Customer Rating: 
Summary: Pretty vile stuff
Comment: I am not a fan of DL in the first place but I have read some books in this interminable series that I actually enjoyed.Skydark Spawn is not of them. It exemplies everything that I find repugnant in the series...stupid heroes, mindless bimbo female characters, a string of cliches' instead of plot, gratuitous violence and a fixation on bottom of the barrel..
This one seems to be more of a peephole into the writer's psyche in regards to how he views women rather than a book.
Although Skydark Spawn has "Science Fiction" printed on the spine, it was more like a soft-core novel aimed at teenage boys. There were no science fiction elements that I could see.
A pretty vile book all the way around.
After reading this, I told my husband that he'd better switch to reading only Outlanders and stop defiling our home with crud like DL unless he brings it home with the pages processed, perforated and on a roll!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money!
Comment: Is the real James Axler dead? This series should be! This is one of the worst, but the last dozen or so have all been pretty rotten. Don't waste your money!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money!
Comment: Is Don Pendleton dead? This series should be! This is one of the worst, but the last dozen or so have all been pretty rotten. Don't waste your money!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Looks like Deathlands is in a "Rut".
Comment: It looks like Gold Eagle needs to be doin' some chillin' in regards to the writers they pick to write these books.
Fireblast awful. Simply awful.As of late, the Deathland books have been following a pretty lame formula.
1) Group arrives at a redoubt.
2) Group searches redoubt for weapons/food/...etc.
3) Everyone leaves redoubt to figure out where they are.
4) Firefight with abligatory mutie.
5) Cutscene to crazed oppressive baron.
6) Ryan and Co. either:
all get captured
Half the group gets captured
Dean gets captured
all get hired as crazed baron's head of sec
7) Dean exclaims "Hot Pipe!" about 10-20 times.
8) Barron plots Ryan and Co demise.
9) Ryan or someone from the group figure out they're in trouble and plot to take out barron and/or henchmen/sec force.
10) Lots of firefights
11) Barron and/or sec force meets grisley demise.
12) Dean exaclaims "Hot Pipe!" a few more times to boot.
13) Ryan and Co head back to redoubt. Ryan and Krysty wonder if they'll ever find a place to settle down. Like how many times have they had this conversation already and not acted upon it?
Skydark Spawn falls into this formula as Ryan and the women-folk get kidnapped by Barron Fox and his sec force to be used in a breeding farm for babies. Okay, sounds somewhat interesting, and probably would be more interesting if this plot device hasn't been used about 10-15 times already. Also the author of this book has some form of misconception that gritty (Thats what a true Deathlands book is) is equal to pornography.
The portrayal of sex in this book, I'd have to equate with that of a teenage boys masterbatory fantasies. Granted the Barron is a twisted pervert, but the amount of time and embellishment the author spends on the twisted sex supercedes the plot and pacing of the story.
All through the story we're treated to people forced to perform oral sex, people forced into rape situations, cut scenes of the Barron flipping through skin mags, sec people waving their gentials and fighting in the nude. What exactly is going through Gold Eagle's mind here?
Also, what was the point of the side story with the fishing village looking for new breeding material? A pointless plot device that goes nowhere in the story and its contribution to the ending of the story seemed very rushed. Its as if the author ran out of new offensive sexual situations and had to figure out a quick way to end the story.
If Skydark Spawn is the example of the "New and Improved" Deathlands, then Gold Eagel, you have pretty much killed the series for Deathlands fans.
My recommendation is to skip this book and opine for the good all days when Laurence James wrote these books.
Customer Rating:
Summary: SKYDARK SPAWN FALLS SHORT!
Comment: This newest installment of the once-legendary series is a step up from the previous couple of past novels, but still manages to fall short of its previous greatness that it once had.
Again, we have a new writer who gives us a depraved and darkly sexual setting that DEATHLANDS has been known to have.
The idea of the overall storyline was simple and been done before. The characters were done pretty well this time, but I hated the fact that Ryan seems to ask the person he's getting ready to kill if they want to die first. Stupid. Ryan Cawdor is a chilling machine first and foremost!
The interesting part of this story was when Krysty and Ryan's relationship is put into jeapardy when she is captured as a sexual slave for the local barons delight. The writer totally forgot that Krysty has the power of the Earth Mother to call upon, another writer who just throws a great time utilize this extremely interesting power - and chooses not too.
Again, this particular writer forgets all about utilizing the nuke crazy weather to build great setting. This, along with Krysty's power, has been tossed aside to make for yet another forgettable tale.
There were a lot of editing mistakes that were overlooked here. Ryan just comes up with weapons and a spyglass that he couldn't possibly possess at that particular time in the story.
Oh, God, please make this tremendously once-awesome series come back in its full capacity with talented writers.
I know quite a few writers out there that have made this series shine at one time or another. Please Gold Eagle, pay the jack required to get these talented writers - ones such as Mark Ellis to bring back the awesome adventures yet to be explored in the DEATHLANDS universe.
