Shadow Scourge

"Shadow Scourge" may be one of the strangest stories in the series so far and maybe that's why I liked it so much. With its references to a couple of old Deathlands adventures and echoes of Lovecraft, its fast-moving, VERY action-packed and filled with deviltry and derring-do. Our heroes face a villain of the likes they never encountered before and probably pray they never do again. The way the swamp muties were featured made them some of the most repellant creatures ever to appear in either Outlanders and Deathlands--and so of course I hope they show up again. So far the track record of this series is 100 percent. There are some novels I liked better than others but I haven't come across a bad one yet.

I don't usually read horror stories because they never scare me. I didn't expect to find a horror story in an Outlanders novel...and I didn't expect to have it "creep" me out. Shadow Scourge has a lot of action in it, a lot of violence but the supernatural overtones made it a winner for me. Outlanders is usually high adventure and action with sci-fi overtones, so this book came as a nice surprise.

Shadow Scourge may be looked as another sci-fi doomsday book when examined. But what Outlanders is is totally the opposite. The author uses history and future all in one: The book takes place in the future yet they encounter things thousands of years old. I cannot describe the total uniqueness in these novels. While most future books are man books straight sci-fi, this isnt. If you look at a catagory this book is in in the store its catagory is Western/Men's Adventure. Yet this book had fantasy, humor, facts, sociology, history, romance, friendship, drama and BRILLIANT storyline. Everything is in these books that anyone could want to read about. Therefore it isn't western or men's adventure. In this particular book, the group journey to South America where they encounter the descendents of the Mayan Empire that headed south after their descendants were murdered by Hernan Cortes. Their culture is still the same after 700 years. These characters which take place 200 years into the future expierience things not seen in 500 years. Anyone into history would enjoy this book.Also, In other comments you hear about vampires and this and that. Im not a fan for vampires but they play a small part in it. Anyone that likes horror would like this.Anyone into romance, friendships, tension, aliens. you name it, its in this book as well as all the Outlanders Series.The author is very intelligent and thats no lie.

Shadow Scourge was a very well done novel. Even after talking to the author about it and being told to be disappointed, that wasn't what had happened.Sure, it was more combat oriented than most of the previous novels and there was a creature that may or may not have been a vampire, but the rest of the novel more than made up for that.The story centered more around Brigid and Dafore. It was great to see these two characters getting more attention than ever and learning more about the medic from the Cerberus redoubt. That alone makes the novel worth while picking up.Then there is the scientific explination on the swampies, as well as the vampire family from Bloodlines, and a re-visit to South America and the natives that were encountered in Emerald Fire.I was told that Science Fiction and Horror do not mix. Sometimes it's true, other times, take the Alien movie series, it works. As long as the writer takes the time to explain things, it will always work out.And there is an added bonus that we learn more about the Magistrate training as well as what happened to the installation where the Aurora crashed in Armageddon Axis. Worth while reading folks!

Shadow Scourge is about as different an Outlanders book as you can get. Though it has lots of action, it's more like a horror story with a really creepy and nasty villain. The best part about it for me is that Brigid gets star billing in this one. She's not in the back seat like she was in the previous novel but right there in the thick of things--and the things in this book even creeped me out who's a big Steven King fan. Like all books in this series, I recommend this one.