The Early Magazines --
"The Pulps"
This site provides an excellent introduction to the "pulp" magazines that were such an important part of early science fiction: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/15f12ccdc5ad3bc9
While there, do not hesitate to browse and explore the archives. Many of the early pulp magazines are on the web in different places.
This is the first issue of Astounding Stories (now called Analog), an important magazine in the history of science fiction.
You can find the full text of the magazine at Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/41481
We will also continue our discussion of pulp stories and early magazine stories with Leslie F Stones "Conquest of Gola" --this is in the book but if you wish to see the actual magazine it came in (with editorials and other stories, as well as fascinating ads, you may look here:
In fact, a collection of on-line copies of all of the issues of "Wonder Stories" magazine from 1931 are here: http://www.pulpmags.org/ content/view/issues/wonder-sto ries.html
If you'd like to know more about Leslie Stone, http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com /entry/stone_leslie_f
Finally, I'd be curious to get your take on the issue of Edgar Rice Burroughs and sexism or lack thereof.
There are ten and a half books in ERB's "Barsoom" (Mars) series, easily his most popular series after Tarzan and his most popular SF series.
This is the fourth one and dates from 1916. In the first three books, John Carter, a master swordsman and civil war veteran comes to Mars (Barsoom) through mysterious means where he discovers that due to the low gravity he has super strength. Skipping ahead, he makes friends with the savage four armed green martians who soon capture him and then rescues Dejah Thoris, a proud Barsoomian princess from a nation called Helium. They get married and have a son named Carthoris (should you wonder, Tarzan and Jane got married and had a son name Korak).
In this book, Carthoris, now an adult, meets Thuvia, a proud Martian princess who has the power to control the Martian lions called "Banths" and well . . . problems happen and he sets out to rescue her.
Just read as much as you want but please try to read at least the first scene of the book. (It starts much faster than the first three. I think in the first one, it takes a couple chapters before John Carter gets to Mars, chapters in which ERB carefully explains how he met John Carter and acquired the manuscript and in which John Carter explains how he wound up on Mars after going to Arizona where he was chased by Apaches into some mysterious ruins that transported him to the red planet.
Description of book with 1916 cover
A more modern depiction of Thuvia painted by Brian Justo.
Images of Thuvia
The full text of the book is available online.
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