"Mars was old, tired, and steeped in every evil of a dying world. There, to the sinful cities of the Low Canals, came Eric John Stark, adventurer, roisterer, and outlaw from Earth.

But there were evils more ancient and fearsome than could be found in the decadence and vices of the tribes and cities. Far to the north, amid the wastes of bitter snows lay the Gates of Death. And among the wasted ruins of the deserts, the tribes were losing something beyond their utmost dreams of loot and ravage.

To such peril, inevitably, Stark was drawn. Who else could bear the Talisman? What other war leader could the false messiah of the tribes summon?

But Eric John Stark was more than he seemed--more, in fact, than he knew."

(Contains the stories The Secret of Sinharat and People of the Talisman)