Barsoom imitators

[Desdichado]

I remember reading (I thought it was on Wikipedia, but I can't find the entry now) of some "planetary romance" pulp authors who directly imitated the John Carter of Mars stories, and were written at about the same time. Figuring that those are probably public domain now, if I can find any of them, I'd like to see if there's anything to them. I'm going through a bit of a planetary romance renaissance at the moment.

Can anyone help out? Point me in the direction of any Barsoom-like fiction?

 

[Iku Rex]

Point me in the direction of any Barsoom-like fiction?

It's not what you were asking for, but the Prince Roger books by David Weber and John Ringo spring to mind as "Barsoom-like". The first two books (March Upcountry and March to the Sea) are available for free in the Baen Free Library if you want to give them a try.

(Amazon links for all four books: March Upcountry [1], March to the Sea [2], March to the Stars [3] and We Few [4].)

 

[WayneLigon]

http://www.erblist.com/erblist/pastich.html is a list of books directly using ERB's style. I know there were others using the same 'Sword and Planet' genre but I can't find a good list so far.

 

[nharwell]

Although I doubt any of his works are public domain, you should check out Lin Carter. He wrote some "Mars" books, but the ones closest in feel to Burrough's Barsoom would be his Green Start series --Under the Green Star, When the Green Star Calls, By the Light of the Green Star, As the Green Star Rises, and In the Green Star's Glow (I think that's all of them). IIRC, they were written in the 1970s...

 

[Desdichado]

Ah, I found it. The author I was thinking of was Otis Adelbert Kline. Looks like he's not public domain yet, but I can hope to find some of his out of print paperbacks dirt cheap from used books stores. He also wrote some Tarzan rip-offs; apparently back in the day, his "feud" with ERB was somewhat legendary. Of course, today nobody much remembers who he is, sadly.

Also, for those curious, I created a Wikipedia page on the Sword & Planet genre--check it out and see if you've got anything to add; I make no pretense at being the last word here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_and_planet

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

You should check out Lin Carter's "Callisto" series. Even the names of the stories sound like ERB rip offs.

Jandar of Callisto (1972)
Black Legion of Callisto (1972)
Sky Pirates of Callisto (1973)
Mad Empress of Callisto (1975)
Mind Wizards of Callisto (1975)
Lankar of Callisto (1975)
Ylana of Callisto (1977)
Renegade of Callisto (1978)

Read them and you will see exactly how closely they rip off of ERB's Barsoom stories. In fact it would be to better say that they are a direct intentional tribute to ERB's Barsoom because it is so uncanny the resemblances.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Following some of the links at the Lin Carter wikipedia page, you may want to check out Leigh Bracket. She wrote a lot in the 1940s, died in 1978. What did she do that was big? She has screenplay credits for Empire Strikes Back.

 

[Desdichado]

Yeah, and there's apparently a collection called Swordsmen in the Sky that features Kline, Bracket, and her husband Edmond Hamilton as contributers; all writing short stories of the "Swords & Planet" subgenre. I'm definately looking that sucker up.

 

[Gomez]

Dray Prescott wrote some Barsoomish books. The Scoripo series and Antares series I think. Good stuff.

 

[Desdichado]

Yes, under the pseudonym Alan Akers.

I included that in the Wikipedia page I created for the subgenre.