I’m up to my armpits in dayjobbery, so this post almost didn’t get done. But I wanted to point out two birthdays that fall on this date, September 1.
First is Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950). Do I really have to tell you what all he wrote? Tarzan. John Carter. Pellucidar.
Then there’s Harold Lamb (1892-1962). Lamb was a master of historical adventure, arguably the greatest author of that genre ever. He was a major influence on Robert E. Howard.
I doubt we shall see their equals any time soon.
So what are your favorite works by Burroughs and Lamb. Let us know in the comments.
I have been slowly working my way through the Barsoom books. They are a little uneven, but overall some great stuff. I would put The Gods of Mars and The Chessmen of Mars up against any SF, any time, anywhere.
I haven’t read any Lamb. One of my vague reading resolutions is to start into the adventure fiction that was so important to pulp SF, but I haven’t gotten past one H. Rider Haggard Book (She, which is amazing).
I need to read more of the Barsoom books as well as more Lamb and Haggard. The Khlit the Cossack stories, as Matthew points out, are a great place to start.
They are both great, but I prefer Lamb. The sequence of Khlit leaving traveling through out Asia has got to be one of the best cycle of adventure stories ever written.
I’ve read about half a dozen of the Khlit stories and really liked them. I need to get back to them.
I’ve read all the Cossack stories and his Mongol stories. While I did not like his non-Khlit Cossack stories as much they were still interesting. The Khlit cycle as I reiterate is astounding.