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aphrael's review against another edition
3.0
pretty good toadtrip kind of story. I normally don't care much for post-apocalyptic stuff but this was nice and character driven. pretty brutal at some points but still has some of the dreamy prose you find in Amber as well.
trike's review against another edition
4.0
This movie came out the same year as Star Wars and Close Encounters. It doesn’t hold up as well, but 12-year-old me loved it. I immediately bought the book and loved that, too. It didn’t hurt that I lived in Dayton, Ohio, and the main character, Hell Tanner, had to drive around the radioactive crater that was Dayton. We were a prime target for Soviet nukes back in the day.
I still think this is a great passage:
I still think this is a great passage:
Something big and batlike swooped through the tunnel of his lights and was gone. He ignored its passage. Five minutes later it made a second pass, this time much closer, and he fired a magnesium flare. A black shape, perhaps forty feet across, was illuminated, and he gave it two five-second bursts from the fifty-calibers. It fell to the ground and did not return again.
To the squares, this was Damnation Alley. To Hell Tanner, this was still the parking lot.
williemeikle's review against another edition
4.0
I've been a Zelazny fan for more than 45 years now, and Damnation Alley was one of the first ones I read, back in around 1970. This was my first revisit to it for about 25 years, and I wish I'd done it sooner, for it's far, far, more than just a post apocalyptic tale of a biker's attempt to drive an armored truck across America.
There's moments of revelation for Hell, our anti-hero, there's poetic, majestic, sweeps in the grand Zelazny style, there's the Zelazny trademark musings on the dichotomy of the dark and the light, and on top of all that, there's action aplenty, all packed tight into a small neat package that starts fast and never slows.
I love it all over again. And yes, I'm pretty sure Hell was a prototype for Snake Plissen, in style, attitude and swagger.
One of the great post apocalyptic novels, and highly recommended.
There's moments of revelation for Hell, our anti-hero, there's poetic, majestic, sweeps in the grand Zelazny style, there's the Zelazny trademark musings on the dichotomy of the dark and the light, and on top of all that, there's action aplenty, all packed tight into a small neat package that starts fast and never slows.
I love it all over again. And yes, I'm pretty sure Hell was a prototype for Snake Plissen, in style, attitude and swagger.
One of the great post apocalyptic novels, and highly recommended.
valhecka's review against another edition
3.0
Sure, sure. The writing is weird - there are these beautiful (imo) stream-of-consciousness descriptive sections every forty pages or so, and in between it's almost only dialog and "he saw something. He shot it." Still effective (?) and I liked the ending. I understand why it's his least favorite novel-length work.
bev_reads_mysteries's review against another edition
4.0
I hadn't read anything by Zelazny since, oh, maybe 1981. I remember loving the short stories in The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth, but really couldn't tell you why I never went on to read anything else by him. I have The Last Defender of Camelot but it just sits in my TBR pile.
Absolutely enjoyed Alley--despite the raw, post-apocalyptic background and the anti-hero that was really hard to like. Is it better that a good man decline to do something for the right reasons or for a bad man to do something good for all the wrong reasons? Half-way through the story I was rooting for Hell Tanner to complete his mission even though I really didn't want him to earn his pardon. Tanner is not your usual hero. A convicted killer, cold-hearted rapist, and drug smuggler, Tanner is given the chance to have all his sins against the state forgiven if he will make the seemingly impossible cross-country journey from California to Boston to deliver much needed medication to a war-ravaged population suffering from plague. Tanner must cross through the radioactive desert, fight off giant bats and snakes, and ride out violent, unpredictable storms that can dump debris at any time in order to finish his journey.
Even though the subject matter is violent and dystopic, Zelazny writes with a power and poetry that is rare in such hard-nosed science fiction. His descriptions of the journey leave no doubt about the harsh realities Tanner faces, but draws you into the story and makes you a part of that reality. Four stars out of five on Visual Bookshelf.
Absolutely enjoyed Alley--despite the raw, post-apocalyptic background and the anti-hero that was really hard to like. Is it better that a good man decline to do something for the right reasons or for a bad man to do something good for all the wrong reasons? Half-way through the story I was rooting for Hell Tanner to complete his mission even though I really didn't want him to earn his pardon. Tanner is not your usual hero. A convicted killer, cold-hearted rapist, and drug smuggler, Tanner is given the chance to have all his sins against the state forgiven if he will make the seemingly impossible cross-country journey from California to Boston to deliver much needed medication to a war-ravaged population suffering from plague. Tanner must cross through the radioactive desert, fight off giant bats and snakes, and ride out violent, unpredictable storms that can dump debris at any time in order to finish his journey.
Even though the subject matter is violent and dystopic, Zelazny writes with a power and poetry that is rare in such hard-nosed science fiction. His descriptions of the journey leave no doubt about the harsh realities Tanner faces, but draws you into the story and makes you a part of that reality. Four stars out of five on Visual Bookshelf.
djotaku's review against another edition
3.0
This book is 100% perfect as an illustration of a story being about the journey and not the destination. Zelazny creates a world in which a nuclear war has created a nightmarish, hellish landscape with enormous creatures. Hell Tanner has to cross this wasteland to make a delivery.
This short story (or novella?) has a certain style of prose that harkens back to old genre fiction. Not quite Asimov levels, but not too far off either. I'm glad I read it, but I'm not in a hurry to recommend it.
Spoiler
When he finally makes it to Boston, we just do a jump-cut to a statue of him, signifying his journey saving Boston. But it's literally the last 1% or so of the book. The majority was just about getting there.This short story (or novella?) has a certain style of prose that harkens back to old genre fiction. Not quite Asimov levels, but not too far off either. I'm glad I read it, but I'm not in a hurry to recommend it.
takisam's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
acknud's review against another edition
4.0
I read this as a kid. I remember really liking it but not much else.
This Is a reread. I couldn't remember details so I reread it to reaffirm my 4 star rating. The rating stands. I enjoy Post-apocalyptic stories and the different paths they can follow. This is post nuclear and leans toward some of the scifi effects of radiation: lingering hot-pockets, mutations, altered weather, etc.
The US is split into different nations with most of the population on either coasts. The middle is essentially a dead no-mans land called Damnation Alley. Planes can't fly, the land roams with mutant animals and deadly weather, and the is no radio communication.
This Is a reread. I couldn't remember details so I reread it to reaffirm my 4 star rating. The rating stands. I enjoy Post-apocalyptic stories and the different paths they can follow. This is post nuclear and leans toward some of the scifi effects of radiation: lingering hot-pockets, mutations, altered weather, etc.
The US is split into different nations with most of the population on either coasts. The middle is essentially a dead no-mans land called Damnation Alley. Planes can't fly, the land roams with mutant animals and deadly weather, and the is no radio communication.
fil's review against another edition
3.0
This is my first foray into Zelazny territory, it was good. Nothing too deep here, just a good story with an interesting protagonist.
What was a big letdown was everything seemed rushed; the introduction of the main character, the description of the post-apocalyptic world they all live in, the cross-country trip and even the ending, which was also a foregone conclusion. Except for some robotic dialogue, nothing was wrong per se, I just felt it could have been developed a whole lot more, could have stood to be longer without compromising the story one bit.
What was a big letdown was everything seemed rushed; the introduction of the main character, the description of the post-apocalyptic world they all live in, the cross-country trip and even the ending, which was also a foregone conclusion. Except for some robotic dialogue, nothing was wrong per se, I just felt it could have been developed a whole lot more, could have stood to be longer without compromising the story one bit.
trevert's review against another edition
4.0
Basically "Escape from New York" 12 years before EFNY came out, laconic badass Hell Tanner is caught by the law and offered a choice - punishment for his mountain of crimes or drive a load of curative serum cross-country through irradiated post-apocalypse USA to plague-suffering Boston. The reluctant Tanner takes on the impossible job and heads out with a team of co-pilots and backup cars tasked with killing him if he tries to make a run for it. Cue one short but high-octane book full of giant animals, mutants, Mad Max biker gangs, and a whole lot of pedal-to-the-metal driving through Wasteland USA. The similarities between Snake Plissken and the quiet, ruthless, ex-military, ex-hero, ex-biker, ex-bank-robber Hell Tanner are amazing, right down to the people he meets along the way who have heard of him... and heard he was dead.
It's not rocket surgery but as a book, it's a blast and a half... Definitely recommended for anyone looking for some gritty action, 70's drive-in style.
It's not rocket surgery but as a book, it's a blast and a half... Definitely recommended for anyone looking for some gritty action, 70's drive-in style.