Much like King Xavier, aka The Immortal, this series just keeps plugging along despite the fact that the plot has reached multiple points where it could have been wrapped up nicely. I can't help but feel that this series is going to keep going until it ends in ruin, but luckily for us that point still hasn't arrived. Book 8, King of the Wastes, centers around the fact that the King has come to the conclusion that the Vanguard Islands are not sustainable. He knows that their recent victories have resulted in a population size that they can no longer provide for, not to mention that the structures that compose the Vanguard Islands are desperately in need of replacement parts that can't be manufactured. They need to expand their reach and a supply chain will need to be set up to allow for scavenging of resources from a much wider area. King Xavier has his eye on establishing an outpost near the Panama Canal in order to provide a means to scavenge both coasts of the Americas, but that idea is not new. It was also tried by his predecessor and it resulted in failure. The difference this time around is that King Xavier has the ability to once again call upon the Hell Divers to risk their lives so humanity can survive.

The formula isn't changing much here from book to book. The factions on the Vanguard Islands aren't getting along and they are plotting against King Xavier while he attempts to lead them forward and find a way to save them all. Things break down, storms do damage, and every expedition results in battles with mutant monsters of an infinite variety. In fact if you think about it, it really isn't any different than when they were trying to survive up in the sky. So why is it still worth your time? The characters and their struggle to find a future for humanity. If you have reached this point in the series you can't help but care about the characters and they are what matters. At one point it was the dream of living on the surface that propelled them forward, but with that dream now firmly established as a nightmare, this book introduces a new dream to be pursued: rumors of a habitable location other than the Vanguard Islands. But can they live long enough to find it?

Nicholas Sansbury Smith has written a number of post apocalyptic series and Hell Divers is by no means the most realistic of them, but for some reason it is the one I enjoy the most. R. C. Bray is the best voice there is for the apocalypse and his performance for the audiobook is his usual grade of excellence. He is the perfect narrator for this series and I can only hope he will be ready to go when book 9 arrives - I know I will be.