Kalin, the fourth "Earl Dumarest" novel by E. C. Tubb, in its first paperpack (Ace Double) edition.

The Dumarest series lasted about 30 books, and I would recommend most of the early ones (particularly the Ace-Doubles) as good reading. If you're not familiar with the premise, Earl Dumarest was born on Earth, but wandered so far from it in a crowded galaxy that people in the region he is in think that Earth is but a legend, like "El Dorado." The Traveller gaming system, with High and Low Passage, quicktime and basic, is loosely based on the very populated galaxy Dumarest travels in. He picks up friends and enemies, and occaisionally a clue pointing towards Earth.

Kalin (cover by John Schoenherr, 131 pages): In this 4th novel to feature Dumarest, he rescues a woman hunted as a Witch (Kalin) - she is clairvoyant, and they become lovers and traveling companions. Escaping the destruction of their ship, they are marooned on a dead-end Company planet, with little prospects of raising the cost of Passage. Earl joins a party hunting dinosaur-like Zardles, hoping for the rare chance of finding a zerd within. This is a key book in the series, wherein Dumarest acquires the Afinity Twin - an artificial symbiote created by the Cyclan but lost to them. With its power to make the old young and live again, the Cyclan desire it for their plans to dominate the Galaxy.

Bound with The Bane of Kanthos by Alex Dain (cover by Gray Morrow, 124 pages.) This is typical Ace Double fare- a good quick read. While exploring a temple in the Amazon jungle, adventurer Jake Lansing passes through a Gate into a world of sword-and-sorcery.