Review: ENDWORLD - THE FOX RUN

Setting

THE TIME:  100 YEARS AFTER WORLD WAR III

THE PLACE:  WHAT USED TO BE CALLED AMERICA!

ENDWORLD is one of the most admired SciFi series of all time.  Fans do not just 'like' the series. They 'love' it.  The characters are brought to such vivid life, they are unforgettable.  Typical of the author, his pulp fiction prose flows at lightning speed.  An apocalyptic epic, a study of human nature, an exciting serial, ENDWORLD is all of these.  It is also a superb study of the Warrior Ethic. With fascinating insight, Robbins examines the martial ideals of various cultures and times as embodied in his Warriors.  His subtexts involve the fundamental importance of the family and the home.  He also delves into the nature of politics and creates entire post-war societies based on every type of government under the sun, and what happens to those they govern.  Find out for yourself why fans adore this series so much.
 
Take the ENDWORLD plunge. You will be glad you did.

(from a fansite) 

My Thoughts
Wow, this is the book that started it all for me.  I am in agreement with everything said above.  The balance between action and character and story is awesome.  There is morality/religion but it's worked in very subtlely within being preachy.  There is almost perfect balance between the different characters and they are each given a chance to develop as the series goes forward. 

Copies of these original books, with their super pulpy covers, would appear to be harder and harder to find, although some diligent internet searching could yield something.  The first books of the series were recently reissued and hopefully Robbins will return to this fantastic series again someday.
 
Final score: 8 out of 10

• Title: Endworld - The Fox Run
  
• Author: David Robbins
  
• Publisher: Leisure Books; Original edition (July 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 084396233X
• Available at Amazon.com

Review: THE BLACK BERETS

The Setting
In the dirty war of covert operations, they were the government's most deadly secret weapon.

The CIA trained them for one thing and one thing only- to kill swiftly, silently and mercilessly. Then it turned them loose on the battlefields of Asia, sending them out on missions so ugly that not even the army could be told.

But now the war was over. Beak, Rosie, Cowboy, Harry and Runt were in limbo until their old CIA control sent them back into the hell of Vietnam in search of a man who should be dead. Could five shell-shocked vets become a combat-honed killing machine again? And,if they could, how long would it be before the CIA acted to stop them, to shut them down-for keeps....(taken from the book)

My Thoughts
I would not classify this as PA fiction, there is no apocalypse taking place in the story.  This title falls more within the range of Mac Bolan style military adventure.


Final score: no score given

• Title: The Black Berets - Deadly Reunion
  
• Author: Mike McCray(pseudonym)
  
• Publisher: Dell; 1st THUS edition (1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: ???

Review: THE LAST RANGER

The Setting
The place: America.  The time:  the future.  Atom bombs have decimated some of the big cities; conventional weaponry has battered the rest.  In a landscape of jagged ruin and rubble, marauding biker gangs and neofascists battle for power, defenseless survivors are sold into slavery, and government by the people is but a faded memory.  Yet within this violent chaos, one ex-Green Beret has had the foresight to place his wife and family in a special mountain hideaway to protect them from the war he knew would come.  Schooled in the hardened ideals of his father, and eager to face the outside world, the son of Major Clayton Stone now emerges from his shelter-while a dangerous new America awaits...(taken from the book)

My Thoughts
Written in the mid 80's, this story fell off the rails pretty quick for me.  While I sensed the author was trying his best to build up the back story of the father and son relationship, there was just too much of it at the beginning and the whole thing took on a very slow, drawn out pace.  I feel as though the history would have been better served in smatterings throughout the book or even in future volumes in the series.

Once the story shifts into present day, there is a lengthy description of a Native American ritual that is meant to demonstrate the son's new awakening to the world around him.  Unfortunately the book is half over before we get to that point and, for me, things never improved from there.

Final score: 4 out of 10

• Title: The Last Ranger
  
• Author: Carig Sargent
  
• Publisher: Popular Library (May 1, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0445202351
• Available at Amazon.com