NAIL DOWN THE STARS

NEL paperback, 1979. Illustration: Joe Petagno.

"STARFARER AND SKILLMAN, 

Jolon Gallmor has been on the run since his tenth birthday. Among the diverse races and worlds of the galaxy so vividly described in STARBRAT, Jolon's skills as playwright, actor and bard are his passport to privilege and acclaim, all too often to peril and banishment. With each new planet he reaches, Jolon finds himself taking on a new role, hiding his past and keeping one step ahead of the catastrophe which threatens him. 

TROOPER OF THE STERNVEREIN, 

Thief, slave and fugitive, Jolon the peaceable battles his way around the universe, until as Alladale Anthem-maker he defeats an army and wins a world without spilling a drop of blood."

STARBRAT

NEL paperback, 1979. Cover artwork by Joe Petagno.

"DRIVESHIPS ROAM THE STARWAYS, 

carrying outlaws, pirates and slavers, for it is six centuries since the Wroblewski Drive sent men into galactic space, far beyond the solar system. Out on the edges of the unknown, the descendants of Old Earth have settled down with the many races of the galaxy, from the gangling, spidery Lixians to the furry, knee-high Quiplids. But space is a frontier, and all too often the only law is a man with a weapon, as it was in the Bloody Centuries On Old Earth.  

SLAVE TRADERS 

snatched Del Whitby from planet Gilead on the day he learned he was a foundling. From the gladiatorial schools on Tarquin VIII where he learns weapon-skill, to the information banks on Watson's Planet and the barbarities of war-torn Skorat, Del scours the many-peopled worlds of Space for a clue to his origins. 

THE TEEMING GALAXY 

of Starbrat is also the setting for Nail Down The Stars and Under A Calculating Star. John Morressy, whose science-fiction novels have previously appeared in the United States, has written a tale of adventure, humour and ideas, in a far future when men have won the stars but lost the past."