Transit to Scorpio (Dray Prescot, No. 1) [Import] [Paperback]

Alan Burt Akers (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: London: Futura Orbit PB, 1974 (1974)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0860078027
• ISBN-13: 978-0860078029
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,819,882 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious fantasy for people who love British wisecracks, April 24, 2000

By 

Bruce Ewing (Eugene, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Transit to Scorpio (Paperback)

I have read a huge number of SF/fantasy books, and this is my FAVORITE SERIES OF ALL TIME. I'm afraid I don't have enough room here to tell you all you need to know about the series. I will put more info in reviews for other books in the series. The books are almost all very fun, and currently there are 37 of them. I don't know if there will ever be more, but obviously I desperately hope so. The author is Kenneth Bulmer, under the pseudonym "Alan Burt Akers." Most bookstores (including Amazon) mistakenly put "Dray Prescot" as the author of some of the books. The MAIN CHARACTER in the books is Dray Prescot. The books are organized into "cycles" that sort of stand alone in the series. The first is the Delian Cycle, with the first 5 books (Transit to Scorpio, The Suns of Scorpio, Warrior of Scorpio, Swordships of Scorpio, Prince of Scorpio). The next is the Havilfar Cycle (Manhounds of Antares, Arena of Antares, Fliers of Antares, Bladesman of Antares, Avenger of Antares). The series is autobiographical of Dray Prescot, an unhappy English sailorman swept away by awesome forces to another planet, where he is much happier doing heroic stuff. It all has an Edgar Rice Burroughs quality, with huge numbers of strange races, cultures, plants and animals, picturesquely described. Dray makes friends, enemies, meets girls, works his way up in the world (just not OUR world), and has adventures! I think the ultimate target audience for the series is Americans who like British humor of the Monty Python variety. Normally, dialog is a liability for Kenneth Bulmer, but here he keeps it together. And the dialog becomes the best part! Everyone makes jokes, teases each other, and converses using lovely British phrasing. And it's hilarious! I laugh all the way through these books! The first 4 books of the series are only OK. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND starting with #1, then skipping to #5, then read #6-#10 or so, then go back for #2-#4 once you are hooked on the series. The series is hard to find - contact me if you need to. But being so long, it provides months of great enjoyment. Please don't be put off by this first book, just consider it an intro. The tone of the rest of the series is much lighter. And part of the fun is watching Dray Prescot change his opinions about things over time (but in some ways he never changes). And Dray does try to see the funny side of things, and describe his adventures in that vein. This series truly deserves to be one of the greatest fantasy series ever.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars gtt1159, July 4, 2005

By 

TEX "TEX" (Deployed SW Asia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Transit to Scorpio (Paperback)

This series along with the Lensman series started me on Scifi and Fantasy back in the 70's. They are truely escapist and should be viewed that way. I still have both series boxed up at home in my mothers garage. I think when I retire from the military I will pull them out and read them once again. Recommended for those that like something different and I suppose old school would be a good term.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars True to the Edgar Rice Burroughs tradition, May 9, 2004

By 

David Bonesteel (Fresno, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Transit to Scorpio (Paperback)

An English seaman of the 17th century, Dray Prescot, is sent to the savage alien world of Kregen, where he has amazing adventures and falls in love with a princess. This is fun escapist literature in the lost worlds genre. The prose is rather overheated and, at times, tortuously verbose, but that's part of the fun. Author Keith Bulmer, writing under the pseudonym of Alan Burt Akers, injects a healthy amount of humor into his narrative as well. Recommended for a light, quick read.