The Kingslayer

Los Angeles, CA: Fantasy Publishing Co., 1949 First edition, first printing. One of 1,200 copies. Publisher's black cloth, with spine lettered in green; in its original yellow, red, black, and white pictorial dust jacket designed by William Benulis, with illustration of a man in space to front panel, lettered in black. Fine book; near fine unclipped dust jacket, with light toning to spine, gentle wear to head of spine, a tiny chip and a few small closed tears to front panel edges ("The" from "The Kingslayer" is affected), and a couple of faint creases to jacket flaps. Overall, a sharp copy that presents very well. Set in the year 3975 A.D., The Kingslayer is a novella about Christopher Randall Kellan, a highly intelligent freethinker in an oppressive society, who joins a rebel group and is tasked with killing the almighty and tyrannical Arbiter. In addition to The Kingslayer, the book includes two short stories by Hubbard: "The Beast" and "The Invaders." L. Ron Hubbard (1911-1986) was a prolific writer of science fiction, horror, and western stories during the golden age of pulp magazines in the 1930s. He wrote Dianetics in 1950, in which he laid out his pseudo-scientific theories on the human mind, and founded The Church of Scientology in 1954.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Dust Jacket Included.