Percy James Brebner was a British author of adventure and mystery fiction. He was the eldest son of James Brebner, manager of the National Provincial Bank of England in Piccadilly. Prior to starting his literary career, he attended King's College School and worked in the Stock Exchange's Share & Loan Department. His early writings were published under the name Christian Lys. One of Brebner's most popular characters was Professor Christopher Quarles, a Sherlock Holmes-style master detective. Quarles is an elderly philosophy professor with a keen deductive intellect. He is aided by Murray Wigan, a young police officer who narrates the exploits in the style of Dr. Watson from Sherlock Holmes stories. Brebner also wrote some historical books. His Lost World title, The Fortress of Yadasara, also known as The Knight of the Silver Star, has been described as "a highly romantic lost-race adventure in the mode of the contemporary historical novel." It was serialized in Italian and Spanish pulp adventure publications in the early twentieth century and included in 333: A Bibliography of the Science-Fantasy Novel, a compilation of the best Science-Fantasy efforts up to and including 1950. During World War I, he also wrote for several British and American newspapers and magazines, including the Weekly Tale Teller and The Sunday Star, as well as The Ilfracombe Chronicle War Supplement.
