Retro Review of Killer (1985) by David Drake and Karl Edward Wagner up on Fantastic Worlds
Introduction: When David Drake (author of the "Hammer's Slammers" interstellar mercenary series) and Karl Edward Wagner (author of the "Kane" fantasy series about the eponymous cursed warrior-wizard) get together, you know they're not going to write a story about happy little Smurfs. Killer is no disappointment in this regard.
Synopsis: In the late 1st century AD Roman Empire, during the reign of Domitian (AD 81-96), Vonones, an Armenian merchant and Lycon, a tough beast-catcher with both military and gladitorial experience, are friends and business associates in the trade of capturing wild animals to feed the Roman arenas. Vonones has purchased a most unusual animal -- a "sauropithecus" or "lizard-ape," which was found near an African mountain after a great bolt of lightning from a clear sky struck the rocks.
The sauropithecus is a very strange beast indeed -- slightly smaller than a man, shaped vaguely like a a tailed ape, with blue scaly skin and long razor-sharp claws. It is hideously strong, fast, tough and smart; far more deadly than any creature the pair have ever encountered. When the sauropithecus escapes in the countryside outside of Rome and rampages through a private Imperial estate, Vonones and Lycon are commanded by Emperor Domitian himself to recapture it, or be put to death in the Arena themselves.
But its recapture seems no easy matter, because the sauropithecus is like no other beast of Earth. For the very good reason that it is no beast of Earth -- it is a semi-sapient creature from another world.
=============================================================
What happens next? Find out on Fantastic Worlds ...
Synopsis: In the late 1st century AD Roman Empire, during the reign of Domitian (AD 81-96), Vonones, an Armenian merchant and Lycon, a tough beast-catcher with both military and gladitorial experience, are friends and business associates in the trade of capturing wild animals to feed the Roman arenas. Vonones has purchased a most unusual animal -- a "sauropithecus" or "lizard-ape," which was found near an African mountain after a great bolt of lightning from a clear sky struck the rocks.
The sauropithecus is a very strange beast indeed -- slightly smaller than a man, shaped vaguely like a a tailed ape, with blue scaly skin and long razor-sharp claws. It is hideously strong, fast, tough and smart; far more deadly than any creature the pair have ever encountered. When the sauropithecus escapes in the countryside outside of Rome and rampages through a private Imperial estate, Vonones and Lycon are commanded by Emperor Domitian himself to recapture it, or be put to death in the Arena themselves.
But its recapture seems no easy matter, because the sauropithecus is like no other beast of Earth. For the very good reason that it is no beast of Earth -- it is a semi-sapient creature from another world.
=============================================================
What happens next? Find out on Fantastic Worlds ...