Fliers of Antares

Fliers of Antares

First edition cover
Author	Kenneth Bulmer
Cover artist	Jack Gaughan
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Dray Prescot series
Genre	Sword and planet
Published	1975
Publisher	DAW Books
Media type	Print (Paperback)
ISBN
Preceded by	Arena of Antares
Followed by	Bladesman of Antares

Fliers of Antares is a science fiction novel written by Kenneth Bulmer under the pseudonym of Alan Burt Akers, and is volume eight in his extensive Dray Prescot series of sword and planet novels, set on the fictional world of Kregen, a planet of the Antares star system in the constellation of Scorpio. It was first published by DAW Books in 1975.

The Dray Prescot series is made of several cycles of novels, each cycle essentially forming a series within the series. In addition to being the eighth volume in the series as a whole, Fliers of Antares is also the third of six volumes in the Havilfar Cycle. It is set on the fictional continent of Havilfar.

The 52 completed novels of the Dray Prescot series were written by Bulmer between 1972 and 1997, when a stroke stopped his writing, also the later Dray Prescot books, after 1988, were originally only published in German. The series is in the spirit of Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter of Mars series.

The book continues directly on from Arena of Antares with Prescot, Delia and their friends escaping Hyrklana in a flying boat. On their journey over the sea Prescot is accidentally thrown off the boat during a storm and manages to swim to safety. He reaches a little village of the semi-human Lamnias where he is welcomed. He is however tricked and enslaved alongside an annual set number of youth from the village. The slave masters, another half-human race, Katakis, attempt to shoot down the flying boat of Prescot's friends who are in search of him but he is able to warn them. The flying boat departs and Prescot remains a slave.

Sold to the Heavenly Mines in the Empire of Hamal, where the raw ore is mined for the flying boat propulsion, Prescot falls into the monotony of the hard labor, almost forgetting escape. Eventually he recovers and starts planning an escape when he is once more teleported away by the Star Lords. He finds himself in the unusual situation of arriving somewhere without having to fight but is soon moved again, further back in time, the Star Lords apparently having blundered his teleportation.