Akers Books

This is the third book in the sword adventure series by Ken Bulmer writing as Alan Burt Akers. This book is an adventure to adventure romp through the lost lands of the continent of Turismond on the planet Kregen. Dray Prescot accompanied by his love, Delia of the Blue Mountains, her maid, Thelda, and his Bowman of Loh companion Seg Segutorio venture through lands last known to the almost mythical Empire of Walfarg. Using their wits and weapon skills they must travel through to the coast lands to find passage to Delia's homeland the Empire of Vallia. They encounter wild flying beasts partially tamed and flown by beastmen and numerous other obastacles. We find that Dray Prescot is the consumate champion, Delia the exquisite female companion, Thelda the bungling, bubbly servant and Seg the steady indegatigable true friend. This book is reprinted with Transit to Scorpio, Suns of Scorpio, Swordships of Scorpio and Prince of Scorpio in the omnibus, The Saga of Dray Prescot: The Delian Cycle by Kenneth Bulmer written by Alan Burt Akers and available at Amazon.com in softback and Hardback. This is must have.

I enjoyed every page of "The Heart and the Holly". I had never heard of Nancy Richards-Akers until her tragic death. After reading this book, I discovered her to be an innovator among romance novelists, due to her meticulous historical research. She made medieval Ireland come alive and explained its tangled history with England in an easy to understand way. Her story is set in Dublin during the 1300's. England has colonized Ireland and decreed a set of rules that forbids intermarraige among the Irish and English. Bran, the hero, is a fierce warrior determined to drive the hated English back across the sea. He never expects to lose his heart to Aislinn, who is half English, since this goes against all his principles and everything his family has fought for. Their story illuminates a little known period of Irish history. In addition, there is great dialogue and smoldering love scenes. I'm sure Nancy would have written many more fantastic books; her death is a true loss to lovers of historical romance.

I have some mixed feelings about the Heart and the Rose. It is well written with good dialogue and a plot that moves smoothly, the hero and heroine have some chemistry but the secondary characters take away from the novel.

Lady Claricia is unlike any romance heroine in so many ways. She has been raped by one man and then her uncle forces her to become his mistress at fourteen. He treats her more like a whore and never lets her forget that she is damaged goods. On top of having an amoral relationship with Clarisia he is diabolically cruel to the Scots who he has no problem raping and killing at whim.

Alexander Kirkpatrick is a Scot whose entire family has been killed by Claricia's uncle. Oh, does he want revenge and the best revenge is to steal Claricia, use her mercilessly and then ransom her back. He knows she is her uncle's leman and everyone believes she has gone to this position willingly.

When she is kidnapped, Claricia almost feels like she has a chance for real happiness, if she can only escape. This does not happen and she is stuck with Alexander, a man who hates her.

While in Scotland, she succumbs to Alex's lovemaking but there is no real emotion between them. She distrusts men and he distrusts the English, especially her. Alex is so cold and heartless at times I did not like him but I understood his anger, his father and mother were brutally killed along with his brother and sister. Realizing that he cannot be around Claricia anymore without having feelings for her, he sends her away to another keep to wait for the ransom.

Also in this story is a secondary romance between Rourke, Alexander's friend and Vivienne, a woman who lives alone with her son. Vivienne saved Roarke's life and he is desperately in love with her but she has many secrets to hide which will affect Alexander and Claricia. Vivienne is not that likeable. I found her to be stubborn and well, almost delusional.

The romance between the main characters is better developed and filled with sexual tension. Alexander and his captive learn to trust one another and then fall in love. Alexander's transformation from hardened warrior to loving protector is very nice indeed.

LIVING IN THE LAND OF DEATH - The Choctaw Nation, 1830-1860 by Donna L. Akers. Michigan State U. Press, 1405 South Harrison Road, Manly Miles Building - Suite 25, East Lansing, MI 48823-5202; www.msupress.msu.edu; reaumej@msu.edu. 202+xxvii pp. $24.95 trade paper, ISBN 0-87013-684-4. photographs, notes, bibliography, index.
Twenty percent of the Choctow Native Americans died in the forced relocation from their ancestral lands in Mississippi to Indian Territory (in present-day Oklahoma) as a result of the U. S. government's Indian Removal Act of 1830. But this was only the beginning of their travails. In Indian Territory, they faced hostility from tribes already settled there, along with diseases, natural disasters, and starvation. Akers, a professor of history at Purdue and a Choctaw Nation tribal member, follows how the Choctaws managed to overcome such hardships by intermixing with other groups and developing their own micro-economy based on cotton plantations linked to the world market for this commodidity. Like other tribes, the Choctows also had to deal with betrayals of agreements with them by the U. S. government. At best, they worked out an ambivalent mode of survival involving adaptations to regional economic and social conditions and measures to preserve their identity and heritage even though they had been transplanted. Akers sets out the historical account with a multicultural sensitivity to the Choctow's perduring, though at times frayed, desire to hold on to to their traditonal ways.

Aker has a nice book about the military history of the Yom Kipper War. The perspective details why the war happened, what took place during the war, and the aftermath in a consise 135 pages with references. Since the war lasted only 18 days, I found this book about right in how to detail this war.
This book was written in 1985, so detailed sources from the Soviet archives were not available at the time. It also details the war more from an Israeli perspective rather that an Arab one, so it is slightly biased. Also, at times it was rather dry. However Aker does a brillant job of boiling down the war to the main points and the big picture. If one wants to know more about this war, then this is a good book to start with.

After Dray Prescot secured his love and place in the Valian Empire. He finds himself once more a pawn of Higher Powers which wily nilly fling him onto another continent of the planet Kregen orbiting Antares. This omnibus includes Manhounds of Antares, Arena of Antares, and Fliers of Antares. In each book he is forced to explore and survive myriad dangers, often being sent into action naked and uninformed. In the Manhounds he meets ferocious beings who have been transformed from human to very formidable hunting creatures for those with the means to hunt human and diff for fun. Humans are generally described as Apim and are human like at least, while Diffs are a large group of intelligencies who are not human. Usually human and diff needs are very similar and he slowly loses his contempt for these "Beast Men" as he shares the horrors of their predicament. In Arena he falls victim to the gladitorial slave system of Hyrklana, an island just off the coast of Havilar. The island is noted as a producer of airboats, vollers. and uses numerous flying beasts as cavalry. It is an enemy of the Hamal Empire on the coast of Havilfar. He fights his way through the system and finally escapes. Fliers is the best of the three. He continues his services to the Higher Powers and finally breaks out of ennui to become King of Djanduin, which is a land in the midst of both civil war and invasion. The two principal races the Obdjangs and the Dwadjangs have become so reduced by this warfare to such a degree that they even let mercenaries aspire to the kingship. He decides to set matters right and finds that the mouselike diffs and the fourarmed apimlike Dwajangs award him the High Jikai and make him king. He restores the kingdom to prosperity and ponders the possibility of returning to his beloved, Delia of the Blue Mountains. The omnibus is roaring, action packed adventure that demands attention and pulls one into itself. Live the adventure and read the entire series.

This is the second book in the Dray Prescot adventure series on the planet Kregen under the suns of Antares. In this the Star Lords project Dray onto the coast of Turismond at the entrance to the Eye of the World, where the Zairians and the ziggurat building Grodnims battle over the dominance of the Red and Green suns. He rescues a couple and then becomes involved in the eternal conflict of this inner sea. In adventure on adventure Ken Bulmer writing as Alan Burt Akers reveals this world of monsters, heroic deeds, and Alien races. This book is also available with the other first five novels of the series in the newly reprinted in The Saga of Dray Prescot: The Delian Cycle (The Saga of Dray Prescot), The dangers are intense, the rewards immense and suspense unending. Hi Jikai!

This is the second book in the Dray Prescot adventure series on the planet Kregen under the suns of Antares. In this the Star Lords project Dray onto the coast of Turismond at the entrance to the Eye of the World, where the Zairians and the ziggurat building Grodnims battle over the dominance of the Red and Green suns. He rescues a couple and then becomes involved in the eternal conflict of this inner sea. In adventure on adventure Ken Bulmer writing as Alan Burt Akers reveals this world of monsters, heroic deeds, and Alien races. This book is also available with the other first five novels of the series in the newly reprinted The Saga of Dray Prescot: The Delian Cycle (The Saga of Dray Prescot), The dangers are intense, the rewards immense and suspense unending. Hi Jikai!

This is the second book in the Dray Prescot adventure series on the planet Kregen under the suns of Antares. In this the Star Lords project Dray onto the coast of Turismond at the entrance to the Eye of the World, where the Zairians and the ziggurat building Grodnims battle over the dominance of the Red and Green suns. He rescues a couple and then becomes involved in the eternal conflict of this inner sea. In adventure on adventure Ken Bulmer writing as Alan Burt Akers reveals this world of monsters, heroic deeds, and Alien races. This book is also available with the other first five novels of the series in the newly reprinted in The Saga of Dray Prescot: The Delian Cycle (The Saga of Dray Prescot), The dangers are intense, the rewards immense and suspense unending. Hi Jikai!

This is the second book in the Dray Prescot adventure series on the planet Kregen under the suns of Antares. In this the Star Lords project Dray onto the coast of Turismond at the entrance to the Eye of the World, where the Zairians and the ziggurat building Grodnims battle over the dominance of the Red and Green suns. He rescues a couple and then becomes involved in the eternal conflict of this inner sea. In adventure on adventure Ken Bulmer writing as Alan Burt Akers reveals this world of monsters, heroic deeds, and Alien races. This book is also available with the other first five novels of the series in the newly reprinted in The Saga of Dray Prescot: The Delian Cycle (The Saga of Dray Prescot), The dangers are intense, the rewards immense and suspense unending. Hi Jikai!