Star Kings

John Gordon and Jarth Arn were both looking for something that was beyond them, beyond the lives they led. For Jarth, it was a world in the past that he had never visited. For John, it was adventure and excitement beyond his dull existence. Jarth needed John to see the world he was looking for and John needed Jarth for the adventure he sought, though John didn't know it at the time. John and Jarth switch bodies and time periods to seek the unknown, but only for a short, limited time. However, as usual, things never go as planned.Jarth Arn is the second son to one of the most powerful Star Kings. This is just the beginning, as John fights off the League of the Dark Worlds He is torn between the Jarth's love of a mistress named Murn and his love for Princess Lianna, the ruler of a Star-Kingdom. He has to prove his loyalty to his older brother after Jarth's father is assassinated and he is framed for the crime. Then he has to save the entire galaxy from the evil that tries to overtake good.As I started THE STAR KINGS, I must say it was nothing I ever dreamed of, but boy, it was a great surprise indeed! Mr. Edmund must have had an imagination beyond anything to have dreamed up and written a tale such as this one. From one excitement to the next, I could not stop turning the pages. STAR KINGS is one of the best paranormals I've ever read.Romance At Its Best ...

Listen lads!I am 50 years old now, and I read "Star Kings" in 1958... I felt devastated then!I could never forget it in 44 years, and I just happened to learn that it was written by Ed Hamilton, right a few days ago!... (The Turkish language edition I had read did not mention the author's name, it was a cheap pulp edition of about 50 cents of the day and I got money from my late dad to buy it, oh dear...)I know it almost by heart after all those years...To all Hamilton fans and the people of every age who dreamed of being a John Gordon, hail!Engin ArdicIstanbul, Turkey

I stumbled across The Star Kings shortly after I seriously got into SF, probably when I was about 12. This book blew my mind with its very colourful writing (love the characters' names) and the majestic sweep of the universe it presented. Sure the science is pretty badly dated, but if you can look past that, it's a rip-snorting tale as they say. This book still remains in my top 5, although I can't be sure that's not for sentimental reasons. I searched for about 5 years to find the sequel, Return to the Stars. For those who've read and loved this book, check out the campy movie Starcrash starring Marjoe Gortner next time it comes on late at night - the villian's name is Zarth Arn!

I originally bought this book when it was published by "Venture" compiled with "Return to the stars"... and its been by my side ever since, i've had it for about 7,8,9 maybe 10 years, cant be certain. When ever im not reading something new, I return to this book. Must of read it a million times by now. I've been trying to find more Edmond Hamilton ever since... (for those who didnt understand my one-line summary, Claytons made a drink they called "the drink you have when your not having a drink" because it was non-alcoholic, so anything "Claytons" is something you do when your not actually doint it).

It just doesn't get any better than this, folks! Not if you enjoy sci-fi, romance, and adventure, all rolled into one! By means of a futuristic mind-transfer device, Zarth Arn, Prince of the Mid-Galactic Empire, is able to talk John Gordon, a 20th-century worker in a drab office, into exchanging minds with him for a few days so that he can pursue his hobby as an historian, and study old earth (250,000 years in the past!) first-hand. But it all falls apart for both of them when John (in Zarth's body) is inexpectedly kidnapped by Shorr Kan, the galaxy's biggest villain, and leader of the League of Dark Worlds -- located within a large nebula, called The Cloud. Fortunately, Gordon is rescued in the nick of time, but then is ordered by the Emperor, Arn Abbas (Zarth's father) to return from the isolated laboratory on Earth, to Throon, capital world of the Mid-Galactic Empire, which circles the star, Canopus. There's just one hitch. No living person in that era knows of the mind-exchange, and Zarth had given John strict orders not to divulge that -- under ANY circumstances. So John's in the soup, and Zarth's stranded in the 20th century. Thus, we see a stunned John Gordon suddenly within the halls of the Great Palace, in a future unimaginable... about to be married to the Princess Lianna of Fomalhaut Kingdom, in a marriage arranged by the Emperor. To complicate things even more, John first meets Murn, who turns out to be Zarth's morganatic wife -- who adores him! How in the world can he marry Lianna after that, and thus betray Zarth so? But the Emperor demands it! Wait. It gets even better! John meets Lianna two days before the ceremony and falls in love with her at first sight! And Lianna picks up the vibes... which really puzzles her, because she knows that the impending marriage is meaningless, other than to cement a political bond between the Empire and her kingdom. I won't spoil things by telling you more, except that all of this groundwork occurs within the first few pages of this most delightful, and often heart-tugging romp, which finds Lianna and John suddenly flung back and forth across the galaxy together in a series of Cloud-perpetuated crises which ultimately leads to John's taking charge of a weapon capable of destroying the entire galaxy... the dreaded Disruptor. The plot moves at the rapid-fire pace of the film serials of old, with never a dull moment. Edmond Hamilton is my favorite author, and this is my favorite book of all time. The only one I've ever read 9 times! If you're lucky enough to obtain a copy of THIS book, you'll always remember its exciting and haunting story... and you'll never let it out of your hands! And WHAT a movie this will make, if Hollywood ever realizes what's its been missing. "Star Wars" is PALE by comparison to this!