Posted By Maximus on 06 Feb 2012 10:04 AM
The mutie sniffer was a great idea.

This book is simply OUTSTANDING!!!  

It has got to be the best book written in years, or one of the best of of the last 25 of the series.

The author's understanding of the characters, equipment and their history was impressive.  Ryan's carving knife (flensing knife) hasn't been mentioned in at least 50 books.  Upgrading Ryan's rifle while giving him 2 guns was very well described and most of all, believeable.  It only took about 75 books for the upgrade, gee wiz.

The story itself was very well thought out.  It was a real page turner with a story line that was both realist and interesting.  The author showed a depth of knowledge on may subjects that I actually learned something new.  Hot sand--what a great idea!

This was a great read.  You'll like it.

The Book has arrived, all the Hail the Amazon

Review coming in the next week.

SPOILER ALERT

Well I finished it this morning and I have to say this for me was the Best DL Book I've read so far, the pace is breakneck, all main character's have a decent Backstory and the story is just Brilliant.                                                                                        I did'nt like two part's of the story, the Worm's and the Giant Eagle's but that is my own view, also I don't think Ryan would have spared the Grease Monkey at the End.

But I liked this story so much I've started reading Blood Harvest which was on my "To Read" shelf.Please Chuck write some more DL Gold.

P.S. If I find anything else that is slightly "left of center" I'll post it here.

*EDIT* I forgot to mention that our Iltis vehicle was produced by Bombardier.

Well, you can tell from my review that I knew DL fans would love this one.

Chuck did an amazing job, despite small hiccups, and a major host of editing issues throughout the book. But that is not his job, but his editors job to catch these.

But I will take all these small issues any day of the week if the writer shows his obvious love of this series and its characters and world. I wish this was the level of writing we got with every single issue.

Did you just call me "boy the man?"  ;P  Glad you liked it!

Posted By mikeclr on 22 Apr 2012 04:30 PM
When you think about it though doesn't Doc using "stars and garters" (an actual antiquated saying) make a heck of a lot more sense than "the three Kennedys"?

The fact is I could not in good conscience have Doc say "By the Three Kennedys!"  I wrote it out once and then immediately deleted it.  If I have the companions come out of a redoubt in Massachussetts and they find themselves captured by a Kennedy cult who dress Krysty up like Jackie-O and strap Ryan into the backseat of a remote controlled convertible Cadillac rolling towards a grassy knoll while the ville inhabitants cheer wildly in vintage "Mad Men" garb and JB cries out to an unlistening Deathlands that "The lone gunman theory is ballistically impossible!"  Sure, the LBJanite High Priest can intone "By The Three Kennedys . . . " as he takes off the parking break.  No problem.  (Not a bad idea for a book . . .) 

Doc saying it?  It makes no sense, and worse it's awkward and clearly contrived.  Since Doc is a living antique, when I write him I have him talk like one, so I usually go with "By my stars and garters!"  "Upon my soul!"  "Oh dear!" and when things go personally FUBAR for him, my favorite, a Winnie the Pooh worthy "Oh bother . . ." 

Posted By Chuck on 22 Apr 2012 05:14 PM

The fact is I could not in good conscience have Doc say "By the Three Kennedys!"  I wrote it out once and then immediately deleted it.  If I have the companions come out of a redoubt in Massachussetts and they find themselves captured by a Kennedy cult who dress Krysty up like Jackie-O and strap Ryan into the backseat of a remote controlled convertible Cadillac rolling towards a grassy knoll while the ville inhabitants cheer wildly in vintage "Mad Men" garb and JB cries out to an unlistening Deathlands that "The lone gunman theory is ballistically impossible!"  Sure, the LBJanite High Priest can intone "By The Three Kennedys . . . " as he takes off the parking break.  No problem.  (Not a bad idea for a book . . .) 

Doc saying it?  It makes no sense, and worse it's awkward and clearly contrived.  Since Doc is a living antique, when I write him I have him talk like one, so I usually go with "By my stars and garters!"  "Upon my soul!"  "Oh dear!" and when things go personally FUBAR for him, my favorite, a Winnie the Pooh worthy "Oh bother . . ." 

If you plan to remove all the contrivances from DL, you are in for a long dark night of the soul.

Personally, I always found these stupidities kind of endearing, like caring for a befuddled old auntie.

Posted By Chuck on 22 Apr 2012 05:14 PM

Doc saying it?  It makes no sense, and worse it's awkward and clearly contrived.  

That's why I had Lakesh refer to it in "Omega Path" as "A particularly vacuous expletive".

However, Terry Collins did come up with a halfway acceptable rationale for the phrase in "Dark Emblem."

Nope, no long dark tea time of the soul.  Just a tweak here and there.  I did Blood Harvest on a lark and it was a kick in the pants to write.  So was Hell Road Warriors.  We debate good and bad canon, but I personally believe that post apocalyptic fun is fun, and the fun potential in DL has barely been scratched.

Posted By Chuck on 22 Apr 2012 09:02 PM

Nope, no long dark tea time of the soul.  Just a tweak here and there.  I did Blood Harvest on a lark and it was a kick in the pants to write.  So was Hell Road Warriors.  We debate good and bad canon, but I personally believe that post apocalyptic fun is fun, and the fun potential in DL has barely been scratched.

Chuck,
I agree that writing DL is a lot more fun than writing Bolans because of the latitude it allows, but if I may, a suggestion based on a whole lot of water over the dam: if you enjoy writing in the post-apocalyptic genre, then do your own series, and do it ASAP. (That is, if you aren't writing it already. Insert winky face.) If you are as good as the posters here say, and I have no reason to doubt them, you deserve to step out from under the shadow of a long-dead Brit , a committee of Canadian bureaucrats, and a stable of ghosts who, from what the posters say, seem to not give a good goddamn about their product. (Either that, or the other ghosts have a firm grasp of the realities of the situation: do as little as you can to still get paid.)

To put it another way, if you can't help but write good books, you are wasted at GE. You need to publish books that you get royalties for; you need to build a backlist of original stuff. Writing for GE is like target shooting with blanks. It sounds good, but in the end it's all for nought.

AP

Now THAT's a punch in the GE gut!

Although they must deserve it, I for one am sooo glad that Chuck is serious in his work for DL.

I agree with AP, though. Would love to see both you fantastic writers, Chuck and AP, come out with their own creations in the sci-fi/action/adventure genre.

I would most certainly pay for each and every one of them.

Posted By Maximus on 22 Apr 2012 09:55 PM

Now THAT's a punch in the GE gut!

 

Much better.

Your interest in my work outside of DL is most pleasant to read.

Seconded. I was just thinking earlier today that I figured out why Pollotta's book are such crap - he gets paid regardless, so why bother putting forth the effort? I guess if you don't have any pride in your work and are just looking for a paycheck, that's the way to go, but still...

Re: the Three Kennedys thing: I was going to mention the book Doc was reading, but I forgot that that didn't appear until Dark Emblem. Doc never actually said "By the Three Kennedys!" in PtH (he said "Upon my soul!" once, and uses that one often). So much of what LJ wrote is a total mystery (and so much more makes little to no sense). Still, it's hard to go against 25 years of established "canon", even if you want to try to make sense of things. You'd be better off going the route Mark Ellis did and just write a new series.

Posted By Jax2 on 23 Apr 2012 01:01 PM
When Eva Kovacs was the DL editor, she made an effort to turn DL into a legitimate SF series taking place in a legitimate SF universe with its own rules and history that at least leaned in the direction of making sense and rising above the lowest common denominator.

Once she was ousted, the editor who took over put a stop to all of that because it went against his belief that the main audience for DL was "Over the road truck drivers with fourth grade educations."

And the reason I put that statement in quotes is because it IS a quote. It's exactly what he said to me.

Definitely a disgusting thing to say. Elitist. Lazy. Personally revealing. But IMHO, and in my experience, both the blame and the praise should be watered down. Nobody at GE ever told me how I should write DL. What kinds of stories or linkages between other authors' books I should create. I was just handed a few of LJ's  DLs and told, "Here, do it."  No one at GE ever criticized how I wrote DL. If the editor after Eva put a stop to anything, I knew nothing about it. (Although he did cut my pay by ten percent.) As far as I could tell, the helm was unmanned while the GE supertanker plowed full speed ahead.

And I would never, have never written less than my best.

Posted By Jax2 on 23 Apr 2012 01:01 PM


Once she was ousted, the editor who took over put a stop to all of that because it went against his belief that the main audience for DL was "Over the road truck drivers with fourth grade educations."

And the reason I put that statement in quotes is because it IS a quote. It's exactly what he said to me.

I agree, that is an elitist and revealing statement to make, I am glad that the majority of author's who have worked on the series have done their best I am sure, as AP and Chuck and others have done despite the attitude the chief editor had.

Wow! What an eyeopener you authors are telling us!

What a bloody shame, too.

I disagree with that statement that new editor said. It depends on the writer.

AP's was always intelligent and as solid a sci-fi read as most sci-fi books I get into. I average between 2 to 3 books of mostly sci-fi and fantasy a week. Some James Rollins thrown in, as well as other fiction writers like Johnathan Maberry's Joe Ledger series.

And Chuck Roger's DL is well written and thought out, too.

But with all due respect to Polatta: Sorry sir, but you just seem to throw together a gaggle of characters with tons of wanton boring action scenes, and seem to see what happens. As a pretty astute reader, I can kinda tell he doesn't care, much like fellow fan Phantom wrote. Just a paycheck to him.

Posted By AP on 23 Apr 2012 12:40 AM

Much better.

Your interest in my work outside of DL is most pleasant to read.

 

On that note, are you writing anything at the moment?

I loved Cannibal Moon, so get cracking

Silentalbino, ya gotta be kidding me? REALLY?

I couldn't even finish that book. Did I give up too soon, then? 

Sorry, but I'm calling shananigans on that statement.

I just went back and read the reviews on that book. Besides your name, I never seen nor heard of those others.

Hmmm, where are they hiding out now...?

Posted By Maximus on 24 Apr 2012 09:39 PM

Sorry, but I'm calling shananigans on that statement.

 

I just went back and read the reviews on that book. Besides your name, I never seen nor heard of those others.

 

Hmmm, where are they hiding out now...?

Posted By silentalbino on 24 Apr 2012 10:44 PM

Posted By Maximus on 24 Apr 2012 09:39 PM

Sorry, but I'm calling shananigans on that statement.

 

I just went back and read the reviews on that book. Besides your name, I never seen nor heard of those others.

 

Hmmm, where are they hiding out now...?

I stand by my statement sir. That's because all of the other reviewers were my evil alias.

No, I was quite serious.

I consider meself a pretty good judge of character, insofar as spotting a good writer when I read one.

Polatta hasn't given me a good DL book to read in a long, long, long, long, time.

Although everyone is entitled to their personal opinion, it just seems that most people agree with my assessment of that particular writer.

If that particular book is really a great DL, please tell me how this particular tome was that: one of the best DL.

Bloody relax, dude. Take a chill pill.

Trust me, if I was calling you out - you'd know, plainly.

I am merely flabbergasted that ANYONE in the last decade liked ANY of this particular author's DL work.

Since I do TRY all of the DL books, I haven't been able to really enjoy that author's work since the first half of MOONFEAST. And Tainted Cascade began so horribly in so many ways, from grammar to just plain terrible action sequence set-up, that I didn't even make it through the 3rd chapter of that one.

And don't EVEN get me started on Prodigal's Return.

Arrrghghg!

Finished this a month ago, actually read it twice. And I hadn't done that with a DL book for a looong time.

Very well written, really enjoyed the worms and the guardian poodles.

Tis a shame that I am now staring at my new copy of Watersleep but not wanting to read it as I know it won't compare...

They were a shameless salute to a certain Canadian editor/poodle-rancher and her pack o' beasts!

"That dog get's steak for dinner" I appreciated that most of all as you made Ryan so much aware of the dog's saving his ass TWICE.

I would also vote to have some kind of animal a part of the DL group. It would be pretty cool for at least a few books before someone chills it.

And I really, really appreciate that, Chuck!

I live to serve . . .

MMMnnnnnn... Lamprey pie..

gross.

I hear it's absolutely delicious.  I put them in the book because I read an article that they have swum up the canal and are doing real damage to the fish population in the Great Lakes and are proving very difficult to eradicate.  So I mutated them up for the book, threw in some poodles, and Bob's your Uncle! 

Chuck, you are a God-send!

Your DL books have raised the bar.

Can you at least give us a wee hint of what idea is running through your head for the next one?

I would LOVE to see how you would pen an Outlanders book. I'd bet the farm that you would place that series back on track. Man, if you did that, you'd be the top-dog writer in this group ever to do so.

Posted By Chuck on 07 Jun 2012 04:22 AM

I hear it's absolutely delicious.  I put them in the book because I read an article that they have swum up the canal and are doing real damage to the fish population in the Great Lakes and are proving very difficult to eradicate.  So I mutated them up for the book, threw in some poodles, and Bob's your Uncle! 

I hear you. Here in Maine they are in the local paper quite often actually, invading the streams and damns. Allthough I believe they were also mentioned in Dectra chain or another DL seafayer adventure... I don't recall which one. But I seem to remember "Swimming with the Lamprey's!" as an on-going theme.

Also I have an uncle named Bob. He's 91

Wrapping the latest one up as we speak!

Posted By Chuck on 11/4/2013 6:15:02 PM

Wrapping the latest one up as we speak!

Posted By Chuck on 11/4/2013 6:15:02 PM

Wrapping the latest one up as we speak!

Hell yeah

Lordy, that is the one I cannot wait for!

Please, Mr. Rogers, can u give us something of what this one is about?

A working title?

A hint of something...?  

Now see, that sounds interesting already. Instead of the typical 'Big Bad Baron' storyline.

I would love to read super-fresh storylines by this rate in the very long running series.

I can only imagine how hard it must be at this juncture for the writers you pen untouched territory.

Or, maybe it is not hard. There is SO much untouched areas of the world - and beyond! - that the writers can tap into. (Would love to see the companions go back to Mars!) A serious sci-fi storyline such as this one, where the original author had the companions transported to early on in the series, where Ryan spotted something akin to a giant Dune-like worm coming at him from beneath the red sands, I would really dig to read about.

Or, how about a storyline in which the companions really and finally run out of ammo, and finally for the first time in the entire series, are forced to rely on their wits, blades, and muscle in a story in which they have to battle against the old-fashioned strange weather patterns, a new mutie threat, and just a Bones to Balls out survival gritty storyline of old. Huh?

 And of course, the chron-jumps could really breath much needed fresh air into this series, making that sci-fi aspect work more magical storylines infused into it.

Posted By Maximus on 11/5/2013 10:31:49 AM

Lordy, that is the one I cannot wait for!

 

You can always check out one of his Executioner titles in the meantime, even if you don't read the series, it might be worth your while to try one of them to sample some Chucky goodness. 

Id pay extra for at least two Chuck Rogers DL's a year.

So far, with just two in the slot, Chuck's writing style and overall approach to the series is utterly amazing to read. Cannot wait to see the cover art and get me hands on that one.