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The Transall Saga
Paulsen - The Transall Saga Coverart.jpg
Book cover of: The Transall Saga
Author Gary Paulsen
Cover artist Jon Paul Ferrara, Chris Nurse
Country United States
Language English
Subject Survival, post-apocalypse
Genre 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 256
ISBN 978-0-606-17349-0

The Transall Saga (also known as Blue Light) is an exciting adventure and science fiction novel written by Gary Paulsen in 1998. Like many of Paulsen's books, it's a thrilling story about survival in the wild.

Story Summary

Mark's Strange Journey

The story begins with Mark Harrison, a 13-year-old who loves to survive in nature. He is hiking in the mountains when something unexpected happens. A snake bites him, and he falls into a mysterious blue light.

When Mark wakes up, he is in a very strange place. He thinks it might be an alien world. But it also has many things that remind him of Earth. Mark uses all his survival skills to find food and shelter. He explores the forests around him.

New Worlds and New Friends

While exploring, Mark finds a camp of small, human-like creatures. They have webbed feet and dark, olive-colored skin. Mark soon realizes these creatures are very warlike. He decides it's best to stay away from them. He also hears a scary sound from a creature he calls the "howling thing."

Later, Mark meets another group of people. He calls them the "Arrow People." They are friendly and let him live with them. Mark becomes good friends with a girl named Leeta.

Captured and a New Love

After some time, Mark is captured by a group called the Tsook. These people use metal weapons. For three months, Mark is forced to work for them. During this time, he learns their language. He also becomes very close to Megan, who is the chief's daughter. He cares for her deeply.

Mark tries to escape from the Tsook village. But as he plans his escape, he learns something important. The village is about to be attacked! Mark decides to go back and warn the Tsook tribe. Because he saved them, Mark is given his freedom. He is also welcomed as an official member of their tribe.

A Future Earth and a Cure

Mark then makes an amazing discovery. This strange world is not an alien planet at all. It is actually Earth far in the future! It's a ruined version of our planet, damaged by pollution and wars.

Megan's brother gives Mark a piece of an old Coca-Cola bottle. This helps Mark understand more. The Merkon, who is the leader of this future world, tells Mark what happened. He also reveals that he, too, came to this future world through the same blue light. This means the Merkon is also human.

The Merkon explains that in the near future, a very dangerous sickness spread quickly. It caused most of the human race to die. The people who were left then fought big wars using powerful weapons. This forced civilization to start all over again.

Mark wins a fight against the Merkon. He then asks Megan to marry him. However, the Merkon's son wants revenge on Mark. To protect Megan and the tribe, Mark leaves the village. He leads the Merkon's army away, deep into the jungle.

In the jungle, Mark cleverly defeats the army. But he forgets about a small group of scouts. They attack him. Mark hides behind a large rock for safety. Suddenly, lightning strikes the rock. A powerful energy surge sends Mark back to his own time!

Twenty years later, Mark is a doctor. He is working to find a cure for the terrible sickness that caused so much trouble in the future.

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