Deathlands

"Pilgrimage to Hell", the first novel in the series

The Deathlands is a series of novels published by Gold Eagle Publishing. The first novel 'Pilgrimage to Hell' was first published in 1986. This 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 then 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.

Plot

On the morning of January 20, 2001 the climax of the Cold War set the post-apocalyptic stage for the series. The end game began with a pre-emptive strike on Washington. Underground nuclear bombs were detonated from within the basement of the Soviet embassy, by an elite group of Spetsnaz operatives, destroying the central command structure and political system of the United States. For a indefinite period of time a nuclear exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union devastated both countries and subsequently the entire planet (but little details are known outside both countries). All manner of genetic contagions were released infecting the survivors of the firestorm with horrible illnesses. The remaining survivors lived harshly during a time of prolonged nuclear winter known as 'Sky Dark'. The geography, climate, and ecosystems of the world had changed dramatically. What was left of the United States came to be known as the Deathlands.

100 years later civilization begins again: 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: Jack (a regional currency), Jolt (a hallucinogenic mixture of Mescaline and Heroin) 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 all; success is often measured by the number of bullets he or she possesses. A man named Ryan Cawdor leads a group of companions across the deathlands. Ryan has extremely secret knowledge of the 20th century. The understanding of hidden underground complexes, known as redoubts, that contains Teleportation technology. He and this companions guard this knowledge with their lives. The technology is called MAT-TRANS.

Each novel usually begins with the companions arriving at a frequently unknown redoubt by MAT-TRANS. If the situation is impossible or hostile the companions can use the "last destination" feature of the transporter to return to the sending location. If the redoubt is unknown then the companions usually explore, looking for weapons and supplies which they rarely find. Sometimes they are lucky and find a working shower or stored food which they always utilize or take. The story picks up speed once the characters leave the redoubt and explore the surrounding countryside. Frequently the companions are captured or forced into a confrontation with the local barons. Each novel reveals a little of the characters' history, motivations and the regional location where they arrived.

Main characters

Ryan Cawdor

• 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 (slang for killed) or set free from a tyrannical baron. Ryan prefers wagon 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. He wears a white scarf that serves as a weighted garrote which is often overlooked when he is stripped of his weapons. His hair is black, thick and curly. His most distinct features are a white scar running down the side of his face and a black eye patch over his damaged eye. His visage earned him the name 'One Eye Chills' by the native American tribesmen. While traveling with the Trader he has gained a large amount of combat experience. 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 attacks 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 a baron. Ryan is disdainful of both science and religion. He almost always speaks about the pre-war scientists poorly, calling them 'White Coats'. Doc Tanner has consistently painted a picture of pre-war scientists as ruthless in their quest for knowledge. Throughout his travels he has seen a few videos and photos from the 20th century. He knows that life before sky dark was full of technology, food and people living in large cities. He is always looking for fragments of pre-war life. While living at Front Royal, he learned to read, although he almost never reads for pleasure, as he regards this as a bittersweet reminder of his life there. He is 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 mutant who he killed with a worn old Armalite AR-18 rifle. Some time later, Ryan killed a man in a heated argument over the ownership of a horse. He was about to be executed in a public hanging, but a sultry woman from the mob claimed that she saw the whole thing and managed to persuade the crowd to leave him alone. After the crowd disbanded and the situation was defused his guardian became that same woman. She had sex with him each night as payment for saving his life. His father, Lord Titus Cawdor, was killed in an attempted power grab by another citizen. Lord Titus was murdered by his second wife Rachel while intoxicated on the drug Jolt. His older brother Morgan was killed that same night. Ryan resents his brother for playing a poor part in his upbringing. Ryan was forced to flee Front Royal from his second brother, Harvey, who had seized power in a coup. Wounded, he headed for the back country of Virginia to escape his brother. Ryan went 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. 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

• Krysty Wroth Beauty is rare in the Deathlands, usually only found in the wives of barons and occasionally in a gaudy house (slang for Brothel). 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, and her physical strength was even greater. Tyas McCann, her uncle, raised her for most of her adolescent life at a small ville 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 pre-dark 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 she and Ryan can settle down and raise children, yet her wanderlust drives her forward.

John Barrymore Dix

• John Barrymore Dix (a.k.a. J. B.), 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 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 is “Hot pipe!” Nobody really knows what the saying means. Dean is the son of 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 pre-dark 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 poisoning. 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 (in Crossways) to receive a formal education leaving the series and returns in Mars Arena. Later in the series Dean is no longer present. He is lured into a MAT-TRANS chamber by Sharona and teleported to an unknown redoubt. This event happens in the book Separation and since has not returned to the series.

• 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 his skills at cunning and brutality he earned the nickname, "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 tarred, burned and hanging from a flag pole. Briefly, he left the group to get married for a time, then rejoined them after his wife Christina and daughter Jenni were brutally murdered at his New Mexico homestead.

Dr. Mildred Winona Wyeth

• 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 an operation almost killed her. Mildred falls under the groups moniker 'Freezie' which is used to describe the few individuals who had been awoken from their pre-dark 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 computer-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 pre-dark culture.

• Dr. Theophilus Algernon Tanner (a.k.a. Doc), Born February 14, 1868, South Strafford, Vermont. Doctor of Science Harvard University. Doctor of Philosophy Oxford University, England. Married June 17, 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 from Baron Jordan Teague and Court Strasser, Sec boss of Moxin Wyoming, by Ryan. Doc suffers from an extreme case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which dominates his very being and is often aggravated by MAT-TRANS jumps. He carries a LeMat and for quite some time he also carried an unidentified Webley shotgun.

• Trader It all started with the Trader. If there was a way, he'd find it: over, under, around or through. A wise man who never read a book in his life, he preferred the lessons of life on the road. The Trader was a demanding leader who was often seen barking orders while puffing on a cigar. Short silvery hair and a persistent five o'clock shadow gave him a wise yet intimidating presence. He always had a one-liner for everything. With a raspy voice he was often heard growling, “I'll be hung, dried, quartered, and left for the crows!” The Trader's world was black and white, so all strangers were enemies until proven otherwise. Uphold your end of the bargain and the goods were yours but cross him and take your last breath. Trader was born around 40 years after Sky Dark. As a young man, the Trader lived many desperate nights struggling to survive relentless chemical storms and starvation. He confronted all manner of hostilities both human and nonhuman. Though these struggles he learned the art of the bargain; he knew what people needed and what they would pay for it. The Trader's life hid a collection of secrets that was told to no one. Some say he lived by his secrets so much that he had forgotten his name. After all no one else knew it; not even Ryan Cawdor. His only friend: the battle worn Armalite (AR-15) rifle, which was always by his side. His travels eventually lead him into the company of Marsh Folsam. Folsam had been running a sort of apocalyptic treasure hunt for the stockpile all barons dreamed of; high-end 20th century military hardware: missiles, tanks, grenades, and possibly even a nuke. The Trader's muscle and Marsh's intuition proved successful and what they found took their breath away. The cache contained the keystone of Trader's capabilities: War Wagon 1 and Leviathan. The war wag's original purpose was a US Army Mobile Command Center. Packed inside the control center was cutting edge 20th century computer hardware; all gutted to allow for greater weapon and crew support. The war wag could hold around 10 fighters with accompanying supplies and weaponry. The Trader had the monstrosity outfitted with weapon ports, 50 caliber machine guns, rockets, tank tracks and all manner of traps. The Trader's convoy was legendary, feared by all mutants with a shred of sanity yet envied by all barons that set eyes on his hardware. From this great stock pile, Marsh and the Trader's power grew unparalleled in the Deathlands. Little did the most envious baron realize that even if you killed the Trader and his men the war wags could never be stolen. J.B. Dix secretly rigged them to explode in a furious cloud of plastic explosives and shrapnel if the appropriate measures were not taken. The Trader's convoy traveled the entire Deathlands and he knew the landscape and the villes quite well. He knew the dreams of a lost paradise were a lie. There was no paradise in the Deathlands; just shades of desperation and corruption. Over his travels he discovered a few more stockpiles from various clues left at each location, but such finds were rare. After the Trader's departure in Pilgrimage to Hell, Ryan began his own travels. All that the Trader left behind was an enigmatic goodbye note. He mysteriously walked off into the frigid land of the Darks to die in desperation from that radiation sickness that had overtaken him. Many months after his supposed death the rumors began. Eventually Ryan and JB meet up with the Trader in Trader Redux; an amazing reunion that quickly becomes strained with a power struggle between Ryan and the Trader that almost climaxed into mutual death. Once the Trader realized he wasn't the leader of the pack any more he left Ryan behind in Shadowfall. His fate is never known to any except the reviled Straub which he takes with him to his death in Circle Thrice. It was said that once Trader was asked if he had any enemies. He replied "No," he didn't. None that were living..."

Series history

The 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 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.

Adaptations

Jenya Lano, Vincent Spano, Cliff Saunders, and Nathan Carter in Deathlands: Homeward Bound

Deathlands also made it to film in 2003 as a low-budget TV movie that aired on the Sci-Fi Channel. Deathlands: Homeward Bound starred Vincent Spano and Traci Lords. Ryan, Krysty, J.B., and Jak were featured characters in the movie. Cannies, Sec Men, War Wag, and a Redoubt were depicted in the movie. The characters of Doc Tanner and Lori Quint were absent.

Many of the Deathlands and Outlanders novels have been adapted to the Graphic Audio audio book format. The Deathands Saga was initially produced by Random House Audio. While Random House still exists, the Random House Audio division went under and the Saga was never completed. Currently these titles are produced by The Cutting Corporation and are called Graphic Audio. They are 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, setting their productions apart from most normal audio-books.

Related works

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.

See also

Novels portal

• List of Deathlands novels

External links

• Deathlands: Homeward Bound at the Internet Movie Database
• Deathlands series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Official James Axler site
• Official Mark Ellis site
• GraphicAudio Books Dramatized audio adaptations of Deathlands & Outlanders