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Traveler #7
The Road Ghost
Traveler finds himself trapped in a ghost town--his boat gone and his lover dead--surrounded by Glory Boys out for his blood and with a charismatic leader and a pregnant young girl on his hands
172 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 24, 2023
Another great post-nuke book in the series. These books always seem to rise above what one thinks is coming in the apocalyptic landscape. Road Warrior with heaps of sci-fi.
Traveler wakes up in Mexico. He starts to head north when he discovers a crazed religious cult out to kill a mother and her child. He also comes across the former President of America, whom he thought he killed not too long ago. The evil ex-president wants to regain power and has put together an army to cross the border and sneak attack the new leader.
The sci-fi element comes into play with the child. The faux religious leader wants him dead because he is prophesized to be the new messiah. The baby seems to have some powers. He helps Traveler and his friends cross the barren Mexican desserts.
Traveler wakes up in Mexico. He starts to head north when he discovers a crazed religious cult out to kill a mother and her child. He also comes across the former President of America, whom he thought he killed not too long ago. The evil ex-president wants to regain power and has put together an army to cross the border and sneak attack the new leader.
The sci-fi element comes into play with the child. The faux religious leader wants him dead because he is prophesized to be the new messiah. The baby seems to have some powers. He helps Traveler and his friends cross the barren Mexican desserts.
May 6, 2020
Ed Naha returns to write his second book of the series as D.B. Drumm.
This book is as big of a mess as the previous one. It's not Naha's fault. He had to undo the series ending that John Shirley wrote.
High point: a new character named Rat Du Bois. Rat was a burn victim before the war so he has more scar tissue than skin. He claims to be Native American, and dresses the part, but points out that he could claim any ethnicity since he doesn't have any skin. He rides a bison named Bill, speaks mostly in rhyme, and eats a lot of peyote. He's probably meant to be a replacement for Shumi.
Traveler wakes up alone in a desert with vague memories of his yacht blowing up and everybody else on board dying. We learn later that he is 200 miles south of the former U.S., Mexico border, and a year has passed since the end of the last book. In no time Hill and Orwell show up in the Meat Wagon to pick him up and take him to Grizzly, who now goes by President Jefferson. A new enemy is introduced, Gordon I, Pope of the Plains, leader of the Right to a Good Life Church. He commands an army of mad monks and controls southern Mexico and parts of South America. He is looking for a pregnant woman prophesied to give birth to the next messiah. The glory boys control northern Mexico and are lead by a still-living President Frayling. Frayling is half covered in flash burns and is dying, but he wants to kill Traveler before he goes. Traveler and his friends end up with the woman and try to take her north to Jefferson to be protected. Gordon and Frayling team up to get Traveler, destroy Jefferson's army, and split the hemisphere between them. The woman dies to a stray bullet while giving birth in the back of the van during a firefight, and now we have post-apocalyptic Three Men and a Baby. Or, we would, except that Traveler is captured by glory boys, and spends a big chunk of the book as a prisoner of Frayling. Hill names the baby Alexander after Alexander Graham Bell, Alexander the Great, and Alexander's Ragtime Band. Two potentially interesting allies are introduced and quickly killed off, no point saying any more about them. Hill and Orwell rescue Traveler with the help of a pack of wild dogs charmed by Alexander. A dog bites Frayling's hand off, and he still lives. Frayling is so pissed he sends all his attack helicopters after them. The Meat Wagon is disabled, Orwell is killed while running for cover, after reaching cover, Traveler and Hill are fatally injured. Alexander, less than a week old, stands up and starts walking around. He heals Traveler and Hill, resurrects Orwell, and makes the helicopters explode. Rat Du Bois rides in on Bill, picks up Alexander, and rides off.
It's exciting, there is a lot of action and violence, but the story is pretty ridiculous.
This book is as big of a mess as the previous one. It's not Naha's fault. He had to undo the series ending that John Shirley wrote.
High point: a new character named Rat Du Bois. Rat was a burn victim before the war so he has more scar tissue than skin. He claims to be Native American, and dresses the part, but points out that he could claim any ethnicity since he doesn't have any skin. He rides a bison named Bill, speaks mostly in rhyme, and eats a lot of peyote. He's probably meant to be a replacement for Shumi.
Traveler wakes up alone in a desert with vague memories of his yacht blowing up and everybody else on board dying. We learn later that he is 200 miles south of the former U.S., Mexico border, and a year has passed since the end of the last book. In no time Hill and Orwell show up in the Meat Wagon to pick him up and take him to Grizzly, who now goes by President Jefferson. A new enemy is introduced, Gordon I, Pope of the Plains, leader of the Right to a Good Life Church. He commands an army of mad monks and controls southern Mexico and parts of South America. He is looking for a pregnant woman prophesied to give birth to the next messiah. The glory boys control northern Mexico and are lead by a still-living President Frayling. Frayling is half covered in flash burns and is dying, but he wants to kill Traveler before he goes. Traveler and his friends end up with the woman and try to take her north to Jefferson to be protected. Gordon and Frayling team up to get Traveler, destroy Jefferson's army, and split the hemisphere between them. The woman dies to a stray bullet while giving birth in the back of the van during a firefight, and now we have post-apocalyptic Three Men and a Baby. Or, we would, except that Traveler is captured by glory boys, and spends a big chunk of the book as a prisoner of Frayling. Hill names the baby Alexander after Alexander Graham Bell, Alexander the Great, and Alexander's Ragtime Band. Two potentially interesting allies are introduced and quickly killed off, no point saying any more about them. Hill and Orwell rescue Traveler with the help of a pack of wild dogs charmed by Alexander. A dog bites Frayling's hand off, and he still lives. Frayling is so pissed he sends all his attack helicopters after them. The Meat Wagon is disabled, Orwell is killed while running for cover, after reaching cover, Traveler and Hill are fatally injured. Alexander, less than a week old, stands up and starts walking around. He heals Traveler and Hill, resurrects Orwell, and makes the helicopters explode. Rat Du Bois rides in on Bill, picks up Alexander, and rides off.
It's exciting, there is a lot of action and violence, but the story is pretty ridiculous.
August 8, 2024
It’s been about a year since I read the last traveler book, but the need for some post apocalyptic wasteland was calling my name, and I decided to go back to an old friend. I remember being slightly disappointed in the last one, and thus the year long break.
I came back hopeful for the Traveler series, and the opening chapters read like a sequel to an action movie of the 80s. A sequel that returns old characters and things, and gets you revved up for a good read.
Without giving spoilers, the book starts off strong. You are ready for another kick ass adventure into a nuked out world. However; this one was not non stop action, you go between two story paths and it feels like a lot of waiting around.
Honestly, this one is VERY similar to the book series The last ranger, specifically book number 2, and at times I was ready for a crossover of the characters. But it works well in the scenario of post WW3 and it made for a good villain.
Don’t let the cover fool you either. What’s depicted on the cover, never happens in the book, and the only time it somewhat happens, it’s for two pages and is gone.
I was going to go with a four star on this one, but the end of the book really brings it around in a home run fashion. The very early Traveler books, had a weird science fiction/paranormal edge to them, that I loved and I felt like the series was getting away from that. The ending of this one, brings it back x1000!
At 172 pages you can knock this bad boy out in one day, and you won’t be disappointed by the ending. Really looking forward to see what happens next! 5 stars.
I came back hopeful for the Traveler series, and the opening chapters read like a sequel to an action movie of the 80s. A sequel that returns old characters and things, and gets you revved up for a good read.
Without giving spoilers, the book starts off strong. You are ready for another kick ass adventure into a nuked out world. However; this one was not non stop action, you go between two story paths and it feels like a lot of waiting around.
Honestly, this one is VERY similar to the book series The last ranger, specifically book number 2, and at times I was ready for a crossover of the characters. But it works well in the scenario of post WW3 and it made for a good villain.
Don’t let the cover fool you either. What’s depicted on the cover, never happens in the book, and the only time it somewhat happens, it’s for two pages and is gone.
I was going to go with a four star on this one, but the end of the book really brings it around in a home run fashion. The very early Traveler books, had a weird science fiction/paranormal edge to them, that I loved and I felt like the series was getting away from that. The ending of this one, brings it back x1000!
At 172 pages you can knock this bad boy out in one day, and you won’t be disappointed by the ending. Really looking forward to see what happens next! 5 stars.
October 24, 2019
I basically enjoyed it and it was certainly action filled. But I've given it the lowest rating of the series so far for a couple of reasons. First, the end of volume 6 suggested a finish to the story arc of the previous few books and a dramatic change in the direction of the character, "Traveler's" life. But at the start of this book all that is thrown aside and we resume with the previous story-line. It's almost as if volume 6 "was a dream." The story isn't described that way but that's kind of how it seems. Traveler "wakes up" wandering in a desert with no idea how he got there and what happened to the companions he was with at the end of Volume 6, one of which was a major love interest. How Traveler arrives in the desert is never explained, at least in this volume, although I'm guessing future books will resolve that issue.
Second, although there has been something of a hint of supernatural experiences occurring in previous volumes, this one really raises the supernatural stakes, and to the point where at the end I thought it detracted from the story. The characters are essentially saved by a supernatural occurrence, sort of deus ex machina. There is some set-up for this "event" but it still really pushed the boundaries of my personal suspension of disbelief.
I'm going to continue reading the series and I'm particularly curious about the next installment.
Second, although there has been something of a hint of supernatural experiences occurring in previous volumes, this one really raises the supernatural stakes, and to the point where at the end I thought it detracted from the story. The characters are essentially saved by a supernatural occurrence, sort of deus ex machina. There is some set-up for this "event" but it still really pushed the boundaries of my personal suspension of disbelief.
I'm going to continue reading the series and I'm particularly curious about the next installment.
May 20, 2025
This one is a bit of a mess. The previous book was intended to end the series, but then, for whatever reason, they decided not to let it end there. So this book has to cram in an "it was all a dream" explanation that ends up being an undercurrent that runs throughout the book.
My previous criticisms of the series remain true: these books are more of a sequence of events than they are a story. Not a lot of growing and changing and making an impact on their surroundings to be had here, mostly it's just another barren location with another anomalous happening to encounter. Aspects of the world aren't very thought out in a cohesive way. For example, the villain of the book intends to invade Traveler's "homeland," the former United States, but the US is an apocalyptic desert with no central government, so why does anyone care that the villain is crossing an imaginary line that isn't even there anymore? We ride the fence on nationalism, presumably to appeal the intended audience. Traveler was wronged by the government before the world ended, but he's still loyal to the good ol' Stars and Stripes, never fear, dear reader. I don't know, it's all a non-immersive muddle.
My previous criticisms of the series remain true: these books are more of a sequence of events than they are a story. Not a lot of growing and changing and making an impact on their surroundings to be had here, mostly it's just another barren location with another anomalous happening to encounter. Aspects of the world aren't very thought out in a cohesive way. For example, the villain of the book intends to invade Traveler's "homeland," the former United States, but the US is an apocalyptic desert with no central government, so why does anyone care that the villain is crossing an imaginary line that isn't even there anymore? We ride the fence on nationalism, presumably to appeal the intended audience. Traveler was wronged by the government before the world ended, but he's still loyal to the good ol' Stars and Stripes, never fear, dear reader. I don't know, it's all a non-immersive muddle.
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March 24, 2009John Shirley writing as D.B. Drumm.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews