Hell Rising is a sequel to Savage Sun, bringing Kane and Grant back to England to find out what the latest problem is arising there. Some characters return, like Fand, Morrigan, and Phin, and many of the scenes occur in the same places Kane and Grant were before.
I was a little confused about Morrigan's role in the earlier book, but it was more clear what she was doing in this book. Fand has a link to Kane in his dreams, but more than that, there is a whole history behind Fand and Kane, as well as the main villain Quayle, as past lives are involved in the story as well. Some of these past lives are briefly depicted, adding some interesting look into the history of the heroes and villains.
The adventure is action packed and full of gunfights, swordfights and an awesome finish.
One of my favorite parts of the book was the beginning, when Kane and his friends are in an Antartican redoubt in a bloody battle with a sasquatch named Jacko, who is controlled through an implant in his brain by Otto Skorzeny. Followed by a duel between Brigid and Otto himself with giant wrenches. Awesome stuff!
Once again, Mark Ellis has written a top-notch sci-fi adventure novel that will keep you reading into the early morning hours.
After being burned by the lackluster Deathlands (they must call it that because it kills so many brain cells), I was afraid to take a look at the Outlanders series. However, on the recommendation of a couple authors I respect - you know who you are - I picked up this and the next book.
And I learned immediately why you hardly ever find used Outlanders books laying all over the place.
The universe of the Outlanders is only nominally that of the Deathlands, conceived in a different set of attitudes, where three heroes fighting a geriatric Nazi suddenly becomes a thrilling unfair fight - on the part of a Benzadrine-hopping madman, and his pet Australopithicus, Jacko.
And that's just the setup -
We have our main hero, Kane, a man of action who takes lumps and cuts and other bangs, who can do his own research, who is the reincarnation of a legendary Celt warrior, summoned to England to prevent an apocalypse from Atlantean times.
If you're looking for Mack Bolan - Man of Steel gunfights, go look at Dan Schmidt schmidt.
If you're looking for some real adventure and excitement, wit and humor and fantastic mythology plugged into a dreary and wasteful genre, made fresh and new again, YOU GOTS TA CHECK OUTLANDERS!
All in all, highly recommended, and it will inspire you to look up the legends of Balor and his fomori, Lyonesse, and Cuchulain, if you weren't familiar with them already.
