Venus (Amtor) Series

Covered by clouds and shrouded in mystery, the planet Venus was the last place Carson Napier (a somewhat more cautious hero than John Carter), expected touch down when he launched his secret rocketship to Mars. But a miscalculation sent him hurtling out of control through the cloaking mists of Earth’s sister world. When Carson Napiers giant rocket crashlanded on planet Venus, he knew that there would be no return to Earth for him. His problem was to survive some how until other Earth rockets could follow. Beneath the cloud cover of Venus Carson discovers a world of sky-high trees, warring kingdoms and princesses in need of rescue. But, more often than not, it seems that Carson is the one in need of rescuing! Venus was a place of unmapped oceans dotted with great islands; a world with mammoth forests whose trees pierced the clouds and whose cities squatted on their branches and winged men flew. A planet whose inhabitants included men, half-men, and monsters, all struggling with each other for dominance.

Captured by an ancient native civilization, Carson glimpsed a beautiful woman in a palace garden and committed a sun unpardonable by the laws of his adopted planet -- He fell in love with a princess of Venus… Beneath the eternal clouds, Carson found a race of strange men inhabiting trees that made the giant red woods of California look like mere saplings. These men - and their woman - were all very handsome and healthy, for they had discovered the secret of perpetual youth and the method of avoiding all disease. But despite all their wisdom, imminent danger threatened to wipe out all the Vepajans and their lovely princess Duare.

The world of Amtor (as the Venusians call their planet), like Barsoom, is very advanced in some ways and very backwards in others. Scientists have harnessed atomic power for their sea-going ships, but are completely ignorant of the concept of flying machines until Carson builds one. Whichever means of travel you use, don't stray too far from land. Amtorians think their world is a flat disc, and if you travel to the rim you might freeze to death in the frozen wastes at the edge, and if you venture toward the center of the disc you could die from the heat. With their belief that the equator is where the North Pole is and vice versa you can get lost on Amtor pretty fast.

A trip to Amtor is bound to be loaded with adventure and thrills. And if you run across Carson Napier, give him a hand out of his current predicament after all, he did land on the wrong planet....

ERB started this new Venus (Amtor) series with Carson Napier in September 1931.

from: www.erbzine.com 

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1) Pirates of Venus (1934)

Pirates of Venus was the first of the Amtor/Venus series. Although first serialized in Argosy in 1932, it was later serialized in Passing Show Magazine in England, with the ERB, Inc. first edition hardcover appearing in February 15, 1934. The hero, Earthborn Carson, arrives on Venus in answer to telepathic messages. Through an error in trajectory calculation his Mars-bound spaceship lands on Venus. The story is a typically Burroughs with high adventure, fighting hero in a strange alien land, a beautiful princess, fantastic creatures and strange societies. As he has done in his previous alien worlds, ERB creates a new language with a written alphabet.. Reflecting the mood of the '30s, ERB has also included elements of political satire against communism (the Thorists).

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The first book in the series.

Originally published by "Argosy Weekly": 1932 September 17, 24 - October 1, 8, 15, 22.

First Book Edition: ERB Inc. Tarzana: February 15, 1934. J. Allen St. John made the cover and four sepia plates; ERB made a map of Amtor on endpages.

We followed this first edition with the addition of one extra illustration by Fortunino Matania and a title design page (for the Ace edition) by Roy Krenkel.

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2) Lost on Venus (1935)

Life on Venus had not been easy for Earthman Carson Napier. All of his courage and cunning were needed just to stay alive on the world of deadly monsters and even deadlier men. But Carson was determined to do more than survive. He had sworn to deliver the princess Duare to her treetop kingdom of Vepaja -- even though a thousand miles of unmapped territory lay between him and his lofty goal. From the treacherous Room of the Seven Doors to the horror of Kormor, City of the Dead, attacked by the beast-men and imprisoned by the ruthless scientists, the reluctant hero battled his way across a world of unimaginable perils - for the beautiful princess Carson had pledged to serve was also the women he loved...
The Princess of Venus was the most beautiful woman on Venus: Duare the last hope of Vepaja , daughter of its king. Now she was gone, a captive of the terrible Thorists, the sworn enemies of her people. No man born of Venus had the strength and cunning to rescue her:only Carson Napier, a man of Earth whose crashed ship had marooned on the mist-shrouded planet. For the sake of her life, and the hope of her love,he was willing to undergo the horror of the room of the Seven Doors, to walk in the City of the Dead: to face the thousand. deadly perils that spelled glorious adventure - Lost on Venus or death - for him and his beloved princess.

from: www.edgarriceburroughs.com

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ERB commenced writing this second novel in the Venus series in August of 1932. 

Originally published by Argosy Weekly: 1933 March, 4, 11, 18, 25 ~ April 1, 8, 15. 

First Book Edition: ERB Inc. Tarzana, February 15, 1935. 318 pages; Print Run: 5,000 copies. J. Allen St. John, cover and five b/w interiors; ERB map of Amtor on endpapers. 

We followed this first edition with one difference: We used the first cover design proposed by J. Allen St. John which has been turned down by ERB for he found it "too daring".

 Press button to download the book in epub format.