Monday, 25 August 2003

Transit to Scorpio, as by Alan Burt Akers; actually written by Ken Bulmer.

The earlier books in this series have Alan Burt Akers listed as their author while the later books are listed under Dray Prescot, but they were actually written by Henry Kenneth Bulmer, a prolific writer of science fiction and other things. The Dray Prescot Saga is a long series in the planetary romance genre. The first 37 of the books were published in English (starting in 1972 and continuing into the early 1990s) and the rest of the 52 books were published in German. They are the story of Dray Prescot, a 18th century sailor who is transported to the distant planet of Kregen and his adventures there as nomad, slave, warrior, pirate, and reluctant troubleshooter for two opposing superhuman forces. Like most classic planetary romance, these are rousing tales of adventure, straightforward wholesome escapist fantasy. The length of the series, however, allows this to be something more than than a mere escape, as we watch Dray Prescot develop from a typical warrior stereotype into something more interesting and see how the many themes of the series (friendship, identity, fair play, prejudice, religion, and trust among them) develop through a much longer period than most authors are able to devote.