Customer Reviews

Labyrinth (Deathlands)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I very selectively read Deathlands, usually when I'm stuck in an airport or on a long plane flight. Nothing pumps one up for a meeting like a a good DL.

I just finished reading "Labyrinth." It was a great read, and no one makes the in-bred characters in DL come alive and complete like Mr. Philipson. I loved the human engineered monsters which are far more believable than the host of genetic retards that inhabit DL. It's the difference between believing in the Loch Ness monster; even though science has shown that the fish population in Loch Ness is so low that for dinosaur Nessie to survive she must be on battery power, so many morons still believe the BS. I really liked the two "Dr. Strangelove" scientists who created these mutations. I wished that these two S&M geniuses had somehow escaped the facility, frozen themselves, or else had set up a bootleg body part renewal shop just so a future book would see them meet a more definite and unpleasant end.

It's too bad that Mr. Philipson doesn't have a series of his own where there is control over the action and plot lines. When Mr. P writes everything clicks: characters, guns, science and action. I won't even bother buying a non-Philipson book. I have never used a barf bag on an airplane yet and I won't risk my record after having run acroos the scribblings of the hacks that also write for this series.

The latest Deathlands title, Labyrinth, seems to have been written by Edo Van Belkom. Who is a notch better than the last two horribly written novels by Andy Boot.

But after a while, this one runs out of steam and gets dull and too confined.

Not since Victor Milan's Vengeance Trail has Deathlands picked up steam. Too bad. Boy, what I wouldn't give to have Nick Polatta, Mel Odom, or Alan Philipson to write one again.

Yeah, the previous reviewer was right. This latest read like an Alien vs. Predator novel, with some solid good ideas, along with plenty of action that just after awhile becomes tedious and uncolorful.

However, it was a decent enough read. Dean has suddenly become yesterday's trash. Shame. A solid cadre of writers could've taken that and spun a wider characterization for Ryan and the gang. But alas, Gold Eagle seems to have gone off their game plan.

Unfortunately, editors change hands and newer ones come along and think they know what they are doing. Like, obviously not listening to their dedicated readers. (Glad I didn't spend my hard earned money on the last 3 books.)

Characterization has gone to the wayside here. And even a colorful, explosive, action-filled romp is deadened here somewhat after about halfway thru. Giving this 3 stars is being real nice.

But it is still better than a Boot.

If you ever wanted to see Deathlands do Aliens or Predator, this is your book. It's interesting enough, but doesn't hold a candle to Vengeance Trail, but it is better than Black Harvest. I long for the old days of Deathlands. Cutting Audio (maker of full cast audios of most all of Gold Eagle's books with special sound effects etc.) already have this one out and honestly it goes better as an audio with music and special effects. If you really want to experience Deathlands at its best, Cutting Audio are doing all of the Deathlands tittles starting at Pilgrimage to Hell.

DESCRIPTION: IN THE ANCIENT CANYONS OF NEW MEXICO, THE CITIZENS OF LITTLE PUEBLO PREPARE TO SACRIFICE RYAN AND HIS COMPANIONS TO DEMONS LOCKED INSIDE A 20TH CCCENTURY DAM PROJECT. BUT IN A WORLD WHERE NUKE-SPAWNED PREDATORS FEED UPON WEAK AND STRONG ALIKE, RYAN KNOWS AVENGING ETERNAL SPIRITS AREN'T PART OF THE GAME. ESPECIALLY WHEN THESE FREAKS SPIT YELLOW ACID-AND THEIR CREATORS ARE THE WHITECOAT MASTERMINDS OF GENETIC RECOMBINATION, DESROYED BY THEIR MUTANT OFFSPRING BORN OF SIN AND SCIENCE GONE HORRIBLY WRONG....

Alan Philipson nails the old school DL ambiance one more time. We're talking ironic, sick, twisted, with a major dose of bleek. This is not your put on a smiley face kind of adventure book. Everything looks bad, gets worse, and somehow, someway the heroes escape with their lives and all their fingers and toes.

I heard from a friend in publishing supposedly there's going to be a website for this author soon. OfficialAlanPhilipson. It's supposed to give away free newsletters with q and a from readers, and inside dope on his books and the writing business. Apparently, this guy published more than 120 books under a bunch of psuedonyms. When he was doing the SOBs series, Warren Murphy, author of the Destroyer series, said he was "simply the best and gutsiest action writer around today." Rumor in the industry is he ain't with us no more. Apparently he got shot dead while working graveyard shift in a convenience store in Nevada. Maybe GE is publishing DL books he already wrote posthumorously?

BW

This entry into the Deathlands saga far surpasses the indigestible tripe served up by Andy Boot. This is by far and away the best DL novel in years.

This book picks up the original, 1950's and 60's scifi themes of the series -- whatever evil that people can imagine, they will bring to life, and what can go wrong is bound to go wrong. There is solid characterization of the main players, interesting cannon fodder, a tension-filled plot, plenty of blood and guts, and a unique DL setting.

Someone out there correct me, but isn't the Deathlands series all about the companions fighting monsters of both the norm and mutie varieties? Predator came from some other dimension, I think. Alien came from outer space. The critter in LABYRINTH is from predark earth, a human-built mutie. The only thing it has in common with Predator or Alien is it's big and scary. Is the point of the other reviewers that DL writers shouldn't be allowed to use big, scary monsters? Are "mushroom people" or "water beetle people" more politically correct?

This book rates a solid 4.5 stars. Remembering the "quality" of the DL products that came before it, I'm rounding that up to a 5. If you don't think that's fair, sic the broccoli people on me.

Hard to believe that real "DL experts" can't tell which GE author did this particular book. Of all the writers on the series, Alan Phillipson, who wrote ENCOUNTER, SKYDARK, SHADOW WORLD, BREAKTHROUGH, and DAMNATION ROAD SHOW, has the most easily recognized style of writing.

LABYRINTH is trademark of Philipson, and IMO it rocks hard. He puts the companions in situations where you wonder if they actually might take the last train west (croak off). He gives them a new breed mutie to fight. It's something that can't be beat. This is different than the "butterfly people" or the stinkies/stupies because the companions could actually go down this time. Instead of blasting a knocked-up 13-year-old in the head so they can move faster, they put their lives at bigger risk to save her. Again, typically Philipson having them act like real heroes instead of scum, and in the end the Deathlands deals out some real cruel justice. IMO, a satisfying read. Definitely no rip-off. IMO, the Alien vs. Predator comments were just dumb trying to look cute. Like saying any book with a submarine is a clone of HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER.

The idea of the "glory days" of DL also makes me laugh. What do all LJ's books have in common? Cliched, ripped off, confused series' ideas, muddled up science, lame dialogue and characterizations, repeated story lines, mindless brutal heroes, gross-out scenes, and no overall story arc. So the complaints about today's DLs perfectly describe the DLs of LJ's "Golden Age." IMO, only someone who can barely read, or who can't remember what they read, could think there was a difference. Case on point: in Book #1 PILGRIMAGE TO HELL Doc Tanner was forced to repeatedly have sex acts with hogs. At least they weren't piglets; that would have been bad taste.

This book will take you back to the fear when sent to bed in a strange house when you were a child. To be marched as a sacrifice, hands bound behind your back, as an offering to an unknown demon; the manhole of his lair pried up, and you are told to descend two hundred feet into the dark, this is tne modern version of the labyrinth. The smell of a slaughter house, the sight of bones, the strange fluid on human reamains, and then the clawing, scraping sounds, these are an introduction to something you know is going to be bad.
Then there is a lightning movement, a leaping something faster than your eye can focus on a creature from hell. It has six legs with horns on those legs,or are they poisonous stingers; it's bigger than a dog with skin that has armoured ridges on the legs, scales on the body, bristle hair on the feet; a very flat head, mouth with three rows of teeth, huge lifeless but knowing eyes; altogether more giant insect than warm blooded animal. Our heroes defend themselves with flame thrower, hand grenade, rifle and pistol, and when all else fails, chop with a bolo, but these nightmare creatures reproduce endlessly, crawling over the muck and evil smelling vomit of their own dead, leaping over each other, slavering to get at you. Have a nice day.

I looked up the author of this book, Al Phillipson, on the MackBolan website. He's been writing action pulps for GE for 24 years. He's one of three current writers who've been there almost since the start of the company. From the SOBs to Executioners to DL, his series books always kick butt, some are true genre-elevating classics, and here's the sad part (boo-hoo)...more often than not, they scoot right over the heads of certain readers, you know the ones I mean. LABYRINTH is no exception. No way is any part of this book boring. It's 180 degrees opposite that. A well-crafted page turner. You know what's coming is going to be godawful, and you can't figure how the companions are going to get away. Maybe that isn't everyone's cup of tea, after all some folks need a gunfight every three pages or they lose interest, but "weak battle scenes"? Get real. This guy knows more about quality action writing, and has published more of it than almost everybody. Going by LABYRINTH, his game is still razor sharp.

This latest Deathlands was mediocre, at best.

What starts out as a pretty great and different beginning, along with a really cool genetically-made mutie creature, this writer could have had a winner on his hands.

The writing is a tad better than the guy writing the last two awful books, but about halfway thru this one, I found myself bored to tears from the weak battle scenes.

These creatures were written to be so fast and deadly, that Ryan and group should have been much better prepared, mentally and weaponry-wise. Too many times they were lax.

Much better than another Andy Boot story...but not by much. Man, I can't wait until Gold Eagle finally decides to give their fans their money's worth! What happend to such great and fun-filled stories such as Deathlands titles like Vengenace Trail, Devil Riders, The Mars Arena, etc...?

Until Gold Eagle gets off their cheap butts to produce better writers for this series, this long-standing fan will not buy another of these half-baked novels.

Deathlands still holds many tales to be told. Why don't the editors at this publishing house give the hard-working fans the well written greatness this series once had?