| The Transall Saga | |
|---|---|
Book cover |
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| Author(s) | Gary Paulsen |
| Cover artist | Jon Paul Ferrara, Chris Nurse |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject(s) | Survival, post-apocalypse |
| Genre(s) | Novel, science fiction |
| Publisher | Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for young readers a division of Random House Inc. |
| Publication date | 1998 |
| Media type | Hardcover and Paperback |
| Pages | 248 |
| ISBN | 0606173498, 9780606173490 |
The Transall Saga (also known as Blue Light in the United Kingdom) is a 1998 novel by Gary Paulsen. It is a survival story like most of his other books, but also involves the science fiction genre with its post-apocalyptic setting.
The story begins with Mark Harrison, a 13-year old survival enthusiast, hiking through the mountainous Magruder Missile Range when he is struck by a mysterious blue beam of light. He wakes up in a strange world that he believes is an alien world with many similarities to Earth. He uses his survival skills to live off the land and, while exploring the forest, he discovers a camp of some short human-like creatures with webbed feet and dark, olive-colored skin, though he finds them too warlike to interact with. He also hears a creature called the howling thing. Soon after, he is enslaved by the Tsook, a metal-weapon wielding race. Over the next three months, he learns their language and develops feelings for Megaan, the chief's daughter. When, after escaping, he returns to warn the tribe about an impending attack, he is granted freedom and official entry into their tribe.
Mark then discovers that, despite his misconceptions earlier, this world is actually a post-apocalyptic Earth. Megaan's brother gives Mark a shard of a Coca-Cola bottle and the Merkon (the leader of the Transall) reveals the events between Mark's time and this future. Apparently, a strange highly contagious form of the Ebola virus wiped out most of the human race. Those remaining used nuclear weapons on each other, forcing civilization to start over. After severely wounding the Merkon in a swordfight, Mark asks Megaan to marry him. However, the Merkon's son has sworn revenge and Mark flees the village to protect them. He leads the Merkon's army to the jungle, away from his new home. Once in the jungle, Mark systematically kills the army but forgets about a scouting party that attacks him. Mark hides behind a boulder for protection and suddenly the boulder is struck by lightning and sends off a charge which brings Mark into his normal time.
Twenty years later, Mark has become a scientist working tirelessly to find a cure for the Ebola virus.