Swordships Of Scorpio
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''Swordships of Scorpio'' is a
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
novel by British author
Kenneth Bulmer Henry Kenneth Bulmer (14 January 1921 – 16 December 2005) was a British writer, primarily of science fiction. Life Born in London, he married Pamela Buckmaster on 7 March 1953. They had one son and two daughters, and they divorced in 1981. B ...
, written under the
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...
of Alan Burt Akers (
Kenneth Bulmer Henry Kenneth Bulmer (14 January 1921 – 16 December 2005) was a British writer, primarily of science fiction. Life Born in London, he married Pamela Buckmaster on 7 March 1953. They had one son and two daughters, and they divorced in 1981. B ...
). It is the fourth volume in his extensive
Dray Prescot series The ''Dray Prescot series'' is a sequence of fifty-two science fiction novels and a number of associated short stories of the subgenre generally classified as sword and planet, written by British author Kenneth Bulmer under the pseudonym of Alan ...
of
sword and planet Planetary romanceAllen Steele, ''Captain Future - the Horror at Jupiter''p .195/ref> (other synonyms are sword and planet, and planetary adventure) is a subgenre of science fiction or science fantasy in which the bulk of the action consists of a ...
novels, set on the fictional world of Kregen, a planet of the
Antares Antares is the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius. It has the Bayer designation α Scorpii, which is Latinisation of names, Latinised to Alpha Scorpii. Often referred to as "the heart of the scorpion", Antares is flanked by ...
star system in the
constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellati ...
of Scorpio. It was first published by
DAW Books DAW Books is an American science fiction and fantasy publisher, founded by Donald A. Wollheim, with his wife, Elsie B. Wollheim, following his departure from Ace Books in 1971. The company claims to be "the first publishing company ever devoted ...
in 1973. The Dray Prescot series is made of several cycles of novels, each cycle essentially forming a series within the series. In addition to being the fourth volume in the series as a whole, ''Swordships of Scorpio'' is also the fourth volume in the Delian Cycle and, like the second and third volume, is set on the fictional continent of Turismond but also introduces the island of Pandahem for the first time. The 52 completed novels of the Dray Prescot series were written by Bulmer between 1972 and 1997, when a stroke stopped his writing, also the later Dray Prescot books, after 1988, were originally only published in German. The series is in the spirit of
Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American writer, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best known for creating the characters Tarzan (who appeared in ...
John Carter of Mars John Carter of Mars is a fictional Virginian soldier who acts as the initial protagonist of the Barsoom stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs. A veteran of the American Civil War, he is transported to the planet Mars, called Barsoom by its inhabit ...
series.


Plot summary

The stories follows on directly from Warrior of Scorpio with Dray Prescot being abandoned through treachery in the hostile territories of Turismond. He travels on foot and manages to rescue a young local girl from the hands of a savage tribe. He successfully crosses the Owlarh Wate and eventually reaches the Klackadrin, a natural barrier between the hostile territories and the coastal lands. The Klackadrin is a barrier of poisonous gases and Prescot is taken prisoner by the Phokaym, a lizard-like race, when he tries to cross. He is prepared to be sacrificed in a pit of lizard predators. At this stage the story stops with the explanation that the tapes Dray Prescot recorded in Africa finish here. The story resumes, now with new tapes sent from South America. Prescot has reached the east coast of Turismond and is recovering in the city of Pa Mejab, a colony of the Tomboram, a nation of the island of Pandahem, a fierce rival of Vallia. Prescot is initially quite weak from his journey through the Klackadrin but recovers and joins a trade caravan as a guard. The caravan is warned by an injured man, Inch of Ng'groga, of an impending attack. Like Seg Segutorio in Warrior of Scorpio, Inch of Ng'groga would become one of Prescots lifelong friends. Like Segutorio, Inch hailed from the continent of Loh, from the southeastern part of it in his case. Prescot and the other guards fought off the attack on the caravan successfully, reached the trading outpost of Pa Weinob and eventually returned to Pa Mejab. During his time in Pa Mejab, Prescot first learns of the politics and divides of Pandahem and their nation states. Prescot learns that Pa Mejab is a colonial town of the Kingdom of Tomboram, located in the north east of Pandahem and in bitter feud with Menaham, another Pandahemian nation. He also makes the acquaintance of Tilda and her son Pando, who work at the inn he is staying at. When the regular convoy of trade ships arrive at the port, Prescot decides to leave on board one of these ships. He eventually learns that young Pando is the heir to the Kov of Bormark, brother of the King of Tomboram, and that Pando's late father was disinheritated when he married below his status, but that Pando's grandfather, on his death bed, reinstated his son. Prescot talks Tilda into claiming Pando's inheritance and she, in turn, talks Precot into helping them to claim it. Prescot, Inch, Tilda, and Pando set out on a merchant ship to Pandahem. After a stop-over in the very north of Loh, the ship is caught in a storm and then attacked by pirate swordships. The merchant ship strands on a beach on an island and Prescot, his companions, and most of the crew escape after a short fight. They eventually manage to find passage on another merchant ship and reach Pomdermam, the capital of Tomboram. Prescot thereby visits the island of Pandahem for the first time. Prescot, with the help of Inch, takes the current Kov of Bormark captive and forces him to confess to the attempted murder of Tilda and Pando he organised in front of King Nemo. Pando is accepted as the new kov by the king, but the later takes offence to the way he was treated by Prescot in the process and has him kidnapped and sent to the galleys as a galley slave. Prescot becomes a rower on one of the Kings swordships, which is eventually captured through a trick by the female pirate Viridian. The slaves are offered to join the pirates and accept. Prescot rises through the ranks, finding himself being placed in charge of the ships artillery. He challenges Viridian on occasion and almost supplants her as leader but holds back as he does not wish to lead the pirates. He is however eventually placed in command of one of the ships. When the pirates liberate the slaves of a swordship of Menaham, Prescot is reunited with Inch who was sent to the galleys for the same reasons as Dray Prescot. When Prescot receives news from Inch that Menaham has almost overrun Tomobram and that Pando and Tilda are in hiding, he decides to mobilise the pirates against Menaham. The pirate fleet defeats an armada of Menaham and then sails to Pomdermam to save the city just in time before it falls. Prescot rescues Pando, but then, once more in the moment of triumph, is taken away by the Star Lords.


Publishing

The book was first published in English in December 1973. It was first published in German in 1976 as ''Die Armada von Scorpio''. In 2005 the book was published as an
E-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Al ...
by Mushroom Books.Swordships of Scorpio
Mushroom-E-books, accessed: 8 October 2014


Book covers

The cover of the original US edition was illustrated by Tim Kirk and the second one by
Josh Kirby Ronald William "Josh" Kirby (27 November 1928 – 23 October 2001) was a British commercial artist. Over a career spanning 60 years, he was the artist for the covers of many science fiction books including Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' novel ...
, while the British and first German edition was illustrated by
Chris Achilleos Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, and Christine. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), Nigerian autho ...
and the second German edition was illustrated by
Boris Vallejo Boris Vallejo (born January 8, 1941) is a Peruvian-American painter who works in the science fiction, fantasy, and erotica genres. His hyper-representational paintings have appeared on the covers of numerous novels in the science fiction, sword ...
.Cover art
The covers of the various editions of the Dray Prescot series, accessed: 8 October 2014


References


External links


The Dray Prescot site


The covers of the British, German, Italian and US editions {{Dray Prescot series 1973 British novels 1973 fantasy novels 1973 science fiction novels British science fiction novels Novels by Kenneth Bulmer Planetary romances Works published under a pseudonym DAW Books books Dray Prescot series