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Delian Cycle #4
Kregen 04: Die Armada von Scorpio
Ausgesetzt in den unwirtlichen Gebieten, in den weiten Steppen Kregens unter der Doppelsonne von Antares im Sternbild des Skorpions, schlägt sich Dray Prescot, der Mensch von der Erde, zu Fuß durch zur Küste des Äußeren Ozeans, um über das Meer nach Vallia zu gelangen, wo Delia von den Blauen Bergen von ihrem mächtigen Vater festgehalten wird. Doch zunächst hat er die Klackadrin zu überwinden, ein Sumpfgebiet, in dem der Geruch fauligen Wassers und giftige Dämpfe, die der Erde entsteigen, dem mutigen Reisenden die Sinne verwirren, wodurch er um so leichter das Opfer der Phokaym wird, der intelligenten Echsenwesen, die ihre Gefangenen grausam foltern und ihren weniger intelligenten Artgenossen zum Fraß vorwerfen.
Doch er wäre nicht Dray Prescot, Klansmann, Schwertkämpfer und ehemaliger Offizier der Marine seiner Majestät, des Königs von England, wenn er nicht einen Ausweg fände. Auch hier, 400 Lichtjahre von seinem Heimathafen entfernt, steht er seinen Mann, und als er endlich die Gestade des Äußeren Ozeans erreicht, ist ein Offizier, der in Wellingtons Schule gegangen ist, in seinem Element und nimmt es selbst mit einer Armada auf, um sein Ziel zu erreichen.
Doch er wäre nicht Dray Prescot, Klansmann, Schwertkämpfer und ehemaliger Offizier der Marine seiner Majestät, des Königs von England, wenn er nicht einen Ausweg fände. Auch hier, 400 Lichtjahre von seinem Heimathafen entfernt, steht er seinen Mann, und als er endlich die Gestade des Äußeren Ozeans erreicht, ist ein Offizier, der in Wellingtons Schule gegangen ist, in seinem Element und nimmt es selbst mit einer Armada auf, um sein Ziel zu erreichen.
156 pages, Paperback
First published December 18, 1975
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 13, 2020
DAW Collectors #81
Cover Artist: Tim Kirk
Name: Bulmer, Henry Kenneth, Birthplace: London, England, UK, (14 January 1921 - 16 December 2005.
"Swordships of Scorpio" keeps up the pace from the third book and Dray Prescot is once more thrown into a violent situation and we get a woman of color thrown into the mix. The past books have shown that Kregen is made up of men and half-men, like the Rapas and the Fristles, and also of people that have been plucked from Earth. But this is the first time a black character is introduced.
Dray sets out to cross the Owlarh Waste to get to Vallia and Delia of the Blue Mountains. Sosie, and would have liked to know more about her and her culture. Bulmer was a gifted writer and just seemed to plop down full-bodied characters almost effortlessly.
Cover Artist: Tim Kirk
Name: Bulmer, Henry Kenneth, Birthplace: London, England, UK, (14 January 1921 - 16 December 2005.
"Swordships of Scorpio" keeps up the pace from the third book and Dray Prescot is once more thrown into a violent situation and we get a woman of color thrown into the mix. The past books have shown that Kregen is made up of men and half-men, like the Rapas and the Fristles, and also of people that have been plucked from Earth. But this is the first time a black character is introduced.
Dray sets out to cross the Owlarh Waste to get to Vallia and Delia of the Blue Mountains. Sosie, and would have liked to know more about her and her culture. Bulmer was a gifted writer and just seemed to plop down full-bodied characters almost effortlessly.
June 13, 2012
It's traditional for a story like this to meander as its hero is buffeted by fate--which Dray Prescot truly is--but it's helpful to anchor it with a really good set piece that distinguishes one volume from another. This one doesn't have anything of that sort, and it sometimes feels like the author is unwilling to pursue any line of plot or setting which might turn interesting: the in-over-his-head boy duke is returned to only to wrap things up; the back cover teases the notion of Prescot being put into a position of authority in a country at war with the one he needs to go to; an overland hike to a fortress port, pursued by pirates, is dealt cursorily. Even the cheap transitional section at the start--where Prescot is dangled over certain doom, only for the author to 'reveal' that cassette tapes are missing, and the action picks up again back in civilization--seems more an excuse to play with the reader than to tell a story.
I liked the setting on this side of the Hostile Territories and the squabbling nations, but it seems that yet again Prescot will be yanked around to someplace else.
Prescot or his author seems to be more and more prone to waxing didactic regarding Kregenish fauna, the seagoing vessels and their comparison to Earth equivalents, and geography. It wasn't helping my enjoyment of the story.
I liked the setting on this side of the Hostile Territories and the squabbling nations, but it seems that yet again Prescot will be yanked around to someplace else.
Prescot or his author seems to be more and more prone to waxing didactic regarding Kregenish fauna, the seagoing vessels and their comparison to Earth equivalents, and geography. It wasn't helping my enjoyment of the story.
July 28, 2015
As always a rollicking good read.
April 12, 2025
I think this one is a little weaker than the previous three.
I like these books, don’t get me wrong, but it felt like a slog going through all of this. It felt like Dray got flooded with sidequests, like in a roleplaying game, and he’s just getting sidetracked super hard. It’s fun, swashbuckling action, but I don’t feel like anything truly special or worth noting took place in this book. I think Kenneth knew this because even Dray says the following:
“truths were needed then; for I could hardly hold myself under control. Vallia! Delia! The need for her flamed in my blood, drugged me with desire. Too long had I betrayed her, and dillydallied with renders and Kovs and all the petty glory of sailing a swordship sea under my old flag.” (pg. 189/191).
I like to imagine that Kenneth tossed in whatever ideas he could come up with and stitched them all together to make this volume coherent enough. But, I know for certain that I’ll continue with this series.
I like these books, don’t get me wrong, but it felt like a slog going through all of this. It felt like Dray got flooded with sidequests, like in a roleplaying game, and he’s just getting sidetracked super hard. It’s fun, swashbuckling action, but I don’t feel like anything truly special or worth noting took place in this book. I think Kenneth knew this because even Dray says the following:
“truths were needed then; for I could hardly hold myself under control. Vallia! Delia! The need for her flamed in my blood, drugged me with desire. Too long had I betrayed her, and dillydallied with renders and Kovs and all the petty glory of sailing a swordship sea under my old flag.” (pg. 189/191).
I like to imagine that Kenneth tossed in whatever ideas he could come up with and stitched them all together to make this volume coherent enough. But, I know for certain that I’ll continue with this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 3, 2015
This is the 4th book in the Dray Prescot series. It opens with Dray taking the shoelace express, rather, the black boot express, all the way to Vallia. On his way there, Dray has a very brief encounter with a gang of psychedelic lizards riding lizards and finds himself trapped in an almost impossible way before unexpectedly the story takes a rather hard turn with Dray waking up, hungover in a rented room above a bar.
Now A.B.A. explains that the tapes in which he's transcribing the Dray tales becomes garbled and undecipherable. In my most honest and humbled opinion, I believe A.B.A. wrote himself into a corner and instead of figuring out how to help Dray fight his way out of the Phokay death pit, he simply just stops writing about that and starts writing about something else? Brilliant! Or, he'll surprise us with that tale in a later book?
The story then takes a turn towards young Pando and his illustrious mother Tilda as Dray helps them reclaim a lost throne and place the rightful heir to the kingdom of Tomboram. Much like the last 3 books, Swordships of Scorpio is action packed, filled with women swooning over Dray and him completely shutting them down, and Dray saving the day in the end.
Now, for book 5!
Now A.B.A. explains that the tapes in which he's transcribing the Dray tales becomes garbled and undecipherable. In my most honest and humbled opinion, I believe A.B.A. wrote himself into a corner and instead of figuring out how to help Dray fight his way out of the Phokay death pit, he simply just stops writing about that and starts writing about something else? Brilliant! Or, he'll surprise us with that tale in a later book?
The story then takes a turn towards young Pando and his illustrious mother Tilda as Dray helps them reclaim a lost throne and place the rightful heir to the kingdom of Tomboram. Much like the last 3 books, Swordships of Scorpio is action packed, filled with women swooning over Dray and him completely shutting them down, and Dray saving the day in the end.
Now, for book 5!
April 1, 2016
Why does this book remind me of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars series? An Earthman somehow finds himself on an alien planet with many and varied intelligent species contending with one another, some humanoid and some not so humanoid, with the most advanced weaponry being the sword. The hero from Earth becomes romantically involved with an alien female who could be called a princess and he finds himself resisting the charms of many other alien temptressess. The writing style is very pulpish with the hero going from one adventure to another saving himself every time with his skilled swordplay. He finds himself aboard a pirate ship forming an alliance with a gorgeous female pirate and his time on that pirate ship reminds me of a Hollywood pirate movie from the 1950s. Hmm, maybe all this is why I am reminded of John Carter of Mars.
January 26, 2016
If you are a John Carter of Mars fan or enjoy the "displaced person on another world" then this series is for you. The books run in long story arcs so you can read just a few to complete a plot line or go for the whole set. Akers creates a very complex world for the hero to adventure in. Recommended
February 6, 2016
Being left for dead, Dray sets off yet again to claim his Delia. Encountering new friends and foes along the way--new monsters and new beastmen and action aplenty. All of Dray's striving and accomplishments amount to zilch to the Starlords. They rip him from his companions at the height of his latest triumph only to deposit him who knows where? A great installment in a fantastic series.
July 28, 2010
A good one. I love the way Akers (Bulmer) handled the air boats and saddle birds on Kregen.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews