Aldair in Albion and Aldair, Master of Ships (DAW Books, May 1976 and September 1977). Covers by Josh Kirby

My feature today is what I call an “honorary Sword & Planet series.” The Aldair series by Neal Barrett, Jr. (1929 – 2014) not only doesn’t have a human hero, but it’s set on Earth.

But it has the feel and charm and adventure that defines S&P fiction. It also has some great covers and illustrations by artists who worked on the Dray Prescot series. DAW did it right in those days. I just love their paperbacks of that time.

[Click the images for uplifted versions.]

Back covers for Aldair in Albion and Aldair, Master of Ships

The overall concept here deserves some mention. It’s one I love and wish I’d been able to get a first crack at.

Humans have left Earth, but before they left they raised various other species to sentience and gave them roughly human forms. There are sentient pigs, wolves, bears, cats, and many others.

Startide Rising and The Uplift War by David Brin (Bantam and Bantam Spectra,
September 1983 and July 1987). Covers by Jim Burns and Michael Whelan

This is ground that David Brin later mined successfully with his Uplift series.

His Startide Rising, the first in that series, is a masterpiece. It was followed by The Uplift War in 1987.

Breed to Come by Andre Norton (Ace Books, June 1981). Cover artist unknown

In tracing the idea back, the first example I’ve personally read was Breed to Come, by Andre Norton, written in 1972.

I can’t know that Barrett was influenced by Norton’s book but I suspect so. But he did fantastic work with the concept.

Aldair, Across the Misty Sea and Aldair, the Legion of Beasts (DAW Books,
March 1980 and January 1982). Covers by Josh Kirby and Ken Kelly

The four books are pictured above. The first three have covers and illustrations by the noted Josh Kirby, whose style I’m very fond of. The last has cover and illustrations by Ken Kelly.

Aldair in Albion, 1976
Aldair, Master of Ships, 1977
Aldair, Across the Misty Sea, 1980
Aldair, the Legion of Beasts, 1982

The hero of the series is Aldair, a member of a sentient pig species. He’s relatively small and not a great warrior, but his bravery and intelligence are second to none. He becomes a great leader and I really liked his characterization.

Barrett’s storytelling is outstanding, too. His style, in fact, reminds me a little bit of Jack Vance’s work in the Tschai series, although I prefer Barrett personally.

I find Barrett to be criminally underappreciated. He was not a prolific author but a very talented one.

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Charles Gramlich administers The Swords & Planet League group on Facebook, where this post first appeared. See all of his recent posts for Black Gate here.