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The Last Legionary series is a series of five books written by Canadian author Douglas Hill. The books are Young Legionary, Galactic Warlord, Deathwing Over Veynaa, Day of the Starwind and Planet of the Warlord. The series has been described as a simplified version of E. E. Smith's Lensman series.The books tell of the adventures of Keill Randor, the last survivor of his planet, whose inhabitants are annihilated at the beginning of the book Galactic Warlord. Randor's people were hardened over generations by their inhospitable planet, which (combined with rigorous combat and martial arts training) resulted in them exhibiting speed, reflexes, strength, and fighting abilities all at the very upper limit of human ability and Randor himself is one of the most skilled amongst them, twice winner of the planetwide martial arts contest, a feat bettered by only one other legionary in the history of the contest. The people of Moros acted effectively as mercenaries; however, they also have a strict moral code, and only offer their services to clients fighting in self-defence. After they are all killed by a mysterious villain known only as the Warlord, Randor vows to avenge them. Plot Young Legionary (1982) A prequel written after the other books in the series, Young Legionary follows Keill Randor through his childhood, from the age of 12 to 18 (within four distinct stories), as he struggles to meet the requirements of becoming a Legionary. The novel also introduces his close friend, Oni Wolda. Each story reinforces the concept that Keill is a highly competent Legionary, and his only shortcoming is his lack of experience. Galactic Warlord (1979) As the book begins, Keill is the leader of an off-world Strike Team. Far from home his task force receives a distress signal from their home planet Moros, stating that they are under attack from unknown forces. Keill's ship has suffered damage, and he is unable to immediately return. When he arrives, the entire planet is covered with an unknown type of radiation. He is met by Oni's ship, and she tells him to flee the planet; a deadly radiation is killing everyone who comes close to the surface. It is an automated message: Oni herself is dead, having been exposed on Moros. In grief Keill leaves the planet's orbit. He soon realizes that even at the extreme range he has been exposed to the radiation and is slowly dying. Keill begins to search for any fellow Legionnaires who may have survived, relying on his extreme physical conditioning and iron will to fight the course of the disease. His search is fruitless, and it appears he truly is the last Legionary. As Keill begins to lose hope, he is contacted by an unknown agency seeking a meeting, but he ignores the contact to pursue some rumours of apparent survivors on a nearby moon. Shortly afterwards, he is gassed inside his ship and rendered unconscious. Keill wakes as an apparent prisoner, immobilized within what appears to be a medical facility. His extreme physical conditioning allows him to recover quickly, and he discovers that he has been completely healed of his radiation sickness by a strange group known only as The Overseers. This group has a network of satellites that give an overview of all events throughout the galaxy. The Overseers' leader, Talis, explain to Keill that his home planet was destroyed by a malevolent entity known as 'The Warlord' whose sole aim is to spread war through the galaxy, enabling him to rule over the remains that survive. The Warlord moved against the Legions since he perceived them as the greatest threat to his plan. The Overseers also explain that since the radiation sickness had settled into his bones, they were forced to replace his entire skeleton using a new alloy—effectively rendering Keill's bones unbreakable. They also reveal how they captured Keill so easily—a telepathic avian life form from another galaxy known only as Glr. With Glr as his companion, a sceptical Keill moves to meet with the Legionaries he found evidence of. He quickly finds that they are in fact agents of a shadowy force known as the Deathwing, and that everything the Overseers told him was true. With the help of Glr, and his prodigious abilities, Keill manages to defeat them; in doing so he takes on their leader from the Altered Worlds, (Planets where radiation and the environment have created mutations amongst the inhabitants,) Thr'un, a giant of a man who can grow plates of leathery armour from within his body. After eventually killing him, a wounded Keill then agrees to collaborate with his new friends to find and destroy the Warlord. Deathwing Over Veynaa (1980) Keill is sent to a planetoid by the Overseers, to determine if their recent turn to aggression has its roots in the Warlord's influence. Known as "The Cluster" it is the only source of a highly effective broad-spectrum antibiotic "Ossidin", and the colonists are attempting to secede from the home planet Veynaa. The Overseers are also concerned that the medicine may come under the control of the Warlord. Glr stays with his ship while Keill lands on the planet posing as an out of work mercenary. He befriends council members Shalet and Quern, freighter pilot Joss, and makes an enemy of an enforcer Groll. It transpires that Quern is from the Altered Worlds, and highly telepathic, though Glr is able to shield Keill's mind from Quern's probing. Keill suspects that Quern and Groll are Deathwing agents, which is confirmed when Quern announces possession of a doomsday device that will destroy Veynaa. A test-firing of the weapon on a nearby moon shows it to be the same weapon that wiped out the Legionaries on Moros. As tensions escalate Shalet becomes disillusioned with the rebellion, and suspicious of Quern. When Quern imprisons Keill and orders the radiation bomb launched she turns against him and releases Keill, who fights his way to the freighter intending to either prevent liftoff or destroy it. On the way he encounters Groll and Quern, killing Groll, but surrendering his weapon when Quern threatens Glr. Quern takes Keill prisoner, and gloats that he has already killed Glr, but Keill realises he is mistaken after finding that his mind is still shielded from Querns telepathic probing. Glr's alien mind deceived Quern, and after telepathically shocking him, he is killed by Keill. Keill makes it to the freighter and explains to Joss the nature of the weapon, but is trapped by a mining robot controlled by her - she is the second Deathwing agent, and intends to destroy both planet and Keill, claiming all the credit to "The One" - the leader of the Deathwing. Using his unbreakable bones to advantage Keill damages the robot (which then attacks Joss in error,) and escapes from it and the ship, programming it for overlight before he leaves. Glr reminds him that when it exits overlight the radiation bomb will still be a hazard to any nearby planets, but Keill replies that he did not program the ship to leave overlig.... Discover the Randal Doering popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Randal Doering books.

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  • Power synopsis, comments

    Power

    Randal Doering

    Power is the story of Brian Hopper, a Santa Fe, New Mexico liberal with a chip on his shoulder as concerns conservatives. He goes on vacation in Egypt and runs into a supernatural ...

  • Spirits of the Woods and Other Stories synopsis, comments

    Spirits of the Woods and Other Stories

    Randal Doering

    "Spirits of the Woods and Other Stories" contains several stories about dryads, and a horror story about a terrorist who keeps coming back from the dead to kill again and again, an...

  • The Necromancer of Peach Orchard Valley synopsis, comments

    The Necromancer of Peach Orchard Valley

    Randal Doering

    Ollivar Teedy is a white necromancer in a world where demons, angels and elemental lords vie for human worshippers. He has just become the baron over a tract of land called Peach O...