Wim Gijsen - The Rissan Series

The Rissan Series

• 1980: The First Ones of Rissan, OT: De Eersten Van Rissan
• 1981: The Kings of the Past, OT: De Koningen Van Weleer

In The First Ones of Rissan, the state of Lhissey is being ruled by a caste of priests who divide the inhabitants into five castes that have to obey strict religious rules. The people of Lhissey do not know that the clairvoyant priests are actually using modern technology to spy on them and to control their behaviour. One day Hirdan, the son of a craftsman, meets a stranger and shows him the ancient city, which immediately raises the priests' suspicions. They promise Hirdan to accept him as one the candidates for the highest caste if he can find out what the stranger wants in Lhissey. Hirdan, who realizes that the caste system is a detriment to the people of Lhissey refuses and flees from the city - accompanied by the stranger, who turns out to be an archeologist who is interested in the old pyramid in the centre of the city which must have been there long before the first men came to Rissan. The First Ones of Rissan must have built the pyramid and it is his job to find out where they have gone. Things get even more complicated when Hirdan finds out that the mysterious stranger came to Rissan travelling through the stars like the Gods in the ancient myths of his people.