Translated from the French by C. J. Richards.
Planets cannot appear and disappear - especially not in a galaxy that had been mapped, colonized and controlled by the united Great Brains of the many intelligent races. Thus when a new planet popped up out of nowhere, it was an unprecedented phenomenon. When the planet turned out to be identical with one of the fantasy epics of the ancient Earth, it was cause for alarm... Where the problem of sorcery versus technology is concerned, there was only one man in the space service experienced enough to cope with it. That was Captain Setni - and it fell to him to explore this enchanted planet of dragons and demons and damsels in distress - and return alive with the scientific truth.