Reared in the harsh conditions of Nelson's Navy, Dray Prescot failed to find success on Earth but has succeeded in winning fortune on Kregen. He is called the Emperor of Emperors, the Emperor of Paz, but he himself regards these titles as meaningless. Paz is a vast grouping of continents and islands and is inhabited by innumerable races and nations, so why should they band together under Prescot? The Star Lords themselves have chosen him for this heavy task, for he has the yrium, that particular charisma that binds other mortals to his service. Now, in this the first volume of the Balintol cycle, the Star Lords have dispatched him to the town of Amintin in the continent of Balintol. Under the streaming mingled lights of the Suns of Scorpio, Dray Prescot must set forth on his new adventures... Intrigue of Antares is the forty-fourth 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 series continues with Gangs of Antares.

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.

On the magnificent and mysterious, beautiful and terrible world of Kregen, a planet orbiting Antares four-hundred light-years from Earth, much may be achieved and much lost. Far more than merely a strong sword arm is required for victory. Far more than a cunning and devious brain is needed to secure success. Having won his princess, Delia of Delphond, Delia of the Blue Mountains, and having become the Emperor of Vallia with Delia at his side as Empress, Dray Prescot has renounced the crown and throne. Any thoughts of a quiet life are foolish, as he well knows. Among the many problems besetting him, the most important are uniting the lands of Paz and beating off the viciously hostile raiders from over the curve of the sea, the feared and hated Shanks. Scorpio Reborn:Sent by the Star Lords to save a life from a fire, Dray Prescot finds himself utterly helpless in a strange land. Confused and unable to move, he is cared for by Mevancy, a woman with a strange and wonderful secret. But why have the Star Lords left him there? Who is he expected to protect, and how is he supposed to do it? Flying a kite one moment, battling through an inferno the next, Prescot is flung headlong into fresh adventures under the mingled streaming lights of the Suns of Scorpio. Scorpio Assassin:The Star Lords require that a high spirited lady called Kirsty be queen, and have ordered Leone killed so that she cannot return through reincarnation. With the aid of the kregoinya Mevancy nal Chardaz and of the kregoinye Caspar the Peaker, and with the assistance of Trylon Kuong and of Llodi the Voice, Prescot decides to risk all to defy the all-powerful Star Lords... Scorpio Invasion:Dray Prescot must answer to the Star Lords for his disobedience. But the Star Lords argue over him and Dray is dropped accidentally in a walled garden. He is lost. Even the Star Lords don't know where he is. He knows he is on the splendid if horrific planet of Kregen, and in the continent of Loh, but nothing is familiar. He must find his way back to Makilorn, and from there to Tarankar to train an army to repel the Shanks...

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 batten on innocent people, where sorceries rend reason, where injustice denies light. Dray Prescot's happiness with Delia, the Princess Majestrix of Vallia, is threatened as the notorious Wizard of Loh, Phu-si-Yantong, seeks to destroy Delia's father, the emperor, and take control of the empire of Vallia. And Prescot is determined to seek the whereabouts of his daughters, alienated from him during a forced absence on Earth. But the brilliant world of Kregen under Antares will always challenge Prescot with new problems and adventures. Dray Prescot knows only too well that he must continue to struggle against himself as well as the malignant fates that pursue him in the mingled streaming lights of the Suns of Scorpio.

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

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. Down in the island of Pandahem, Prescot and his comrades, having burned a temple or two, must now press on and open a fresh campaign against the Silver Wonder. Of course, life is not as simple as that, particularly on the horrific and fascinating world of Kregen where, under the mingled streaming radiance of the Suns of Scorpio, the unexpected is always to be expected. Talons of Scorpio: Finishing the job of destroying the hideous cult of the Leem is just one of the problems confronting Dray Prescot. For he must also rally all the world's forces to combat the onslaught that is on its way from the unexplored Southern Hemisphere. While rescuing kidnapped children from the altars of sacrifice, Dray finds himself fighting side by side with his own worst enemy, his renegade daughter, Ros the Claw, who has pledged his death. Masks of Scorpio: The task of burning out the cult of the Silver Leem had been given Star Lords priority. Although Dray Prescot was emperor of Vallia, still he has to work incognito on an enemy island until that task is done. Aided by a valiant crew of piratical swashbucklers, Dray invaded the capital of the secret order only to find treachery and terror where he had thought to find treasure and triumph. It became a battle of golden masks against silver masks, and behind each facepiece could be hiding the bony features of the Grim Reaper himself! Seg the Bowman: Dray Prescot's fighting comrade, Seg, is the finest archer in two worlds. Seg is a wild and reckless fellow, courageous in the face of any adversity, and this is the account of his greatest challenge. On an enemy island, Seg becomes knight-protector of the mysterious lady Milsi, and by her side he beats off frightful beasts and inhuman foemen intent on blocking her path to a rightful royal inheritance. This edition includes a glossary of the Pandahem cycle and the short story “Green Shadows”

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...

Dray Prescot begins an entirely new phase of his adventures on Kregen, that magnificent and terrible world four hundred light years from Earth. Reared in the harsh conditions of Nelson's Navy, Dray Prescot failed to find success on Earth but has succeeded in winning fortune on Kregen. He is called the Emperor of Emperors, the Emperor of Paz, but he himself regards these titles as meaningless. Paz is a vast grouping of continents and islands and is inhabited by innumerable races and nations, so why should they band together under Prescot? The Star Lords themselves have chosen him for this heavy task. Intrigue of Antares In this, the first book of the Balintol cycle, the Star Lords have dispatched Dray Prescot to the town of Amintin in the continent of Balintol. Under the streaming mingled lights of the Suns of Scorpio, Dray Prescot sets forth on new adventures in the subcontinent of Balintol. Gangs of Antares All hell was due to break out in the country of Tolindrin, and the city of Oxonium, as the capital, was likely to receive more than its fair share. Dray Prescot is in the middle of it, and strangeness unlike any that he has previously encountered awaits him... Demons of Antares Dray Prescot's task of uniting the disparate countries so that all Paz can defend itself against the predatory, fish-headed Shanks from the other side of the world is complicated. And the megalomaniac desires of certain princes and nobles who are determined to win the crown of Tolindrin for themselves, and who are willing to destroy anyone who gets in their way, isn't helping. They have hired mercenary armies and allied themselves with the traditional enemies of the country. Prescot must travel to Prebaya, the capital of Caneldrin, and use all his strengths and all his scheming and tricks to achieve his goal with as little bloodshed as possible...

On the magnificent and mysterious, beautiful and terrible world of Kregen, a planet orbiting Antares four-hundred light-years from Earth, much may be achieved and much lost. Far more than merely a strong sword arm is required for victory. Far more than a cunning and devious brain is needed to secure success. The island Empire of Vallia, sundered by internal dissension and invasion, is gradually reestablishing itself after the Times of Troubles, but the grouping of continents and islands called Paz are threatened by the Shanks, fish-headed reivers from over the curve of the world. Dray Prescot’s task is to unite all of Paz in alliance against the aggressors, but not all the people of Paz are willing to forget their old enmities. But in the passionate, shrewd, charismatic figure of Delia of Delphond, and his family and blade comrades, Prescot possesses riches past the mundane dreams of empire. Werewolves of Kregen: Having at last returned to his home empire, to his wife and his friends, Dray Prescot will learn that the vengeance of his defeated enemies has unleashed nine occult curses against Vallia. The first curse, the plague of murderous werewolves, takes Dray by surprise. Could his valor and courage stand up against an unprecedented onslaught of warring witchcraft? Witches of Kregen: When his new army was ready to march against the witch hordes, it rained frogs! That's the sort of thing Dray Prescot is up against in the war of the Nine Unspeakable Curses! He was struggling to gather together his shattered empire when the witchcraft hit. But he has wizards on his side, too, and very soon it becomes a battle of sheer courage, quick wits, and fast flying. Storm over Vallia: Drak, Crown Prince of Vallia, Dray Prescot's son, was sore beset on three sides. For one, he was leading an army of liberation against the usurper Alloran who had seized part of Vallia. For two, he was the target of a marriage plot by an allied queen, whose forces he needed desperately. For the third, he was in love with Silda, daughter of his father's loyal friend, Seg the Bowman. And Silda was now in Alloran's camp... Omens of Kregen: Dray Prescot must conquer the bloodthirsty forces of the would be king of North Vallia, while at the same time protecting the realm from the evil witch Csitra. Journeying to the witch's dark Maze of Coup Blag, Dray and his comrades must meet the challenge of this realm of traps and treasures, where death waits around every turn, and a wizardly battle of destruction is the price of winning free... Warlord of Antares: His empire endangered by the diabolical schemes of Csitra, Dray Prescot has been summoned by the powerful Star Lords who warn of a dread menace approaching from the South. Dray must take on all challengers to become the Warlord of Kregen, uniting his people against the dual threat of Csitra's deadly magic and a seemingly unstoppable invasion by the Shanks... This edition contains a glossary to the Witch War cycle.

The first five books in the Saga of Dray Prescot of Earth and of Kregen are brought together in this omnibus edition. Together, they make up the Delian Cycle, in which Dray Prescot comes to terms with the alien world of Kregen. Here he tries to make sense of his situation: the Star Lords, the Savanti, the marvelous places, strange beasts and stranger people. And here he pursues his greatest love of two worlds, Delia of the Blue Mountains. Dray Prescot's saga has been aclaimed as the best planetary adventure series since Burroughs stopped writing about Barsoom. Transit to Scorpio 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. But 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... The Suns of Scorpio Slave of the colossus builders or scourge of the Inland Sea? Both roles await Dray Prescot on his return to Kregen. Torn between two contending forces, the Star Lords and the Savanti, Prescot himself wants only to find his beloved Delia of the Blue Mountains. But the powers that had drawn him across interstellar space to the world that orbit the red and green suns have set him a task, the nature of which even he cannot fully comprehend... Warrior of Scorpio Dray Prescot finds himself torn from the battles of the Inner Sea for a mission in the air. For it is now his mission to carry his beloved Delia by airboat to that far kingdom, Vallia, from whence she had come. But the route lies across the gaunt mountains and the shadowy jungles of the Hostile Territories, and there Dray will be plunged among stranger peoples and more fantastic challenges than even his Kregen princess has known. Swordships of Scorpio 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 he sets aside his quest to reach Vallia and his princess Delia and help her claim her throne. But his duty is to defend Vallia's ancient foe and place its rightful heir on its throne. So when 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. Prince of Scorpio Dray Prescot has fought long and hard through perilous lands to claim the hand of the heiress to the mighty Vallia. Yet, when finally he sets foot in that long-sought empire, it is not as hero or noble. It is as an unknown, a mendicant, and finally as a condemned slave... This edition contains a map and glossary. planetary adventure, sword and planet, bulmer, adventure, series, kregen, krozair, dray prescot, sword, wizard, savanti, scorpio, antares, burroughs, gor, barsoom, sf, fantasy, science fiction, delia, pandahem, seg, kenneth bulmer, sword and sorcery, swordsman, swordfighting, alan burt akers