Outlanders: Night Eternal (The Lost Earth Saga, Book 2)

Rating:
Summary: I liked it, but--
Review: Although I liked "Night Eternal", the second part of the Lost Earth Saga, it was disappointing in many ways. In fact, it was the only book in this series which I haven't thought was excellent. This one was just okay. It wasn't terrible by any means, but it was confusing in some places and the characterization seemed "off". The ending seemed rushed as well. However, it had some good concepts going and the alternate world the heroes visited was well-thought out. The book just didn't grab me like the first novel in trilogy did.

Rating:
Summary: No worries with this one
Review: Considering the fact that this book was written by an entirely different author than the rest of the series, this is still a really good book that is extremely faithful to what has gone before. It does suffer from being the 'middle part' of a three part story and a slow beginning but once it gets going there's no letting up. Kudos to Mel Odom for a great first attempt at the Outlanders saga, I for one would like to see him return for further entries in the series in the future.

Rating:
Summary: No worries with this one
Review: Finally, the author(s) is veering, albeit slowly, away from the adolescent sexual tension in the novel. We finally get to see Kane actually kiss Bridget Baptiste! For a moment I thought the entire universe was gonna slip into chaos the way it was drummed up so much! Please continue to leave out the excess juvenile hyperepressive sexual tension, and maybe we'll see these two get through this SOON with some good greasy sex for a change, okay? Same goes with Domi and Grant! Nevertheless I do not agree with some of the other real reviewers that the characters were cartoonish, since I always expected this series to portray the good and bad guys with little or no complexity. Mainly because it was the storyline and action in this alternate future that I was keying into. Understand this -- that I've always expected this series to play out as a slightly more polished version of a comic book story; and I haven't been disappointed yet. Hey, if you want some deep soul-searching characters, read Emily Bronte or Dickens, or some other old claptrap. Or rent a "chick" flick, were someone is always dying and there are lots of silly tears being shed. Boo-HOOOOO!

For me the characters are complex enough, and I'm glad their relationship is smoothing out some. I also hope the author eventually gets out of this dreamy adventure deal with the three Chintamanti stones. Or else use them as toilet paper or something more useful at least, as it's beginning to get truly boring. I'd also like to see this series depart from the rigid blind formula which I'm sure the publisher ratchets the author(s) into, by the insistence that there shall always be the usual three-strikes-and-yer-out, slam-bang-bang wham-o-bham-o action in each book. For this particular series I don't think that's necessary. For instance, I don't think the series would be hurt any if at least one installment more heavily lent itself to more intricate plotting -- maybe even turn itself into more of a Tom Clancy type spy/suspense thriller (like when they traveled back to a past in New York). Something more cerebral in future volumes would instantly raise this series to untold heights of excellence. If Outlanders contained the complexity of a William C. Dietz or David Drake SF military novel, it would help. I believe Lakesh and his group need to find more sources of information, in the form of time-trawled characters, to keep the series alive with new ideas. The Chintamanti alternate worlds is already getting quite tedious and boring. So that's going to have to be put to bed soon, if not sooner. More historical data is going to have to come from more believable and legitimate sources, rather than this miasmic alternate world drivel, I think.

Rating:
Summary: Night Eternal, an outstanding Outlanders episode!
Review: Finally, the author(s) is veering, albeit slowly, away from the adolescent sexual tension in the novel. We finally get to see Kane actually kiss Bridget Baptiste! For a moment I thought the entire universe was gonna slip into chaos the way it was drummed up so much! Please continue to leave out the excess juvenile hyperepressive sexual tension, and maybe we'll see these two get through this SOON with some good greasy sex for a change, okay? Same goes with Domi and Grant! Nevertheless I do not agree with some of the other real reviewers that the characters were cartoonish, since I always expected this series to portray the good and bad guys with little or no complexity. Mainly because it was the storyline and action in this alternate future that I was keying into. Understand this -- that I've always expected this series to play out as a slightly more polished version of a comic book story; and I haven't been disappointed yet. Hey, if you want some deep soul-searching characters, read Emily Bronte or Dickens, or some other old claptrap. Or rent a "chick" flick, were someone is always dying and there are lots of silly tears being shed. Boo-HOOOOO!

For me the characters are complex enough, and I'm glad their relationship is smoothing out some. I also hope the author eventually gets out of this dreamy adventure deal with the three Chintamanti stones. Or else use them as toilet paper or something more useful at least, as it's beginning to get truly boring. I'd also like to see this series depart from the rigid blind formula which I'm sure the publisher ratchets the author(s) into, by the insistence that there shall always be the usual three-strikes-and-yer-out, slam-bang-bang wham-o-bham-o action in each book. For this particular series I don't think that's necessary. For instance, I don't think the series would be hurt any if at least one installment more heavily lent itself to more intricate plotting -- maybe even turn itself into more of a Tom Clancy type spy/suspense thriller (like when they traveled back to a past in New York). Something more cerebral in future volumes would instantly raise this series to untold heights of excellence. If Outlanders contained the complexity of a William C. Dietz or David Drake SF military novel, it would help. I believe Lakesh and his group need to find more sources of information, in the form of time-trawled characters, to keep the series alive with new ideas. The Chintamanti alternate worlds is already getting quite tedious and boring. So that's going to have to be put to bed soon, if not sooner. More historical data is going to have to come from more believable and legitimate sources, rather than this miasmic alternate world drivel, I think.

Rating:
Summary: A real kicker!
Review: I had some problems with this book, but overall I got a real kick out of it. It had great action and interesting plot elements, though it was something of a let-down with the characters. Still, I liked it. It's not my favorite book in the series (Doomstar Relic is) but it wasn't disappointing, either.

Rating:
Summary: Kind of cheesy, but fun
Review: This book didn't make a whole lot of sense, and yeah it wasn't as good as Hellbound Fury, but it was still fun. I particularly enjoyed the bizarre alternate world the characters visited in this one, with the war being waged by various factions. The book had its cheesy sections, but there was plenty of fast action and the scene with Kane and Beth-Li in the hospital was hot.

Rating:
Summary: Different
Review: This Outlanders book was different from the first part of the trilogy but it still held my interest all the way through. It was just as action packed though there wasn't as much humor in it. I still enjoyed in and look forward to the next chapter in the Lost Earth saga.

Rating:
Summary: Not great but still enjoyable
Review: This second part of the Lost Earth trilogy really suffers in comparasion to the first part. Sometimes the characters seemed off and parts of the plot were confusing. Still, most of it was enjoyable with lots of good action. It just wasn't as good as Hellbound Fury or most of the other Outlanders books.

Rating:
Summary: An unfortunate 2nd rater compared to the 1st part!
Review: What the heck happened here? This 2nd lost earth saga simply kind of sucked! It didn't even seem like it was written by the same author. The storyline really slowed down in this installment and it just seemed like a filler for the next one to come in this trilogy. This alternate world and its characters was blah,blah,blah... It just didn't click together this time around - what happened? The 1st book was awesome from beginning to end and this one I couldn't wait to end. This alternate world was interesting but it was so rushed and cartoonish in some way. The bad guy Col. Thrush seems to know their every move and could have easily killed Kane and Baptiste now that he knows their plan, so why does he play so stupid? The storyline here needs some work and more thought. The Outlanders should try harder to stay online and not get off-line like this one did. Try it again fellas!!!