Book Review: 'The Fires of Lan-Kern' by Peter Tremayne
'The Fires of Lan-Kern' first was published in the U.K. in 1980. This Methuen paperback (272 pp.) was issued in 1984, and features striking cover art by Tim White. The succeeding volumes in the Lan-Kern Trilogy include 'The Destroyers of Lan-Kern' (1982) and 'The Buccaneers of Lan-Kern' (1984). None of the Lan-Kern titles ever were issued as paperbacks in the U.S.
'Peter Tremayne' is the pseudonym used by the prolific U.K. writer Peter Beresford Ellis (b. 1943). During the 1970s and 1980s Tremayne published a number of memorable Paperbacks from Hell, including 'The Ants', 'The Morgow Rises', Snowbeast', and 'Nicor'. Tremayne is best known for his popular 'Sister Fidelma' mystery novels, set in 7th century Ireland.
As 'Fires' opens, we are introduced to the protagonist, a botanist named Frank Dryden, who is - surprisingly enough - a passenger on the British nuclear submarine HMS Argo. As the Argo transits the North Pole, it encounters a strange anomaly, and the entire crew is rendered unconscious. When the crew emerges from their blackout, they are bewildered to find that the ship now is drifting off the Orkney Islands.
Once power is restored, the sub discovers there is no radio communication with the Fleet, or with any entity whatsoever. The sub's captain decides to make for a port in the Scottish islands. As the Argo closes with the shore, the crew are startled to see no evidence of civilization; indeed, the landscape is covered by jungles comprised of strangely colored plant life.
Dryden gradually realizes that the Argo has emerged from suspended animation into a future U.K., centuries after some cataclysm has destroyed civilization. This realization is not well received by the Captain, who insists on attributing the Argo's predicament to other, less likely, causes. When Dryden finds himself separated from the sub, he makes his way through what formerly was Cornwall county. There he encounters a race of bronze-age people who represent the tribe of the Lan-Kern. Dryden is given a friendly reception, and finds that life in Lan-Kern is in many ways superior to his life in what he thought of as the 'modern' world.
As salutary as living in Lan-Kern may be, there is trouble present, for the tribe of Lan-Howlek has been waging a campaign of raids on Lan-Kern settlements, visiting death and slavery on those unable to mount sufficient defense.
Dryden is no warrior, but he realizes that there is no alternative but to ally himself with the people of Lan-Kern, and embark on a decisive campaign to defeat Nelferch, the vicious witch- queen of Lan-Howlek. And in so doing, he may discover the key to the mystery of what happened, centuries ago, to end the world he knew.....
'The Fires of Lan-Kern' is a very readable blend of science fiction and fantasy, with a smooth-flowing prose style that is to be expected from an author who writes 'for a living.' The future, post-apocalyptic Celtic society of Lan-Kern is portrayed with some admiration by Tremayne. Len-kern, with its bucolic people and their culture, serves as a rebuke to the technologically advanced, but self-destructive, world that birthed the Argo.
The novel weakens in its final chapters, where the index of fortuitous escapes and timely interventions tends to drain suspense from the narrative. The major plot thread, as one might expect, is inconclusive, serving to prepare the storyline for the second volume in the trilogy.
I finished 'The Fires of Lan-Kern' comfortable with assigning the novel a Four-Star Rating, and an interest in seeking out the other novels in the series.
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