Finally finished S. M. Stirling's The Sky People. I thought it was fun, though I'm somewhat easily amused. I'll admit that while I have read Tarzan and the first five Mars/Barsoom novels, I have not read E. R. Burroughs Venus tales - so I don't have the a measure of comparison.
I liked the alternate timeline of the Cold War and an inhabited solar system - though having to explain it all and make it part of the mystery tied down the action in some spots.
Good stuff, I'll be checking out In the Court of Crimson Kings sometime.
For now, I think I'll take a break from novels and read some short stories from various sources until the new year.
Although I liked this one OK, In the Courts of the Crimson Kings was much much better I thought.
ReplyDeleteI figured you guys had probably read ALL of Edgar Rice Burroughs stuff. Didn't he die in like, 1950 or something ?
ReplyDeleteActually, I came to this whole "sword'n'sorcery / sword'n'planet" very late. I've only read ERB stuff in the past five years or so.
ReplyDeleteI love his imagination and rollicking action but I often have trouble suspending disbelief with ERB. And it is not because of fantastic aliens! His plotting usually involves heavy-handed contrivances that knock me out of the story.
So, I take ERB in small doses. I will read at least one Venus book, though, just to know what it was like.
If I had devoured his stuff as a teenager, I'd probably have a different attitude.
Happy New Beer, Paul !
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