Talon and Fang (Outlanders #25)

by James Axler

Book Overview

Kane finds himself thrown 25 years into a parallel future in which a mysterious Imperator has seemingly restored civilization. In this alternate reality, only Kane and Grant survive. Yet Kane is certain that somewhere in time lies a different path to tomorrow's reality. Original.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0373638388
• ISBN13: 9780373638383
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: Gold Eagle
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

A freash look

If you are tired of the hum-drum watered down mess that the "Deathlands" serise has become well then my friends this is the book for you. Set in the future with nost of the Cerburus warriors dead or aged this book provides a freash spin on things. Kane (old now) wants to find some way to get back and warn his old friends of all that will take place in order to do so he has to walk into the very belly of the beast. Lets just hope he hasn't lost his edge. My Impression-Great book, how one central point is resolved is very inventive!! Well worth the money.

Maybe the best in the whole series!

Talon and Fang could be one of the best in the whole series so far. It has one of the most original plots of them all of the ones I've read. Along with the action it has lots of heartbreak too. I can't wait for the next one in this two parter.

A Campaign of Shock and Awe

F'get Donald Rumsfeld. Mark Ellis is the master of shock and awe, once more flexing his mental muscles and stretching the post-apocalyptic world first invented by Jack Adrian and expanded by Lawrence James. From the in the grit world of the Deathlands, Ellis has expanded to a universe where time and space can be the plaything of a mad god, and our only hope is... well... that would be telling. This was a disorienting novel, and I kept waiting for the "intro" to be over and reality to snap back to normal time, but the whole book is the wholly satisfying and intricate construction of a world nearly 30 years after the Imperator Wars, a world full of sadness and amazement. There are glimpses of what the Cerberus exiles can do to make the Baronies and the Outlands into, and the sad outcomes of a world gone mad. Old enemies and a new enemy arrives, and I have to say, the old enemies were treats to meet, and the new enemy is wow. And as always, Kane proves himself bad, bad man- physically, mentally and verbally, even at age 60. I love it when Kane cuts loose. At his age, he's a man who can outplan... well that would be telling. Just read this book, darm it. Woo!

Classic status!

Talon and Fang is a great, great book. A little heavy compared to the previous novel in the series but only because it's a complex plot; which resolves a number of story lines from the past few years. Regardless, it's a fantastic Outlanders adventure with the fate of human free will hanging the balance. Although most of the story is set nearly 30 years in the future, it still features the classic Outlanders characters and situations and manages to expand on them. As with any good adventure, there has to be a causal effect to make the story play out and here in lies the imaginative plot. It's a very important book in the series, maybe the most important to date. So much goes on in this book--new characters, new concepts, and tragedies so heart-wrenching that I had trouble getting through some sections. If there was any question about Kane and Grant being fundamentally good men, true heroes of the classic breed, Talon and Fang answers that once and for all. Kane's choice at the end and the results of it brought tears to my eyes. To summarize: Twenty-seven years in the future, a physically and emotionally scarred Kane tries to prevent the Imperator and his "adaptive Earth" from coming to pass by manipulating temporal fault lines ( which I do not pretend to understand) by retrieving an old enemy from "zero time". A lot of nasty things have happened in the last 27 years, and Kane wants to change the course of events in the past ( but he can't leave his present time) and make sure the Cosolidation War never happens. So what happens? I'm not going to give it away! Go read it yourself! It's a thoroughly engrossing book. (sitting at the dinner table reading instead of eating and if you know me you know how unusual that is.) Excellent writing, storytelling, a plot that keeps you riveted and characters you love, despise and pity. Mark Ellis has brought Outlanders to the point of classic series status, with characters and ideas worthy of the best of Star Trek, Star Wars, X-Files and Farscape.

One the best if not THE best

Wow! I was hoping for something a little special when I started reading "Talon and Fang" but I wasn't quite expecting the wild ride that this novel contained. One of the things I've always enjoyed about Outlanders is how the series can be unpredictable and this book really surprises the reader.Most of it takes place over 25 years in the future and things are a lot different and not very good different either. Kane's life has been for the most part filled with tragedy and that in turn has made him bitter and unstable. He has a plan to change his present in the past but for it to work he has to convince his most deadly enemy to help him. Longtime readers probably can guess who this is.The author introduces a great new female character, Tanvirah, who is seductive, beautiful and deadly. And there is also Sam, the Imperator and he's a much more subtle, much more dangerous adversary than he has been before. He more or less conquered the world 20 years before, now he wants to conquer time and space and his plan is such that actually might able to do it! There are so many high points to cover in this novel: a great villain, heightened motivation, heart-breaking revelations, sharp characterizations, super-fast-paced plot, and varied action sequences...sword fights, Manta and Dragonfly aerial duels, SPIDES, kung-fu fighting-- add all them together and you have one of the best, if not THE best Outlanders novels yet published. I'm dying for the follow-up of Heart of the World, Sea of Plague. This book is a must-read for any fan..and I really like the cover too!