 First edition | |
| Author | Edgar Rice Burroughs |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Roy G. Krenkel, Jr. |
| Language | English |
| Series | Amtor |
| Genre | Science fantasy |
| Publisher | Ace Books |
Publication date | 1964 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print Paperback) |
| Pages | 136 |
| Preceded by | Escape on Venus |
The Wizard of Venus is a science fiction novella by American writerEdgar Rice Burroughs, as well as the title of a collection in which it was later published together with an unrelated story. "The Wizard of Venus" is the final story in Burroughs'sVenus series (sometimes called the "Carson Napier of Venus series"). Written in 1941, the piece remained unpublished until 1964, fourteen years after the author's death.[1] Burroughs intended it to be the opening piece in a sequence of stories to be brought together later in book form, as he had done in the instance of the previous Venus volume,Escape on Venus. He began the first follow-up tale,[2] only to abandon the project in the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor; the text of the aborted sequel is now lost.
"The Wizard of Venus" was first published in the 1964 Burroughs collectionTales of Three Planets together with the unrelated tales "The Resurrection of Jimber-Jaw", "Beyond the Farthest Star" and "Tangor Returns".[3] Afterwards,[4] it appeared in the collectionThe Wizard of Venus (Ace Books, August 1970). This also included the unrelated pirate adventure "Pirate Blood."[5] A subsequent British edition (New English Library, 1975) omitted the unrelated story.
A reviewer wrote: " this would have only been just the first adventure in the book if Burroughs had got around to finishing it, but as is it’s still really quite good. Carson and Ero Shan’s buddy adventure in this land is fun as they take on the roles of Sir Galahad and Sir Gawain in the medieval adventure and making it one of the more lighthearted and goofy chapters in the series."[7]
A review at StrangerthanSF noted: "It is forgivable maybe for Burroughs to use this mental power of Carson's as a storytelling device but to never have Carson use it in his adventures. It's not forgivable for Burroughs to suddenly switch the rules on us and have Carson start using his remarkable abilities. It makes all his previous adventures inconsistent..."[8]