SFR:
It is known in certain circles that “you” are a pseudonym. If I may speak to the prime writer now: why did you opt for a pseudonym for this series?
HKB:
This is true. I had been writing sf for a number of years and was growing increasingly dissatisfied with my reception. When a novel which I considered [with all the disadvantages of a man attempting to evaluate his own work) of some merit was received quite well in the general press, drawing good reviews in the TLS {{TIMESLiterary Supplement? -REG’)’) among others, and was ignored in the sf and fan press I decided it was tune. Work in another field under a pseudonym was very well received indeed. In addition a brand new series needed a brand new name so that we could all start even. Also I was writing with Dray Prescot material bottled up and never written before, owing to a variety of reasons, and anything I’d done before had no relevance. With the exception of one foolish review in a publication the story of Dray Prescot and the name Alan Burt Akers have received proper evaluation. (and I am glad to say some praise) and this heartens me that the encrusted cysts of ‘our’ literature are open to new people, with this Single exception.* I instance your own very fair review in SFR as an example of an evaluation that proves me right. I may add that although Dray Prescot is a success, with the first books being re-issued in new editions, and the sales going well, I am myself too much of an encrusted cyst to be bowled over by praise, as a number of new sf writers were in the sixties to their destruction, I have proved the fallaciousness of boasting (well, there are exceptions we all wot of to that one) and if it is not too pretentious to say I am humble about the success of Dray Prescot I will say it. As far as I am aware.
SFR:
Dray Prescot is not just another pretty face and unchanging hero; he changes and matures and leams. And ages. How long can he keep up these battles and combats that depend on his lightning reflexes and great strength? How old can/will he get before he is killed or retires or solves all the problems?
HKB:
Prescot was thirty at the time he took a dip in the Pool of Baptism on the River Zelph in far Aphrasöe. He is not immortal; he has a thousand years of life. Yes, he does change and mature on the mental and spiritual level; but his ‘lightning reflexes’ and strength remain as they were when he was 30... Plans exist to explore in some detail what this will mean to him later on in his life. I took the decision not to make him immortal for a number of what seemed to me very good reasons. Mortality makes him the same as us; longevity gives him greater problems. And if we are to have a whole world handled with some degree of coherence by a single man, as I desired, a single lifetime is just not enough. Had Alexander had a thousand years of life the world would be very different to-day.
