Pirates of Venus

I just finished reading Pirates of Venus, by Edgar Rice Burroughs.  Published in 1934, it is the story of Carson Napier, a wealthy young adventurer, who builds a space ship to travel to Mars.  As it happens, he goes to Venus instead, and there encounters a race of humanity not too unlike our own, and has various adventures, while trying to reach the object of his affection.  After the Barsoom books, much of this seems familiar; however, the unusual and novel aspects of Venus are interesting, and Carson is quite a bit better than John Carter. 

Figures wise, most of the stuff used for Barsoom games could translate over to Venus, although some care would have to be taken with the weaponry, and the women wear a specific garment that may be difficult to find in the usual places. (possibly Roman or Greek women?)  The Venusian ships would be interesting to see as well, as they are nuclear powered pre-dreadnaught cruisers which can none the less be carried by boarding action.

I got the book from the library (as I do with most books), and not only was it first edition, but it still had the little cards in the back from the pre-barcode lending era.  It was pretty interesting to see how frequently (or not) this book was read over the nearly 80 years that it has been in the possession of the library.

In another interesting tidbit, a Carson of Venus movie is in the offing...  so provided that comes to fruition, and is popular, there could be some more interest in this setting.

The next book in the series is Lost on Venus, which I have on order for an inter-library loan, as the local library system does not have it. Looking forward to it, since this one ends on a cliff hanger!