The last thing terminally ill language professor Ricardo Carillo remembers is standing on the deck of a Mediterranean cruise ship, watching a giant fireball hurtle toward him. He awakens in the body of a young Gandalaran named Markasset, sharing a telepathic bond with a giant, intelligent feline named Keeshah. Ricardo faces two challenges: navigating this unfamiliar desert world, and learning about his new identity and mission. Markasset turns out to be a talented swordsman with a powerful father, Thanasset, who’s a Supervisor in the city of Raithskar. But Markasset’s own reputation is more dubious. He has gambling debts and a shadowy past—and he’s suspected of stealing a sacred gem, the Ra’ira, that was under his father’s protection. With few allies except a beautiful fiancée and the loyal Keeshah, Ricardo is determined to piece together what really happened to the Ra’ira. The truth will either prove his innocence—or endanger the new life he has only just begun.

Rendered unconscious by an accident on earth, Professor Ricardo Carillo awakens to find himself transported to the desert world of Gandalara, where he joins a warrior clan and, with the help of a giant telepathic cat, searches for a priceless, stolen jewe

When the fireball hit the cruise ship, Richard Carillo was already on his way out - a terminally ill language professor. He regained consciousness as a well man in the desert... only it wasn't a desert on Earth, and he was a man only because he was still male. More surprises awaited him in the exotic city of Raithskar - he was called Markasset, a master swordsman, son of a powerful leader, and a man on the run, accused of murder and the theft of a precious, sacred jewel. With the aid of Keeshah, a great war-cat with which he shared a telepathic link, he set out to clear his newfound name...

"When the fireball hit the cruise ship, Ricardo Carillo was already on his way out--a terminally ill language professor. He regained consciousness as a well man in the desert... only it wasn't a desert on Earth, and he was man only because he was still male. More surprises awaited him in the exotic city of Raithskar--he was called Markasset, a master swordsman, son of a powerful leader, and a man on the run, accused of murder and the theft of a precious, sacred jewel. With the aid of Keeshah, a great war-cat with which he shared a telepathic link, he set out to clear his newfound name..."--Back cover.

In the Valley of the Mists, Rikardon and Tarani have discovered an ancient truth that will alter the destiny of Gandalara forever. But an evil lord has enslaved the land through the mystic force of the sacred stone called the Ra'ira. Outlawed and hunted, Rikardon and Tarani stage a daring and desperate raid to shatter his death-grip of fear. In this stunning epic, the sweeping saga of Gandalara reaches its unexpected, awe-inspiring conclusion as the secret of this strange desert world is revealed at last.

After a meteor explosion, Rikardon wakes in a new body—and in a strange desert land named Gandalara, where a sacred gem known as the Ra’ira grants its owner the power to rule—or to destroy... Rikardon and Tarani have the Ra’ira in their possession and plan to return it to the Council at Raithskar. But before they reach their destination, Rikardon is dealt a savage blow—Keeshah, his giant war cat, leaves to reunite with his own kind in the Valley of the Sha’um. Newly vulnerable, Rikardon and Tarani are captured and brought back to Eddarta, where Tarani is forced to surrender the Ra’ira to the vicious High Lord Indomel. As Indomel’s older sister, Tarani has a claim to his throne—and the gem. But to win the support of the other Lords, Rikardon and Tarani need more than birthright. They need an ancient talisman that can only be recovered by traveling to the poisonous crater known as the Well of Darkness—a journey that will test their courage and bond to the breaking point.

Somewhere in Eddarta, stolen by a treacherous assassin, lay the Ra'ira, the most precious jewel of the burning desert world of Gandalara. Armed with the steel sword of Serkajon, Rikardon and his telephathic warcat Keeshah seek the sacred stone. With the aid of Tarani, a beautiful illusionist with a mysterious past, they make a daring raid on Eddarta's royal citadel - to rescue the gem before its awesome powers can be used for destruction.

Cosmic Sage attempts to weave together Imaoka Shin'ichirō's life story and his message. It will reveal the spiritual pilgrimage of a Bodhisattva-Kami-Christian-Unitarian-sage, the Emerson of Japan. Each chapter will provide a setting from which Imaoka's thought and insights can be understood. However, his thought and their expressions were never put together in extended studies or systematically developed. Metaphor, paradox and wordplay merit him being compared with Emerson. This book has been written to explore his influence on liberating religious traditions of Japan, to probe the paradoxes in having multiple religious identities, to follow the faith journey of a "student of life." Each segment of his life was "like a school, a place of learning with its time for graduation," as Imaoka-sensei would say. Each graduation was to be valued as it had contributed to one's life and growth.