Book Review: Warrior of Scorpio by Alan Burt Akers
This is the third in the Prescot of Antares planetary romance series. For newer readers who might not have seen the term before, a “planetary romance” is a subgenre of science fiction in which an Earthling (or someone of Terran extraction) is transported to and stranded on an Earthlike planet with a savage set of local civilizations. He (and it’s almost always a “he”) will then proceed to kick butt thanks to his superior Earth musculature and training, kill or ride exotic beasts, and fall in love with a princess (who will eventually return the favor.) The John Carter of Mars series by Edgar Rice Burroughs is the granddaddy of the subgenre.
In this case, Dray Prescott is an Eighteenth Century sailor plucked from Earth to the planet Kregen, which orbits Antares in what we call the Scorpio constellation. This is the work of the enigmatic Star Lords who drop him in various situations that they want resolved. In previous volumes, he became nigh-immortal along with his beloved, Princess Delia, only to be snatched back to Earth. Once again on Kregan, he led a slave revolt, which was apparently a little too successful.
In this volume, Dray Prescot is snatched from the rebellion, but manages to avoid being sent to Earth, instead being dumped onto an isolated farm just in time to save a woman and child from invading “half-men.” He also saves enslaved archer Seg Segutorio, who joins Prescot on his journeys. By good luck, Dray is reunited with Delia, and they decide to go back to her kingdom to finally get hitched. She has an airship to take them over the dangerous Hostile Territories, but things are never that simple in an adventure story….
Good stuff: Plenty of fast-moving action–our heroes are in peril on a regular basis from all sorts of weather, beasts and people. If you like the manly man sort of protagonist, Prescot is certainly that, but is anti-slavery so we know he’s a good guy.
Not so good stuff: Planetary romance tends to have some racism and sexism problems. The former is indicated by the word “half-men” (and Prescott often mentions in his narration that he learned better about the various races of Kregen later.) The sexism comes on stronger, with women being in the story to be rescued by Prescot and/or throw themselves at him. (This volume does pass the Bechdel test with a very brief conversation about botany before the women turn their attention back to Prescot.) One notable scene has two women who are not Dray Prescot’s love interest fighting over which one of them should be.
When the subject of rape comes up, a minor character allied to Prescot indulges in victim-blaming, and no one disputes him (he vanishes from the story shortly thereafter, fate unknown.) And there is a scene that is no question about it headed for tentacle porn before Prescot breaks free and kills the critter. It’s not nearly as awful with the sexual politics as Gor, but is well below Barsoom.
Other stuff: The framing device is that Dray Prescott was temporarily on Earth in the 1970s and dictated the story into a set of cassette tapes, some of which have gone missing. Thus the author can skip ahead through slow bits or areas where he got stuck.
Overall: Not your best entry into planetary romance; look up the John Carter books.
