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Author: Charles Gramlich

Ghosts and Death Songs on Mars: Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom, edited by John Joseph Adams

Ghosts and Death Songs on Mars: Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom, edited by John Joseph Adams

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Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom (Simon & Schuster, February 2012). Cover by Mark Zug

Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom has “Inspired by the work of Edgar Rice Burroughs” on the cover. I hesitated about picking this one up. A note on the back said: “Not licensed or authorized, or in any way affiliated with, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.” This suggested some kind of controversy surrounding the publication and it seems awfully easy these days to step on toes and get hated for it. I don’t enjoy that kind of thing. But, it had stories by Joe Lansdale, Jonathan Maberry, and S. M. Stirling in it, and I knew all three of those could write. So I pulled the trigger.

Overall, I found the anthology enjoyable, and even though it seemed generally marketed for “teen” readers, the stories were far from simple and unsophisticated. I thought there were three particularly strong stories, as well as several others I liked a lot.

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The Sword and Planet of Andrew J. Offutt, Part II

The Sword and Planet of Andrew J. Offutt, Part II

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Messenger of Zhuvastou (Berkley Medallion, March 1973). Cover by Jeff Jones

Part I of The Sword and Planet of Andrew J. Offutt is here.

I’ve read two unabashed Sword & Planet novels from Andrew J. Offutt, Messenger of Zhuvastou, and Chieftain of Andor. I thought I had a sequel to the Andor book in my TBR piles but on closer examination it’s the same book with a different title: Clansman of Andor.

Messenger of Zhuvastou features an Earthman named Moris Keniston, the son of a Senator, although this is on a future Earth where humans have begun to spread to the stars. He heads for a primitive, barbaric world called Hellene in search of Elaine Dixon, a woman he is in love with who has been taken there — either voluntarily or involuntarily. Since the planet is supposed to be left undisturbed by galactic civilization, Moris undergoes plastic surgery to make him fit in with the humanoid natives. We already know he has been an Olympic level athlete and is a trained fencer.

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The Sword and Planet of Andrew J. Offutt

The Sword and Planet of Andrew J. Offutt

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My Lord Barbarian (Del Rey, April 1977). Cover by Boris Vallejo

Andrew J. Offutt (1934 -2013) wrote a lot of books and I’m going to talk about him more as I go along. He wrote several Conan pastiches and a whole series of pastiches about Robert E. Howard’s character Cormac Mac Art. He also wrote porn or near porn in several genres under pseudonyms, which I’ll get around to. He has several S&P novels to his credit. Here’s one.

My Lord Barbarian was billed as a Sword and Planet novel, but it didn’t have much of the feel of such a novel to me. It was indeed set on another planet (several in fact), and the setting is S & P — an artificial solar system created by an advanced human civilization which has fallen into decay. Most worship “Siense” (Science) as a God now.

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An Uplift Classic: Aldair by Neal Barrett, Jr.

An Uplift Classic: Aldair by Neal Barrett, Jr.

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Aldair in Albion and Aldair, Master of Ships (DAW Books, May 1976 and September 1977). Covers by Josh Kirby

My feature today is what I call an “honorary Sword & Planet series.” The Aldair series by Neal Barrett, Jr. (1929 – 2014) not only doesn’t have a human hero, but it’s set on Earth.

But it has the feel and charm and adventure that defines S&P fiction. It also has some great covers and illustrations by artists who worked on the Dray Prescot series. DAW did it right in those days. I just love their paperbacks of that time.

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The Fantastic Art of Boris Vallejo, Part II

The Fantastic Art of Boris Vallejo, Part II

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I Am a Barbarian by Edgar Rice Burrough (Ace Books, September 1975). Cover by Boris Vallejo

The Fantastic Art of Boris Vallejo , which I discussed in my post last week, contains three more paintings that became paperback covers that I own and well remember, although none of these are Sword & Planet covers.

First up we have I Am a Barbarian by Edgar Rice Burroughs, from Ace Books. If you discount his westerns, this is one of only two historical novels ERB wrote, the other being The Outlaw of Torn. Torn is my favorite of ERB’s standalone novels but Barbarian also ranks up there.

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Good Cover Art Fires the Imagination: The Fantastic Art of Boris Vallejo

Good Cover Art Fires the Imagination: The Fantastic Art of Boris Vallejo

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The Fantastic Art of Boris Vallejo (Del Rey, May 1978). Cover by Boris Vallejo

I make no secret of the fact that when it comes to books, I’m first and foremost a fan of the prose and the stories. The cover art is important but secondary to me. But there’s no denying the power of good cover art to catch one’s eye, to fire the imagination, and to cement one’s memories of the stories. Genres such as Sword & Planet and Sword & Sorcery have been graced with some truly great covers over the years, from Krenkel, Frazetta, and Vallejo, to Jones, Kelly, Kirby, Bell, Royo, and many others.

When I walk past my shelves, the covers of favorite books leap out at me and evoke all kinds of pleasant memories and associations with what’s inside. Over the years, I’ve bought various art books and calendars from my favorite book cover artists. Last night I started paging through my copy of The Fantastic Art of Boris Vallejo, and I thought I’d share a few images and the connections they have for me to memorable reading.

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Into the World of Edgar Rice Burroughs, with Richard A. Lupoff and John Flint Roy

Into the World of Edgar Rice Burroughs, with Richard A. Lupoff and John Flint Roy

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Edgar Rice Burroughs: Master of Adventure by Richard A. Lupoff (Ace, 1968) and A Guide to Barsoom
by John Flint Roy (Ballantine Books, January 1976). Covers by Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo

Among my prized possessions are these two books. Edgar Rice Burroughs: Master of Adventure, by Richard A. Lupoff, 1965 from Ace books with an early cover by Frazetta, and A Guide to Barsoom by John Flint Roy, 1976, from Ballantine Books, with a cover by Boris Vallejo and some interior illustrations by Neal MacDonald.

Lupoff’s book has quite a bit of biographical material on ERB, but is mostly an examination of his work. It isn’t just a love affair with ERB but includes plenty of critical analysis. I find myself disagreeing with Lupoff on one particular conclusion he draws, but that’s material for another post. I much appreciated this comprehensive examination and refer to it often.

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The Sword & Planet of S. M. Stirling and Al Sarrantonio

The Sword & Planet of S. M. Stirling and Al Sarrantonio

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In the Courts of the Crimson Kings and The Sky People by S.M. Stirling (Tor Books, March 2008 and November 4, 2006). Covers by Gregory Manchess

In 2006 and 2008, Tor books sought a revival of Sword & Planet fiction with two books by S. M. Stirling. It didn’t quite work out but the readers got some interesting results, including a book that is now in my top ten of S&P novels.

First up was The Sky People, set on Venus in an alternate solar system where the planets are inhabitable and inhabited, much like the solar system of ERB, Brackett, and Moore. In the acknowledgements, Stirling even thanks ERB, Brackett and Otis Adelbert Kline, and mentions the Northwest Smith stories of Moore, as well as ERB’s “Wrong Way” Carson of Venus.

Stirling posits a space race that pits the US and their allies against the Soviets for control of this habitable solar system. When they land on Venus they find a jungle world, much like the Venus of ERB. It turns out to be inhabited by both Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, a mystery that is eventually solved. This one is definitely not Sword & Planet. It combines standard SF with hints of Pellucidar’s time lost world of dinosaurs and sabretooths. Fun but not stellar in my opinion.

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The Sword & Planet of Jack Vance: Planet of Adventure

The Sword & Planet of Jack Vance: Planet of Adventure

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The Planet of Adventure series by Jack Vance (DAW and Ace paperback editions)

Today, we come back from our excursion into the realm of Space Opera to our home territory of Sword & Planet fiction. One of the most unique S&P series I’ve ever encountered is the four-book series by Jack Vance (1916 – 2013) generally called the Planet of Adventure series. The stories take place on a planet called Tschai, and feature an earthman named Adam Reith.

In a future in which Earth has starships, a distress signal comes from Tschai, which orbits the “dim and aging” star Carina. An Earth ship is sent to investigate and is destroyed in orbit by a missile from the planet. Adam Reith and a companion escape on a scout ship and manage to make a hard landing. The companion is soon killed by the natives and Reith is left alone. The books chronicle his efforts to survive and return to Earth.

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A Halloween Reading List

A Halloween Reading List

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Ace Double #42900: Tower of the Medusa by Lin Carter, and Kar Kaballa by
George H. Smith (Ace Books, November 1969). Cover art by Jeff Jones and John Schoenherr

I’m working on a Halloween entry for the Swords & Planet League, and on a couple of posts about Jack Vance. In the meantime, I thought I’d run a few covers of books I’ve got in the house here but haven’t actually read yet.

First up are three doubles featuring Lin Carter, two from Belmont and one from Ace. The Tower of Medusa is from Ace, with the backing book being Kar Kaballa by George H. Smith. Some reviews call it S&P but a quick scan suggests more Space Opera to me. After I read it, if it’s S&P, I’ll discuss it further. Cover artist is listed as Kelly Freas but I saw someone claim it has a signature reading “Jones” and that it was Jeffrey Jones. This does not look like a Jones to me and I can’t find any signature on my book.

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