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Damnation Alley
Contains an additional 24 pages of still photos from the movie.
Survival run...across a nuclear wasteland, where rampaging winds sweep the ruins of civilization over the charred plains & shattered mountains of America. Where huge bats battle gigantic butterflies in the contaminated rubble of barren cities & where armies of madmen crucify scientists along the deserted highways.
Damnation Alley. Where a handful of survivors pilot their awesome, fire-breating machine on a coast-to-coast trek thru a world gone to hell.
Survival run...across a nuclear wasteland, where rampaging winds sweep the ruins of civilization over the charred plains & shattered mountains of America. Where huge bats battle gigantic butterflies in the contaminated rubble of barren cities & where armies of madmen crucify scientists along the deserted highways.
Damnation Alley. Where a handful of survivors pilot their awesome, fire-breating machine on a coast-to-coast trek thru a world gone to hell.
193 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 14, 1968
65 people are currently reading
3099 people want to read
About the author
Roger Zelazny
747 books3,891 followersRoger Joseph Zelazny was an American fantasy and science fiction writer known for his short stories and novels, best known for The Chronicles of Amber. He won the Nebula Award three times (out of 14 nominations) and the Hugo Award six times (also out of 14 nominations), including two Hugos for novels: the serialized novel ...And Call Me Conrad (1965), subsequently published under the title This Immortal (1966), and the novel Lord of Light (1967).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 402 reviews
May 18, 2023
In some unstated date in the future, a three day war occurred, not a long one by historical standards, but bad enough.....Missiles fall on the Earth and life virtually ceases as civilization collapses. Apparently around twenty or thirty years later, the few people still alive are struggling to survive the catastrophe. This is when Hell Tanner (real name) a biker, gangster, killer all around bad guy gets a pardon. He will be free as an eagle and that bird which soared in the unlimited sky, is no longer in existence, neither is the United States (just a few petty states), from grim prison. Hell only loves his motorcycle however he has just lost it.There is a catch of course, go from Los Angeles to Boston the only relatively large populations, left in the whole world. Bringing serum to plague infested Boston, otherwise no more bean town,they need it very soon like yesterday... Damnation Alley, the name of the territory between the cities, it's called that for a very good reason, a very good reason indeed. A vast nuclear wasteland with endless sand dunes, debris scattered everywhere, high radiation not the good kind and unforgiving fierce winds, myriad craters, active threatening volcanoes, swirling tornadoes, deformed vicious huge animals, nasty biker gangs ready to kill for fun."Let's roll," someone says and three cars start on the long suicide journey through the infernal land. Hell Tanner has a great car with everything in it, including a flame thrower, guns, grenade launchers and bulletproof armored plated, like a formidable tank. The vehicle can do anything but fly above and through the perilous air, fortunately the possible people .. ....
those threatened passengers; this would kill you quickly.The strange deserts and weirder "plants' dominate the terrain, pink skies turning blue soon after in the radioactive atmosphere, even an inland sea give this an alien planet feeling. Fantastic storms dropping rocks that can crush you like you were a paper tiger, complete darkness in the middle of the day.The worst part Tanner and his partner Greg see is the dead cities...And they don't stop to look, to afraid , but love the purple sky over Utah. This may be just another dystopian novel, still a very exciting book, better than the quirky, yet entertaining Damnation Alley film. Science fiction fans will devour the material and become absorbed in the story of survival.
those threatened passengers; this would kill you quickly.The strange deserts and weirder "plants' dominate the terrain, pink skies turning blue soon after in the radioactive atmosphere, even an inland sea give this an alien planet feeling. Fantastic storms dropping rocks that can crush you like you were a paper tiger, complete darkness in the middle of the day.The worst part Tanner and his partner Greg see is the dead cities...And they don't stop to look, to afraid , but love the purple sky over Utah. This may be just another dystopian novel, still a very exciting book, better than the quirky, yet entertaining Damnation Alley film. Science fiction fans will devour the material and become absorbed in the story of survival.
October 17, 2021
Hell Tanner isn't the sort of guy you'd mistake for a hero: he's a fast-driving car thief, a smuggler, and a stone-cold killer. He's also expendable - at least in the eyes of the Secretary of Traffic for the Nation of California. Tanner doesn't care much for those eyes. You'd also never mistake Hell Tanner for a humanitarian. Facing life in prison for his various crimes, he's given a choice; rot away his remaining years in a tiny jail cell, or drive cross-country and deliver a case of antiserum to the plague-ridden people of Boston, Massachusetts...if anyone is still alive there to receive it, that is. The chance of a full pardon does wonders for getting his attention. And don't mistake this mission of mercy for any kind of normal road trip - not when there are radioactive storms, hordes of carniverous beasts, and giant, mutated scorpions to be found along every deadly mile between Los Angeles and the East Coast. But then, this is no normal part of America, you see. This is DAMNATION ALLEY!!
Enjoyable little paperback, it reminded me of Mad Max with the post-apocalyptic backdrop and huge reinforced cars.
The writing is typical science fiction of it's time, slightly dated and cheesy but in my opinion still holds up for enjoyable reading to this day.
I'd love to see an updated adaptation of this because the plot is cool.
It's very readable, not fantastic...but good.
Anyone read this or anything else by this author?
Enjoyable little paperback, it reminded me of Mad Max with the post-apocalyptic backdrop and huge reinforced cars.
The writing is typical science fiction of it's time, slightly dated and cheesy but in my opinion still holds up for enjoyable reading to this day.
I'd love to see an updated adaptation of this because the plot is cool.
It's very readable, not fantastic...but good.
Anyone read this or anything else by this author?
October 7, 2025
Чел съм я и препрочитал още в кратката ѝ версия, излязла на страниците на любимото списание "Космос".
Това преработено и допълнено издание е страхотно, ясно е от къде са черпили идеи с пълни шепи създателите на Лудия Макс!!!
Хел Танър е помилван и освободен от затвора, но при едно условие - да прекоси постапокалиптична Америка от край до край и да занесе ваксина на иначе обречените жители на Източното крайбрежие, където се вихри жестока пандемия.
Зелазни е просто връх!!!
За да допълнят обема на това издание, издателството е включило в него и новелата "Роза за Еклисиаста" - тотално различна като атмосфера история, но която също заслужава максимална оценка!
Това преработено и допълнено издание е страхотно, ясно е от къде са черпили идеи с пълни шепи създателите на Лудия Макс!!!
Хел Танър е помилван и освободен от затвора, но при едно условие - да прекоси постапокалиптична Америка от край до край и да занесе ваксина на иначе обречените жители на Източното крайбрежие, където се вихри жестока пандемия.
Зелазни е просто връх!!!
За да допълнят обема на това издание, издателството е включило в него и новелата "Роза за Еклисиаста" - тотално различна като атмосфера история, но която също заслужава максимална оценка!
March 10, 2011
Okay, this was my first full Zelazny experience, and I have to say I liked it—a lot. The story is simple enough: in a post apocalyptic America, where the country has been split into two nations, one being the Nation of California, the other being whatever the citizens of Boston have decided to call it, runs a stretch of road that has been named the Damnation Alley. Since constant hurricane force winds prevent air travel, it is the only umbilical between the two countries. Enter Hell Tanner. Hell is a likeable guy, as long as you don’t piss him off. He’s a Hells Angel, outlaw, and ex-con, and given the mission of taking much needed serum to Boston so a plague won’t wipe out that half of the population. For his reward, he’ll get a pardon from the Nation of California. Hell accepts the offer to clear his name. (I am going to intentionally leave some parts vague; I think these parts really add to the character of Hell and I would hate to ruin this for the next reader.)
Along the journey, Hell is going to have to battle giant bats and butterflies (yes, I said butterflies) and Gila monsters and spiders. There are rumors of people who have reverted back to primitive behavior and who attack all travelers. There are biker gangs and enough weather phenomena to make even the hardiest adventurer think twice about making this run. Sure this sounds like the makings of a really campy B-flick, but this is Hell Tanner we’re talking about here, the grandfather of such famous iconic men as Mad Max and Snake Plissken, the original post apocalyptic anti-hero. (And, for me anyhow—please tell me if you agree or not—I also had a sense that Holden Caulfield was used as a model, only in that post apocalyptic, not a wimpy whiner sort-a way.)
But even with all that excitement, there is a fundamental storyline that Zelazny was trying to convey: the Cold War was starting to scare the shit out of him. I mean America was one lunatic away from pressing the button, and Russia was trying to keep numerous lunatics at bay. Zelazny handles this subject with care, never mocking it as one is used to seeing in these types of novels. For Zelazny, he wanted Hell Tanner to not only be a hero but he also wanted him to be a hero and a man in a world that was closing in on the brink of annihilating itself. Pretty impressive subject matter for “just” a sci-fi book, IMO.
There is one scene that I will remember fondly: Hell and a biologist named Kanis are discussing what happened [in their world] and why it happened, and Kanis keeps asking Hell to kill him but also reneges continuously as well; this is a very cyclical conversation. Anyways, while reading this section, images of Waiting for Godot came to mind, and I started to laugh, not because it was funny, but because the only other alternative was to cry over this fully realized bleak world, and I truly began to understand what was in store for these survivors even if the serum eradicated the plague.
This will definitely not be my last Zelazny novel.
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Along the journey, Hell is going to have to battle giant bats and butterflies (yes, I said butterflies) and Gila monsters and spiders. There are rumors of people who have reverted back to primitive behavior and who attack all travelers. There are biker gangs and enough weather phenomena to make even the hardiest adventurer think twice about making this run. Sure this sounds like the makings of a really campy B-flick, but this is Hell Tanner we’re talking about here, the grandfather of such famous iconic men as Mad Max and Snake Plissken, the original post apocalyptic anti-hero. (And, for me anyhow—please tell me if you agree or not—I also had a sense that Holden Caulfield was used as a model, only in that post apocalyptic, not a wimpy whiner sort-a way.)
But even with all that excitement, there is a fundamental storyline that Zelazny was trying to convey: the Cold War was starting to scare the shit out of him. I mean America was one lunatic away from pressing the button, and Russia was trying to keep numerous lunatics at bay. Zelazny handles this subject with care, never mocking it as one is used to seeing in these types of novels. For Zelazny, he wanted Hell Tanner to not only be a hero but he also wanted him to be a hero and a man in a world that was closing in on the brink of annihilating itself. Pretty impressive subject matter for “just” a sci-fi book, IMO.
There is one scene that I will remember fondly: Hell and a biologist named Kanis are discussing what happened [in their world] and why it happened, and Kanis keeps asking Hell to kill him but also reneges continuously as well; this is a very cyclical conversation. Anyways, while reading this section, images of Waiting for Godot came to mind, and I started to laugh, not because it was funny, but because the only other alternative was to cry over this fully realized bleak world, and I truly began to understand what was in store for these survivors even if the serum eradicated the plague.
This will definitely not be my last Zelazny novel.
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
July 29, 2019
This is a post-apocalyptic novel of Southern California. Hell Tanner, an imprisoned killer, is offered a full pardon in exchange for taking on a suicide mission—a drive through "Damnation Alley" across a ruined America from Los Angeles to Bostonto deliver an urgently needed plague vaccine.
This copy is signed by Roger Zelazny.
This copy is signed by Roger Zelazny.
August 15, 2022
In Damnation Alley, the first Roger Zelazny book I've read, Hell Tanner is the last member of the Hells Angels living on the West Coast, after a large police raid wiped the rest of them out. Serving time in prison, the gruff Tanner is offered what one would think would be the chance of a lifetime for someone in his predicament: drive a shipment of vaccines for the plague across the country to Boston, and receive a full pardon for all crimes ever committed in the nation of California. Tanner accepts, but begrudgingly. Why begrudgingly? Because the route to Boston is known as Damnation Alley. It's filled with dangerous, mutated remnants of the nuclear war that has left the world in a post-apocalyptic state: giant spiders as big as the room of a house, snakes as wide as a human waist and forty feet long, and giant Gila monsters. Nevermind freakish, extreme weather, crazies, and deadly biker gangs that also lie between him and his destination. No one ever makes it across...
Can Hell Tanner?
This was an interesting book. The writing is very good, poetic and beautiful at times, but mostly lean and brutal. Dialogue is short, often one-word responses or short sentences, and the characters are all incredibly rough individuals, which you'd expect in a post-apocalyptic novel. In such a work, every person you come across may be mad, and you have to assume they are armed and have very bad intentions, and Zelazny nailed that feeling in this book. It always felt dangerous for Tanner, and I was constantly on edge.
Because the book is so lean, there isn't a lot of character development, though Tanner undergoes a bit of a transformation toward being a better person as the book goes along, and there are glimpses of his past offered that show the reader that he was once a good-natured boy with dreams, as we all once were. This makes Tanner more human, and I thought it was impressive that Zelazny was able to achieve some level of character evolution for Tanner in such a brief book.
The book is action-packed, and would make an amazing movie. It actually was made into a movie in 1977, but that rendition received poor reviews from critics and audiences alike, and was a box office failure. If you ask me, this story is ripe for a remake, and I would be the first to see it if that ever happened. There are also some scenes scattered throughout the book that, though mostly bleak in themselves, were welcome diversions from Tanner's trek of seemingly endless problems and obstacles, such as scenes from Boston involving a failed businessman, a plague doctor on the front lines, a plague-stricken couple contemplating suicide, and one or two that I can't really even describe but that were downright surreal and which fit perfectly in a book like this.
I think there are two reasons I can't give a higher star rating for Damnation Alley. The first is that this book is about one man's life-or-death journey against nearly impossible odds, and in a scenario like that you want to really pull for that person to make it. But this book goes to great and constant lengths to show Tanner as a complete a** hole who cares about no one but himself and who will commit acts of unjustified and brutal violence or even murder if he feels inclined to do so. Early on in the book, one minor character goes on for an entire page about how terrible of a person Tanner is, and outlining the many crimes he's committed, which include drug running and rape. It's hard to pull for someone like that, and personally I never really did, and for me that kind of defeats the purpose of a book with a story like this.
The second reason is that the book just felt a bit empty. I can't really explain it, but I was constantly left with the feeling that something that makes great books "great" was missing from this story. Maybe that's because it's such a lean book, maybe it's because of the lack of character development, I'm not really sure. But in the absence of that thing, this book, for me at least, just ends up being "good".
Junkies of action movies and post-apocalyptic thrillers should absolutely check out Damnation Alley, as they may really love it. It's very well written, reads fast, and never lets up for a minute. For everyone else, there are better Zelazny novels out there, from what I've heard. If you're in the latter camp, I can comfortably say he's a good writer after reading Damnation Alley, and I'd encourage you to give him a try.
3.5 stars
Can Hell Tanner?
This was an interesting book. The writing is very good, poetic and beautiful at times, but mostly lean and brutal. Dialogue is short, often one-word responses or short sentences, and the characters are all incredibly rough individuals, which you'd expect in a post-apocalyptic novel. In such a work, every person you come across may be mad, and you have to assume they are armed and have very bad intentions, and Zelazny nailed that feeling in this book. It always felt dangerous for Tanner, and I was constantly on edge.
Because the book is so lean, there isn't a lot of character development, though Tanner undergoes a bit of a transformation toward being a better person as the book goes along, and there are glimpses of his past offered that show the reader that he was once a good-natured boy with dreams, as we all once were. This makes Tanner more human, and I thought it was impressive that Zelazny was able to achieve some level of character evolution for Tanner in such a brief book.
The book is action-packed, and would make an amazing movie. It actually was made into a movie in 1977, but that rendition received poor reviews from critics and audiences alike, and was a box office failure. If you ask me, this story is ripe for a remake, and I would be the first to see it if that ever happened. There are also some scenes scattered throughout the book that, though mostly bleak in themselves, were welcome diversions from Tanner's trek of seemingly endless problems and obstacles, such as scenes from Boston involving a failed businessman, a plague doctor on the front lines, a plague-stricken couple contemplating suicide, and one or two that I can't really even describe but that were downright surreal and which fit perfectly in a book like this.
I think there are two reasons I can't give a higher star rating for Damnation Alley. The first is that this book is about one man's life-or-death journey against nearly impossible odds, and in a scenario like that you want to really pull for that person to make it. But this book goes to great and constant lengths to show Tanner as a complete a** hole who cares about no one but himself and who will commit acts of unjustified and brutal violence or even murder if he feels inclined to do so. Early on in the book, one minor character goes on for an entire page about how terrible of a person Tanner is, and outlining the many crimes he's committed, which include drug running and rape. It's hard to pull for someone like that, and personally I never really did, and for me that kind of defeats the purpose of a book with a story like this.
The second reason is that the book just felt a bit empty. I can't really explain it, but I was constantly left with the feeling that something that makes great books "great" was missing from this story. Maybe that's because it's such a lean book, maybe it's because of the lack of character development, I'm not really sure. But in the absence of that thing, this book, for me at least, just ends up being "good".
Junkies of action movies and post-apocalyptic thrillers should absolutely check out Damnation Alley, as they may really love it. It's very well written, reads fast, and never lets up for a minute. For everyone else, there are better Zelazny novels out there, from what I've heard. If you're in the latter camp, I can comfortably say he's a good writer after reading Damnation Alley, and I'd encourage you to give him a try.
3.5 stars
December 22, 2014
18Dec2014: It's been a while since I last read this & I need a Zelazny fix. I've been attempting to read half a dozen freebies & they just aren't cutting it. I was beginning to think I just didn't like reading any more, but I had trouble stopping today at lunch.
In some ways, this isn't one of Zelazny's best novels. In many ways, it's rather trite - a post apocalyptic action yarn with a anti-hero. Yawn. Except it's not. Even with the grade-b movie world, it's intriguing. Certainly a great character. It's a shame the movie butchered it so bad. Jan Michael Vincent is so NOT Hell Tanner, though. Mickey Rourke would have been far better.
21Apr2009: After an apocalyptic war, one of the worst men does one of the best things for all the wrong reasons - mostly. Hell Tanner, the hero, is not a good man. He's strong, cunning & has just the right talents for the mission, but he's also a thief, murderer, rapist & convict. Only desperate circumstances force society give him a second chance & he leverages that for all its worth.
Zelazny gives this anti-hero a heroic mission to perform. The book is action packed from start to finish, occasionally surprising, in a weird, ravaged version of our modern society. It's not my favorite work of his, but it is entertaining & much better than the movie based on the book. The movie starred Jan Michael Vincent & George Peppard back in the early 70's. It too was entertaining, but definitely grade B.
In some ways, this isn't one of Zelazny's best novels. In many ways, it's rather trite - a post apocalyptic action yarn with a anti-hero. Yawn. Except it's not. Even with the grade-b movie world, it's intriguing. Certainly a great character. It's a shame the movie butchered it so bad. Jan Michael Vincent is so NOT Hell Tanner, though. Mickey Rourke would have been far better.
21Apr2009: After an apocalyptic war, one of the worst men does one of the best things for all the wrong reasons - mostly. Hell Tanner, the hero, is not a good man. He's strong, cunning & has just the right talents for the mission, but he's also a thief, murderer, rapist & convict. Only desperate circumstances force society give him a second chance & he leverages that for all its worth.
Zelazny gives this anti-hero a heroic mission to perform. The book is action packed from start to finish, occasionally surprising, in a weird, ravaged version of our modern society. It's not my favorite work of his, but it is entertaining & much better than the movie based on the book. The movie starred Jan Michael Vincent & George Peppard back in the early 70's. It too was entertaining, but definitely grade B.
September 20, 2013
I remember when I was a wee one, I watched the movie Damnation Alley, and I was terrified by the flesh eating cockroach scene. I’ve always wanted to see it again, because I know the film has got to be the best, craptastic, colossal turkey ever! Yay. :D
It’s not an easy movie to come by though. :(
This is one of the reasons I read the book. I wanted to read more about the cockroach scene (which isn’t in the book, damn it!) And practically everyone gives DA rave reviews.
Damnation Alley is pretty silly and mediocre though. The science in it doesn’t make much sense. I didn’t care about the characters. The giant snakes and bats weren't that scary. And at the end, when all the motorcycle thugs are chasing Tanner, I couldn’t help but wonder why he just doesn’t mow them down (I know that sounds bad, but come on they're trying to kill him!) These bad guys are just on frickin’ motorcycles for Christ’s sake. Tanner is in a special, transport, tank/vehicle thing that survived the nuclear wasteland. One good knock and that motorcycle and rider would be flying.
I started skimming toward the end.
I keep reading all these old classic Sci-fi books and they keep turning out to be duds. I’m becoming disillusioned. Was Science Fiction such a new genre in the sixties that almost any book with even a vaguely cool idea became a classic?
It’s not an easy movie to come by though. :(
This is one of the reasons I read the book. I wanted to read more about the cockroach scene (which isn’t in the book, damn it!) And practically everyone gives DA rave reviews.
Damnation Alley is pretty silly and mediocre though. The science in it doesn’t make much sense. I didn’t care about the characters. The giant snakes and bats weren't that scary. And at the end, when all the motorcycle thugs are chasing Tanner, I couldn’t help but wonder why he just doesn’t mow them down (I know that sounds bad, but come on they're trying to kill him!) These bad guys are just on frickin’ motorcycles for Christ’s sake. Tanner is in a special, transport, tank/vehicle thing that survived the nuclear wasteland. One good knock and that motorcycle and rider would be flying.
I started skimming toward the end.
I keep reading all these old classic Sci-fi books and they keep turning out to be duds. I’m becoming disillusioned. Was Science Fiction such a new genre in the sixties that almost any book with even a vaguely cool idea became a classic?
February 23, 2025
Before Snake Plisskin escaped from New York, before Mad Max went beyond the Thunderdome, Hell Tanner ran Damnation Alley.
It’s a post-apocalyptic America. The bombs fell, the country burned, and the sky still seethes with unnatural storms. What’s left of California has formed a small nation on the West Coast, and an apparently unscathed Boston another on the East. Between them, most of the heartland is a radioactive wasteland where no one ventures. The route between is called Damnation Alley. There is plague ravaging Boston. Los Angeles has a serum for that, but how to get it to them?
Hell Tanner is a heck of a driver, but he’s not a very nice guy. The official in charge of coercing him to run the Alley in exchange for a full pardon put it like this:
”I think you are the lowest, most reprehensible human being I have ever encountered. You have killed men and raped women. You once gouged out a man’s eyes just for fun. You’ve been indicted twice for pushing dope and three times as a pimp. You’re a drunk and a degenerate, and I don’t think you’ve had a bath since the day you were born. You are not a human being except from a biological standpoint.”
But Tanner takes the job for the road trip from hell. At a farm In Pennsylvania (after arriving back in habited area) a boy asks him about his trip so far:
”What was it like?”
“Mean.”
“What all did you see?”
“Bats as big as this kitchen, some of them even bigger. Gila Monsters — big technicolored lizards the size of a barn. Dust Devils, big circling winds that sucked up one car. fire-topped mountains, real big thorn bushes that we had to burn. drove through some storms. drove over places where the ground was like glass. drove along where the ground was shaking. drove along big craters, all radioactive.”
And that was all before he ran across the huge, and stupidly tenacious predatory biker gangs in the East.
The writing is far from Zelazny’s best. The characters are a bit thin, and for much of the trip I didn’t fully feel the sense of danger I wanted to. But if it seems a bit cliche, that’s only because Hell Tanner and Damnation Alley inspired most of the post apocalypse movies you know. For being the iconic granddaddy of a genre, I’m going to bump this baby up to four stars.
It’s a post-apocalyptic America. The bombs fell, the country burned, and the sky still seethes with unnatural storms. What’s left of California has formed a small nation on the West Coast, and an apparently unscathed Boston another on the East. Between them, most of the heartland is a radioactive wasteland where no one ventures. The route between is called Damnation Alley. There is plague ravaging Boston. Los Angeles has a serum for that, but how to get it to them?
Hell Tanner is a heck of a driver, but he’s not a very nice guy. The official in charge of coercing him to run the Alley in exchange for a full pardon put it like this:
”I think you are the lowest, most reprehensible human being I have ever encountered. You have killed men and raped women. You once gouged out a man’s eyes just for fun. You’ve been indicted twice for pushing dope and three times as a pimp. You’re a drunk and a degenerate, and I don’t think you’ve had a bath since the day you were born. You are not a human being except from a biological standpoint.”
But Tanner takes the job for the road trip from hell. At a farm In Pennsylvania (after arriving back in habited area) a boy asks him about his trip so far:
”What was it like?”
“Mean.”
“What all did you see?”
“Bats as big as this kitchen, some of them even bigger. Gila Monsters — big technicolored lizards the size of a barn. Dust Devils, big circling winds that sucked up one car. fire-topped mountains, real big thorn bushes that we had to burn. drove through some storms. drove over places where the ground was like glass. drove along where the ground was shaking. drove along big craters, all radioactive.”
And that was all before he ran across the huge, and stupidly tenacious predatory biker gangs in the East.
The writing is far from Zelazny’s best. The characters are a bit thin, and for much of the trip I didn’t fully feel the sense of danger I wanted to. But if it seems a bit cliche, that’s only because Hell Tanner and Damnation Alley inspired most of the post apocalypse movies you know. For being the iconic granddaddy of a genre, I’m going to bump this baby up to four stars.
January 9, 2022
Author Roger Zelazny wrote "Damnation Alley" in the 1960's and it looks like every other influential dystopian science-fiction work released in the 1970's or 1980's borrowed something from this novel, despite its comparable obscurity today.
The protagonist is an infamous criminal named Hell Tanner doing a dangerous mission in exchange for a full pardon. Reading "Damnation Alley" today, Tanner feels like the prototype for all those hyper-competent yet amoral or at least unscrupulous hard-boiled anti-heroes who were so popular in the 1980's and 1990's. In particular, he reminds me of Snake Plissken from "Escape From New York", to the point I imagined a young Kurt Russell in the role myself while reading the book.
The setting is a world after a nuclear holocaust where almost everything is an arid wasteland with the only human population being nomadic biker gangs... just like in the "Mad Max" film series. The exceptions are the totalitarian walled city-states on the coasts... just like the Mega-Cities in the "Judge Dredd" comics. Tanner's mission is driving urgently needed medicine across the irradiated North American continent in an impressive armed all-terrain vehicle known as the "Landmaster", Tanner being given a chance in the first place because he is the best driver on the continent, and guess what? Author Roger Zelazny's description of the Landmaster reminds me quite a bit of the futuristic APC driven by the Colonial Marines in "Aliens". As a matter of fact, the plot's basic premise was recycled for the "Judge Dredd" story arc "The Cursed Earth" which even featured a sidekick character clearly modelled on Hell Tanner. (his name there was "Spikes Harvey Rotten")
"Damnation Alley", which I know first and foremost from the Hawkwind song inspired by it, is an appropriately fast-paced and entertaining action novel that also has place for moments of very dark and disturbing horror in the form of the irradiated extreme weather and mutated wildlife that our intrepid anti-hero encounters. Rather unusual for a post-apocalyptic story, it keeps the exposition to an absolute minimum as Zelazny expects his readers to figure out the hows and whys of the setting on their own. The writing style is in overall very similar to that of Samuel Delany, in fact Zelazny would on at least one occasion collaborate with Delany who named a character after him in the short story "We, in Some Strange Power's Employ, Move on a Rigorous Line".
Anyone with an interest in post-apocalyptic/dystopian action would do well to read "Damnation Alley". Partly for its historical value, as Zelazny codified so many of the genre's tropes into their current forms in this novel, but also because it's a masterclass in how to craft a suspenseful action-adventure story with a well realised dystopian atmosphere. I have not seen the film adaptation and can hence not compare film and book.
The protagonist is an infamous criminal named Hell Tanner doing a dangerous mission in exchange for a full pardon. Reading "Damnation Alley" today, Tanner feels like the prototype for all those hyper-competent yet amoral or at least unscrupulous hard-boiled anti-heroes who were so popular in the 1980's and 1990's. In particular, he reminds me of Snake Plissken from "Escape From New York", to the point I imagined a young Kurt Russell in the role myself while reading the book.
The setting is a world after a nuclear holocaust where almost everything is an arid wasteland with the only human population being nomadic biker gangs... just like in the "Mad Max" film series. The exceptions are the totalitarian walled city-states on the coasts... just like the Mega-Cities in the "Judge Dredd" comics. Tanner's mission is driving urgently needed medicine across the irradiated North American continent in an impressive armed all-terrain vehicle known as the "Landmaster", Tanner being given a chance in the first place because he is the best driver on the continent, and guess what? Author Roger Zelazny's description of the Landmaster reminds me quite a bit of the futuristic APC driven by the Colonial Marines in "Aliens". As a matter of fact, the plot's basic premise was recycled for the "Judge Dredd" story arc "The Cursed Earth" which even featured a sidekick character clearly modelled on Hell Tanner. (his name there was "Spikes Harvey Rotten")
"Damnation Alley", which I know first and foremost from the Hawkwind song inspired by it, is an appropriately fast-paced and entertaining action novel that also has place for moments of very dark and disturbing horror in the form of the irradiated extreme weather and mutated wildlife that our intrepid anti-hero encounters. Rather unusual for a post-apocalyptic story, it keeps the exposition to an absolute minimum as Zelazny expects his readers to figure out the hows and whys of the setting on their own. The writing style is in overall very similar to that of Samuel Delany, in fact Zelazny would on at least one occasion collaborate with Delany who named a character after him in the short story "We, in Some Strange Power's Employ, Move on a Rigorous Line".
Anyone with an interest in post-apocalyptic/dystopian action would do well to read "Damnation Alley". Partly for its historical value, as Zelazny codified so many of the genre's tropes into their current forms in this novel, but also because it's a masterclass in how to craft a suspenseful action-adventure story with a well realised dystopian atmosphere. I have not seen the film adaptation and can hence not compare film and book.
August 26, 2009
Damnation Alley is about a biker named Hell Tanner who has to take some plague serum from LA to Boston, travelling a route called Damnation Alley across the nuclear wasteland that is the United States in a car that might as well be a tank. Along the way he encounters such mutants as giant Gila Monsters, spiders, bats, butterflies, and snakes.
Hell Tanner should be regarded as Snake Plissken's ancestor of sorts. Every time he had dialogue I kept hearing Kurt Russell's voice. The writing is a little cheesy but it fits with the story. Overall it was enjoyable but nothing fantastic. I'm tempted to track down the movie but there are pictures from it in the middle of the book and they look nothing like I pictured. Jan Michael Vincent was way too pretty to play Hell Tanner.
Hell Tanner should be regarded as Snake Plissken's ancestor of sorts. Every time he had dialogue I kept hearing Kurt Russell's voice. The writing is a little cheesy but it fits with the story. Overall it was enjoyable but nothing fantastic. I'm tempted to track down the movie but there are pictures from it in the middle of the book and they look nothing like I pictured. Jan Michael Vincent was way too pretty to play Hell Tanner.
November 26, 2018
Тук ще се олея... много... чувствайте се предупредени.
Вече четвърт век Зелазни ми е любимият автор. Не напрасках всичките му книги когато си направих профил в гудрийдс, така както повечето хора правят с Кинг, само защото постоянно го препрочитам и горе-долу на всеки две години съм минал отново всичките, та така или иначе ще получат оценки и ревюта. Изключение правят само три романа, прочитането на които пазя за много специални случаи – ако спечеля нобелова награда за мир, роди ми се дете или пукне някой, който ми е особено неприятен.
Първите пъти го четях с онова светло удивление на малко дете, виждащо за първи път изгрева над морето. После от скука и разочарование от другите автори претендиращи за палмата на словестното му обаяние. След това за чисто удоволствие от реденето на думите. Сетне – като учебник. Сега – всичките тези неща накуп, заедно с щипка страхопочитание и примирение.
Това е единственото филмирано произведение на Зелазни (ако не броим „Последният защитник на Камелот” в една от сериите на „Зоната на здрача”). Само този факт вече трябва да говори нещо. Новелата е едно от малкото постапокалиптични произведения в репертуара на автора, а тези свързани с атомна война се броят на едната ръка.
На пръв поглед изглежда като посредствен постапокалиптичен екшън. Стилът е толкова обигран и ненатрапчив, че оставя историята изцяло да превземе вниманието на читателя, като повечето елементи се възприемат изцяло на подсъзнателно ниво. Ако се загледаш обаче, което малко хора правят, се вижда, че всеки един детайл е изпипан перфектно. Пресният страх от атомен конфликт, владеещ времето на написването; едва надигащото глава екологично движение; възмущението от системата, пречупено през погледа на един бунтар; огъването на насраните идеалисти, когато ножът опре в кокъла; израстването на главния герой за малкото страници; пълната картина на алтернативен, залян от радиация свят; диалози, информативни, но въпреки това абсолютно ненатрапчиви; игри с речта, носещи хумор, внушения, настроения... абе всичко.
Хел Танър е последният от Ангелите на Ада. Живял е в продължение на 25 години в Америка след атомния кошмар. Правил всичко зайконно и незаконно да оцелее и е завършен задник и убиец. За да спаси Бостън - един от малкото останали центрове на цивилизацията - Хел трябва да прекоси континента от запад на изток с безценен товар ваксина срещу възродилата се бобонна чума. Желание няма, но няма и избор. Пътят е невъзможен, изпълнен с мутанти, метрологични аномалии и въоръжени до зъби мародери. Всички го наричат „Алеята на прокълнатите.”
Ако сте се чудели някога от къде е дошла идеята за персонажи като Снейк Плискин и Лудия Макс, както и разграбените пустини и руини из които се вихрят – ето ви го отговора.
Накрая, няма как да не направя паралел с любимата ми книга от автора – „Джак от сените”. Тази е писана мало преди нея и коренно различна като сюжет, но структурата е подобна (разделена на две, като тук вододел е самата Мисисипи, а там терминатора; филосовското обобщение-диалог за човешкото по средата, ъук с биолога – там със Сатаната, и най-вече неясният финал), както и симпатичният отрицателен герой. Накрая между двете постоянно прехвърчат философски идеи и фантазия, които ги оплитат неразделно в една паяжина от въображението на Зелазни. Може би заради това най-вече я харесвам толкова.
Книгата включва и алтернативен превод на „Роза за еклисиаста” (мисля, че има четири превода и всеки има какво да дообави към произведението) – едно от най-поетичните произведения на автора, отнесло камара награди. Една мелодичная елегия за загиваща раса и (може би) отказана надежда за спасение.
Галинджър е учен, носител на огромната чест да разгледа манускриптите на погиващата от старост марсианска раса. Докато се опитва да го направи, заедно с всичките прилежащи ритуали и условности, успява да се влюби в жена от чуждата раса. В последствие се оказва ,че е бил внимателно манипулиран, за да видят възможно ли е междувидово зачеване. Това не намалява чувствата му, както и не пшречи на Матриархата да отхвърли надеждата и цялата раса да си замине с достойнство (пак може би).
Вече четвърт век Зелазни ми е любимият автор. Не напрасках всичките му книги когато си направих профил в гудрийдс, така както повечето хора правят с Кинг, само защото постоянно го препрочитам и горе-долу на всеки две години съм минал отново всичките, та така или иначе ще получат оценки и ревюта. Изключение правят само три романа, прочитането на които пазя за много специални случаи – ако спечеля нобелова награда за мир, роди ми се дете или пукне някой, който ми е особено неприятен.
Първите пъти го четях с онова светло удивление на малко дете, виждащо за първи път изгрева над морето. После от скука и разочарование от другите автори претендиращи за палмата на словестното му обаяние. След това за чисто удоволствие от реденето на думите. Сетне – като учебник. Сега – всичките тези неща накуп, заедно с щипка страхопочитание и примирение.
Това е единственото филмирано произведение на Зелазни (ако не броим „Последният защитник на Камелот” в една от сериите на „Зоната на здрача”). Само този факт вече трябва да говори нещо. Новелата е едно от малкото постапокалиптични произведения в репертуара на автора, а тези свързани с атомна война се броят на едната ръка.
На пръв поглед изглежда като посредствен постапокалиптичен екшън. Стилът е толкова обигран и ненатрапчив, че оставя историята изцяло да превземе вниманието на читателя, като повечето елементи се възприемат изцяло на подсъзнателно ниво. Ако се загледаш обаче, което малко хора правят, се вижда, че всеки един детайл е изпипан перфектно. Пресният страх от атомен конфликт, владеещ времето на написването; едва надигащото глава екологично движение; възмущението от системата, пречупено през погледа на един бунтар; огъването на насраните идеалисти, когато ножът опре в кокъла; израстването на главния герой за малкото страници; пълната картина на алтернативен, залян от радиация свят; диалози, информативни, но въпреки това абсолютно ненатрапчиви; игри с речта, носещи хумор, внушения, настроения... абе всичко.
Хел Танър е последният от Ангелите на Ада. Живял е в продължение на 25 години в Америка след атомния кошмар. Правил всичко зайконно и незаконно да оцелее и е завършен задник и убиец. За да спаси Бостън - един от малкото останали центрове на цивилизацията - Хел трябва да прекоси континента от запад на изток с безценен товар ваксина срещу възродилата се бобонна чума. Желание няма, но няма и избор. Пътят е невъзможен, изпълнен с мутанти, метрологични аномалии и въоръжени до зъби мародери. Всички го наричат „Алеята на прокълнатите.”
Ако сте се чудели някога от къде е дошла идеята за персонажи като Снейк Плискин и Лудия Макс, както и разграбените пустини и руини из които се вихрят – ето ви го отговора.
Накрая, няма как да не направя паралел с любимата ми книга от автора – „Джак от сените”. Тази е писана мало преди нея и коренно различна като сюжет, но структурата е подобна (разделена на две, като тук вододел е самата Мисисипи, а там терминатора; филосовското обобщение-диалог за човешкото по средата, ъук с биолога – там със Сатаната, и най-вече неясният финал), както и симпатичният отрицателен герой. Накрая между двете постоянно прехвърчат философски идеи и фантазия, които ги оплитат неразделно в една паяжина от въображението на Зелазни. Може би заради това най-вече я харесвам толкова.
Книгата включва и алтернативен превод на „Роза за еклисиаста” (мисля, че има четири превода и всеки има какво да дообави към произведението) – едно от най-поетичните произведения на автора, отнесло камара награди. Една мелодичная елегия за загиваща раса и (може би) отказана надежда за спасение.
Галинджър е учен, носител на огромната чест да разгледа манускриптите на погиващата от старост марсианска раса. Докато се опитва да го направи, заедно с всичките прилежащи ритуали и условности, успява да се влюби в жена от чуждата раса. В последствие се оказва ,че е бил внимателно манипулиран, за да видят възможно ли е междувидово зачеване. Това не намалява чувствата му, както и не пшречи на Матриархата да отхвърли надеждата и цялата раса да си замине с достойнство (пак може би).
March 24, 2024
Klasyk postapo po wojnie nuklearnej, me like it - 4.5/5.
Na minus jedynie mało rozbudowana fabuła, mało informacji o zmianach na świecie po wojnie, ale cóż, takie czasy, że nie o wszystkim można było pisać nawet w fikcji literackiej i czasem lepiej było wybrać prostszą fabułę, by lepiej podkreślić niepokoje. Fajnie zrealizowane, dobrze i szybko się czyta, klimat jest gęsty i w czasach ciągłego zagrożenia wojną atomową musiał powodować u czytających efekt pełnej zbroi 🤐
Na minus jedynie mało rozbudowana fabuła, mało informacji o zmianach na świecie po wojnie, ale cóż, takie czasy, że nie o wszystkim można było pisać nawet w fikcji literackiej i czasem lepiej było wybrać prostszą fabułę, by lepiej podkreślić niepokoje. Fajnie zrealizowane, dobrze i szybko się czyta, klimat jest gęsty i w czasach ciągłego zagrożenia wojną atomową musiał powodować u czytających efekt pełnej zbroi 🤐
September 3, 2021
Крутий байкер, який типу вже встиг наворотити справ і має довічне, отримує шанс на прощення, якщо довезе сироватку по смертоносній радіоактивній пустелі. Такі собі "перегони милосердя" в постапокаліптичному форматі і, звісно ж, з гепіендом.
Нмд цю річ краще було б мати у вигляді коміксу, тоді всі ці кінематографічні сцени і брак психологізму виглядали б дуже доречними. Загалом, здається, це писалось суто як експеримент чи сценарій для фільму, без якоїсь особливої мети чи деталізації. Взяти в порівняння хоча б ту ж "Володаря Світла", написану за два роки до "Проклін-зони", але в рази виразнішу і пропрацьованішу. Вже не кажучи про славнозвісні "Хроніки".
Поза тим читалось легко і подекуди весело, хоч і без претензій на щось серйозне.
Нмд цю річ краще було б мати у вигляді коміксу, тоді всі ці кінематографічні сцени і брак психологізму виглядали б дуже доречними. Загалом, здається, це писалось суто як експеримент чи сценарій для фільму, без якоїсь особливої мети чи деталізації. Взяти в порівняння хоча б ту ж "Володаря Світла", написану за два роки до "Проклін-зони", але в рази виразнішу і пропрацьованішу. Вже не кажучи про славнозвісні "Хроніки".
Поза тим читалось легко і подекуди весело, хоч і без претензій на щось серйозне.
September 22, 2023
This is a perfect example of classic science fiction at it's best. It does not at all hurt that anything Roger Zelazny ever wrote is completely addictive to this omnivorous reader, but even without that strong bias of mine this is a pretty spectacular book.
Consider the publishing year; 1969, the year the first Jumbo jet launched (Boeing 747) long, long before the word 'dystopian' was first in circulation and Damnation Alley comes out to deservedly win the Hugo and Nebula awards. This is almost a prototype of post-apocalyptic, dystopian science fiction and fifty years later it is still a perfectly written, immensely readable, exciting forerunner of a genera that is ever growing in popularity.
This novel is set on the North American continent where humanity have royally messed up. Large portions of the continent are radio-active wasteland, where mutated life forms and hazardous weather patterns vie for the title of most dangerous. The remnant populations of people are separated on the East and West coasts by Damnation Alley; three thousand miles of danger that few men (and of course no women, it is 1969 after all) have ever dared cross.
Now the shredded population of Boston is being devastated by plague though there is a vaccine on the other side of the continent. California has only one slim chance of getting this vaccine to Boston and saving the population from total destruction. This slim chance is if they use Hell Tanner, the last surviving remnant of a gang, the Angels and possibly the best driver alive. He has a chance of surviving Damnation Alley, and that is the only chance Boston has of survival.
I went into this book without huge hopes; I knew I adored it when I read it as a teenager, but many books have come and gone since then. There have been a lot of books with similar themes, more modern ones, ones with more science, longer ones, many that I loved. It blew me away how much I still loved this book! Part of it is that, really, every word Zelazny ever wrote is like literary crack to me. The writing is so good! It is evocative, descriptive, addictive and I loved every sentence I read between those covers.
In a lot of ways it has dated, there is a lot of smoking cigarettes (which would never be allowed these days), Hell Tanner himself is not a nice guy, he is certainly not a hero, he is not even up as a modern anti-hero since modern anti-heroes are not often allowed to be actual bad people. Tanner is bad, unabashedly antisocial he is also beautifully written and true to himself. You do not get extensive inner musings but you do get a fascinating adventure as he struggles his way, mile by mile across a messed up continent. There are no strong women characters spending time talking about things that do not relate to the male characters. Or even, really, women characters. I think this absence is a great big no-no with a lot of modern readers. They even invented some weird scale called the Bechdel–Wallace to quantify it. Damnation Alley would fail that test. There is only one real character, everyone else is a bit player.
Nevertheless, to me it is 157 pages of perfectly written classic science fiction from an author with the most immense talent. I am truly in awe of what a good book this is.
Consider the publishing year; 1969, the year the first Jumbo jet launched (Boeing 747) long, long before the word 'dystopian' was first in circulation and Damnation Alley comes out to deservedly win the Hugo and Nebula awards. This is almost a prototype of post-apocalyptic, dystopian science fiction and fifty years later it is still a perfectly written, immensely readable, exciting forerunner of a genera that is ever growing in popularity.
This novel is set on the North American continent where humanity have royally messed up. Large portions of the continent are radio-active wasteland, where mutated life forms and hazardous weather patterns vie for the title of most dangerous. The remnant populations of people are separated on the East and West coasts by Damnation Alley; three thousand miles of danger that few men (and of course no women, it is 1969 after all) have ever dared cross.
Now the shredded population of Boston is being devastated by plague though there is a vaccine on the other side of the continent. California has only one slim chance of getting this vaccine to Boston and saving the population from total destruction. This slim chance is if they use Hell Tanner, the last surviving remnant of a gang, the Angels and possibly the best driver alive. He has a chance of surviving Damnation Alley, and that is the only chance Boston has of survival.
I went into this book without huge hopes; I knew I adored it when I read it as a teenager, but many books have come and gone since then. There have been a lot of books with similar themes, more modern ones, ones with more science, longer ones, many that I loved. It blew me away how much I still loved this book! Part of it is that, really, every word Zelazny ever wrote is like literary crack to me. The writing is so good! It is evocative, descriptive, addictive and I loved every sentence I read between those covers.
In a lot of ways it has dated, there is a lot of smoking cigarettes (which would never be allowed these days), Hell Tanner himself is not a nice guy, he is certainly not a hero, he is not even up as a modern anti-hero since modern anti-heroes are not often allowed to be actual bad people. Tanner is bad, unabashedly antisocial he is also beautifully written and true to himself. You do not get extensive inner musings but you do get a fascinating adventure as he struggles his way, mile by mile across a messed up continent. There are no strong women characters spending time talking about things that do not relate to the male characters. Or even, really, women characters. I think this absence is a great big no-no with a lot of modern readers. They even invented some weird scale called the Bechdel–Wallace to quantify it. Damnation Alley would fail that test. There is only one real character, everyone else is a bit player.
Nevertheless, to me it is 157 pages of perfectly written classic science fiction from an author with the most immense talent. I am truly in awe of what a good book this is.
June 7, 2021
First off, this is not a paltry two-and-a-half stars, nor a mere two-and-a-half stars. It’s a hearty two-and-half stars. This is two-and-half stars with feeling.
And—because it’s Roger bloody Zelazny—it’s been rounded up to three. (And might even have been rounded up (albeit illogically) to four!)
Why, you might ask?
Because that’s how we roll, I would answer.
Now, from pretty much any other author, this book would’ve turned out to be hot garbage and rated one star at most. But with RZ at the helm (the hot salami genius of SFF; the master shogun assassin; one of the best to ever do the damn thing), this utterly ridiculous tale becomes infused with something like a winking intelligence, a wry humor—an ironic half-smirk.
Unfortunately, this is still not enough to make up for all the story’s shortcomings—of which there are quite a few.
To put it bluntly: character & plot development are two categories in which this book does not exactly shine. What it does have going for it, though, is its proud, unrepentant pulpishness, and the confidence with which it flies that defiant pulp flag. In its best moments, it thrums with more badassery than its caricature-of-a-badass protagonist/antihero Hell Tanner. This is a story that’s meant to be enjoyed—not analyzed; experienced—not remembered. It’s fun, diverting, and mindless. And, with Zelazny running the madhouse, there’s still a quotient of pathos, humor, and even (if you squint long and hard enough) a bantam bit of erudition smuggled into the works.
But again—like a one-night stand or a Sharknado film—it’s not something to be thought about too deeply, or contemplated overmuch. It’s the literary equivalent of one of those deep-fried, bacon-wrapped Twinkies they sell on the boardwalk at Coney Island: they’re there to be relished, with no further thought.
So—read it fast and toss it aside. If you can keep up that side of the deal, Zelazny will more than keep up his.
2.5 out of 3 (or maybe even 4??) stars.
Consume it like you’d consume a shopping bag full of cotton candy. Num num num num!!!
And—because it’s Roger bloody Zelazny—it’s been rounded up to three. (And might even have been rounded up (albeit illogically) to four!)
Why, you might ask?
Because that’s how we roll, I would answer.
Now, from pretty much any other author, this book would’ve turned out to be hot garbage and rated one star at most. But with RZ at the helm (the hot salami genius of SFF; the master shogun assassin; one of the best to ever do the damn thing), this utterly ridiculous tale becomes infused with something like a winking intelligence, a wry humor—an ironic half-smirk.
Unfortunately, this is still not enough to make up for all the story’s shortcomings—of which there are quite a few.
To put it bluntly: character & plot development are two categories in which this book does not exactly shine. What it does have going for it, though, is its proud, unrepentant pulpishness, and the confidence with which it flies that defiant pulp flag. In its best moments, it thrums with more badassery than its caricature-of-a-badass protagonist/antihero Hell Tanner. This is a story that’s meant to be enjoyed—not analyzed; experienced—not remembered. It’s fun, diverting, and mindless. And, with Zelazny running the madhouse, there’s still a quotient of pathos, humor, and even (if you squint long and hard enough) a bantam bit of erudition smuggled into the works.
But again—like a one-night stand or a Sharknado film—it’s not something to be thought about too deeply, or contemplated overmuch. It’s the literary equivalent of one of those deep-fried, bacon-wrapped Twinkies they sell on the boardwalk at Coney Island: they’re there to be relished, with no further thought.
So—read it fast and toss it aside. If you can keep up that side of the deal, Zelazny will more than keep up his.
2.5 out of 3 (or maybe even 4??) stars.
Consume it like you’d consume a shopping bag full of cotton candy. Num num num num!!!
March 10, 2011
Tough, nasty Hell's Angel with a heart of gold transports a case of vaccine across a post-Holocaust America, to save the inhabitants of plague-ravaged Boston. It's quite good if you're in the mood for that kind of thing.
As several people have pointed out, the main character rather reminds one of Snake Plissken in Escape from New York, though this novel predates the movie.
As several people have pointed out, the main character rather reminds one of Snake Plissken in Escape from New York, though this novel predates the movie.
November 19, 2018
A rather Light weight adventure post-apocalyptic story as compared to the epic and iconic "Lords of Light", but written with clever or humorous prose as are usually found in his shorter works such as those found in Zelazny's "The Doors of His Face and other stories". And so, I now know, thanks to Goodreads reviewer "Peter Tillman", this was an expanded version of a novella published in 1966. Makes perfect sense. I recall a movie based on this that I saw an eon ago when I was a pre-teen and recall that I liked it well enough.
October 31, 2022
Постапокалиптична фантастика такава, каквато трябва да бъде.
Алеята на прокълнатите е тънка, но яка книжка, в която има всичко, което може да искаш от постапокалиптичен свят... освен особен смисъл, разбира се. В най-добрите традиции на Лудия Макс, главния герой кара бронирана кола, стреля с картечници и преминава през различни премеждия, за да спаси един далечен град и да си остане волен рокер, който не го ебе от нищо.
Алеята на прокълнатите е тънка, но яка книжка, в която има всичко, което може да искаш от постапокалиптичен свят... освен особен смисъл, разбира се. В най-добрите традиции на Лудия Макс, главния герой кара бронирана кола, стреля с картечници и преминава през различни премеждия, за да спаси един далечен град и да си остане волен рокер, който не го ебе от нищо.
April 28, 2015
This book was sitting in the free bin outside of 2nd and Charles and I thought - why not? It looks short. And I really liked Zelazny's A Night in the Lonesome October. Plus there's just something about a vintage 1969 paperback. These old books used to be everywhere, at every sale and every used book shop. Now they are a bit of rarity.
This is basically non-stop action. We get a little taste of Hell Tanner's character, but it's mostly non-stop action. There's been a nuclear war and the only remaining viable cities are L.A. and Boston. A few others are habitable, but those are the big ones. There's no radio anymore (if it wasn't 1969, I'd say no internet) and planes can no longer fly as the winds are fierce and full of rubbish. The interior of the US is radioactive. There are gila monsters the size of houses (at this point in my description of the setting, my husband Mike laughed out loud), giant spiders the size of people, and all manner of ferocious creatures and equally ferocious human beings. (I think they're wandering around St. Louis with spears.)
The last Hell's Angel on earth, Hell Tanner, must make a run from Los Angeles to Boston to deliver an antivirus for the plague. He's the best there is at driving. If anyone can make it, Tanner will.
There you have it! That's the story! I liked it well enough. You can't say it's boring. It's 1969 so everyone is smoking. (At this point in my narrative, Mike, said - the earth is filled with radiation, it's raining dead fish and garbage, there are giant man-eating gila monsters, and you're worried about smoking? Point taken.)
I found out they made this into a movie in 1977. I'm assuming a B movie? I have no idea, but I have found a copy so I plan on watching it.
This isn't as good as Lonesome October by any means, but I'm interested in reading more of Zelazny.
One last item - this is the author bio by Harlan Ellison on my back cover:
"Roger Zelazny is the reincarnation of Geoffrey Chaucer. Mr. Zelazny was born in London in 1340, and served King Edward on secret missions in Flanders in 1376-7; he also lived under the name of Cyril Tourner for 20 years. He is married and now lives in Baltimore." (Now Mike is like, what???)
This is basically non-stop action. We get a little taste of Hell Tanner's character, but it's mostly non-stop action. There's been a nuclear war and the only remaining viable cities are L.A. and Boston. A few others are habitable, but those are the big ones. There's no radio anymore (if it wasn't 1969, I'd say no internet) and planes can no longer fly as the winds are fierce and full of rubbish. The interior of the US is radioactive. There are gila monsters the size of houses (at this point in my description of the setting, my husband Mike laughed out loud), giant spiders the size of people, and all manner of ferocious creatures and equally ferocious human beings. (I think they're wandering around St. Louis with spears.)
The last Hell's Angel on earth, Hell Tanner, must make a run from Los Angeles to Boston to deliver an antivirus for the plague. He's the best there is at driving. If anyone can make it, Tanner will.
There you have it! That's the story! I liked it well enough. You can't say it's boring. It's 1969 so everyone is smoking. (At this point in my narrative, Mike, said - the earth is filled with radiation, it's raining dead fish and garbage, there are giant man-eating gila monsters, and you're worried about smoking? Point taken.)
I found out they made this into a movie in 1977. I'm assuming a B movie? I have no idea, but I have found a copy so I plan on watching it.
This isn't as good as Lonesome October by any means, but I'm interested in reading more of Zelazny.
One last item - this is the author bio by Harlan Ellison on my back cover:
"Roger Zelazny is the reincarnation of Geoffrey Chaucer. Mr. Zelazny was born in London in 1340, and served King Edward on secret missions in Flanders in 1376-7; he also lived under the name of Cyril Tourner for 20 years. He is married and now lives in Baltimore." (Now Mike is like, what???)
May 3, 2018
Reread as research for WIP. Hasn't improved any since last time, a great concept poorly executed.
February 16, 2024
Моє знайомство з автором.
Імпульсивно взяла Проклін Зону, хотіла послухати якусь аудіокнигу українською і трапилася саме ця.
Я не скажу що вона зачарувала мене з першої сторінки, але це було цікаво.
Вся книга - одна дорожня історія, де головний герой - Чорт Теннер змушений подолати довгий шлях від Лос-Анджелеса до Бостона щоб привести ліки від чуми. Але дорога не така проста як здається на перший погляд - весь світ вже давно уражений, мутований та проклятий після ядерної катастрофи. Тож Теннеру доведеться багато з чим зіткнутися щоб привести рятунок людям. А чи хоче він взагалі це робити?
Книга мені сподобалася. Я мало читала книг, події яких відбуваються в дорозі, і ця була дуже динамічна. Сподобався головний герой, його ріст. Цікавим було і опис світу, мутацій тварин, зміна клімату. Хоч мені хотілося б більше деталей.
Я не можу радити цей твір усім. Але якщо ви любите історії про байкерів, дорогу, чи історії про постапокаліпсис - можете сміливо брати її.
Імпульсивно взяла Проклін Зону, хотіла послухати якусь аудіокнигу українською і трапилася саме ця.
Я не скажу що вона зачарувала мене з першої сторінки, але це було цікаво.
Вся книга - одна дорожня історія, де головний герой - Чорт Теннер змушений подолати довгий шлях від Лос-Анджелеса до Бостона щоб привести ліки від чуми. Але дорога не така проста як здається на перший погляд - весь світ вже давно уражений, мутований та проклятий після ядерної катастрофи. Тож Теннеру доведеться багато з чим зіткнутися щоб привести рятунок людям. А чи хоче він взагалі це робити?
Книга мені сподобалася. Я мало читала книг, події яких відбуваються в дорозі, і ця була дуже динамічна. Сподобався головний герой, його ріст. Цікавим було і опис світу, мутацій тварин, зміна клімату. Хоч мені хотілося б більше деталей.
Я не можу радити цей твір усім. Але якщо ви любите історії про байкерів, дорогу, чи історії про постапокаліпсис - можете сміливо брати її.
July 5, 2023
Разове читання про постапок, який з ентузіазмом екранізовували у 80-х. Не здивуюсь, якщо при написанні сценарію для того ж «Скаженого Макса» чи «Втечі з Нью-Йорку» підглядати в цю книгу, паралелей можна знайти багацько:)
July 18, 2020
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.
February 6, 2024
During a 14-day after-travel self-quarantine, a copy of Zelazny’s 1969 story (based on his Hugo-nominated 1967 novella by the same name) about a biker with a heart of gold in a post-apocalyptic future unintentionally fell into my hands. In it, the Nation of California gives Hell Tanner (yes, that is his name) a choice – take a suicide mission to drive an armored vehicle from Los Angeles to Boston, across post-holocaust America delivering a needed anti-plague vaccine, or complete his life sentence in prison. On the way, enduring highly radioactive zones, weather that drops boulders out of the sky, giant mutant gila monsters, and renegade humans prominently featuring motorcycle gangs, Tanner must consider whether he actually gives a damn. In the end, Zelazny stretches out the conclusion with some prose insertions, including one truly impressive 3-full-page sentence. I found the novel entertaining, in that anti-hero tough-as-nails way, but not much more.
January 6, 2021
Hell Tanner, in italiano tradotto come Dannazione Tanner, è l'ultimo Angels della costa ovest, nella nazione di California, una delle due sopravvissute, con Boston, alla distruzione nucleare durata tre giorni. Ora il mondo è sconvolto da tempeste e uragani di sassi, mostruose mutazioni abitano l'america e poche città sono sopravvissute.Quando un messaggero su un'auto che è peggio di un carro armato arriva con la notizia del diffondersi della peste a Boston, una carovana di 3 mezzi con i vaccini viene spedita dalla California. Solo Dannazione arriverà a Boston, tra mille pericoli e traversie assurde.
Scritto nel 1968 questo romanzo breve è stato l'origine del filone di romanzi e film post-nucleari tipo Mad Max.
Si legge veloce, scorrevole e chiaro, è invecchiato molto bene.
In appendice un racconto di simile tematica, decisamente ben scritto anche questo.
4 stelle meritate.
Scritto nel 1968 questo romanzo breve è stato l'origine del filone di romanzi e film post-nucleari tipo Mad Max.
Si legge veloce, scorrevole e chiaro, è invecchiato molto bene.
In appendice un racconto di simile tematica, decisamente ben scritto anche questo.
4 stelle meritate.
July 10, 2007
In this post-apocalyptic adventure, Zelazny examines many of the same themes that Heinlein explored in GLORY ROAD. It's been unfortunately dismissed by many because of the terrible film version that was loosely based on it, which is a real pity since it's a well-written, intelligent book. The last paragraph is one of the most memorable that I've encountered in any piece of literature.
August 10, 2011
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.
October 26, 2023
Роджер Желязни «Проклін-зона»
Постапокаліптичний роман (2021)
«Здавалося, ніби цієї частини континенту практично не торкнувся той хаос, що сотворив решту Зони».
Динамічно, кінематографічно та драйвово…
Чорт Терннер – пройдисвіт, контрабандист, останній з банди «янголів» та єдина людина у світі, що здатна подолати прокляту Зону та доставити ліки у місто, яке розтерзує хвороба. Він не відчуває жалю, не живе за правилами та плює на закони, але здатний на почуття та дотримується власних обіцянок. Його найкращий друг – це байк, заправлений до повного баку пальним, матір – чорна косуха з купою залізяччя, а найближчі люди – білі смуги дороги (бо решта його банди давно мертві).
Смерть чи помилування?!
Тепер перед Чортом Терннером стоїть надскладне завдання, а точніше неможливе. Йому належить подолати Проклін-зону, яка кишить невідомими монстрами, радіацією та бандами контрабандистів – завдання для божевільного безумця. Чи для справжнього героя, яким він ніколи не був і не буде. Хоча химерна уява інколи змальовує зовсім інші перспективи.
Ця мандрівка може стати для нього останнім викликом у житті. Останньою поїздкою на примарній волі серед смерті, безодні руйнувань та людської ницості. Останнім риком старенького байку, запахом бензину та мокрого асфальту, у променях призахідного сонця, що стрибають зайчиками у пошкрябаних дзеркалах. І поки бак байку, хоч на чверть заповнений, не слід натискати на гальма. Навіть Проклін-Зона поважає сміливців…
Так що, вимкни wi-fi, читай книги.
Постапокаліптичний роман (2021)
«Здавалося, ніби цієї частини континенту практично не торкнувся той хаос, що сотворив решту Зони».
Динамічно, кінематографічно та драйвово…
Чорт Терннер – пройдисвіт, контрабандист, останній з банди «янголів» та єдина людина у світі, що здатна подолати прокляту Зону та доставити ліки у місто, яке розтерзує хвороба. Він не відчуває жалю, не живе за правилами та плює на закони, але здатний на почуття та дотримується власних обіцянок. Його найкращий друг – це байк, заправлений до повного баку пальним, матір – чорна косуха з купою залізяччя, а найближчі люди – білі смуги дороги (бо решта його банди давно мертві).
Смерть чи помилування?!
Тепер перед Чортом Терннером стоїть надскладне завдання, а точніше неможливе. Йому належить подолати Проклін-зону, яка кишить невідомими монстрами, радіацією та бандами контрабандистів – завдання для божевільного безумця. Чи для справжнього героя, яким він ніколи не був і не буде. Хоча химерна уява інколи змальовує зовсім інші перспективи.
Ця мандрівка може стати для нього останнім викликом у житті. Останньою поїздкою на примарній волі серед смерті, безодні руйнувань та людської ницості. Останнім риком старенького байку, запахом бензину та мокрого асфальту, у променях призахідного сонця, що стрибають зайчиками у пошкрябаних дзеркалах. І поки бак байку, хоч на чверть заповнений, не слід натискати на гальма. Навіть Проклін-Зона поважає сміливців…
Так що, вимкни wi-fi, читай книги.
October 10, 2020
First published in 1967 Damnation Alley is a notable godfather of the biker, as in motorcycle, post-apocalyptic genre. It tells the story of Hell Tanner, a renegade biker and criminal who is pardoned by the Nation of California to deliver the cure for a plague that is overwhelming the Nation of Boston. Most of the USA has been devastated by nuclear missiles and the cross country journey is extremely perilous due to radiation, huge storms and winds, swarms of giant creatures, and dangerous itinerant motorcycle gangs. The theme of a warrior going it alone against impossible odds is a familiar one, so not too many surprises here. Zelazny’s writing is stellar and in general keeps the linear plot moving at a breakneck pace. There is a weird two page stream of consciousness run-on sentence that made me think that the ebook had ended and that I was reading a printing error, although it the 1960s I’m sure that hip folks thought is was pretty groovy. A essential read for anyone interested in the nascent post-apocalyptic literary scene that soon exploded in popularity in the 1970s and ‘80s.
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