Deathlands Books In Order

Publication Order of Deathlands Books

The “Deathlands” series written by James Axler (pen name of Laurence James) started as a joint project with James and Christopher Lowder (writing as Jack Adrian) on the first book. Lowder became sick after writing a lot of the book and developing the plot, Axler finished the story up.

After that, James wrote the books by himself until his health started failing and he had to leave the series in the year 1995. The last book with James writing was “Crucible of Time”, which was released in the year 1998. He would later die in the year 2000 and other authors have written books in the series, like Mark Ellis, who wrote the first novel after James left the project (which was called “Stoneface”, which is book 34 in the series).

Mark Ellis is also the creator of “Outlanders”, which is an official spin off from this series.

The series began in the year 1986, when “Pilgramage to Hell” was released. Some of the books can be read as stand alone works, but others are dependent on previous books. There are some trilogies within the series.

The series was adapted for a television movie that aired on SciFi Channel called “Deathlands: Homeward Bound”.

“Pilgramage to Hell” is the first novel in the “Deathlands” series and was released in the year 1986. The day of a president being inaugurated (in the year 2001), a one-megaton blast tore through the Soviet embassy, which is located in Washington, D. C. More explosions followed, all over the world that would change the course of Earth forever. From the ruins come the Deathlands, which is a world that conspires to keep humans from their survival.

In the destroyed heart of what is now the new America, a team of women and men seek to get away from the scary wastes and mutate forms of life that is their nuclear hell. There are three warriors that go off to the rumored safe haven that is supposed to be in the mountains. The warriors are Ryan Cawdor (the intelligent one), J. B. Dix (the armorer of the group), and Krysty Wroth (who is a beauty and an enigma). The goal of their journey is to find out secrets about the prewar experiments that might have the answer of survival in this new world called the Deathlands.

Fans of the novel found this exceeded their expectations quite a bit. It was a well crafted, and tightly plotted action adventure; the setting of this was full realized. These are a group of believable characters that keep things going. Some felt like they had to read the next bunch, after this one ended on a cliffhanger.

“Red Holocaust” is the second novel in the “Deathlands” series and was released in the year 1986. Survival in a world filled with radioactive red dust from a nuclear war leaves people looking for stores of weapons, food, and technology the preholocaust people left in redoubts, which are lonely outposts.

Ryan Cawdor finds a redoubt in what used to be Alaska, he finds a threat to the new America.

Some of the survivors have gone across the the Bering Strait to get all that they can from Alaska as they start to plan their attack on America. The war for domination has concluded, but the fight to survive has just started.

Some are hooked on this series already, after just two of the books, and wish that they had gotten into these books much sooner. Fans of the novel found this to be a great way to spend some time before it is time to go to bed. This is quite the series to follow, as it makes you fly through one, and pick up the next one just as quickly.

“Neutron Solstice” is the third novel in the “Deathlands” series and was released in the year 1987. Louisiana has become a fetid and sullen
place that has a lot of swamps that have become impenetrable and horribly mutated wildlife. Above all of these gnarled bayous, radioactive red dust that fly across the sky during nuclear winds. Below there is thick mud that will pull on men’s boots. Biting acid rain falls on whomever is left, which comes from boiling winds out from the Gulf.

The now reeking swampland that used to be Mississippi basin, bombs have made barren cities for the tiny groups of strongly opposed survivors. Ryan and his companions find a group that try to return the world to the way it was before the bombs. They face off against a feudal lord that would rather wipe them all out.

The lead in this adds a depth of vileness and darkness that has not yet been seen in this series, up to this point. Fans of the novel found this to be right up at the top of the best books from this series that they have read. Here is a great example of men’s fiction that will keep you focused only on this for the duration. These are great pulp adventures that some cannot stay away from for very long.

“Crater Lake” is the fourth novel in the “Deathlands” series and was released in the year 1987. Near what used to be the Pacific Northwest, Ryan and his band of survivors find a gorgeous valley that seems to be untouched by any of the blasts.

They have to resist temptation to settle in the picturesque land, the group is captured and taken into an extinct volcano. Here, there is an isolated community of some in-bred scientists that are working blindly to figure out some better ways to commit genocide. They do not yet know that the world they want to slaughter is dead already.

Some felt this was their favorite book out of the entire series. Fans feel that when they pick up one of these books, they have a hard time putting it back down again for very long. Once they have finished, they have to pick up the next one and read it quickly. This served as a fun read that had the usual things that some enjoy when they read these books. It is great to join these heroes on their journey, while they find all kinds of interesting things.