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The ''Dray Prescot series'' is a sequence of fifty-three Science Fiction novels and a number of associated short stories of the type generally classified as Planetary Romance , written by Kenneth Bulmer under the Pseudonym of Alan Burt Akers. The first thirty-seven volumes were published by DAW Books from December 1972-April 1988; to date, later volumes have been published solely in German translation by Wilhelm Heyne Verlag from 1991-1998, with the exception of volumes 38-41, which were also issued by the now-defunct electronic publisher Savanti as English language Ebooks from September 1995-December 1998. Another electronic publisher, Mushroom eBooks , projects issuing English language ebooks of the entire saga. The sequence is made up of eleven cycles of novels, each cycle essentially forming a series within the series. Four novels and three short stories are stand-alone narratives falling outside the system of cycles. Each tale is narrated in the first person by the main protagonist, Dray Prescott. To support the illusion that the fictional Prescot was the actual author, later volumes were bylined "by Dray Prescot as told to Alan Burt Akers." SETTING The series is set on the fictional world of Kregen, a planet of the ''' Antares ''' star system in the Constellation of ''' Scorpio '''. Antares is envisioned as a double star system consisting of a large red giant and a smaller green star. Since green stars do not exist in nature, it is presumably some quality of Kregen’s atmosphere that makes it appear green from the planet’s surface. The planet has a multiple moon system. Physically, Kregen is similar to Earth, being comfortably habitable by human beings. It has seven major continents and nine continental islands similar in size to Australia, in addition to innumerable smaller islands. Four of the major continents and four of the continental islands are in one hemisphere in a grouping known as Paz, and constitutes the scene of all the action. The remaining land masses, in the opposite hemisphere, are little known. Most of the units forming Paz are separated by narrow seas, indicating that in geologically recent times it was a supercontinent, since broken apart by tectonic forces. The continents of Paz are fairly compact masses in comparison to those of Earth, without connecting land bridges. They include Turismond to the northwest, '''Segesthes''' to the northeast, '''Loh''' in the center, and '''Havilfar''' to the southeast. Turismond and Havilfar both contain large inland seas similar to the Mediterranean. The continental islands of Paz include '''Vallia''' between Turismond and Segesthes, '''Pandahem''' between Loh, Segesthes and Havilfar, '''Unrdrin''' to the northeast of Turismond, and '''Mehzia''' to the east of Segesthes. Of the continents and continental islands of the opposite hemisphere, the only one named in the series is the continent of '''Gah'''. At some time in the past Kregen was apparently seeded with intelligent life-forms from many other worlds by either the Star Lords or the '''Savanti''' (for whom see below), or both, presumably by the same mysterious means by which Prescot is brought to the planet. In Paz the dominant species is usually the human race, known locally as '''''Apim'''''. Other intelligent species are known collectively as '''''Diffs'''''. Culturally, the more advanced nations are at a level on par with Earth’s European Renaissance, though firearms are unknown and a few nations manufacture aircraft. The opposite hemisphere is apparently dominated by '''''Shanks''''', savage fish-headed sea-raiders who periodically ravage the peripheral coastlands of Paz. Notable polities of Paz include the decadent kingdom of Walfarg in northern Loh, remnant of a formerly vast empire, the island empire of '''Vallia''', the smaller kingdoms of northern Pandahem and southern Segesthes’ '''Balintol''' subcontinent, the imperialistic empire of '''Hamal''' in the northeast Havilfar and the petty states of the '''Dawn Lands''' to its south, the more isolated kingdom of '''Djanduin''' in southwestern Havilfar, and the perpetually warring '''Zairim''' and '''Grodnim''' to the north and south of the '''Eye of the World''', the Mediterranean-like sea bisecting Turismond. More primitive areas marginalized from the civilized belt by geography or topography include the '''Great Plains ''' of Segesthes, the '''Hostile Territories''' of Eastern Turismond, the '''Wild Lands''' of north central Havilfar, and the jungles of South Pandahem and central Loh. STORYLINE The series features the story of Dray Prescot, an English sailor of Nelson's navy, and his miraculous teleportation to the planet Kregen. There he is trained as an agent for the mysterious Savanti, an apparently benevolent secret society devoted to improving the lot of humanity among the many intelligent species of Kregen. The Savanti are the guardians of a miraculous pool which both heals wounds and extends life, similar to the Fountain Of Youth in Earth legend. Prescot falls from grace for using this pool to heal Delia, an injured supplicant to the Savanti, and incidentally the princess of the island empire of Vallia. Thanks to their immersion in the pool Prescot and Delia gain extended natural lifespans of a thousand years, but by violating the sanctity of the pool both are banished back to their homelands—in Prescot’s case, Earth. Returned to Kregen through the agency of the Star Lords, an even more mysterious rival group of unknown motivation, Prescot becomes a pawn in their schemes, sent willy-nilly to various locations on the planet to serve their ends and capriciously returned to Earth when his task is done or he manages to offend them. Despite this handicap he usually rises to a position of power in whatever society he is thrust into, and is able to renew and further his relationship with Delia. Eventually they are able to wed and found a family. Aside from carrying out his missions for the Star Lords, securing his place on Kregen, and winning (and returning) to Delia, Prescot’s ongoing goals include the suppression of slavery in Paz and building a coalition against the marauding Shanks, a Viking-like race of fish-headed Diffs who raid the coasts of Paz from a base in the opposite hemisphere of Kregen. The text is ostensibly a transcript by “Akers” of a series of audio tapes recorded by Dray Prescot on periodic returns to Earth, which come into his hands by a variety of means over a number of years. Supposed gaps in the tapes allow the author the opportunity of occasional jumps in the narrative, leaving teasing mysteries for the reader as to just what might have happened in between. The cycles into which the sequence is divided form substories within the overall storyline, sometimes arranged topically and sometimes by setting. These sequences include:
The story never catches up to the present, although from Prescot’s mysterious appearances and disappearances in the present day it can be presumed that his role as a pawn of the Star Lords continues. Prescot learns more of the rival Star Lords and Savanti as the series progresses, though their mysteries are never fully resolved. It was Bulmer’s expressed intent to resolve the sequence in volume 53 by having Prescot and Delia experience a sort of apotheosis, possibly raising them to the level of Star Lords themselves, to be revealed in a final visit to Earth by their son Drak, thus accounting for the unfinished nature of the narrative. This volume remains unpublished in English. Bibliography Note: as later volumes were published only in German, for the sake of completion both England and German titles are provided. = Delian cycle (Der Delia-Zyklus)
= Havilfar cycle (Der Havilfar-Zyklus)
= Krozair cycle (Der Krozair-Zyklus)
= Vallian cycle (Der vallianische Zyklus)
= Jikaida cycle (Der Jikaida-Zyklus)
= Spikatur cycle (Der Spikatur-Zyklus)
= Pandahem cycle (Der Pandahem-Zyklus)
= Witch War cycle (Der Hexenkrieg-Zyklus)
= Lohvian cycle (Der Loh-Zyklus - originally published in German only)
= Balintol cycle (Der Balintol-Zyklus - published in German only)
= Phantom cycle (Der Phantom-Zyklus - published in German only)
TRIVIA Bulmer's choice of the setting for the series is a subtle tribute to the Martian Series of Edgar Rice Burroughs , the prototypical planetary romance. The star Antares, similar in brightness and hue to the planet Mars in the night sky, was given its name (meaning "not-Mars") by early astronomers to minimize confusion with the planet. Bulmer is signalling that his series both similar to and different from that of his model. Bulmer’s game of Jikaida, or Kregish Chess, which is explored in the Jikaida Cycle, was inspired by Burroughs’ Barsoomian game of Jetan , or Martian Chess. During Prescot's sojourn among the Savanti an offhand reference is made to a continent in the opposite hemisphere of Kregen from that in which his adventures take place, whose distasteful customs are an obvious dig at another series of planetary romances, the Gor series of John Norman . EXTERNAL LINKS
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