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A review by zare_i
Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny
4.0
Story here is pretty straight-forward. Our protagonist needs to transport life saving drug from US West Coast to East Coast. He needs to be hard as nails and capable in order to cross the distance in shortest possible time using a heavily armored and armed vehicle. Reason for such a vehicle, you ask? Well time is (maybe unfortunately not so far) future, world after the thermonuclear war where almost everything is destroyed and glowing in the dark due to the weapons unleashed.
So, when you look at the premise, it does not sound much different than say Snake Plissken or Mad Max stories - it is story of a lone cowboy moving around and helping people in need. And you would be right if it weren't for the fact that our protagonist, Hell Tanner, is everything but a nice guy. Last gang banger, apparently from Hells Angels, lone survivor of the great Raid during which Angels were eliminated he is given an option - help East Coast by transporting the ever needed drug to them or end up and die in jail.
Of course, Hell accepts the mission, tries to evade the actual engagement (start of the novel is something that was copied in the Escape from New York) but eventually accepts the mission and starts the voyage.
Hell is very nasty piece of business, involved with biker gangs from early age and doing some very disturbing things - from murder to smuggling to human trafficking and exploitation. You name it he definitely did it. Clad in leather clothes and missing his biker equipment (much of it neo-Nazi WW2 SS equipment) he is something that would terrify today's PCs. He smokes, he drinks, he is ready to get into fight more on the instinctive level - to make sure everyone around him recognizes him as a killer.
His instinct and knowledge of the road and dangers ahead will greatly help him. But what will change him is the voyage itself.
And this is the thing - this is not just story of the voyage but how voyage changes the man, even someone as dangerous and criminally oriented as Hell. And for me this was unexpected and interesting part of the story. Hell, initially treating everyone else as tool, people he owns nothing to as he likes to say, starts to change as he comes across various people that try to save their humanity and what remains of their society. People ready to help, especially those they see as people able to link these now remote societies with each other and thus enable them to trade, cooperate and try to find the way out of the disaster they found themselves in. This voyage across the Damnation Alley (route through the central US) will change Hell to a degree he did not expect himself. And Hell's internal change follows the actual changes in the environment as he approaches the destination, where he will encounter the greatest challenge on the road, huge nomad biker gangs.
While ending is what one might expect from rough rider, although he attempts to downplay his role, Hell is definitely not the same person from the beginning of the story.
Very interesting, fast paced story. Release I read has no chapters story is split across paragraphs following Hell and those showing devastation caused by plague on the US East Coast. Even without chapter structure story was pretty well paced and kept my attention to the end (I have to admit I thought it would be more disconcerting considering that there are no logical divisions of the story - I was wrong, it worked like a charm here).
Highly recommended to fans of action and adventure, especially fans of SF dystopia like Mad Max and adventures of Snake Plissken, with bigger than life armored vehicles and bikes that pack quite a few surprises.
So, when you look at the premise, it does not sound much different than say Snake Plissken or Mad Max stories - it is story of a lone cowboy moving around and helping people in need. And you would be right if it weren't for the fact that our protagonist, Hell Tanner, is everything but a nice guy. Last gang banger, apparently from Hells Angels, lone survivor of the great Raid during which Angels were eliminated he is given an option - help East Coast by transporting the ever needed drug to them or end up and die in jail.
Of course, Hell accepts the mission, tries to evade the actual engagement (start of the novel is something that was copied in the Escape from New York) but eventually accepts the mission and starts the voyage.
Hell is very nasty piece of business, involved with biker gangs from early age and doing some very disturbing things - from murder to smuggling to human trafficking and exploitation. You name it he definitely did it. Clad in leather clothes and missing his biker equipment (much of it neo-Nazi WW2 SS equipment) he is something that would terrify today's PCs. He smokes, he drinks, he is ready to get into fight more on the instinctive level - to make sure everyone around him recognizes him as a killer.
His instinct and knowledge of the road and dangers ahead will greatly help him. But what will change him is the voyage itself.
And this is the thing - this is not just story of the voyage but how voyage changes the man, even someone as dangerous and criminally oriented as Hell. And for me this was unexpected and interesting part of the story. Hell, initially treating everyone else as tool, people he owns nothing to as he likes to say, starts to change as he comes across various people that try to save their humanity and what remains of their society. People ready to help, especially those they see as people able to link these now remote societies with each other and thus enable them to trade, cooperate and try to find the way out of the disaster they found themselves in. This voyage across the Damnation Alley (route through the central US) will change Hell to a degree he did not expect himself. And Hell's internal change follows the actual changes in the environment as he approaches the destination, where he will encounter the greatest challenge on the road, huge nomad biker gangs.
While ending is what one might expect from rough rider, although he attempts to downplay his role, Hell is definitely not the same person from the beginning of the story.
Very interesting, fast paced story. Release I read has no chapters story is split across paragraphs following Hell and those showing devastation caused by plague on the US East Coast. Even without chapter structure story was pretty well paced and kept my attention to the end (I have to admit I thought it would be more disconcerting considering that there are no logical divisions of the story - I was wrong, it worked like a charm here).
Highly recommended to fans of action and adventure, especially fans of SF dystopia like Mad Max and adventures of Snake Plissken, with bigger than life armored vehicles and bikes that pack quite a few surprises.