author Lawrence James....
For those not familiar with the series, Deathlands is set in an alternative future America where much of the world has been ravaged by Atomic War. Road Warrior Ryan Cawdor and his ragtag bunch of fellow survivalists roam these Deathlands using hidden Matter-Transporters desperately searching for...something. Something undefined....a place where they can settle and finally call home...
Deep Empire starts at the close of the last novel with Ryan and friends being pursued by angry Sec men from the last Ville they encountered. But they have a problem. The Redoubt where the Matter-Transporter they last used is seemingly locked off and the only other way in is guarded by Mutie Worms! Facing certain death head-on, Ryan forces his way inside, allowing his friends in just in time to jump away to a new location.
This location is on Florida's coast and the new Redoubt is situated quite close to an Oceanography Institute. All seems nice and peaceful there, the Scientists who live there are friendly if not a little reserved, but the group soon discover all is not what it seems...
The Institute is under constant attack by a group of marauding Pirates and the scientists have been training Dolphins to help protect their territory. But the Institute is always sitting on a massive Fault Line which could quake at any minute.....
This was an okay read but not as good as some of the other books by the original author. In fact, it felt kind of lackluster when compared to some of the other titles and almost lazy at times! It's not awful like some of the newer books but it's not the best by any means.
That said, I quite enjoyed it. These books are what they are, after all. And that, basically, is Pulp Sci-fi or Cult fiction at best. They are never really intended to be great pieces of art or literature.
Still, if you are a big fan of this series like me, this book might leave you feeling a little jaded and hollow. It never quite rings true and, at times, it feels as though the characters are merely going through their paces. This book occurs at a time when the set group, that occupies the majority of the books, wasn't quite fully formed and so features Michael, a former monk, who never really fits as a replacement for Jak Lauren who, at this point of the canon has settled on a small ranch elsewhere with his wife and child. Thankfully already knowing Michael's days are numbered makes his presence easier to bear!
Like I say, this was okay but no great shakes (excuse the pun). An average entry in the extensive series at best!
For those not familiar with the series, Deathlands is set in an alternative future America where much of the world has been ravaged by Atomic War. Road Warrior Ryan Cawdor and his ragtag bunch of fellow survivalists roam these Deathlands using hidden Matter-Transporters desperately searching for...something. Something undefined....a place where they can settle and finally call home...
Deep Empire starts at the close of the last novel with Ryan and friends being pursued by angry Sec men from the last Ville they encountered. But they have a problem. The Redoubt where the Matter-Transporter they last used is seemingly locked off and the only other way in is guarded by Mutie Worms! Facing certain death head-on, Ryan forces his way inside, allowing his friends in just in time to jump away to a new location.
This location is on Florida's coast and the new Redoubt is situated quite close to an Oceanography Institute. All seems nice and peaceful there, the Scientists who live there are friendly if not a little reserved, but the group soon discover all is not what it seems...
The Institute is under constant attack by a group of marauding Pirates and the scientists have been training Dolphins to help protect their territory. But the Institute is always sitting on a massive Fault Line which could quake at any minute.....
This was an okay read but not as good as some of the other books by the original author. In fact, it felt kind of lackluster when compared to some of the other titles and almost lazy at times! It's not awful like some of the newer books but it's not the best by any means.
That said, I quite enjoyed it. These books are what they are, after all. And that, basically, is Pulp Sci-fi or Cult fiction at best. They are never really intended to be great pieces of art or literature.
Still, if you are a big fan of this series like me, this book might leave you feeling a little jaded and hollow. It never quite rings true and, at times, it feels as though the characters are merely going through their paces. This book occurs at a time when the set group, that occupies the majority of the books, wasn't quite fully formed and so features Michael, a former monk, who never really fits as a replacement for Jak Lauren who, at this point of the canon has settled on a small ranch elsewhere with his wife and child. Thankfully already knowing Michael's days are numbered makes his presence easier to bear!
Like I say, this was okay but no great shakes (excuse the pun). An average entry in the extensive series at best!
February 18, 2012
A very entertaining audiobook with lots of sound effects and the cast give a very good performance.
Approximate Run Time: 7 hours
Approximate Run Time: 7 hours
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 - 9 of 9 reviews