Saturday, November 04, 2017

The Traveler Series, D. B. Drumm

This is the first in a post-apocalyptic series that seems clearly influenced by the movie Road Warrior. It's credited to D. B. Drumm. It takes place about fifteen years after a "nuke-out," which seems to have occurred in this book's timeline around 1984. That's when the book was written. It features a man known only as Traveler, although we do learn his real last name late in the book. It's Paxton.  Traveler is an ex-special forces soldier who, while in "El Hiagura" (El Salvador) before the war,  was exposed to a very nasty neurotoxin that often causes him great pain but which also seems to provide him with some extra-sensory ability to detect emotions. 

In this volume, Traveler stumbles into a town where two opposing war-lords divide the town between them. Shades of Kuroisowa's "Yojimbo" and Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars." As one might expect, Traveler ends up pitting the two sides against each other. The book also reveals that a man who betrayed Traveler back before the war is still alive, and that he serves the ex-president of the United States, a man named Frayling, who appears to be a rather thinly veiled substitute for Ronald Reagan, who was president from 1981 to 1989. It further reveals that at least one of Traveler's friends from before the war is still alive. These two discoveries provide a set up for the continuing series.

As with most of these men's adventures books of the era, D. B. Drumm was a house name for the series. It appears that Ed Naha wrote this first volume, and he and John Shirley traded off on the books through the rest of the series.

I actually enjoyed this book quite a bit and will look for others in the series. There are apparently thirteen volumes. Although the story is pretty standard, the writing was good and the character interesting. Better done than many in the post-apocalyptic genre. 

9 comments:

the walking man said...

I am not sure of the genre in books but I do like it in movies. One of the best I saw was "The Book of Eli" That one twisted through the years after the great destruction following one man who would only tell stranger's "I'm headed West."

Charles Gramlich said...

Mark, I saw the Book of Eli, one of the more inventive post-apoc movies. I like the genre in books too. In fact I'm thinking of rearranging my library to make them a clear separate genre. most are mixed in with my general stuff

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

Charles, one of the reasons I enjoy reading post-apocalyptic and disaster novels is because I can suspend disbelief. Thanks for introducing me to this series.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I've never heard of it, but if it's got a Road Warrior feel to it, I'll have to pick it up.

Erik Donald France said...

Cool beans, Charles! These warlord type fights seem all too possible in the near future (and all too actual in recent history).

One day, Baptist Militia will collect tolls along the cracked remnants of roadways, only to be challenged by marauding Scientologists and Pentecostal commando teams . . .

Cloudia said...

"Although the story is pretty standard, the writing was good and the character interesting. "
BINGO!

Heather said...

I've been looking for something to dive into, might give this a whirl.

Charles Gramlich said...

Heather, it was rather fun

Billy said...

I read a few of these. Be good if they were in ebook format