The Steel of Raithskar

When the fireball hit the cruise ship, Ricardo Carillo was already on his way out - a terminally ill language professor. He regained consciousness as a well man in the desert... only it wasn't a desert on Earth, and he was man only because he was still male. More surprises awaited him in the exotic city of Raithskar - he was called <i>Markasset</i>, a master swordsman, son of a powerful leader, and a man on the run, accused of murder and the theft of a precious, sacred jewel. With the aid of Keeshah, a great war-cat with which he shared a telepathic link, he set out to clear his newfound name... (from the back cover of the Bantam Books first edition)