* * * * * CAPTIVES OF THE FLAME by SAMUEL R. DELANY [Transcriber's Note: Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] ACE BOOKS, INC. 1120 Avenue of the Americas New York 36, N.Y. CAPTIVES OF THE FLAME Copyright ©, 1963, by Ace Books, Inc. All Rights Reserved Printed in U.S.A. * * * * * _This is for Marilyn, of course._ * * * * * SAMUEL R. DELANY considers _Captives of the Flame_ to be the first of a trilogy dealing with the same epoch and characters. It is, however, his second published novel, his first being _The Jewels of Aptor_, Ace Book F-173, which has received considerable acclaim. A young man, resident in New York City, Delany is a prolific and talented writer, whose work in poetry and prose have won him many awards. Asked for comment on his literary ambitions, he preferred to quote one of the characters from one of his works: "I wanted to wield together a prose luminous as twenty sets of headlights flung down a night road; I wanted my words tinged with the green of mercury vapor street lamps seen through a shaling of oak leaves in the park past midnight. I needed phrases that would break open like thunder, or leave a brush as gentle as willow boughs passed in a dark room.... The finest writing is always the finest delineation of surfaces." * * * * * PROLOGUE The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web of silver fire. Lightning tore his eyes apart, struck deep inside his body; and he felt his bones split. Before it became pain, it was gone. And he was falling through blue smoke. The smoke was inside him, cool as blown ice. It was getting darker. He had heard something before, a ... voice: the _Lord of the Flames_.... Then: Jon Koshar shook his head, staggered forward, and went down on his knees in white sand. He blinked. He looked up. There were two shadows in front of him. To his left a tooth of rock jutted from the sand, also casting a double shadow. He felt unreal, light. But the backs of his hands had real dirt on them, his clothes were damp with real sweat, and they clung to his back and sides. He felt immense. But that was because the horizon was so close. Above it, the sky was turquoise--which was odd because the sand was too white for it to be evening. Then he saw the City.