The Deathlands is a series of novels published by Gold Eagle. The first novel 'Pilgrimage to Hell' was first published in 1986 at the height of the Cold War. This epic series of novels was first written by Christopher Lowder, under the pen name 'Jack Adrian'. Mr. Lowder became ill after developing the plot and writing most of the book. Laurence James, under the pen name 'James Axler' picked up where Mr. Lowder stopped and finished the story.
The series exists in both an episodic style and a series format. Some of the novels can be read out of order yet others are dependent on the previous release. There are also a few trilogy sets within the series. Each novel usually begins with the companions arriving at a frequently unknown redoubt via the MAT-TRANS unit, the technological remnants of Operation Chronos. If the situation is impossible or hostile the companions can use the last destination feature of the transporter, called the LD key to teleport back to the sending location. This must be done within a 30 minute window of arrival at the new location. If the redoubt is unknown then the companions usually explore the redoubt looking for weapons and supplies which they rarely find. Sometimes there are lucky and find a working shower or stored food which they always utilize or take. The story picks up speed once the warriors leave the redoubt and explore the surrounding country side. Frequently the companions are captured or forced into a confrontation with the local barons and are forced into a fight which they must use their weapons and wit to survive. Each novel reveals a little of the characters' history, motivations and the regional location where they arrived.
Series History
The Deathlands series was begun as a joint project by Christopher Lowder, pen name "Jack Adrian" and Laurence James, pen name "James Axler"), with the first book called Pilgrimage To Hell. Laurence James then solely wrote the Deathlands series up to and including Eclipse at Noon. However, due to failing health he was forced to leave the series in 1995. He wrote one last novel, Crucible of Time that appeared in 1998 and he died in February of 2000. All other Deathlands have been written by a number of other authors, including Mark Ellis who produced the first post-Laurence James entry, Stoneface.
Among fans, it is widely accepted that the early Laurence James novels are superior. The three-year period that featured the formula-breaking work of Ellis, Mel Odom, Alan Phillipson, Nick Pollotta and Terry Collins is considered a peak in the quality in the novels. Many of the later books (particularly those penned by Andy Boot and Edo van Belkom) are criticized as falling short in terms of character and plot development. You will also find in many novels there are "tempting" ideas for the story to follow, and one tends to feel that after re-reading many of the novels these "leads" have either been forgotten or abandoned, which is confusing when readers latch onto an idea only to have it vanish without trace. One suspects the ghost writers don't talk to each other?
On the morning of January 20, 2001 the climax of the Cold War finally arrived with a spectacular entrance to the apocalyptic stage.
Russia
The end game began with a preemptive strike on Washington. Underground nuclear bombs were detonated
from within the basement of the Soviet embassy, by an elite group of Soviet operatives called the Spetsnaz, destroying the central command structure and political system of the US. It seemed the Soviet hardliners finally had their time to shine and that they did. For a indefinite period time all manner of technological doom rained down on the United States and Russia, and possibly other countries, but little is known outside both countries. The earth was ripped apart, fire rained from the sky, massive winds distributed
FEMA fallout projection
radioactivity across both nations. All manner of genetic contagions were released infecting the survivors of the firestorm with horrible illnesses. The remaining survivors descended into a primeval period of unspeakable crimes against humanity during a time of prolonged nuclear winter known as ‘Sky Dark’. The geography, climate, and ecosystems of the world had changed in a blink of an eye. What was left of the United States came to be known as the Deathlands.
Ryan's Son
Fast forward into the future... One hundred years pass and humanity crawls out of the dark holes of the earth and stares up into the blood red sky knowing they must band together to survive in this hostile new world. The ancient urges are played out and new civilization begins - brutal, short lived, morally confused and crazed from mutation. Between the many hot spots are small plague pits ruled by power hungry individuals who have no limits in order to establish their rule and expand their influence. These individuals are known as the Barons. Their rabble pits are known as Villes and Baronies. Civilization unknowingly resembles the Dark Ages. Trading resumes between the villes; The drugs Jack and Jolt; and slaves are the primary forms of currency. Life is a strange mixture of ancient history and limited technology that is scrapped from the 20th century. Military technology is the most prized possession of any respectable Baron; success is often measured by the number of bullets he or she possesses.
A group of warrior survivors emerges from this chaos. A man named Ryan Cawdor walks the land like an ancient samurai fighting for what he believes is just. Along with him are his fellow companions, loyal even when tortured. Ryan has extremely secret knowledge of the 20th century. The understanding of hidden underground complexes, known as redoubts, that contain technology that allows one to be molecularly disassembled and reassembled at another location: teleportation. He and this companions guard this knowledge with their lives. The technology is called MAT-TRANS. It is unpredictable and dangerous, yet holds the promise of ultimate power.
Ryan Cawdor, known to many as a legend in the Deathlands due to extensive travels. His reputation is almost as great as the Trader's. Many have crossed his path and ended up chilled or set free from a tyrannical baron. Never cross him; he never forgets his enemies. He has survived impossible odds with cool and calculating strategy and he has seen so much brutality in the Deathlands that even the most shocking horror does not shake his iron will. Restless, determined, detached and tireless are some words to describe his persona. Ryan prefers wag travel to walking on foot, yet finding a fueled and operable vehicle is rare. He can be seen wearing a dusty worn denim shirt and olive drab combat fatigues. He prefers combat boots and military surplus looted from the redoubts. His only hint of style is a white scarf that he wears. It is not for style though because it serves as a weighted garrote which is often overlooked when he is stripped of his weapons. Personal hygiene is not a priority in the Deathlands. His hair is black as night, thick and curly. His most distinct features are a massive white scar running down the side of his face and a black eye path over his ruined eye. His visage earned him the name ‘One Eye Chills’ by the native American tribesmen. Even mention injuring his good eye and he will be overcome with the red rage of revenge. While traveling with the Trader he encountered such a variety of intense firefights that he has honed his skills as a master strategist and gunfighter. He has a deep intuition for knowing the exact timing and *weaknesses with which to strike his enemies. Using the element of surprise is his main technique. As point man for the group he employs an 18 inch panga and a SIG P226 with a well worn silencer. When covering his companions he reaches out and touches his enemies with a Steyr SSG-70,sniper rifle and in the earlier novels of the series the HK G-12 a variant of the Heckler & Koch G11. He has an uncanny ability to recover his weapons when confiscated by an insecure baron. Ryan has no love of predark culture. He is disdainful of science and religion. He almost always speaks of the predark scientists in dreaded awe calling then ‘White Coats’. Doc Tanner has consistently painted a picture of predark scientists as ruthless in their quest for knowledge. Through out his travels he has seen a few vids and photos from the 20th century. He knows that life before sky dark was full of people, food and wags living in large cities. He is always looking for fragments of predark life. While living at Front Royal he learned to read although he almost never reads for pleasure he regards this as a bittersweet reminder of his life there. He is a mostly pragmatist yet he does have some semblance of morality and purpose of life. As a young man, Ryan grew up as privileged as one could be in the Deathlands. He was raised by a caring mother and father. His first fire fight as a young man was against a web fingered mutie who he killed with a worn old Armalite AR-18 rifle.This encounter exposed him to the killer instinct that would emerge sooner than later. Some time later, Ryan killed a man in a heated argument over the ownership of a horse. He was about to be served justice Deathlands style in a public hanging, but a sultry woman from the mod claimed that she saw the whole thing and managed to persuade the crowd to leave the boy alone. Ryan owed her his life. After the crowd disbanded and the situation diffused his care was entrusted with the powerful woman. In the Deathlands nothing is free; she used him each night in her bed for saving his life. Ryan was forced to grow up fast. His father, Lord Titus Cawdor, was killed in an attempted power grab by Harvey Cawdor. Lord Titus was executed by his second wife Rachel Cawdor in a Jolt induced madness. His older brother Morgan was killed by Harvey on that same dreadful night. Ryan holds the memory of Harvey with absolute hatred; he helped sculpt Ryan’s ruthless desire for revenge. Ryan was forced to flee Front Royal from his brother who had seized power in a bloody coup. Wounded and dishonored he headed for the backcountry of Virginia to escape his brother. Not much is known of his struggle for survival then. Ryan's desire for revenge lead him back to Front Royal to kill Harvey who had grown fat and incompetent from his life as the Baron. This is the subject of the made for TV movie, Deathlands: Homeward Bound, aired on the Sci Fi Channel. Even though he had executed his revenge he has never fully healed from that dreaded night. Not much is known about his wandering before he met the Trader at the age of 21. Pilgrimage to Hell picks up after Ryan has been traveling with the Trader and has achieved his rank as War Captain.
Krysty Wroth Beauty is rare in the Deathlands, usually only found in the wives of barons and occasionally in a gaudy house. The one exception: Krysty Wroth. Her hair is flame red like the color of the Deathlands sunrise. Her eyes emerald green, looking into them is like gazing at an endless field of green grass. One of Krysty’s trade mark features is her silver tipped cowgirl boots which she found in perfect condition deep in a redoubt. She can be seen wearing blue jeans or looted military fatigues. In contrast to her beauty are her tools for dealing death: HK P7-13 9MM and various blades. Later in Dark Carnival she recovers a Smith and Wesson Model M642. Krysty has a deep connection to the earth possessing great knowledge of plants, animals and its natural rhythms. Gaia, the earth mother, is the source of her being. Sonja Wroth, her mother, taught her how to tap into her latent connection with the earth mother. Sonja showed her the energies of primordial power, unpredictable and crippling, yet always there for her to tap into it using great concentration. Knowledge of such power brings incredible strength, both physical and mental. Krysty is a mutant. On the surface she appears as an attractive young woman, yet below the surface lies a distorted genetic code. Threaten her and her mutie powers will be unleashed with unyielding ferocity. Another subtle feature, of her twisted genes, is the fact that her red hair is alive, sentient, an extension of her living being. It moves independently, wrapping tightly around her head signaling danger. Cutting her hair causes tremendous pain and she must be rendered unconscious if undertaking such a dangerous endeavor. Sonja had greater degree of mutation than Krysty. She could actually grasp objects with her hair also her physical strength was even greater. Tyas McCann, her uncle, raised her for most of her adolescent life at a small vile in the Colorado Mountains known as Harmony. Tyas was one of the more intelligent men in the Deathlands. As an engineer and a treasure hunter he found relics from the predark past: blue prints, maps and news papers. He accumulated quite a scholarly collection of books. He taught Krysty to read, a rare but invaluable skill in post apocalyptic America. Somehow Tyas knew Krysty’s destiny; he honed her critical thinking skills and most importantly taught her how to defend herself. She values speaking with correct grammar, often corrects her companions verbal mishaps. Krysty suffers from wander lust making her the perfect companion for Ryan. She always listened with great fascination of Tyas’s ruminations of a legendary gateway, deep in the mountains of Montana's Glacier National Park known as ‘The Darks’. Krysty would do anything and everything in her power to fulfill Uncle Tyas’s desire to find ‘the gateway’, including selling her own body. Ryan met Krysty under unfortunate conditions. Krysty had been captured by a vile mutant man named Scale. He was in the process of assaulting her when Ryan came to her aid and rescued her from a burning barn where Scale had held her captured. Ryan and Krysty argued about the existence of a gateway to a better world. Ryan was jaded, from his travels with the Trader, telling her there was nothing better because he had seen it all. Ryan was later proved wrong by about the gateway by Doc Tanner. Krysty is always searching for a better world where her and Ryan can settle down and raise children, yet her wanderlust drives her forward.
J. B. Dix, the weapons expert of the group. J. B. was raised at an isolated military base in Cripple Creek, Colorado (Just west of Colorado Springs). He always wears glasses and a battered brown fedora. He has a two inch scar on the right A sextant.side of his chin. Slight of build, he has a thin face and a yellowish complexion. But despite his small stature, he is in excellent health and in better physical condition than many people half his age. He is a quiet man, rarely speaking, yet when he does talk he says as little as possible to make his point. His view is why use three words when you can use two. It appears that he picked up this habit from his father. He was also one of Trader's most trusted lieutenants. His nickname, the Armorer, was given to him by Trader for his extensive knowledge of firearms and explosives. He serves as the groups navigator. After exiting from a 'jump', he usually will identify the groups location using a small pocket sextant; maps are almost non existent in the Deathlands.
Dean Cawdor, short curly black hair with stark blue eyes that do not betray the madness he was witnessed. Quick witted, challenging, insatiably curious and almost fearless are some of his positive characteristics. Many say that Dean is a mirror image of his father. His favorite remark when surprised, “Hot pipe!” Nobody really knows what the saying means… Dean is the son Sharona Carson. Dean was conceived in a reckless but passionate encounter between Ryan and Sharona while the Trader’s convoy was waiting to refuel in the barony of Taos, located in predark New Mexico. While Baron Carson was out hunting an albino lion, Sharona seized on the opportunity and lured Ryan to her bedroom. Their brief tryst is detailed in Time Nomads. Sharona Carson, whom most say was the most beautiful woman in all Deathlands died at an early age from radiation sickness. Dean was raised on the back of a Sharona’s motorcycle as she traveled across the western Deathlands making jack in gaudy houses to pay for gasoline to continue traveling. A vicious cycle that eventually destroyed her. Dean feels very ashamed of his mother’s work at the gaudy houses and he feels guilt for being powerless to change their lives. He watched his mother’s teeth and hair fall out all the while vomiting blood from the radiation poising. Sharona wanders off to die in miserable isolation. Dean joins up with the companions at the age of ten possibly eleven in Seedling, rescued from the grip of a Scalie slave grotto in the ruins of south Manhattan. Young Cawdor idealizes his father seeing him as the best killer in all of Deathlands. Once he asked Ryan to count the number of men that he had chilled. Ryan refused explaining to him that you have to do what it takes to survive and that means kill or be killed. Quickly, Dean falls into his father shadow and becomes a razor edged warrior even saving his father’s life on a few occasions. Dean, like his father, is fascinated with weaponry. To much protest he is first outfitted with a .22 handgun in an abandoned redoubt in Dark Carnival, but later obtains his
9mm Browning Hi-power from one of Major General Gregory Zimyanian's downed sec men in Chill Factor. Dean was later sent to the Brody School in Colorado to receive a formal education leaving the series but he could return anytime.
Jak Lauren, An albino teenager from the Atchafalaya Basin swamps just north of Lafayette, Louisiana. At the age of fourteen, he was a considered legendary warrior by his West Lowelton gang. Through hills skills at cunning and brutality he earned the nick name, "The White Wolf" from his gang. He is considered by Ryan and the others to be the best at hand to hand combat, blades, and especially throwing knives. In Northstar Rising, Jak in a challenge of skill, threw one of his throwing knives several feet into the air and, on its descent, caught the leaf bladed knife between his teeth. A natural hunter and tracker, he can find nearly any trail, and move silently and unnoticed almost anywhere. Due to being an albino, his eyesight is reasonably normal in light, but in the dark, he has astounding night vision. Death surrounds Jak Lauren, just before joining with Ryan and Kristy he witnessed his father tared, burned and hanging from a flag pole. Briefly, he left the group to get married for a time, then rejoined after his wife Christina and daughter Jenni were brutally murdered at his New Mexico homestead.
Dr. Mildred Winona Wyeth, a 20th century doctor of cryogenics and Olympic silver medalist sharpshooter. Dr. Wyeth was placed in cryogenic sleep on late December 2000 in an attempt to save her life after a life threatening allergic reaction to the anesthesia that was used in the operation almost killed her. Mildred falls under the groups moniker 'Freezie' which is used to describe the few individuals who had been woken from there predark cryogenic state. In Northstar Rising, Mildred was found deep inside the twisted climate of Minnesota at a military research complex called Blackwood Center for Chemical and Neurological Research. Her body rested in a comp controlled cryogenic suspension at the Shelly Cryogenic Institute. Unlike Dr. Tanner her background was immediately revealed, via the cryogenic patient database, before reviving her from the cryogenic suspension. Once she is revived from her cryogenic sleep, her headstrong personality is immediately revealed. Mildred is acknowledged by the rest of the group to be the best shot in the entire Deathlands. Probably the least popular character in the series amongst fans who consider her to be "too convenient" in the sense she is just what the group needs as a qualified medical doctor and it stretches beyond belief she is also an excellent shot. Later in the series, Seedling, J.B. Dix and Mildred become romantically involved, although emotional expression is not one of J.B.'s strong points. Mildred often serves as an instructor and interpreter of predark culture.
Dr. Theophilus Algernon Tanner, Born February 14, 1868, South Strafford, Vermont. Doctor of Science Harvard University. Doctor of Philosophy Oxford University, England. Married June 17th, 1891 to Emily Louise Chandler. Two children: Rachel and Jolyn. Doc Tanner was torn away from his wife and children and time-trawled to 2001 by Operation Chronos scientists, and made such a nuisance of himself attempting to go back that the scientists sent him forward 100 years into the Deathlands. Dr. Tanner was rescued by Ryan from Baron Jordan Teague and Court Strasser, Sec boss of Moxin Wyoming. Doc suffers from an extreme case of Posttraumatic stress disorder which dominates his very being and is often aggravated by MAT-TRANS jumps.
Weapons
H&K G11 Prototype
Heckler & Koch G11 - 4.73mm Caseless ammunition assault rifle carried by Ryan in the early books, until ammunition became too hard to find. (In reality, the G11 was a failed prototype that never actually entered production.)
P226
Sig Sauer P226 - 9mm handgun used by Ryan, holds 15 rounds of ammunition, has a built in baffle silencer, which Ryan has to replace at times (this is writers license-this gun doesn't really exist as a factory made silenced pistol. Also it would be larger then depicted)
Machete
Panga Machete - A long knife somewhat similar to a Machete carried by Ryan
LeMat
LeMat Revolver - Doc's double barreled "room broom", has an adjustable hammer and two barrels, one holding 9 rounds of revolver ammunition, and the other a shotgun round [**Note** Doc has had two different Le Mat pistols, the first had .36 caliber for the pistol chambers, and .63 caliber (18 gauge) for the shotgun, while the second had .44 caliber for the pistol, and .63 caliber for the shotgun barrel]
Swordstick- A Malacca cane with a silver lions head. Inside is a very thin rapier blade with a phrase,"No me saques sin razon; no me envaines sin honor" engraved upon its blade. Translated: Draw me not without reason and sheath me not without honor. Doc also uses the rapier quite frequently since many enemies believe it to be just a walking cane overlooking its more deadly aspects.
Browning Hi-Power - 9mm handgun carried by Dean after he is rescued from Gregori Zimyanin by Ryan, holds 13 rounds
Smith & Wesson 640 - .38 caliber double action revolver carried by Krysty, holds 5 rounds
Israeli Military Uzi
ZKR 551 - .38 caliber target shooting revolver carried by Mildred, also used by her in the Olympic games in 1996, where she won a silver medal
Colt Python- .357 caliber revolver carried by Jak, holds 6 rounds, and can also use .38 ammunition when necessary
Throwing knives - Jak's primary weapon of choice, usually leaf-bladed or ground down to his specifications, carries at least a dozen hidden around him
M-4000 - 12 gauge shotgun carried by J.B., he primarily uses flechette ammunition in it, but uses other types when flechettes aren't available
Uzi - 9mm submachine gun also carried by J.B., holds a 30 round magazine **Note** Since there are many companies that make or have made uzis, it is not specified what one J.B. carries, though it is most likely the one by Israeli Military Industries
Adaptations
Film
Deathlands also made it to film in 2003 as a low-budget TV movie that aired on the Sci-Fi Channel. Deathlands: Homeward Bound stared Vincent Spano and Traci Lords. Ryan, Krysty, Jak were featured characters in the movie. Cannies, Sec Men, War Wag, and a Redoubt were depicted in the movie. The character Doc Tanner was mysteriously absent. Finding this movie for sale in the United States is incredibly difficult.
Audio
Many of the Deathlands and Outlanders novels have been adapted to an audio book format. These titles are produced by The Cutting Corporation and primarily targeted at long-distance drivers. With an average running time of nearly 8 hours, each of the books is a definite favorite of many OTR (long distance, over-the-road) truck drivers. The Cutting Corporation sets the Deathlands and Outlanders audio books apart from others by using a multicast. Each character has their own voice, and so makes it easy to picture the events from the book actually taking place. Music and background sound effects also accompany the sound track.
Related works
Outlanders series
Created in 1996 by Mark Ellis, Outlanders is the official spin-off series from Deathlands, although it established an identity distinct from Deathlands with the first novel, Exile To Hell. Outlanders provided a more expansive and complete backstory for the "Axlerverse" and the causes for the nuclear holocaust rather than relying on the "US VS. USSR" template.
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