Gulliver of Mars [Paperback]

Edwin L. Arnold (Author), T. Compton Pakenham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2008

Mars -- a planet of ruined cities, ancient peoples, copper-skinned swordsmen, and weird and awesome monsters! Here is a princess to be rescued, a River of Death, and a strange prophecy to be fulfilled by a man from Earth!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

American novelist and playwright, McCutcheon is excessively famous for his serial novels. He preferred to be recognized for his dramas and did not like to be characterized as a Romantic. His travel expeditions are reflected in his works. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: Wildside Press (February 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1434460029
• ISBN-13: 978-1434460028
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,084,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Pioneer Work of Science Fantasy, January 21, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Gulliver of Mars (Hardcover)

Edwin Lester Arnold (1875-1939) was for most of this century more famous for his "Phra the
Phoenician" than for "Gulliver Jones," published in London in 1905. The stir over "Gulliver Jones"
began over thirty years ago when striking similarities between his work and that of Edgar Rice
Burroughs' own Mars series of books (begun in 1911) were finally noticed. It is entirely possible
that Burroughs had never heard of Arnold or his book. At any rate, Arnold's work stands as a
strange, unsung bridge between the Jules Verne/H.G. Wells style of science fiction of his day and
the heroic science fantasy to be found in pulp fiction, comic-strips, and movies later in the twentieth
century. The book's central figure is Gulliver Jones, a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. Happening upon a
flying carpet in New York City, he is whisked away to Mars, which is inhabited by characters very
reminiscient of Well's "The Time Machine." He falls in love with the vapid but lovely Princess Heru
just in time to see her handed over to the king of the Hither people (who are Haggard-style Africans
thinly disguised as Martians). The rest of the novel involves his haphazard rescue of her via a voyage
up an icy river of death and beyond. "Lieutenant Gulliver Jones: His Vacation" is a silly, dated book
which is must reading for students of science fiction in this century, and for anyone in search of a
good yarn.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Before there was John Carter, March 15, 2008

By 

wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Gulliver of Mars (Ace SF Classic, F-296) (Mass Market Paperback)

This little story, over a hundred years old now, tells a swashbuckling tale of adventure in a distant and improbable world. Swept away by a magic carpet (!), Lt. Gulliver Jones arrives on Mars. He first lands among pretty lotus-eaters, an indolent society that seems to live for its simple pleasures and complex wines, with a different drug for each kind of bliss the drinker might pursue. Soon, however, he's off on a quest, down the river of death, into sacred temples, and finally into the land of the savages that prey on the gentler folk of this land. Arnold's languge tends toward the archaic - it was written in 1905, after all - and his plots tend to hang on wild coincidence as much as on the unexplained. Still, if you want some silly, glamorous, and chaste adventure, this could be just what you want.

If parts of Arnold's story sound familiar, well, they should. Edgar Rice Burroughs lifted parts of the story wholesale, according to Richard Lupoff's preface, for use in his Mars series. In turn, Arnold seems to have imitated the Eloi of H.G. Wells's The Time Machine. This story provides a remarkable link in the chain of ideas that leads from and to better-known works.

You don't have to be a literary historian to enjoy this book, though. It stands on its own as a pleasant bit of fantasy fluff.

-- wiredweird

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Pioneer Work of Cassic SciFi, December 30, 2005

By 

Sean Steele (Paris) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gulliver of Mars (Paperback)

This novel is the first book I purchased. In 1961 I bought this pulp story from a used book store for a dime. Its cover price was 40 cents. But - it was such a great read that it sold me on SciFi forever. After my introduction to Lieutenant Gulliver Jones (its orignial title) between these covers, I went on to read Heinlein, and then Clark, Asimov and all the other's who came long after Edwin Arnold. The book reads with the all the classic Victorian flavor of Wells and Verne, but it has a real story embedded inside and is far enough removed from the stilted culture of the turn of the 20th century, that it allows even a 21st century reader to suspend belief enough to enjoy the magic of Mars as seen through the eyes of a culture far removed from the Martian desert we now know and can see unfolding before our eyes each day. For the connoisseur of classic SciFi, this is a must to read and appreciate. The old Ace paperback now sits enshrined in a shadow box frame beside my desk.