The Swordsman of Mars

Rebels on the Red Planet! Considered by many to be the only true equal of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Otis Adelbert Kline was a master of the sword and planet genre. From his position on the original editorial staff of Weird Tales and as the literary agent for Conan creator Robert E. Howard, Kline helped shape the face of science fiction as we know it. Now, in its first complete edition since 1933, Kline brings us the story of Harry Thorne, outcast scion of a wealthy East Coast family, who agrees to swap bodies with a Martian noble, thrusting him into a fierce and vibrant world of strange beasts and stranger people, where a man's future is determined by the strength of his sword arm. Tasked with tracking down and neutralizing another Earthman before he establishes a corrupt empire, and trapped between the love of two beautiful and dangerous women, will Harry Thorne wind up a slave in the dolorous baridium mines, or will he step forward and claim his destiny as a swordsman of Mars? This is the first complete edition of The Swordsman of Mars published since the story's original appearance in Argosy Magazine in 1933. Popular editions released in the 1960s featured viciously cut prose in order to fit the story into a standard novel format. "What The Swordsman of Mars is can be summed up in one word: Fun. Those looking for a transcendent literary experience won't find it here. Those looking for a rollicking good time, however, will, and to them I say welcome to Mars; you're going to enjoy the trip." —Richard Dansky, Green Man Review "I enjoyed the book enormously, but that's not all. You can enjoy almost any piece of writing if you approach it with the lowest possible expectations (and, yes, I am thinking of Lin Carter's multifarious pastiches here). I came away from it with considerable respect for Otis Adelbert Kline as a writer of fantastic fiction." —James Enge, Black Gate Magazine pierwodruk: "The Swordsman of Mars", Argosy, 7 stycznia 1933-11 lutego 1933 (6 odc.) 1 wydanie książkowe skrócone: The Swordsman of Mars(1960) Avalon Books 1 wydanie pełne: The Swordsman of Mars (2007) Pulpville Press Michael Moorcock - Kline and the Art of the Tall Tale (introduction) Planet Stories #12