Wolf 359

The spaceship destroyed, his family murdered, Duncan finds himself stranded on a planet circling Wolf 359. The only other survivor is a beautiful gladiator named Alexis. Together, they encounter a civilization whose past reaches back only 1500 years. Their fortune stumbles from the start when Alexis is immediately forced to fight the nation’s berserker, who underestimates his opponent and pays dearly for it.

Reveling in the adoration of a nation charmed by their new High Priest, Duncan begins setting the Temple house in order. Unfortunately, his contentment is short lived. Failing to account for a paranoid king jealous of this stranger’s sway over the people, and an entrenched corruption within the Temple - not to mention a scheming senior prelate furious at being denied the high priesthood - Duncan is quickly caught up in the game of power, and just as quickly condemned to die in the wastelands, in the hope that the desert sands will eradicate any memory of the former wizard.

Returning from the dead, Duncan reestablishes control as the nation’s spiritual leader. Sent south to persuade Alexis and the Kingdom’s tarrac to return, he manages instead to drive her farther away, creating a rift between them and in the process, making an enemy - to both himself and Gambria. With the King believed lost at sea, Queen Guina declares him dead and finally marries Father Konrud, the man she truly loves, elevating him to Lord Chamberlain. Yet her throne is far from secure, for events in the south threaten to split the kingdom.