As I may have mentioned elsewhere, I have really been enjoying Edgar Rice Burroughs's Carson of Venus books. In fact, I think that this series has surpassed the Pellucidar Series in my estimation and esteem...and I thought that that series was superb.
By the time ERB wrote his first Carson book (Pirates of Venus), he had already published 7 John Carter of Mars books, 16 Tarzan books, and 4 Pellucidar books...and a lot of other stuff as well...so he was definitely hitting his stride. In fact, I think Pirates of Venus was his 57th book...so he was well on his way...but, since he published 84 books total (I think...the math gets fuzzy), he still had a ways to go.
One of the things I love about these books is that ERB's sense of humor is back on display. Check out this little exchange in Carson of Venus, the third novel in the five book series:
"You must be a very wonderful man," he said admiringly. "What is your name?"
"Carson—and yours?"
"Lula," he replied, and then, "Carson is a strange name for a man. It sounds more like a woman's name."
"More so than Lula?" I asked, restraining a smile.
"Oh, my, yes; Lula is a very masculine name. I think it is a very sweet name, too; don't you?"
"Very," I assured him.
That's just funny, y'know?
And I really like the character of Carson. For one thing, he fucks up on a pretty regular basis. Right from early on in book one, for instance, he is planning on making a trip to Mars, but he screws up and ends up on Venus instead. I like that in a man.
Also, he is not, like John Carter or Tarzan, a superman of any kind. Neither was David Innes, of course, but I like Carson even more.
And I have had the good luck to have started reading Carson of Venus just in time for a little Carson Renaissance. American Mythology just reprinted the Len Wein / Michael Kaluta series from the 70s (which was so awesome that even though I already had it--downloaded from the internet...from a legal site, by the way), I still bought it, and if they put it out in a collected edition, I'll buy that, too. Especially if they do it up right with some bangles and bingles. And Carson appeared as part of a 4 Part 4 World ERB Crossover event. And now there's a new Carson mini-series coming out. Hot damn.
Of course, none of it is as good as the books Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote.
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