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Rating: 
Summary: Another quartet of adventures for Carson "Wrong Way" Napier
Review: Edgar Rice Burroughs began his Venus series in the 1930s and the five novels become increasingly colored by the coming World War. The first two novels included an indictment of communism and the third novel, "Carson of Venus," had a thinly veiled attack of Hitler and his Nazis. However, "Escape on Venus" offers something rather different, especially when you look at it in the context of all of ERB's pulp fiction adventures. Starting with John Carter and his adventures on Barsoom (Mars), Burroughs had placed a premium on men of honor who wielded military strength in a righteous cause. Yet as the world plunged into a war that would claim millions of lives, ERB had a rather significant change of heart. In "Escape on Venus," as well as in his "Beyond the Farthest Star" series and "Tarzan and the Foreign Legion," Burroughs rather explicitly rejects the value of military might. "Escape on Venus" was originally published during 1941-42 as a four part series of stories that could stand on their own: "Slaves of the Fishmen," "Goddess of Fire," "The Living Dead," and "War on Venus." Once again Carson Napier is telepathically relaying his adventures to Burroughs, who was living in Hawaii (where he would witness the attack on Pearl Harbor). Having been the prisoner of Mintep, jong of the tree city of Kooaad on Amtor (what the people of Venus call their planet), Carson had fallen in love with the princess Duare. After a series of adventures, during which Carson build the first airplane, when last we left our hero and his lady Carson had rescued Duare from her own father, who was upset she had lowered herself to love an Earthman. First off they head for Karbol, the frozen wasteland that the Amtors believe is the edge of their world. There of course, Duare is captured, Carson has to rescue her, and the next set of romantic adventures is on. The stories collected in "Escape on Venus" provide some standard Burrough adventure. Compared to the other ERB series you find with the Venus book that Duare tends to be more in the vicinity than you usually find with an ERB heroine, like Jane Clayton or Dejah Thoris. Also, Carson has more of a sense of humor than pretty much all of the other ERB heroes put together. However, Burroughs does not pay as much attention to the details of the strange new world in which Carson is making his way, but that is understandable given how late this is in ERB's career as a pulp fiction writer. I would recommend that you try and work through most of the other ERB series before you check out this one simply because of the place it has in defining the final stage of his writing career.
Rating:
Summary: Another quartet of adventures for Carson "Wrong Way" Napier
Review: Edgar Rice Burroughs began his Venus series in the 1930s and the five novels become increasingly colored by the coming World War. The first two novels included an indictment of communism and the third novel, "Carson of Venus," had a thinly veiled attack of Hitler and his Nazis. However, "Escape on Venus" offers something rather different, especially when you look at it in the context of all of ERB's pulp fiction adventures. Starting with John Carter and his adventures on Barsoom (Mars), Burroughs had placed a premium on men of honor who wielded military strength in a righteous cause. Yet as the world plunged into a war that would claim millions of lives, ERB had a rather significant change of heart. In "Escape on Venus," as well as in his "Beyond the Farthest Star" series and "Tarzan and the Foreign Legion," Burroughs rather explicitly rejects the value of military might. "Escape on Venus" was originally published during 1941-42 as a four part series of stories that could stand on their own: "Slaves of the Fishmen," "Goddess of Fire," "The Living Dead," and "War on Venus." Once again Carson Napier is telepathically relaying his adventures to Burroughs, who was living in Hawaii (where he would witness the attack on Pearl Harbor). Having been the prisoner of Mintep, jong of the tree city of Kooaad on Amtor (what the people of Venus call their planet), Carson had fallen in love with the princess Duare. After a series of adventures, during which Carson build the first airplane, when last we left our hero and his lady Carson had rescued Duare from her own father, who was upset she had lowered herself to love an Earthman. First off they head for Karbol, the frozen wasteland that the Amtors believe is the edge of their world. There of course, Duare is captured, Carson has to rescue her, and the next set of romantic adventures is on. The stories collected in "Escape on Venus" provide some standard Burrough adventure. Compared to the other ERB series you find with the Venus book that Duare tends to be more in the vicinity than you usually find with an ERB heroine, like Jane Clayton or Dejah Thoris. Also, Carson has more of a sense of humor than pretty much all of the other ERB heroes put together. However, Burroughs does not pay as much attention to the details of the strange new world in which Carson is making his way, but that is understandable given how late this is in ERB's career as a pulp fiction writer. I would recommend that you try and work through most of the other ERB series before you check out this one simply because of the place it has in defining the final stage of his writing career.
Rating: 
Summary: bookrocks
Review: Shut Up man! I've read these books and they're awsome, so just SHUT UP! It's true, the Venus series may not have been as good as the Martian series, but there 5 stars in my book!
Rating: 
Summary: Princess Duare is no Dejah Thoris
Review: While Burroughs remains a craftsman of science fiction, the Venus series never contained that special spark that the Mars books had. This book was originally published as four novelettes in pulp magazines, and while that's not really strange, in this case the set up for each was so similar that it really shows. Begin with the Mars books. Read these if you're a die-hard fan.
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