What does a man do when fate makes him the protector of the royal head of the land of his enemies? If he is Dray Prescot, Earthman on Antares, he sets aside his quest to do his duty. His duty is to reach Vallia and his princess Delia and help her claim her throne. His duty is to defend Vallia's ancient foe and place its rightful heir on its throne -- sworn to attack Vallia. So when the third force, the pirate fleets known as the swordships, come between the two contending demands, Dray sees that only by following his own personal star could the contradiction be resolved. Swordships of Scorpio is the fourth book in the epic fifty-two book saga of Dray Prescot of Earth and of Kregen.

Together, the three books in this volume make up the first part of the Havilfar Cycle of the Saga of Dray Prescot of Earth and of Kregen. Dray Prescot is launched headlong into a brand-new series of adventures upon the planet of Kregen, that marvelous and beautiful, mystical and terrible world four hundred light-years away beneath the Suns of Scorpio. A new life opens for Dray, but that new life is cruelly different from all he expected and dreamed, hurling him into fresh adventure and danger among peoples and places far removed from those he knows and loves. Dray Prescot's saga has been aclaimed as the best planetary adventure series since Burroughs stopped writing about Barsoom. Manhounds of Antares: Will Dray Prescot be able to remain a prince of proud Vallia or will he become just another human victim of the hunters and manhounds of the mysterious Southern Continent? For that is the enigmatic fate that the Star Lords have suddenly confronted him with. They want someone freed from the terrified pack of human prey among whom Prescot finds himself. But who it is and how it is to be done, they have left to Dray to work out... Arena of Antares: Never a man to leave something half done, Dray Prescot knows his task on the mysterious continent of Havilfar is far from complete. There are cruel conquerors to be overthrown, the pursuit of the manhounds and their masters to continue, and there is the dreaded arena. Can he survive the life of a gladiator against the killers and monsters of a spoiled queen while the Star Lords wait for his mission to continue? Fliers of Antares: Dray Prescot confronts his most baffling task while he is a hunted and harried wanderer of the continent of Havilfar. That task is to discover the means by which the aircraft of that continent's most advanced civilization operate. Prescot is no scientist, but fulfill his task he must or he will never return to the princess and homeland he has won. So, for Dray Prescot there is but one course. With a whole continent against him, with time itself conspiring to balk him, the secrets of an unknown science must be made his...

On the planet Kregen that circles Antares, the brightest star of the Constellation of the Scorpion, two forces contend for the world's destiny. One of them, the Savanti, called in a human pawn from far-away Earth. His name is Dray Prescot, and only the Savanti know his role. Dray Prescot confronts a fabulous world -- barbaric, unmapped, peopled with both human and non-human races. But the Star Lords always watch and check the Savanti's plans. And it soon turns out that Dray Prescot himself has to make a decision that will change him from a mere pawn to a bolder piece on the planetary chessboard... Dray Prescot's saga has been acclaimed as the best planetary adventure series since Burroughs stopped writing about Barsoom. Transit to Scorpio is the first book in the epic fifty-two book saga of Dray Prescot of Earth and of Kregen by Kenneth Bulmer writing as Alan Burt Akers. The next book in the series is The Suns of Scorpio.

Four hundred light years from Earth, Kregen is a marvelous world, peopled by wonderful beings, filled with light and clamor and furor of life lived to the hilt. But Kregen has its darker side, where horror and terror bind innocent people, where sorceries rend reason, where injustice denies light. Here, in the unforgiving yet rewarding world of Kregen, struggling through disaster and triumph, Dray Prescot has made his home. He has acquired a number of titles and estates but now the people of the island empire of Vallia, which has been ripped to shreds by ambitious and mercenary invaders, have called on him to lead them to freedom as their emperor. Reluctant to accept the imperium, he shoulders the burden because, rightly or wrongly, he sees this as the lesser evil... A Life for Kregen: Prescot is the unwilling battle arm of the mysterious Star Lords who contend for that planet with the powerful Savanti. Yet Prescot's ambitions are his own, for he has inherited the remnant of a shattered empire and must fight to bring hope and freedom to all its peoples. By his side stands his princess, Delia of the Blue Mountains, and a band of stalwart companions of many races and species. But arrayed against him are flying armadas, armed hordes, the wizardry of a super scientist, and, most shocking of all, the fury and steel claws of his own daughter, Dayra! A Sword for Kregen: The most popular game among the many peoples of Kregen is one that resembles chess, called Jikaida. Jikaida is a battle of wits and war game pieces that suits well the tension charged atmosphere that envelops Dray Prescot. Because reconquering Vallia is assuming the aspect of such a game, move versus countermove, horde against horde! But Dray Prescot finds himself no longer in control of the game when he becomes a living chessman on a real-life board at the dreaded arena of Jikaida City. There every move is accompanied by bloodshed and behind every game might hang the fate of a city, an island, or even a nation! A Fortune for Kregen: Fame and fortune may await the winners of the life and death game called Jikaida, but for Dray Prescot his triumphs seem to bring only infamy and misfortune. Prescot needs to find a way out of his Jikaida City exile, for his homeland needs him in its hour of danger. But it seems that fate will place him in an even more terrifying game: a treasure hunt played out in the illusion webbed catacombs of a haunted valley where desperate men come to find fortunes at the risk of their followers lives and their own sanity. A Victory for Kregen: The ending of Prescot's stark adventures as a living chess piece in the city of blood games was to be as terrifying as the perils that had gone before. Because now that transposed Earthman has to fight his way back to his embattled Vallian homeland across a sky full of danger and a sea full of death. And when he returns he will find the combat joined, his son at doom's door, his troops up against superior odds, and a battle he must personally fight that would be two battles in two different places at the same time! This edition contains a glossary to the Jikaida cycle.

For the first time ever, the ÿbooks in the Saga of Dray Prescot of Earth and of Kregen are being brought together in omnibus editions. In the first Havilfar Cycle omnibus, Dray Prescot was launched headlong into a brand-new series of adventures upon the planet of Kregen, that marvelous and beautiful, mystical and terrible world four hundred light-years away beneath the Suns of Scorpio. Now Hamal, the greatest power in Havilfar, is bent on conquest, and Prescot hates the Hamalese because he slaved in their diabolical Heavenly Mines. His mission is to discover the secrets of the Hamalese airboats for his own people. This book contains... Bladesman of Antares Avenger of Antares Armada of Antares

If you are prepared to hurl yourself into adventure, to face peril with a brave heart, to risk all, then the marvelous world of Kregen offers you everything you have ever dreamed. For Dray Prescot the challenges are enormous. His task is to unite the sub-continent of Balintol against the Shanks, but the megalomaniac striving for power of various factions looks set to send Balintol up in flames. Scourge of Antares Prescot has uncovered some of the details of a plot by the cultists of the religion of Dokerty to turn ordinary men and women into receptacles for demons, who then destroy wantonly until the frail human body can no longer support the intolerable demonic forces. Now he has escaped from the Dokerty temple with a mysterious young woman, Veda. They are fleeing for their lives as the Suns of Scorpio descend into night... Challenge of Antares Born in 1775, Dray Prescot joined the Royal Navy as a boy when his father died from the sting of a scorpion, and his mother followed soon after. Life in Nelson's Navy, harsh, intolerant, formed and molded him. He has been consistently passed over for promotion, even though he has fought his way from the lower deck through the hawsehole to the quarterdeck. He considers himself a failure. Just recently he has been experiencing unsettling dreams... Wrath of Antares The rulers of the countries of Balintol, and the people trying to usurp them, appear to care only for their own ambitions. Having saved the Illusionist of Winlan and preserved the Wall that retains the demon monsters created by Khon the Mak's Dokerty priests, Prescot now realizes to his profound horror that the phantom of his wife Delia he saw buried by falling rock was no apparition... Includes a glossary of the entire Balintol cycle.

Dray Prescot has been chosen by the Star Lords to be the so-called Emperor of All Paz. Together, the countries of Paz must resist the deadly Shanks who raid from over the curve of the world. Delia and Dray Prescot have abdicated the throne of Vallia and now seek to make the dream of a united Paz come true. Shadows over Kregen Whether Prescot is battling slavers and freeing slaves with the Kroveres of Iztar, or fighting Fish-heads in the land of the Shanks, he is certain to be thrown into more headlong adventures under the streaming mingled lights of the Suns of Scorpio. Murder on Kregen A new page turns in the unruly life of Dray Prescot, and all his strengths and inner resources will be required to confront fresh problems and perils. Join Dray Prescot as he rides south from the port city of Zandikar on the inner sea of the continent of Turismond, the Eye of the World, with his blade comrade Seg Segutorio and the Princesses Velia and Didi of Vallia. Of course, as is the nature of Kregen, they face unexpected peril... Turmoil on Kregen The undead monster called the Spectre has been destroyed. Didi herself lies seriously injured in Zandikar in the Eye of the World, lovingly tended by her cousin, Princess Velia. Ulana Farlan, the governor of Didi's province of Urn Vennar, has been removed from office. Now the rogue and schemer Nath Swantram, Nath the Clis, rules. But the Spectre, dead and animate, is about to terrorize Gafarden again as Tralgan Vorner, the wronged Elten of Culvensax, seeks vengeance on those who betrayed him. Within Vorner the Spectre lives. Including a glossary to the Spectre cycle.

Four hundred light years from Earth, Kregen is a marvelous world, peopled by wonderful beings, filled with the light and clamor and furor of life lived to the hilt. But Kregen has its darker side, where horror and terror bind innocent people, where sorceries rend reason, where injustice denies light. Called to be the Emperor of Vallia, Dray Prescot, with his comrades, has vanquished poor old mad Thyllis, Empress of Hamal, and now seeks to create a fresh and lasting unity among all the nations of Paz. They all face a common foe in the Shanks, the Fishheads who raid their coasts. And, there are worms within the bud, secret enemies who desire only to drag all down for their own selfish ends... Mazes of Scorpio: Although his nemesis, the mad empress of Hamal, and her accomplice, the evil Wizard of Loh have been destroyed, Prescot finds that the strands of this enduring battle have not been tied off. An old conspiracy has been given a new and darker impetus which leads him to the jungle continent of Pandahem. Beneath the dark and sweltering swamps lies the deadly labyrinth of the Coup Blag where Prescot clashes with a new and terrible foe in the mazes of Scorpio! Delia of Vallia: On Kregen there are warrior men and warrior beasts with mighty fraternities of valor and courage. There are whispers of similar organizations among the high-born women of many lands. Delia of Vallia, leader of the mystic guild The Sisters of the Rose, is on a mission to bring justice to one who has betrayed her blood oath and her empress. A novel of intrigue, combat, and vengeance that will bring Delia face to face with the traitress Jilian in the hidden arena of the whip and the claw. Fires of Scorpio: Triple trouble always follows Dray Prescot, especially when he thinks he has things under control. This time, while involved with setting things right on the continent of Pandahem, the Star Lords yank him away from his friends and dump him, weaponless, at the gates of the terrible temple of the Leem. Rescuing a girl sacrifice is only the start, for next he has to help Pompino to torch all the temples of the Silver Wonder, and take to the sea to confront the next wave of the fish-headed marauders from Kregen's Southern Hemisphere. This edition includes the short story “Lallia the Slave Girl”.