The Courtesan Prince: Part One of the Okal Rel Saga [Paperback]

"Courtesan Prince" introduces the intriguing Okal Rel universe, which unfolds in a series of novels set thousands of years in the future. The descendants of old Earth are able to "reality-skim" through vast distances of space, although the brave pilots who do so suffer the debilitating effects of "space gap". Human beings live only on Gelion and Rire, two radically-different worlds separated by millions of light years, which no longer maintain contact.

"Courtesan Prince" explores the idea that a compassionate poet, cast by fate in the role of providing sexual satisfaction to wealthy women for money, is a man you would be proud to introduce as your mate. Amel, Prince of Gelion, grows to manhood unaware that he is a pure-blood Gelack, in a world obsessed by genetically-determined status.

Gelion's thriving society is based on "Okal Rel", a religion and philosophy of life which promotes survival of the fittest. Social stability is maintained by disputes between Sevolites - the ruling class - being settled by the sword, sometimes in duels to the death. Sevolites are genetically-modified self-evolved human beings. They are an elegant, pale-skinned people. Both sexes remain youthful and fertile well into their 80s.

Reetions, the people of Rire, are a remarkably rational, peace-loving and compassionate people. They live in a transparent society, regulated by benevolent if somewhat intrusive "monitors". In Rire's "compu-communist" government, issues of major public concern are decided by an informed citizenry, through frequent referenda. Reetions have normal life spans and their skin tones are golden-brown. The cover of "Courtesan Prince" is graced by the picture of Ann, a rebel Reetion pilot whose course is destined to cross Amel's jet-stream, with sensational sparks that threaten to ignite the destruction of both civilizations.

An earlier novel by Lynda Williams, entitled "Throne Price" and co-authored with Alison Sinclair, is the first published novel in this series. However, it is the fourth book from a chronological point of view. "Courtesan Prince" truly begins the saga.

Memorable characters from "Throne Price":
Di-Mon - Gelack mandarin, warrior and scholar, tormented by a love reviled by his society.
Ranar - brilliant and supremely rational Reetion anthropologist, who risks his health and career to explore Gelion up close. Ranar's unsettling passion for Di-Mon severely tests his loyalty to Rire.
Horth - "old sword" of Fountain Court on Gelion and the epitome of "Okal Rel" - he is both revered and feared. Horth has killed many Sevolites on the duel floor, but never with any pleasure. A man who does not tolerate fools, he is plagued by the folly of his own offspring. Always in mental preparation for the next duel and living with the knowledge that he may be the next to die, Horth's speech is laconic and always to the point. "Righteous Anger", the third "Okal Rel" universe novel, scheduled for publication in the fall of 2006, tells the story of Horth.
Vretla-Vrel - a sexually-aggressive Amazon warrior and one of Amel's more enthusiastic clients. She engages his services even when eight months pregnant with another man's child. (Among Sevolites, children may be conceived for political reasons, as "child gift contracts", to increase the percentage of Sevolite blood in the descendants of one parent.)
Ev'rel - Amel's mother and lover and the supreme ruler of Gelion. Ev'rel and Amel are pictured on the cover of "Throne Price". Ev'rel is the product of an unloving and tortured life. Amel's friends urge him to believe, before it is too late, that his mother is loyal only to her own ambitions...