Another rousing adventure is what awaits those of you who decide to pick up and read the main authors latest Outlanders novel: Rim of the World.

I have found over the decades that all book series follow a set formula. In Deathlands you have the characters jumping to a new redoubt via the mat trans gateways. They explore, sometimes running into nasty inhabitants, sometimes not. They leave the redoubt, explore some more and meet up with the bad guy, typically some fat, deranged baron. They kill the bad guy, make things a little better for the locals, and then they return to the redoubt and jump out using the gateways.

With Outlanders, there is a formula to be sure. However, this formula is what sets it apart from all the other post nuclear holocaust series that have come and gone. The main portion of the formula is as follows: location, location, location! The Cerberus exiles have been all over the globe. They've been to Mars, they've had misadventures on the moon, and they've even been to alternate realities and traveled through time.

Secondly, hot women. Not only are several of the lead females smart, attractive and sexy, many of the villains and supporting characters are as well. Erica Van Sloan, the Imperial Momma is a perfect example. She's a villain, a true dragon lady with an IQ that is off the scales, but at the same time literally oozes sensuality.

Third: tying real life mythology and various pantheons into the now vast and complex back story. The Annunaki, Sumerian gods returning to reclaim the earth, the Tuatha du Danaan, various myths from all over the world. All of these put together, brought to rich life, and explained scientifically. How many other series can make this claim?

Of course there are other formulated aspects of the series, such as exploration of various ruins and hidden facilities, high adrenalin battles, and even the occasional sexual encounter, but the first three topics I brought up are what set it apart.

Over the past ten years of writing the series, the characters have evolved and grown. Of course there are aspects of each character that rarely change, such as how Stoic Grant can be, or how sarcastic Kane is in the face of adversity, or the fact that Brigid is a walking, talking encyclopedia. But even though these aspects haven't changed, the characters have, but gradually, not over night, which is what happens when there are multiple authors writing for the series.

The friendship and respect between the characters is there, and it's obvious, and even when they snipe at one another, as they did in this latest offering, there is a good reason for it.

Take note, those of you who might be considering writing for the series - the way the characters are portrayed has been set in stone and there is no reason for deviation from it!

In the latest adventure, the Cerberus exiles are off in Africa (Formula, location), and end up embroiled in a feud between a half brother and sister who are both trying to lay claim to the collar of Preston John (formula, myth), in order to see who would become the ruler of the Warizi nation.

Overlord Utu wants the collar back, as it turns out that it is a key to a vault that has been hidden away for over two millennia, and only those who possess the genetic trait of the ancient rulers of the Warizi tribe can actually open the gate. To meet this end, he enlists the help of a Warizi prince named Laputara. His half sister Pakari (Formula, hot woman) is against his alliance with Utu, realizing that he is no god.

Throughout the adventure, there are encounters with a Bedouin tribe, a genetic engineering laboratory filled with Jinn, which was almost a scene out of my favourite movie of all time, a battle for the control of a nation, as well as an overland journey in an ancient steam powered locomotive. All these events lead into a final encounter at the Rim of the World, where the fate of not only a nation is decided but the fate of an overlord as well.

Once again, we've been given a major romp by the main author, who has proven that when it comes to spinning a tale and weaving mythology into it, there are none better.