''La saga de los Aznar'' is a work of 32

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

novels by Spanish writer Pascual Enguídanos.http://www.ciencia-ficcion.com/ghwhite/, George H. White, Presentación, Retrieved January 25, 2011. They were published in Spain between 1953 and 1958 (first part) and 1973 and 1978 (second part) in the ''Luchadores del Espacio'' collection by Editorial Valenciana and they appeared under the pseudonym George H. White. It received the European SF Award for Best Cycle of Novels at the

Eurocon Eurocon is an annual science fiction convention held in Europe. The organising committee of each Eurocon is selected by vote of the participants of the previous event. The procedure is coordinated by the European Science Fiction Society. The first ...

in Brussels in 1978. The work represents a Spanish equivalent of science fiction and space opera that populated North American

pulp fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Vin ...

in the nineteen thirties and forties, a trend in which were forged such great authors as E.E. Doc Smith,

Jack Williamson John Stewart Williamson (April 29, 1908 – November 10, 2006), who wrote as Jack Williamson, was an American science fiction writer, often called the "Dean of Science Fiction". He is also credited with one of the first uses of the term '' gen ...

and

Edmond Hamilton Edmond Moore Hamilton (October 21, 1904 – February 1, 1977) was an American writer of science fiction during the mid-twentieth century. Early life Born in Youngstown, Ohio, he was raised there and in nearby New Castle, Pennsylvania. So ...

. The series has an adventurous nature and nostalgia for a bygone era. It contains a distinctly epic war and all kinds of adventures, while collecting a certain respect for science and technology which are not as battered as other works of that time. Likely having copied the term ''orbimotor'' from Jose Elola, a.k.a. Colonel Ignotus, it non-the-less contains the aesthetics of

Alex Raymond Alexander Gillespie Raymond Jr. (October 2, 1909 – September 6, 1956) was an American cartoonist who was best known for creating the ''Flash Gordon'' comic strip for King Features Syndicate in 1934. The strip was subsequently adapted into many ...

's, Flash Gordon: the prose is very visual. Enguídanos had a special interest in Mongo-styled planets, with its mix of future and archaic, feudal regimes, princes and lords despotic, primitive peoples oppressed, and, of course, men of

silicon Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic ta ...

, insect men, floor men, or fish men. Enguídanos' early works reflected classical space-opera, but very soon the Saga of Aznar was leading towards a unique epic among the stars, with a trace of classical myths. If

Aeneas In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas (, ; from ) was a Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy (both being grandsons ...

escaped from destroyed

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...

to cross a sea unknown and found a distant colony which would be the birthplace of an empire,

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and the first Aznar lead the survivors of the invasion of

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

by an alien species to a distant star to rebuild the lost homeland, Inci thereby in the collective ownership of the people valerano (Valera, an original 'autoplaneta') were heirs of mankind. Enguídanos' series is likely of a number unparalleled in all of

. In Saga, futuristic technology meets a very specific logic and originality: 'metal hyperdensity that repels the gravity low electric induction', ships that simulate cetacean space forms, the sidereal armed with millions of ships in battle over the fate of mankind, Z-rays, "sunlight" as a lethal weapon or as interstellar propellant, and the fabulous machines Karendon (inclusive of the field as the famous Star Trek transporters but brought here to their logical conclusion). Beyond the adventures of war and futurism, Saga is also a very comprehensive

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book '' Utopia'', describing a fictional island societ ...

n science fiction. A future society where the players have all the elements that characterize it as utopian, where money has been eliminated and automation has freed the human race from work. But in utopias of science fiction things are not so placid and well run; the island of Utopia (the Earth's future or any of its stellar colonies, including such wandering colony which is the fabulous autoplaneta Valera) is subjected to terrible dangers and frightening threats. Saga stresses a realistic treatment of the characters: Unlike other series, the protagonists of the Saga not only live their lives in fullness of adventure and excitement, but also are born and die as in real life. The novels allow the reader to accompany the vicissitudes of mankind through family members of the first protagonist (the aviator Miguel Angel Aznar de Soto), who is thrown from the contemporary period, after an adventure in search of '

flying saucer A flying saucer (also referred to as "a flying disc") is a descriptive term for a type of flying craft having a disc or saucer-shaped body, commonly used generically to refer to an anomalous flying object. The term was coined in 1947 but has g ...

s' in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

, to an unlikely but highly suggestive Venus'

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...

, and finally to five centuries in the future with the Earth on the brink of a dreadful World War and the shadow of an even more horrific alien invasion looming. Step by step, without giving rest to the suffering humanity, Enguídanos describes the vicissitudes of future exiles from the land, citizens of the Federation Ibero, who manage to escape the invasion of the "abominable gray beast, thorbod". Pascual Enguídanos not only achieved a long series of novels, but managed to keep a cycle of tension and growing interest, by constantly evolving the plot and characters. Enguídanos, with ups and downs in the 'normal' range, managed to maintain and even improve the quality as the Saga progressed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saga De Los Aznar Science fiction book series 1950s science fiction novels Spanish science fiction novels Space opera novels Utopian novels