Near Canopus there is a small red sun, around which eleven planets revolve. One of these is Llarn a world which resembles Earth in some ways, but in others is exotically different. There were men and women there, fallen empires, forgotten cities, and roving barbarians striving to rise. And there were the dreaded remnants of a hideous atomic disaster eons past—things that once were men with powers that bordered on the evilly miraculous. Alan Morgan came to Llarn at the behest of one of these warped man-monsters to act as his envoy on a world-shaking mission. But Alan was no puppet...and the story of his extraordinary adventures on that world of swordplay and wonders is a constantly exciting novel. Cover Illustration: Frank Frazetta

Alan Morgan, Earthman, swordsman, adventurer extraordinary, finds his most amazing challenge on Llarn, distant world of a far red star. Among the ruins of fabulous cities and fallen empires, Alan Morgan becomes a prime piece in a time-spanning game of planetary chess. His prize—the incredible jewel of Zaxeron, held in an impenetrable light shaft guarded by all-destroying fires. And always at stake—the life of Tuarra, crown princess of Kharthol and wife of Alan Morgan. For this was more than a mere game of living chess. It was war for a world! Cover Illustration: Gray Morrow