To you, the millions of science fiction fans and general public who welcomed me back to the world of fiction so warmly, and to the critics and media who so pleasantly applauded the novel “Battlefield Earth” It’s great working for you!

To the degree that this book deals with a nonexistent planet (“Earth”), it is hereby deemed as “acceptable for entertainment only.” At no time shall it or any portion of it in any form be permitted in any Voltarian study.

The reader is thereby alerted and warned that “Earth” is completely fictional, fabricated and fallacious, and that contact with such a planet (if it ever existed) is dangerous to your health.

Lord Invay Royal Historian Chairman, Board of Censors Royal Palace Voltar Confederacy

By Order of

His Imperial Majesty

Wully the Wise

With all due respect to the Royal Censor, one man’s fact is another man’s fiction. Fortunately, being the Robotbrain in the Translatophone I don’t qualify for that quandary.

Also, to the degree I’ve never visited this place called Earth (which would be hard since it isn’t there), I can’t personally vouch for anything that I was given to translate. All I can do is take what is said and make the best of it.

As Lord Invay points out, Earth does not exist on any astrochart and I have confirmed that. Since Soltan Gris (the narrator of this story) is a confessed criminal and well worthy of doubt (besides, anyone whose heroes are Sigmund Freud and Bugs Bunny also has other problems), I did not rely on his account that Earth is about 22 light-years from Voltar. I thoroughly searched all astro-charts in my data banks, concentrating on everything within 2000 light-years out, but nothing was found to match his description. (Come to think of it, I have no idea why I should have an Earth database if there is no such place. I’ll have to work on that.)