In the late twentieth century, Admiral Julian 3rd can get no rest, for he knows his future. He will be reborn as his grandson in the next century to journey through space and make an ominous discovery inside the moon; he will live again in the dark years of the twenty-second century as Julian 9th, who refuses to bow down to the victorious Moon Men; and as Julian 20th, the fierce Red Hawk, he will lead humanity's final battle against the alien invaders in the twenty-fifth century. The Moon Maid is Edgar Rice Burroughs's stunning epic of a world conquered by alien invaders from the moon and of the hero Julian, who champions the earth's struggle for freedom, peace, and dignity.
The most complete version of The Moon Maid saga ever made available, this edition contains the story as published serially, along with numerous passages, sentences, and words excised from the magazine version or added later by the author. This edition also features an introduction by Terry Bisson, new illustrations by Thomas Floyd, the classic frontispiece by J. Allen St. John, essays by scholar Richard J. Golsan and writer Phillip R. Burger, a glossary by Scott Tracy Griffin, and a compendium of alterations to the text.
one of ERB's darkest tales The Moon Maid, whether split into the three constituent parts or presented, as here, complete and unabridged, is definitely ERB's most overtly political work. Fearful of pacifism after World War I and nascent communist aggression, ERB (also mindful of communist refusal to pay him due royalties) wrote a story called Under the Red Flag that failed to sell. Not wanting the story to go to waste, he then rewrote it as The Moon Men, the second part of this book, and bookended it with two other tales of the struggle between the men of Earth and the invaders from the Moon. To give continuity to his story, ERB provides for the reincarnation of the primary hero, Julian, who appears in the framing portion as Julian 3rd and then in the stories themselves as Julian 5th, Julian 9th, and Julian 20th--the Red Hawk of the last story. (No last name is given the Julians, though in Under the Red Flag, the surname is James.) Just as brilliant as ERB's presentation of the desolation of two worlds by the (obviously) communist Kalkar menace is the havoc wreaked on the twin families of Julian and his greatest rival, Orthis (later named Or-tis). In this instance though, while our sympathies lie with Julian, in a way, he brings this on the world himself by his insouciant oneupping of his adversary. In simply brilliant fashion, ERB shows both families and two worlds ground to near oblivion by the twin menaces of unbridled jealousy and unchecked Marxist domination. Finally, after many travails, the end of the feud comes about, but it is unclear exactly what good that will do the Earth or the Moon. Appended to the main work are essays by various Burroughs scholars and fans who give their thoughts on this seminal dystopian SF work. I personally regard this dark narrative of a world under socialist utopia as one of ERB's finest works and a worthy addition to my library. Those who read it will almost certainly agree. Just remember, though, SF is a genre simply for fun and escape and has no underlying meaning at all.
Bill Hash author of AMRA I have always regarded Moon Maid and it's sequel as one of Burrough's very good works. Unlike most of his other works evil triumphs temporarily and adds a sense of pathos to the work. Although the science is outdated it is still a fine read. It's a shame that so few of his works made it to the screen (he is the author of Tarzan) This book was an inspiration for my own novel AMRA
The Moon Maid I received this book in a timely manner in excellant condition and packaged acceptably. I would buy from this seller again and I would recommend them to my friends.
More Fantasy from ERB I've had ERB's Moon series sitting on my shelf for quite some time, and only now got around to reading them; shame on me. The story is about a Captain in the International Peace Fleet named Julian 5th (seems every male child in this family is named Julian). Captain Julian and four other officers are tasked to fly a new spacecraft to Mars (Barsoom; if you've read ERB's John Carter series, this should ring familiar). Unfortunately, Lieutenant Commander Orthis, one of the travellers, has been harboring a hateful, ongoing jealousy of the successful Julian. Julian, by right of his rank, has been appointed as the mission commander, and this sends Orthis off the deep end. Orthis sabotages the mission, forcing the travellers to make an emergency landing upon the moon. Imagine their surprise, when the craft is pulled through a crater into a whole new world beneath the surface! Much like the "deathless John Carter," Julian is an above-average speciman of the human race, and the environmental differences of the moon only contribute to his superiority. However, ERB caught me off guard in this one; I got too used to John Carter succeeeding and saving the day in every single episode of the Mars series; such does not happen here. Julian 5th is constructed into a tragic hero- his story finalized in book 2 of the Moon series, "The Moon Men." Entertaining light reading, and definately ahead of its time.
The opening romantic adventure in ERB's Moon trilogy With Mars now closer to the Earth than it has been for hundreds of thousands of years, some of us are given pause to think about how all the stories of spaceships going to Mars have never really been concerned with the actual logistics involved. Such practical considerations are a minor part of "The Moon Maid," a 1923 pulp fiction yarn from the master of adventure, Edgar Rice Burroughs, in which a spaceship headed for Mars is sabotaged and ends up on the Moon instead. Unlike John Carter, who made his way to Mars simply by raising his open arms to the red planet, the adventures in this story, the first in ERB's Moon trilogy, actually take a spaceship.
It is interesting that Burroughs played a bit more attention to the science in his pulp novel this time around, even in terms of the fanciful Eighth Ray, given that the Moon books are his most political. Burroughs began working on a story, "Under the Red Flag," at end the First World War, which voiced his concerns over the Communist takeover of Russia, albeit in slightly dramatic form. However, with the war over pulp magazine editors were not interested in ERB continuing to fight the war, even in his Tarzan novels. Over the course of the next several years, while he worked on other projects, the prolific Burroughs turned his grim prediction of a world under the yoke of a communistic goverment into a space adventures that would allow him to make the points he felt needed making. After all, the man who created Tarzan was obviously a big believer in personal freedom.
However, the first volume in the trilogy turns out to be a rather standard ERB romantic adventure. "The Moon Maid," originally published in "Argosy All-Story Weekly," is the first book in the Moon trilogy and takes place after the end of the Great War (1914-1967). Captain Julian commands "The Barsoom," the Earth vessel that ends up on the Moon. Once there he and his companions discover flora and fauna, including small horse-like creatures with human features. The title creature is Nah-ee-lah, human type known as U-ga, who comes from the city of Laythe where she is the daughter of it's Jemadar (come on, this is an ERB yarn: you knew she would be royalty). The godless Kalkars prove to be the biggest threat to both Julian's survival and his chance of a romantic relationship with the Moon Maid. The first time around saving the girl becomes the prime objective. Saving the rest of the Moon people from a fate worse than death will happen in the next set of stories, "The Moon Men" and "The Red Hawk" (usually you will find all three combined as "The Moon Men").
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tailipoe
Trevor
