Lost On Venus [Paperback]

Edgar Rice Burroughs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1984

Lost! Space adventurer Carson Napier made a grievous miscalculation and became stranded on dangerous, mist-shrouded Venus. But Napier refused to quit. He won the love of the beautiful Duare, princess of Vepaja, became a pirate, fought villains, then lost his beloved to the evil Thorist kidnappers.

 

Napier's adventures on Venus continue in this pulse-pounding sequel to Pirates of Venus. Here the intrepid and wry explorer takes on a savage world in order to rescue the princess from her sworn enemies. Napier’s epic quest for Duare takes him through the streets of the City of the Dead, into the terrifying Room of the Seven Doors, and face to face with fantastic and perilous creatures. Featuring what may be Burroughs’s most realistic hero, Lost on Venus brims with the action, suspense, and wit unique to the Master of Adventure.

 

This edition features an introduction by celebrated writer Kevin J. Anderson and the original illustrations by J. Allen St. John.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Lost! Space adventurer Carson Napier made a grievous miscalculation and became stranded on dangerous, mist-shrouded Venus. But Napier refused to quit. He won the love of the beautiful Duare, princess of Vepaja, became a pirate, fought villains, then lost his beloved to the evil Thorist kidnappers.

Napier's adventures on Venus continue in this pulse-pounding sequel to Pirates of Venus. Here the intrepid and wry explorer takes on a savage world in order to rescue the princess from her sworn enemies. Napier’s epic quest for Duare takes him through the streets of the City of the Dead, into the terrifying Room of the Seven Doors, and face to face with fantastic and perilous creatures. Featuring what may be Burroughs’s most realistic hero, Lost on Venus brims with the action, suspense, and wit unique to the Master of Adventure.

This edition features an introduction by celebrated writer Kevin J. Anderson and the original illustrations by J. Allen St. John. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875–1950) was the author of Tarzan of the Apes. His novels The Moon Maid, Under the Moons of Mars, and Pellucidar are all available in the Bison Frontiers of Imagination series. Kevin J. Anderson is the author of such works of speculative fiction as Hidden Empire, Forest of Stars, Hopscotch, and, with Brian Herbert, the prequels to Frank Herbert’s Dune.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Ace (September 1, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441495095
• ISBN-13: 978-0441495092
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,574,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Carson pursues Duare the janjong across Amtor, September 30, 2003

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Lost on Venus: (#2) (Venus No 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

"Lost on Venus" is the second volume in Edgar Rice Burrough's Carson of Venus series and a rather ironic title since our hero left Earth on a spaceship headed for Mars but ended up on Venus because he forgot to take into account the moon's gravitational pull. Fortunately it turns out that Venus not only has a breathable atmosphere but is inhabited. In "Pirates of Venus," Carson Napier learns about the politics and culture of the planet called Amtor and fell in love with Duare, the daughter of a jong (i.e., she is a princess). Of course, in grand ERB tradition, by the end of that first novel Carson and his beloved were separated by a cruel fate (she is carried away by a flying creature and he is captured by a Thorist spy, and the time has come for him to do something about that.

Originally published as a serial in "Argosy Weekly" in 1933, this pulp fiction adventure is communicated to ERB by Napier himself, using telepathy (I liked the Gridley from the Barsoom books better). Carson is held captive and is put in a room where there are seven doors: one leads to escape, the rest to horrible deaths. This is a fairly interesting start to the story and ERB has some fun coming up with a way for his hero to get out of this predicament. Carson, who is given the name Albargan ("No-Hair-Man") by the natives, catches up with Duare, who keeps insisting that he is too low to speak to her since she is a janjong and he is a nobody. There are some interesting science fiction notions, as when Carson considers the Amtorian theory of the cosmos, which is totally wrong since the planet's constant cloud cover keeps them from seeing anything else in the solar system.

Even though you find all of the standard Burroughs elements from the romantic adventure formula that made him famous as Carson pursues Duare, "Lost on Venus" really is more of a political polemic than his standard stories. This book continues the political satire of the series with the Thorists clearly intended to represent the Communists and it is hard not to see the scientifically advanced city of Havatoo as representing an Aryan wonderland in the Nazi tradition (later on in the series ERB clearly takes aim at Mussolini's brand of fascism as well). "Pirates of Venus" is not really considered a dystopian novel, but in terms of predicting the political evils that would lead to World War II, Burroughs was fairly accurate. This was the last of the major series that ERB created and during the 1930s it really represented his best work, which would seem to indicate that his political passions in the Venus books worked to his advantage.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The adventure continues, July 11, 2004

By 

David Bonesteel (Fresno, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lost on Venus (Bison Frontiers of Imagination) (Paperback)

The second novel in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Venus series. Space-faring earthman Carson Napier was separated from his beloved princess Duare at the conclusion of the previous novel. Now, he is after her once again, determined to get her home safely to her kingdom of Vepaja, and the result is the literary equivalent of one of the old Saturday morning serials with just a pinch of social commentary. From the Room of the Seven Doors, down the River of Death to the City of the Dead, where a mad scientist presides over a kingdom of zombies, and the beautiful city of Havatoo, which is a paradise but only if your lineage is pure, Carson and Duare bounce from predicament to predicament. Will they survive their adventures? Will Duare drop her haughty facade and accept Carson's love? Is there any doubt? Not really, but getting there is the fun. This series benefits by being more humorous than most of Burroughs' work.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Napier on Venus, April 6, 2010

By 

microjoe - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Lost on Venus (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the Ace 1st edition F-221, 1963 with collectible cover artwork from Frank Frazetta as clearly noted by his signature at the bottom right of the art. There is also another image on the title page in black and white. The book is part of the Venus series, by author Edgar Rice Burroughs who also created the Tarzan series, and the John Carter series. Carson Napier faces death time and again on Venus, where several civilizations were enemies. After his arrival on Venus, Napier is mistaken for a spy by the locals, and they refuse to believe he is from another world. He is locked in the Room of the 7 Doors, where 6 of the doors will lead to certain death. Another terrific science-fiction adventure from the mind of Burroughs.