Customer Reviews

Evil Abyss (Outlanders)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Evil Abyss is different than a lot of OL books even by Mark Ellis, but at least it feels right. There are a lot of traditional sequences, like shootouts in the Tartarus Pits and face-downs with slaggers, but like the best of the OL series, the development of the plot is well drawn and set into motion in the prologue.

Evil Abyss has a tie-in to Asian religous mystery and mythology and the material about the ancient Khmer empire and the Nagas is fascinating. All the action was solid, well paced and placed throughout. The battle scenes and Kane's relentless drive to find the missing party from Cerberus in the Cambodian jungle was riveting.

The probing of the mysteries of Angor Wat was excellent. Call me strange, but I really enjoyed the scene with an imprisoned Philboyd and the lice!

But more than anything, it was the vivid characters in Evil Abyss that brought it to life...Boss Klaw, Colonel Puyang, the Magickers and the beautiful Devi-Naga.

Brigid's own adventures in Cambodia, separated from everyone, was a welcome change since she had gotten so little attention in the previous book. Here she shines like she's supposed to-brilliant, brave, caring and honorable...and even sexy!

The warlord Zhou Tzu was a great, rich character, especially the mystical bond he shares with Kane whose arrival in his country helps him pay off a karmic debt. His karmic connection with Kane was very interesting, since Kane feels guilt for an action of his early on in the story. The theme of the book seemed to explore the human experience from a number of different perspectives-loss, duty, war, self-sacrifice and the struggle against evil.

The connections and continuity to other OL books was a great part of this one, with the tie-in between the Nagas and the Annunaki. I credit the fast-paced and intelligent writing style of Mark Ellis for keeping this series fresh and exciting with the introduction of interesting new concepts and characters.

Enjoy, Evil Abyss is a great read!

The latest Outlanders offering is a bit of a switch from Mark's usual fare, as I will describe later in the review.

It's good to see him back at the helm, after the less than adequate offerings we've had over the past year, with the exception of Mask of the Sphinx.

Instead of the usual save the world from a dreaded evil, it's quite a simple story. It starts out with Brigid Baptiste, Philboyd and a woman named Nora testing out the latest Interphaser device. They end up arriving in a small temple in Cambodia, where they're separated and each person ends up in a different faction's camp.

Of course, each faction has its own agenda, with only Philboyd being the one threatened with death.

Grant and Domi both wish to come with Kane on the rescue mission to help the three of them, but Kane pulls off a fast one, taking one of the Mantas without letting either of them know of his plans. It's a one-man rescue mission this time.

Upon arrival, the Manta crash lands after all the power is knocked from it, and he meets up with some of the locals.

With their help, he joins forces with a General named Zhou Tzu and agrees, albeit reluctantly, to help him fulfill his destiny, as well as to rescue his friends. It turns out that Nora has fallen for the general, and he for her in return, and clearly has no interest in returning to Cerberus.

Working together, they are able to locate Brigid Baptiste and Philboyd, and rescue the latter.

During the rescue attempt, they inadvertently get involved in yet another revolt, and reunite the General with his daughter, the ruler of the city-state.

For anyone who happens to be a fan of the old I Spy TV series from the 60's, they will find that this novel is very similar to one of the episodes called "Warlord". The book is even dedicated to Robert Culp, who was the star of this series. I found the General had a great deal in common with the character that Mr. Culp portrayed in the episode.

What also sets this novel apart from the rest of the series is that instead of having the usual pattern of Kane, Grant and Brigid heading out on a mission together, they are all separated. Hell, even Domi and Grant have less a role to play than usual in the novel.

This might put off some people, but I personally found it to be a refreshing change from the usual method we've all become so used to over the years the series has been running.

Also, it's nice to have a novel once in a while that isn't earth shattering in it's scope, like we've been given time and again.

That is coming in the next novel.

Finally, as you would expect, with the novel having been written by Mark Ellis, the characters are dead on target once again.

Unlike previous novels we've been subjected to.

Evil Abyss was well worth the wait, even if it doesn't match the manic heights of novels like Talon and Fang or even Mad God's Wrath, it's a welcome adventure full of action and drama and a very intriguing mystery.

There's a slew of colorful characters: Boss Klaw, Colonel Puyang, The Magickers and. the fascinating new character of the warlord, General Zhou Tzu. The first quarter of the book, set in Ragnarville's Tartarus Pits takes the reader back to Kane, Grant and Domi's roots and it's a very violent reintroduction, not to mention hot-since they end up burning down half of Tartarus.

The main plot is about Kane's search for a missing interphaser jump team from Cerberus. Brigid Baptiste, Brewster Philboyd and Nora Pennick go missing in Cambodia and he takes a Manta ship to find them. Unfortunately, he crash-lands and then meets an interesting assortment of people who help him achieve his goal-for their own reasons.

The subplot deals with destiny, fate and karma and the balancing out of old sins. All of those elements, woven throughout the story are very interesting. The characterization of the heroes is razor sharp, with no missteps. I really enjoyed Brigid's own individual adventures in Cambodia, showing she is quite capable in her own right without having to rely on Kane.

Like almost all of the Outlanders novels by Mark Ellis, Evil Abyss is enjoyable, smart entertainment for both new and old fans of the series. There is an air of tragic inevitability about the characters, particularly Zhou Tzu.

If this book doesn't quite attain the wild sci-fi level of some of the previous adventures, the book still delivers a fun, action-packed time in the "Axlerverse". More than anything, it was wonderful visiting with all the characters again.

Mark Ellis's latest Outlander's installment was an excellent adventure read.
Chock-full of his usual scientific and fantasy-like aspects of strange Earth energies, EVIL ABYSS was a fun and exciting read.
However, it was also chock-full of missing words. Editors are falling asleep at the wheel in editing these works. Last issue, Victor Milan's sentences were overlong and awkward. This issue, Ellis's work was just plum missing simple words. Weird and distracting.
The artwork of these novels - though excellent - miss the marked chracteristics of the characters.
Why is Grant bald, and without his gunfighter's mustache? Why is Kane looking different in every book cover art? Where is his wolf-like build and facial scar? He looks like a clean-shaved and nicely har-cutted college student.
Such excellent artwork, but missing such vital details. Is no one awake out there in Gold eagle Publishing Land?? What a shame.
The story of Evil Abyss - the main plot leastways - takes almost half the book to get to. There was a tad bit of backwash backstory starting to resurfece again, but not as badly as it has been in the not too distant past.
Not as good as Mask of the Sphinx, Ellis still manages to balance writing a solid action/adventure story, along with rich characterization.
I like the fact that he is delving into Kane's and Brigid's feelings towards one another, but it still seems way too long and drawn out in this type of world scenario.
I also liked the fact that Kane goes off on the Cambodian adventure alone, giving the reader more time with him, instead of having to balance Grant, Domi, and Lakesh into the mix. Nice change. I wish Deathlands writers would do more of the same with Ryan Cawdor.
The story for me really took off as kane crash-lands in Cambodia, fighting off giant mutie monitor lizards and meeting up with his fate and/or destiny once again, unbeknownst to him, of course.
As usual, Ellis's scientific principles sound interesting and well researched, but I could never explain them, nor pretend to totally understand them myself. But they lend a realism to the fantasy, sci-fi aspects of the story. He's always been good at that.
This was kind of a strange journey for me, as well as kane and company, but still a solid read, nonetheless. Well worth the time to read.
I'm really looking forward to the next installment that is suposedly marking a major change in the series.
Again, excellent artwork and coloring on the cover, but characteristics all wrong. Drives me crazy.

I've read all of the Outlanders saga, and found this one not up to par with the previous novel - Uluru Run. Even though that novel had its problems too, I found it more enthralling to read.

Victor Milan is getting better and better with each successive novel he writes in BOTH series.

Ellis, this was good, but not all that and a bucket of chicken. C'mon, you've done better than this!!

The recent Successors, for example, was far more exciting to read than this one. Milan is rising up!