Robert W. Krepps 1 hr 43 min read

At desert daybreak a dying man croaks 'In the name of God, help!', only to be appraised as vulture-victuals by a band that includes a fig-gorged crusader and a woman with a voice full of honey.

Robert W. Krepps's 1953 story is a colorful, comic fantasy-adventure. Vivid, witty golden-age pulp. Read it for a rollicking tale where a mismatched company crosses a strange desert on an enchanted crusade, told with a sharp eye for banter and a rich sense of the fantastic.

In its time

Published in 1953, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

1 hr 43 min read (a novella, a full arc in one sitting or two).

Illustrated by

W. E. Terry