July 2013 - Focus Author - Edgar Rice Burroughs



Edgar Rice Burroughs
1875 - 1950

 Another month is winding down and it's time to start thinking ahead to see what's on the reading list for July 2013. Firstly, my Focus author for July will be American writer, Edgar Rice Burroughs, author of such classic series as Tarzan of the Apes (26 books) and John Carter of Mars (11 books). I have previously featured the John Carter of Mars series as it has been one of my favourite series for many a moon. If you wish to read my BLog on that, go to the highlighted link.

Burroughs wrote over 80 novels during the span of his life; besides the two series mentioned previously, he also wrote the Pellucidar series (adventures at the Earth's core, 7 books), the Venus series (5 books), to name a few. If my books hold together (I've had them for quite awhile now), I plan to revisit the John Carter books. However, before I do that, I do have two newish Burroughs stories that I've never read before. I'll start with those. So if I find the time, I will read -

The Mad King was originally published in two parts; The Mad King (1914) and Barney Custer of Nebraska (1915). This edition was published by Ace Books. It tells the story of Barney Custer, gentleman - farmer in the once wild west. "Offered the chance to make the long voyage to the land of Lutha, he took it and encountered more adventure in a few months than most people find in a lifetime. A crumbling kingdom, a black-hearted regent and his diabolical cohorts, a beautiful princess trapped in a dark and dismal dungeon, sinister plots and harrowing escapes - this is what Barney Custer found." All familiar themes in Edgar Rice Burroughs worlds of fantasy and adventure. It will be interesting to see what other adventures Burroughs explored in his lifetime.

The Moon Men contains the 2nd and 3rd books in the Moon Men Lost World series. It contains The Moon Men and The Red Hawk (copyright 1925). The Moon Men was originally set in Soviet Russia (Under the Red Flag), with the Bolsheviks as the villains, but due to pressure from his publishers, Burroughs changed it to a Science Fiction setting with the Communist-like Kalkars taking over the moon and then the Earth. As it states in the preamble to books, "The Earth has been conquered by the strange beings from the Moon's hidden interior. Suffering under the tyranny of these terrible masters, rebellion is sparked by the descendant of the original lunar explorer. the story of Julian 9th, told in The Moon Men, is constant excitement. Equally thrilling is the story of Julian 20th, The Red Hawk, whose determination to bring to a successful victory the smouldering struggle started by his remote ancestor, makes the second complete novel in this volume.

As mentioned at the start of this post, I plan to revisit the John Carter books as well and hope to at least read the first two books in the series; A Princess of Mars (1912) and The Gods of Mars (1914).

Then we'll see what happens after that. Very much looking forward to this month's focus.