Back in the 1960s, I was transitioning from comic books to paperbacks. At that time, my favorite publisher was ACE Books because they seemingly brought out cool books every month. Warrior of Llarn caught my eye because the author was Gardner F. Fox. Could this be the same Gardner F. Fox that wrote for DC Comics? Yes, it was. Fox’s story of Alan Morgan, an Earthman transported to a planet light-years away, had many of the story elements I loved when Fox was writing stories for DC Comics about Adam Strange. Alan Morgan encounters an ancient world on Llarn; a world ruined by a nuclear war. The survivors mutated in different ways. Morgan found himself serving a being who sent him on quests to find rare artifacts. Morgan also falls in love and joins a revolution to unseat a corrupt warrior. In the sequel to Warrior of Llarn, Fox transforms Alan Morgan into a master thief who has to steal a rare gem with incredible powers. Secret technologies amid the ruins of fabulous cities, cunning adversaries, and a clever conclusion make Thief of Llarn one of the best “Sword & Planet” stories ever. If you haven’t read these entertaining adventures, you’re missing a lot of fun.
George, you’re right, I can see what I’m missing by just looking at the two covers. I might have read DC Comics written by Gardner F. Fox though in my youth I never bothered who wrote or drew the comics. Now I make it a point to read the “imprint” column but none of the names are really familiar to me.
Prashant, Gardner F. Fox was iconic at DC Comics for decades. He left DC Comics in the Sixties when DC refused to pay for medical insurance. Fox then turned to writing books like WARRIOR OF LLARN.
I’ve read a few Fox books, but not these. May have to track them down
Randy, you’ll enjoy WARRIOR OF LLARN and THIEF OF LLARN. Plenty of fun here!
So we both wrote about Ace Books today. I have both of those but have never read them. Time to take a look inside those covers.
Bill, there’s lots of Edgar Rice Burroughs in Gardner F. Fox’s Llarn books. Quick, fun reads!
I was going to say they sounded like Burroughs. Love the covers.
Jeff, the cover on WARRIOR OF LLARN is a Frazetta. Gray Morrow did the cover for THIEF OF LLARN.
I read these in the mid 1960s, I think. At the time I didn’t make the comic book connection as I was already past comics, but as I recall they were fun books.
Rick, you’re right about WARRIOR OF LLARN and THIEF OF LLARN being fun books to read. ACE Books specialized in this type of SF novel.
I bought these when they came out. Back then I even bought the Quinn Reade book QUEST OF THE DARK LADY without knowing it was Ben Haas.
RJR
Rob, like you I bought WARRIOR OF LLARN and THIEF OF LLARN as they were published. I read every book as soon as I purchased it. Later, I bought more than I could read, but that’s another story.
Can anyone tell me of “Ulazza of the Azunn” coz I got the original art “ink and pastel” done by Ellen Vartanoff the famous artist forMarvel and want to know more about this.
Any information will help a lot
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