Customer Reviews

Carson of Venus

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"Carson of Venus," the third novel in the Venus series of Edgar Rice Burroughs, was published on the eve of World War II, which explains the thinly disguised political commentary in this pulp fiction yarn. This time around Carson Napier, the adventurer who ended up on Venus despite the fact he was trying to get to Mars in his rocketship (he forgot to take the moon into account when he did the math), has to deal with a political faction called the Zani, a rather obvious anagram of (gasp!) Nazi. ERB develops some strong parallels: the Zanis come to power because their nation had lost a war, and then them discriminate, imprison, and torture those of an inferior race (the Atorians in this case). To top things out, the ruling tyrant is named Mephis and his followers cheer "Maltu Mephis!" whenever he appears. The first two volumes in the Venus series took aim at communists of the Soviet Union under Stalin, but this time ERB has a different target.

The plot pretty much picks up from where we last left our heroes and ERB does a recap by picturing himself musing about the fate of Carson and Duare, wondering is they managed to escape from Havatoo and make their way to Vepaja. Then Carson sends him the next installment of his saga by telepathy. Of course it does not take long for Duare to be recaptured and Carson has to rescue her, and the standard ERB romantic adventure is being spun out once again. It is not until Carson encounters the Zani that the real world subtext of the story makes things a bit more interesting. Adolf Hitler is not the only one disguised in "Carson of Venus," as our hero dons a series of disguises throughout this adventure (the best of which is prince Vodo of Vodaro). That makes the title rather ironic since Carson is probably the least used name by which our hero is called in the entire novel. The main problem with this novel is that towards the end ERB abandons several promising subplots and suddenly wraps everything up in a few pages. "Carson of Venus," which was originally serialized in "Argosy" magazine in early 1938, had the potential of being one the best of the Venus books, but the abrupt ending really works against it reaching that level.

Carson Napier and his beloved Duare, princess of Vepaja, are still searching for a place where they can live in peace. They think they find such a place in the city of Sanara, which is under siege by the Zani. Complications arise as the traitorous ruler of Sanara sends Carson on a secret mission to the rival city of Amlot, supposedly on a vital mission but in reality to get him out of the way so that he can claim the lovely Duare.

Edgar Rice Burroughs satirizes the Nazis (rearrange the letters in 'Zani') in this story, which was published in the late 30s. The constant cries of "Malthu Mephis!" in praise of the cretinous leader of Amlot, the ridiculous salute which consists of standing on one's head until the great man passes, the fear of every citizen that they may be reported to the authorities by friends, family, or others all point to ERB's contempt of the German government of that time in probably his most political series. Of course, there is plenty of adventure and it benefits from being one of the least episodic of his stories. Unfortunately, it becomes a bit unfocused at the end. Naturally, the story ends with Carson and Duare separated once again, but there is only one book left in this series, so I'm sure they'll work things out soon.

Be aware that the ERB editions on Amazon are kind of a mess. If you are a budding collector you need to get in touch with the Burroughs Bibliophiles or one of the good internet Burroughs sites for solid information.
Here we have the 1979 Ace edition listed for Carson of Venus. Frazatta did the cover for the first Ace Edition in 1963, F-247-40cents. Then Frazetta did a second version of the Carson of Venus cover in 1974-Ace 09203 $1.50. Later there was a reissue of the 2nd. Frazetta cover with a white border, which should be the only one shown for 1979.

"Carson of Venus," the third novel in the Venus series of Edgar Rice Burroughs, was published on the eve of World War II, which explains the thinly disguised political commentary in this pulp fiction yarn. This time around Carson Napier, the adventurer who ended up on Venus despite the fact he was trying to get to Mars in his rocketship (he forgot to take the moon into account when he did the math), has to deal with a political faction called the Zani, a rather obvious anagram of (gasp!) Nazi. ERB develops some strong parallels: the Zanis come to power because their nation had lost a war, and then them discriminate, imprison, and torture those of an inferior race (the Atorians in this case). To top things out, the ruling tyrant is named Mephis and his followers cheer "Maltu Mephis!" whenever he appears. The first two volumes in the Venus series took aim at communists of the Soviet Union under Stalin, but this time ERB has a different target.

The plot pretty much picks up from where we last left our heroes and ERB does a recap by picturing himself musing about the fate of Carson and Duare, wondering is they managed to escape from Havatoo and make their way to Vepaja. Then Carson sends him the next installment of his saga by telepathy. Of course it does not take long for Duare to be recaptured and Carson has to rescue her, and the standard ERB romantic adventure is being spun out once again. It is not until Carson encounters the Zani that the real world subtext of the story makes things a bit more interesting. Adolf Hitler is not the only one disguised in "Carson of Venus," as our hero dons a series of disguises throughout this adventure (the best of which is prince Vodo of Vodaro). That makes the title rather ironic since Carson is probably the least used name by which our hero is called in the entire novel. The main problem with this novel is that towards the end ERB abandons several promising subplots and suddenly wraps everything up in a few pages. "Carson of Venus," which was originally serialized in "Argosy" magazine in early 1938, had the potential of being one the best of the Venus books, but the abrupt ending really works against it reaching that level.

Edgar Rice Burroughs, third book in the series... What you AREN"T going to read it because of a review!?