Lords of the Deep

I have read every one of the books in this series, as well as the Deathlands series by James Axler. This one had a good new premise, and an ancient evil that could for all intents and purposes be the reason for a lot of the problems in the pre and post nuked world. The story had some interesting characters, and the main evil one was a totally new concept. BUT...it got wrapped up WAY too quickly. The idea that this great evil had been responsible for humanities misery in a lot of ways was a interesting plot twist, but it didn't get develped enough, and was then ended in the last like 3 pages. For me, knowing there will be 20 more books to come, I would have liked a continuation on this somehow. The one fascinating small plot twist that I wasn't expecting was Kane being with another women for one night, that alone was worth reading, and wondering if there will be any reprecussions with Brigid down the road. But I think they are trying to make every book a complete story unto itself too much, what they have done all along, but more so now, so a reader will buy one book, and then be done and not look at the rest of the series. As I said...a little disappointing. But this series and Deathlands are an addiction i will never be rid of.

This latest installment of Outlanders, titled 'Lords of the Deep' is another fantastic adventure thrill ride. Written this time by the illustrious and very talented Victor Milan, Lords of the Deep finally shows who the real underworld lord of all earth is. Instead of Mark Ellis's barons-turned-into-alien-overlords-rulers, it is actually something bigger and far older. This was hinted at in Milan's other Outlanders novel, (which no posted reviewer caught), in Outlanders 'Uluru Destiny'. I caught the reference right away, and couldn't wait to find out what Milan cooked up. I won't ruin it here for readers. Lords of the Deep is filled with action and adventure of the highest caliber. Victor Milan has been writing solid military-type post-holocaust action/adventure for well over 20 years, and he seems to not be slowing down at all. From as far back as 1985, a year before the 1st Deathlands, Milan's 16 book series called The Guardians, under the psuedonym Richard Austin, Milan wrote that series until 1991. It was one of numerous post-holocaust series that were popular in that time period. And since his joining and co-authoring of the Deathlands and Outlanders series, he has continued to stretch his writing talent and improve upon the two series. Especially in Deathlands. In this particular installment, Milan once again proves that he can write high-octane adventure, along with showcasing a more realistic approach to male and female relationships. Whereas Mark Ellis seemingly likes to portrait Kane and Brigid to be ruggedly handsome and beautiful and curvy, but going nowhere fast with it after over 30 books, Milan is not afraid to show this. When did it become so 'politically correct' to be fine with writing in tons of death, gore and violence, but sex is shunned? Mark Ellis has done this in the past - in both series - but only in Outlanders did he do this with another co-author, Mel Odom, and only then did Kane and Brigid finally do the deed - but in another reality. (Even my wife is wondering why all this development is taking so long.) I think it was smart and realistic that Victor Milan wrote a new female interest for Kane here. It was a solid catalyst for much-needed drama. But where he failed here was in the not showing enough jealous emotion from Brigid. More internal showing of her jealous mixed emotions was in order here. The war between the somewhat primitive islanders against the high-tech underwater dome people was an excellent scenario. I love the ocean, and utilizing the largely unexplored depths of earth's oceans is a great and fresh idea. The battle scenes and both land and water are plenty and well written. The new love interest for Kane is fresh and interesting.(She even has a cool son!) Although the novel is never dull or boring, I felt that the only small weaknesses here were in the not expounding upon Brigid's response to Kane's new female ally. This could have been more dramatic. Also, I found the final underwater battl