With the publication of A Lee Martinez’s next novel imminent (March 6th), I thought it would be a great time to dragoon him into writing about some of his influences and inspirations. Which he did. Which was very nice of him. Read on!
In A Princess of Mars, John Carter of Mars finds himself transported to the savage world of Barsoom (Mars, to you and me). He’s immediately taken prisoner by the race of giant four-armed green Martians. Soon after, he punches a Martian and kills him with one blow. It’s an accident, but it immediately earns him the respect of his captors. That’s how things work on Mars. It’s classic pulp bad-ass-itude, the kind of absurd levels of awesome that were once commonplace in the pages of Weird Tales and other serial magazines. John Carter is a power fantasy, a man who discovers another planet and through heroic resolve gets the princess, saves the planet, builds alliances, and destroys his enemies. Subtlety is not the goal of these stories. War is brutal (and often cartoonishly glorious). Love is as sappy and heartfelt as any romance novel, where people declare undying love merely upon setting eyes upon each other. And outlandish adventure is a way of life.
