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Deathlands #4
Crater Lake
LEGACY OF AN AGE GONE MAD...
Near what was once the Pacific northwest, Ryan Crawdor and his roving band of post-holocaust survivors discover a beautiful valley untouched by the nuclear blast that changed the Earth forever.
Resisting the temptation to settle in that idyllic land, the group is captured and forced deep beneath an extinct group is captured and forced deep beneath an extinct volcano to an isolated community of in-bred scientists.
These psychopathic descendants of a twentieth-century government research team are blindly laboring to find betters ways of genocide, unaware that the world they are striving to slaughter has already died.
In a frantic race to stop this bizarre society from testing its horrific weapons. Ryan realizes that if he fails an already nuke-scorched Earth faces another Armageddon.
In the Deathlands the past and the future are clashing with frightening force.
Near what was once the Pacific northwest, Ryan Crawdor and his roving band of post-holocaust survivors discover a beautiful valley untouched by the nuclear blast that changed the Earth forever.
Resisting the temptation to settle in that idyllic land, the group is captured and forced deep beneath an extinct group is captured and forced deep beneath an extinct volcano to an isolated community of in-bred scientists.
These psychopathic descendants of a twentieth-century government research team are blindly laboring to find betters ways of genocide, unaware that the world they are striving to slaughter has already died.
In a frantic race to stop this bizarre society from testing its horrific weapons. Ryan realizes that if he fails an already nuke-scorched Earth faces another Armageddon.
In the Deathlands the past and the future are clashing with frightening force.
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 1987
63 people are currently reading
338 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
December 31, 2023
Was another fun read in this series. If you liked the other ones you should like this as well.
August 4, 2022
I think I will say the same thing about every Deathlands book until I find one that is either better or worse than all the others...
They are an insane (inane?) ride through a post apocalyptic version of the movie Hobbs and Shaw on ketamine with mutants and portals through time and space.
If you're interested in the above description, you will more than likely find something you enjoy in the Deathlands series. They are INCREDIBLY formulaic but I thoroughly enjoy the characters, and most story arcs are interesting enough for me to pick up the next one eventually.
The Graphic Audio versions are superbly made.
I'd probably give most Deathlands books a 3.5/5. Since Goodreads doesn't allow that, I'll give them a 4/5.
They are an insane (inane?) ride through a post apocalyptic version of the movie Hobbs and Shaw on ketamine with mutants and portals through time and space.
If you're interested in the above description, you will more than likely find something you enjoy in the Deathlands series. They are INCREDIBLY formulaic but I thoroughly enjoy the characters, and most story arcs are interesting enough for me to pick up the next one eventually.
The Graphic Audio versions are superbly made.
I'd probably give most Deathlands books a 3.5/5. Since Goodreads doesn't allow that, I'll give them a 4/5.
May 6, 2012
More anal weapon description banging grunting groaning splatting moaning screaming shouting zap kapow cheesy aural goodness from the ongoing journal of the Deathlands. Sweet. Or should that be savoury?
June 3, 2025
Condition: Adequate- good but for unusually symmetrical tearing at all four corners of the spine, almost as though half inch cuts were applied all around the cover.
A real oddball of the series with some great ideas left unfortunately underbaked. Crater Lake is really two novellettes roughly stapled together to make a single story, with the two parts so unrelated as to be rendered each lesser through their proximity. In part one, after the initial escape from a redoubt in southwest Oregon, the gang finds themselves in Ginnsburg Falls, a hideously despotic ville running off a heady combination of vicious authoritarianism and barbaric misogyny, where public stonings are the primary form of entertainment and women are kept as violently repressed concubines for the service of the mostly-male population. Part two: the gang gets to the eponymous lake where they are taken prisoner by the horrendously inbred denizens of an underground research facility with a second global holocaust on their minds. What do these two locations have to do with one another? Not a goddamn thing! So little is done to tie the two parts of the story together that it verges on the avant garde. What exists is good, solid Deathlands stuff, but woefully little of it, with too few pages granted to either to make much of a lasting impression.
I’m not sure what the reasoning for the structure here is: either of these stories- outlines, really- would be strong enough starting points to write a whole book around. Ginnsburg Falls is one of the most legitimately morbid and tense locations so far in the series, which could make for a great setting for the sort of intensely mean-minded, desperate story we saw in Red Holocaust. Conversely, the Crater Lake facility is wild and wacky, perfect for a weirder, more madcap take on the established formula, with its legion of cartoonish scientist characters and unusual environmental constrains for the team. For some reason beyond my knowledge, though, they were instead crammed uncomfortably together, too different in tone and style to make for anything other than a reading experience that promises far more than it actually executes on. The reveal of Doc Tanner’s backstory is a well-earned character moment, and the disposal of Finn (R.I.P. Finn, you were fat and said “fuck” a lot) brings the team to a lean core of six, but these movements of the overarching plot are still too slight to make this entry much more than a mild disappointment.
https://hideousrecollection.substack.com
A real oddball of the series with some great ideas left unfortunately underbaked. Crater Lake is really two novellettes roughly stapled together to make a single story, with the two parts so unrelated as to be rendered each lesser through their proximity. In part one, after the initial escape from a redoubt in southwest Oregon, the gang finds themselves in Ginnsburg Falls, a hideously despotic ville running off a heady combination of vicious authoritarianism and barbaric misogyny, where public stonings are the primary form of entertainment and women are kept as violently repressed concubines for the service of the mostly-male population. Part two: the gang gets to the eponymous lake where they are taken prisoner by the horrendously inbred denizens of an underground research facility with a second global holocaust on their minds. What do these two locations have to do with one another? Not a goddamn thing! So little is done to tie the two parts of the story together that it verges on the avant garde. What exists is good, solid Deathlands stuff, but woefully little of it, with too few pages granted to either to make much of a lasting impression.
I’m not sure what the reasoning for the structure here is: either of these stories- outlines, really- would be strong enough starting points to write a whole book around. Ginnsburg Falls is one of the most legitimately morbid and tense locations so far in the series, which could make for a great setting for the sort of intensely mean-minded, desperate story we saw in Red Holocaust. Conversely, the Crater Lake facility is wild and wacky, perfect for a weirder, more madcap take on the established formula, with its legion of cartoonish scientist characters and unusual environmental constrains for the team. For some reason beyond my knowledge, though, they were instead crammed uncomfortably together, too different in tone and style to make for anything other than a reading experience that promises far more than it actually executes on. The reveal of Doc Tanner’s backstory is a well-earned character moment, and the disposal of Finn (R.I.P. Finn, you were fat and said “fuck” a lot) brings the team to a lean core of six, but these movements of the overarching plot are still too slight to make this entry much more than a mild disappointment.
https://hideousrecollection.substack.com
July 18, 2022
Another member of the team emerges from this title. It is a good character that adds to the group. This person attaches themselves as a romantic interest for one of the other protagonists in a manner that makes you cringe. Yeah, it kind of soils that characters as a pervert. Just try not to let it ruin the character for you entirely.
But, in Crater Lake, you get two books for the price of one! There are two distinct stories here. They almost don't intertwine at all. When they do, the connection is tenuous at best. Try to think of it as a couple of novellas and it will be just fine.
The inbred scientists are a hoot. Their diabolical plan is ludicrous along the lines of Dr. Evil of Austin Powers fame. And the payoff is just as silly. But again, roll with it. This is not brain surgery.
Fun for fun's sake. An easy read, to be sure.
But, in Crater Lake, you get two books for the price of one! There are two distinct stories here. They almost don't intertwine at all. When they do, the connection is tenuous at best. Try to think of it as a couple of novellas and it will be just fine.
The inbred scientists are a hoot. Their diabolical plan is ludicrous along the lines of Dr. Evil of Austin Powers fame. And the payoff is just as silly. But again, roll with it. This is not brain surgery.
Fun for fun's sake. An easy read, to be sure.
July 10, 2019
Another romp through the post-apocalyptic world of Deathlands. Though I enjoyed this one a bit more than the previous one, I probably won't bother to make comments on future volumes. The stories so far have been enjoyable - worth reading - but they very much read like they're based on someone's RPG campaign. Not so much that there's anything wrong with that, just doesn't make for much that's noteworthy. So, I'll just keep reading until I get tired of the series - I mean, there are 125 of them. And that's not counting the related Outlanders series...
November 16, 2018
These books are definitely formulaic after a few but that doesn't dispel the fun of listening to the graphic audio editions. Just to hear the action and craziness and wild characters. There is some level of continuation but it's like an action adventure TV show. I'll be tuning in next week for the next edition for sure.
May 6, 2022
Pretty standard fare for this series. The Crater Lake setting found a warm place in my heart as it is one of my favorite places in the US.
Also, this book begins to disclose the background and history of Doc Tanner as well as possible new technologies and story-threads including the possibility of time-travel.
Good story...fun read...
Also, this book begins to disclose the background and history of Doc Tanner as well as possible new technologies and story-threads including the possibility of time-travel.
Good story...fun read...
December 6, 2018
Another decent entry into the deathlands series. Lots of mutants, shooting, and odd ball survivalists.
December 21, 2021
If long winded weapon descriptions are your thing maybe this is for you.
April 4, 2022
It was ok. Nothing that really stands out. Some of the more racy scenes felt completely gratuitous.
July 8, 2025
Good bit of fun, the villains in this one were interesting.
Of course it ended with gunfights and explosions, the way it should.
Of course it ended with gunfights and explosions, the way it should.
June 6, 2020
Almost 2 years to the day that I last read Neutron Solstice and I’m back in the Deathlands series.
Admittedly, I never planned on taking such a long hiatus from this batch of books, but life got in the way, I moved on to other genres and authors, and forgot about them...and Neutron was a bit of let down which made for a good reason to take a break.
But anyways, the 4th book of the “Axlerverse” gets the series right back on track, proving yet again that the Gold Eagle imprint of Harlequin Romance books wasn’t afraid to appeal to the testosterone infused crowd. Obviously everything that happens in these books is pretty over the top, from overwrought and repetitive descriptions of every minutia of firearms, to the detail oriented bloodshed and gore, to attempts to titillate with graphic sex scenes. Crater Lake keeps this tradition going, however there’s actually a pretty good story here, mixing typical post apocalyptic tropes with a cyberpunk undertone...honestly the perfect mindless, yet exceedingly fun kind of book that the average male would enjoy.
There’s nothing deep or philosophical with Crater Lake. But sometimes you need a break and these books are the perfect guilty pleasure books yo fill in the gaps.
Admittedly, I never planned on taking such a long hiatus from this batch of books, but life got in the way, I moved on to other genres and authors, and forgot about them...and Neutron was a bit of let down which made for a good reason to take a break.
But anyways, the 4th book of the “Axlerverse” gets the series right back on track, proving yet again that the Gold Eagle imprint of Harlequin Romance books wasn’t afraid to appeal to the testosterone infused crowd. Obviously everything that happens in these books is pretty over the top, from overwrought and repetitive descriptions of every minutia of firearms, to the detail oriented bloodshed and gore, to attempts to titillate with graphic sex scenes. Crater Lake keeps this tradition going, however there’s actually a pretty good story here, mixing typical post apocalyptic tropes with a cyberpunk undertone...honestly the perfect mindless, yet exceedingly fun kind of book that the average male would enjoy.
There’s nothing deep or philosophical with Crater Lake. But sometimes you need a break and these books are the perfect guilty pleasure books yo fill in the gaps.
January 14, 2013
This installment in the deathlands serious was a fun run through a society that devalues woman and overprizes cleanliness and strict rules.
It phased into a forward looking, sckewed view of destruction as the only solution to worldwide calamity.
It's a fun read with the usual bloodshed and action I have come to expect from Deathlands.
It phased into a forward looking, sckewed view of destruction as the only solution to worldwide calamity.
It's a fun read with the usual bloodshed and action I have come to expect from Deathlands.
June 14, 2015
The fourth book shows our merry band of wayfarers still finding new and bewildering things in the Deathlands that I sure they would not rather have found in the first place. But they have the strangest way of becoming the savior's of the planet and they do not even know it most of the time.
August 26, 2010
I really enjoy this series, but the books are difficult to find.
Post Apocalyptic setting with scifi elements, I really like the few of these books I've been able to find.
Post Apocalyptic setting with scifi elements, I really like the few of these books I've been able to find.
Read
July 30, 2011I'm a masochist, must be the reason I keep reading these...
September 14, 2013
My favourite episode of the deathlands to date.
January 26, 2016
An average apocalyptic adventure story. This one takes a century after the last war and now there are mutants running around the earth. Recommended
April 16, 2017
Two neat ideas with lame execution in the end, plus one of the more interesting characters bit the dust. Might have been more successful if the two ideas each received a separate book.
Read
October 10, 2017Very entertaining. Closest I've read to a Fallout novelization. Every book sort of reads like a different Fallout side quest. Looking forward to reading more in the series
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews