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Eric John Stark #1,2 novellas
Eric John Stark: Outlaw of Mars
"Mars was old, tired, and steeped in every evil of a dying world. There, to the sinful cities of the Low Canals, came Eric John Stark, adventurer, roisterer, and outlaw from Earth.
But there were evils more ancient and fearsome than could be found in the decadence and vices of the tribes and cities. Far to the north, amid the wastes of bitter snows lay the Gates of Death. And among the wasted ruins of the deserts, the tribes were losing something beyond their utmost dreams of loot and ravage.
To such peril, inevitably, Stark was drawn. Who else could bear the Talisman? What other war leader could the false messiah of the tribes summon?
But Eric John Stark was more than he seemed--more, in fact, than he knew."
(Contains the stories The Secret of Sinharat and People of the Talisman)
But there were evils more ancient and fearsome than could be found in the decadence and vices of the tribes and cities. Far to the north, amid the wastes of bitter snows lay the Gates of Death. And among the wasted ruins of the deserts, the tribes were losing something beyond their utmost dreams of loot and ravage.
To such peril, inevitably, Stark was drawn. Who else could bear the Talisman? What other war leader could the false messiah of the tribes summon?
But Eric John Stark was more than he seemed--more, in fact, than he knew."
(Contains the stories The Secret of Sinharat and People of the Talisman)
208 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 12, 1982
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401 people want to read
About the author
Leigh Brackett
399 books240 followersLeigh Brackett was born on December 7, 1915 in Los Angeles, and raised near Santa Monica. Having spent her youth as an athletic tom-boy - playing volleyball and reading stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs and H Rider Haggard - she began writing fantastic adventures of her own. Several of these early efforts were read by Henry Kuttner, who critiqued her stories and introduced her to the SF personalities then living in California, including Robert Heinlein, Julius Schwartz, Jack Williamson, Edmond Hamilton - and another aspiring writer, Ray Bradbury.
In 1944, based on the hard-boiled dialogue in her first novel, No Good From a Corpse, producer/director Howard Hawks hired Brackett to collaborate with William Faulkner on the screenplay of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep.
Brackett maintained an on-again/off-again relationship with Hollywood for the remainder of her life. Between writing screenplays for such films as Rio Bravo, El Dorado, Hatari!, and The Long Goodbye, she produced novels such as the classic The Long Tomorrow (1955) and the Spur Award-winning Western, Follow the Free Wind (1963).
Brackett married Edmond Hamilton on New Year's Eve in 1946, and the couple maintained homes in the high-desert of California and the rural farmland of Kinsman, Ohio.
Just weeks before her death on March 17, 1978, she turned in the first draft screenplay for The Empire Strikes Back and the film was posthumously dedicated to her.
In 1944, based on the hard-boiled dialogue in her first novel, No Good From a Corpse, producer/director Howard Hawks hired Brackett to collaborate with William Faulkner on the screenplay of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep.
Brackett maintained an on-again/off-again relationship with Hollywood for the remainder of her life. Between writing screenplays for such films as Rio Bravo, El Dorado, Hatari!, and The Long Goodbye, she produced novels such as the classic The Long Tomorrow (1955) and the Spur Award-winning Western, Follow the Free Wind (1963).
Brackett married Edmond Hamilton on New Year's Eve in 1946, and the couple maintained homes in the high-desert of California and the rural farmland of Kinsman, Ohio.
Just weeks before her death on March 17, 1978, she turned in the first draft screenplay for The Empire Strikes Back and the film was posthumously dedicated to her.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
December 21, 2015
I ordered this book after reading Brackett's Black Amazon of Mars earlier in the year. I was excited to be able to read two novella length stories about the mysterious mostly-wild man, Eric John Stark, because Black Amazon had been such a fun read.
I didn't get as much time with the book as I had hoped, but I managed to finish the first story, The Secret of Sinharat late last night. Sinharat was an ancient city on Mars, built on a coral island in what used to be a living sea. Of course now the water was gone and after who knows how many thousands of years, the city has a reputation for being haunted by the Ramas, the Old Ones who used to make it their home. John Stark becomes involved in a grand adventure centered on this city, and I really dare not say more. It was exciting, otherworldly, with all sorts of Edgar Rice Burroughs type action. I learned more about John Stark's past: how he was on Mercury when he
was just a child; a nugget or two of information about how he became his wild self in the first place.
This was a good story, but I admit to enjoying Black Amazon better. There was more depth to that one, much more going on under the surface, and much more action. So I was curious what the second story in this book would be like. Thanks to a bout of insomnia I went ahead and started The People Of The Talisman. That is when I slammed into the wall of Hey Wait I Read This Opening Paragraph Not Too Long Ago. Yep....it turned out that this story was Black Amazon of Mars under a different title. The original story was published in 1951, per Project Gutenberg, where I read it. This
book was published in 1982, with the copyright date for the two stories given as 1964.
There was no note referring to the original title or the name change, but I suppose The Powers That Be of the day thought that the phrase Black Amazon of Mars would be offensive. Even though it refers not to the color of anyone's skin but to the color of the armor worn by that Amazon. Anyway, technically I did not finish this book because of that (way too soon for a re-read), and I am judging the entire book by the first story. which is why it gets just three stars, not four.
Oh, but the cover art is cool, even though the rider on the beastie is not our man Stark. He had black hair, you know.
I didn't get as much time with the book as I had hoped, but I managed to finish the first story, The Secret of Sinharat late last night. Sinharat was an ancient city on Mars, built on a coral island in what used to be a living sea. Of course now the water was gone and after who knows how many thousands of years, the city has a reputation for being haunted by the Ramas, the Old Ones who used to make it their home. John Stark becomes involved in a grand adventure centered on this city, and I really dare not say more. It was exciting, otherworldly, with all sorts of Edgar Rice Burroughs type action. I learned more about John Stark's past: how he was on Mercury when he
was just a child; a nugget or two of information about how he became his wild self in the first place.
This was a good story, but I admit to enjoying Black Amazon better. There was more depth to that one, much more going on under the surface, and much more action. So I was curious what the second story in this book would be like. Thanks to a bout of insomnia I went ahead and started The People Of The Talisman. That is when I slammed into the wall of Hey Wait I Read This Opening Paragraph Not Too Long Ago. Yep....it turned out that this story was Black Amazon of Mars under a different title. The original story was published in 1951, per Project Gutenberg, where I read it. This
book was published in 1982, with the copyright date for the two stories given as 1964.
There was no note referring to the original title or the name change, but I suppose The Powers That Be of the day thought that the phrase Black Amazon of Mars would be offensive. Even though it refers not to the color of anyone's skin but to the color of the armor worn by that Amazon. Anyway, technically I did not finish this book because of that (way too soon for a re-read), and I am judging the entire book by the first story. which is why it gets just three stars, not four.
Oh, but the cover art is cool, even though the rider on the beastie is not our man Stark. He had black hair, you know.
May 29, 2011
Sheer awesomeness. Leigh Brackett was the master of tight, lean prose that was not slowed down by her masterful descriptions. She managed to say with a few words all that needed to be said. Many writers today should take note.
Eric John Stark is a man who, despite his barbarism, retains a remarkable conscience that seeks out justice. Brackett's Mars is a wonderful place of adventure and violence, a vividly realise world and the antithesis of Bradbury's Mars and certainly more dark and cut-throat than Burrough's.
These two stories, collected here in one volume, is what science fiction is sorely missing these days. Any fan of the genre should read them.
Eric John Stark is a man who, despite his barbarism, retains a remarkable conscience that seeks out justice. Brackett's Mars is a wonderful place of adventure and violence, a vividly realise world and the antithesis of Bradbury's Mars and certainly more dark and cut-throat than Burrough's.
These two stories, collected here in one volume, is what science fiction is sorely missing these days. Any fan of the genre should read them.
May 18, 2024
It's like Conan the Barbarian in space, and I mean that in the best possible way. Pulpy, classic-era sci-fi done extremely well. What a fucking awesome read! Gonna have to keep an eye out for more of her books in the used book stores.
March 27, 2025
The Queen of the space opera, Leigh Brackett is most often remembered for the last piece of writing she did before she died in 1978. The first draft of The Empire Strikes Back has many of the elements the second Star Wars film is known for. Her fingerprints on the saga are objective, but there is also a subjective influence. A young George Lucas has admitted Flash Gordan Serials inspired him but it is also clear he was reading the space opera of Leigh Brackett and her husband the equally famous writer (at the time) Edmond Hamilton. Their vibes are such that theories swirled for years that the SF power couple had ghostwritten the first Star Wars.
Brackett was a talented writer of many genres and formats. Co-writing the classic noir film The Big Sleep is her other famous Hollywood credit. She wrote excellent more ‘serious’ science fiction novels like the post-nuclear novel The Long Tomorrow and my personal favorite the SF horror hybrid The Big Jump.
I know I read one of the books with this main character when I was a teenager, as I was investigating the author George Lucas felt he needed to hire for Star Wars. Despite being Charmin white on the cover of all the paperbacks Brackett has said Stark is a black man, and that separates him from the other Mars space rogue heroes of the era.
This edition of the novel is a Del Rey 80s fix-up that took two short novels first published as serials, and secondarily as two halves of Ace doubles. Really it is two complete stories.
Eric John Stark is another thinly veiled homage/ spin/ rip-off of John Carter, with a Mars that feels more like the sword and sorcery setting of Robert Howard novels than Barsoom. LB wasn’t the only woman playing in that sandbox CL Moore a decade before Brackett was filling the pages of Weird Tales with Northwest Smith, an Indiana Jones/Han Solo hybrid who was also finding and fighting monsters while digging around ancient tombs on Mars.
The influence on Han Solo might be a major reason LB got the Empire gig.
“Stark's reputation is known all over the system. There's no need to tell us that again.”
We are given the information that Stark has been on many adventures that we have never seen. He is a smart-ass, handsome rogue like Han Solo, but he wields a sword and confronts a variety of monsters and cults around Mars that are so Conan-influenced that you almost picture these stories in old issues of Weird Tales.
One thing that makes this a different and better reading experience than most of those mid-century pulps is how well LB develops the Mars culture in small bits of world-building.
“My people have just cause for war. They go hungry and thirsty, while the city-states along the dry land border hog all the water sources and grow fat. Do you know what it means to watch your children die crying for water on a long march, to come to at last to the Oasis and find the well sanded and by a storm, to go again, trying to save your people and your herd? Well, I do I was born and bred in the dry lands, and many a time I cursed the border states with a tongue like a dry stick.”
Most of these tales started life as serials in magazines, or in the limited word counts of Ace Double paperbacks. When she stretches out a bit and gets into telling the story with style LB shines. Brackett is an excellent writer who elevated the pulps with powerful world-building and excellent descriptions. Her prose was good.
“Shattering the night, light and sound crashed up the grand stairway of Sinharat. First came massed torch bearers, holding their flaring brands high. Then the thundering skin drums measure windpipes, and then Canon and his new come allies, and after them the tribesman.
As the procession climbed, the dark western face of the cliff-top city leaped into quivering light. The ancient cavern faces that had for centuries looked out on nothing but darkness and silence and desert, now glare triumphantly in the shaping red rays. And despite the proud, loud clamor of drums and pipes, the eyes of climbing tribesmen pointed with doubt as they looked up and beheld the old stone phases of the Ramas.”
It might be considered a SPOILER but in the second half story, Stark encounters another rogue. In a bit of a mirror of Leigh Brackett’s life, this rogue is mistaken for a man. She is however as badass on Mars, as Leigh Brackett was with a typewriter.
“The woman wheeled her mount. Bending low, she caught up the axe from where it had fallen and faced her chieftains and her warriors, who were as dazed as stark. “I have led you well,” she said. “I have taken you Kushat will any man dispute me?”
No man can dispute Leigh Brackett. She proves every time I read one of her works. She is a good writer, a good storyteller, and she will transport a reader ready to dive into her universes. I don’t like it as much as her less pulpy work, but it has plenty of fun moments, and a couple of great writing and storytelling.
Brackett was a talented writer of many genres and formats. Co-writing the classic noir film The Big Sleep is her other famous Hollywood credit. She wrote excellent more ‘serious’ science fiction novels like the post-nuclear novel The Long Tomorrow and my personal favorite the SF horror hybrid The Big Jump.
I know I read one of the books with this main character when I was a teenager, as I was investigating the author George Lucas felt he needed to hire for Star Wars. Despite being Charmin white on the cover of all the paperbacks Brackett has said Stark is a black man, and that separates him from the other Mars space rogue heroes of the era.
This edition of the novel is a Del Rey 80s fix-up that took two short novels first published as serials, and secondarily as two halves of Ace doubles. Really it is two complete stories.
Eric John Stark is another thinly veiled homage/ spin/ rip-off of John Carter, with a Mars that feels more like the sword and sorcery setting of Robert Howard novels than Barsoom. LB wasn’t the only woman playing in that sandbox CL Moore a decade before Brackett was filling the pages of Weird Tales with Northwest Smith, an Indiana Jones/Han Solo hybrid who was also finding and fighting monsters while digging around ancient tombs on Mars.
The influence on Han Solo might be a major reason LB got the Empire gig.
“Stark's reputation is known all over the system. There's no need to tell us that again.”
We are given the information that Stark has been on many adventures that we have never seen. He is a smart-ass, handsome rogue like Han Solo, but he wields a sword and confronts a variety of monsters and cults around Mars that are so Conan-influenced that you almost picture these stories in old issues of Weird Tales.
One thing that makes this a different and better reading experience than most of those mid-century pulps is how well LB develops the Mars culture in small bits of world-building.
“My people have just cause for war. They go hungry and thirsty, while the city-states along the dry land border hog all the water sources and grow fat. Do you know what it means to watch your children die crying for water on a long march, to come to at last to the Oasis and find the well sanded and by a storm, to go again, trying to save your people and your herd? Well, I do I was born and bred in the dry lands, and many a time I cursed the border states with a tongue like a dry stick.”
Most of these tales started life as serials in magazines, or in the limited word counts of Ace Double paperbacks. When she stretches out a bit and gets into telling the story with style LB shines. Brackett is an excellent writer who elevated the pulps with powerful world-building and excellent descriptions. Her prose was good.
“Shattering the night, light and sound crashed up the grand stairway of Sinharat. First came massed torch bearers, holding their flaring brands high. Then the thundering skin drums measure windpipes, and then Canon and his new come allies, and after them the tribesman.
As the procession climbed, the dark western face of the cliff-top city leaped into quivering light. The ancient cavern faces that had for centuries looked out on nothing but darkness and silence and desert, now glare triumphantly in the shaping red rays. And despite the proud, loud clamor of drums and pipes, the eyes of climbing tribesmen pointed with doubt as they looked up and beheld the old stone phases of the Ramas.”
It might be considered a SPOILER but in the second half story, Stark encounters another rogue. In a bit of a mirror of Leigh Brackett’s life, this rogue is mistaken for a man. She is however as badass on Mars, as Leigh Brackett was with a typewriter.
“The woman wheeled her mount. Bending low, she caught up the axe from where it had fallen and faced her chieftains and her warriors, who were as dazed as stark. “I have led you well,” she said. “I have taken you Kushat will any man dispute me?”
No man can dispute Leigh Brackett. She proves every time I read one of her works. She is a good writer, a good storyteller, and she will transport a reader ready to dive into her universes. I don’t like it as much as her less pulpy work, but it has plenty of fun moments, and a couple of great writing and storytelling.
December 11, 2025
All in all a good time. Not overly sexist, didn't age badly. I'm not sure what's science fiction about this, it felt like sword and sorcery to me. But I am new to fantasy/adventure books so don't rip me to shreds for mislabeling.
This a double novella. There are two stories (standalones but also continuous to one another). They read as if they would make great 30 minute science fiction adventure episodes on SyFy. The stories are fairly straight forward but we are starting to get some serious insight into who Eric John Stark is, this wild west man on Mars. There is a pattern emerging for how his brain works in conjunction to the bureaucracy of Mars. I don't know if I'll read anymore of the Eric John Stark books, but I'm not ruling it out, either. I kind of understand the man a little better now, maybe I wouldn't mind taking another adventure with him.
I wonder if George RR Martin pulled inspiration from this book. The second story made me feel like I was back in Westeros, a bit. Not as detailed as his books are but the setting was STARKly familiar.
Recommended: If you're into vintage sword and sorcery adventures.
This a double novella. There are two stories (standalones but also continuous to one another). They read as if they would make great 30 minute science fiction adventure episodes on SyFy. The stories are fairly straight forward but we are starting to get some serious insight into who Eric John Stark is, this wild west man on Mars. There is a pattern emerging for how his brain works in conjunction to the bureaucracy of Mars. I don't know if I'll read anymore of the Eric John Stark books, but I'm not ruling it out, either. I kind of understand the man a little better now, maybe I wouldn't mind taking another adventure with him.
I wonder if George RR Martin pulled inspiration from this book. The second story made me feel like I was back in Westeros, a bit. Not as detailed as his books are but the setting was STARKly familiar.
Recommended: If you're into vintage sword and sorcery adventures.
June 6, 2017
My exposure to Brackett had been all of one short story, but for some reason I’ve long associated her with Edgar Rice Burroughs. After reading these two novellas, I think the better comparison is to Robert E. Howard (more on that in a bit). Whoever it is, I have no doubt that Brackett deserves to stand with—or above—either. That lady could spin a damn yarn. And Eric John Stark can stand with Tarzan or Conan.
I have two copies of these two novellas collected. The first is a Ballantine edition titled Eric John Stark: Outlaw of Mars. The second is an Ace Double with The Secret of the Sinharat reading one direction and People of the Talisman another.
The two novellas stand alone, but each follows the Mars adventures of Eric John Stark, an earthman raised on Mercury.
The Secret of the Sinharat opens with Eric John Stark on the run and losing the race. The men who catch him give him an ultimatum: either turn informant or do hard time on Luna. Stark has been contracted to train Martian provincials looking to make a move against their betters. Throw in another merc with a personal enmity and Stark is cooking with gas.
People of the Talisman opens with Stark trekking north with a friend on his last legs. Said friend wanted to return to the city of his birth to die. He has a guilty conscience; he stole the talisman of his people before leaving. A talisman that the people of the city, and the barbarians that surround them, believe protects the city.
I mentioned Burroughs earlier, but his work and Brackett’s really don’t have that much in common. Burroughs real genius was in his sheer imagination. Plot and prose-wise, he can’t compare with Brackett. But The Secret of Sinharat and People of the Talisman each take place entirely on one relatively limited part of Mars, don’t feature creatures and monsters beyond giant lizards used as mounts, and only introduce one big fantastical element in the climax. Don’t believe me that Brackett outstrips Burroughs, an underrated stylist? Check out this passage:
“Balin stood frozen, his borrowed sword half raised. He saw Stark hurl the warrior bodily off the Wall and heard the cry as he fell, and he saw Stark’s face as he grasped the ladder and shoved it outward. There were more screams. Then there were more ladders and more red-haired men, and Stark had found a sword and was using it. Balin smelled the blood, and suddenly he was shaken with the immediacy of it, the physical closeness of an enemy come to slaughter him and destroy everything he loved. A fever burned through him. He moved forward and began to chop at the heads that appeared over the Wall. But it was as Stark had said, and at first he found that it was easier if he did not look too closely into their faces. Because of this one of them got under his uncertain guard and almost gutted him. After that he had no more difficulty.”
I’ve read that passage dozens of times now and it never gets old. You could teach an hour-long class in creative writing on that paragraph alone. The spare language, with nary an adjective to be seen. The mix of long and short sentences. The judicious use of polysyndeton, the repeated use of conjunctions. Writing on war as good as anything Hemingway ever wrote.
Don’t believe me about the comparison to Howard? And to Conan? Check out this passage:
“Stark shivered, with more than the cold. He hated cities anyway. They were traps, robbing a man of his freedom, penning him in with walls and the authority of other men. They were full of a sort of people that he did not like, the mob-minded ones, the sheep-like ones and the small predators that used them.”
Stark is much more Conan than John Carter. I’m not a gamer, but if you’re looking for an inspiration for your barbarian class or character, I would start with Stark over the Arnold Conan movies. Stark isn’t uncivilized, but he isn’t civilized either. Frequent references are made to Stark’s almost sixth sense to recognize danger on the horizon. Brackett suggests that humans were seeded across the solar system in our dim past, with earthmen only discovering their brethren after setting out for the stars. Science fictional weapons exist, but Stark spends his time in the hinterlands where conflict is more likely resolved by sword and spear. Stark never forgets his colonial roots. In exploring that, Brackett makes more modern efforts like Ann Leckie’s in Ancillary Sword look simplistic and crude.
Leigh Brackett was maybe the last great sword & planet writer. She also wrote hard-boiled mysteries and movie scripts, and it shows. She may not have Burroughs’ imagination, but her command of pacing and suspense, her grasp on the story structure, is virtuoso. Each has a mystery embedded in the story and a couple of dames.
Oh, and the final sequence in People of the Talisman? I have to think it majorly influenced the Finn from The Wheel of Time well beyond the fae source material.
I have two copies of these two novellas collected. The first is a Ballantine edition titled Eric John Stark: Outlaw of Mars. The second is an Ace Double with The Secret of the Sinharat reading one direction and People of the Talisman another.
The two novellas stand alone, but each follows the Mars adventures of Eric John Stark, an earthman raised on Mercury.
The Secret of the Sinharat opens with Eric John Stark on the run and losing the race. The men who catch him give him an ultimatum: either turn informant or do hard time on Luna. Stark has been contracted to train Martian provincials looking to make a move against their betters. Throw in another merc with a personal enmity and Stark is cooking with gas.
People of the Talisman opens with Stark trekking north with a friend on his last legs. Said friend wanted to return to the city of his birth to die. He has a guilty conscience; he stole the talisman of his people before leaving. A talisman that the people of the city, and the barbarians that surround them, believe protects the city.
I mentioned Burroughs earlier, but his work and Brackett’s really don’t have that much in common. Burroughs real genius was in his sheer imagination. Plot and prose-wise, he can’t compare with Brackett. But The Secret of Sinharat and People of the Talisman each take place entirely on one relatively limited part of Mars, don’t feature creatures and monsters beyond giant lizards used as mounts, and only introduce one big fantastical element in the climax. Don’t believe me that Brackett outstrips Burroughs, an underrated stylist? Check out this passage:
“Balin stood frozen, his borrowed sword half raised. He saw Stark hurl the warrior bodily off the Wall and heard the cry as he fell, and he saw Stark’s face as he grasped the ladder and shoved it outward. There were more screams. Then there were more ladders and more red-haired men, and Stark had found a sword and was using it. Balin smelled the blood, and suddenly he was shaken with the immediacy of it, the physical closeness of an enemy come to slaughter him and destroy everything he loved. A fever burned through him. He moved forward and began to chop at the heads that appeared over the Wall. But it was as Stark had said, and at first he found that it was easier if he did not look too closely into their faces. Because of this one of them got under his uncertain guard and almost gutted him. After that he had no more difficulty.”
I’ve read that passage dozens of times now and it never gets old. You could teach an hour-long class in creative writing on that paragraph alone. The spare language, with nary an adjective to be seen. The mix of long and short sentences. The judicious use of polysyndeton, the repeated use of conjunctions. Writing on war as good as anything Hemingway ever wrote.
Don’t believe me about the comparison to Howard? And to Conan? Check out this passage:
“Stark shivered, with more than the cold. He hated cities anyway. They were traps, robbing a man of his freedom, penning him in with walls and the authority of other men. They were full of a sort of people that he did not like, the mob-minded ones, the sheep-like ones and the small predators that used them.”
Stark is much more Conan than John Carter. I’m not a gamer, but if you’re looking for an inspiration for your barbarian class or character, I would start with Stark over the Arnold Conan movies. Stark isn’t uncivilized, but he isn’t civilized either. Frequent references are made to Stark’s almost sixth sense to recognize danger on the horizon. Brackett suggests that humans were seeded across the solar system in our dim past, with earthmen only discovering their brethren after setting out for the stars. Science fictional weapons exist, but Stark spends his time in the hinterlands where conflict is more likely resolved by sword and spear. Stark never forgets his colonial roots. In exploring that, Brackett makes more modern efforts like Ann Leckie’s in Ancillary Sword look simplistic and crude.
Leigh Brackett was maybe the last great sword & planet writer. She also wrote hard-boiled mysteries and movie scripts, and it shows. She may not have Burroughs’ imagination, but her command of pacing and suspense, her grasp on the story structure, is virtuoso. Each has a mystery embedded in the story and a couple of dames.
Oh, and the final sequence in People of the Talisman? I have to think it majorly influenced the Finn from The Wheel of Time well beyond the fae source material.
July 9, 2020
Damn good pulp fantasy from one of the few female writers of that era. You might know Leigh Brackett better as the screenwriter of "The Empire Strikes Back", but her fantasy fiction of the 60's was right up there with the best of Edgar Rice Burroughs and the like. This is NOT a John Carter of Mars book as one might assume, it's a wholly different story of humans populating all the worlds of the solar system but it's similar in feel. Eric Stark is essentially a barbarian from Venus who grew up in the wilds and on Mars possesses strength and vitality superior to the natives. Like many fantasy novels of the time, the theme is "Wild and savage trumps civilized and backstabby".
This isn't actually one book, it's two fitted into one volume. The first story concerns Eric joining a barbarian army built on strange magical power and the second is Eric helping to defend a walled city grown soft and decadent against another barbarian horde. There's tons of swordfights, last minute escapes, and general high adventure with a bit more character and depth than the Conan books, and I enjoyed every bit of it. It's simple, honest, and fun, minus a lot of the grimdark and social issues preaching that infects a lot of modern fantasy.
Thumbs up!
This isn't actually one book, it's two fitted into one volume. The first story concerns Eric joining a barbarian army built on strange magical power and the second is Eric helping to defend a walled city grown soft and decadent against another barbarian horde. There's tons of swordfights, last minute escapes, and general high adventure with a bit more character and depth than the Conan books, and I enjoyed every bit of it. It's simple, honest, and fun, minus a lot of the grimdark and social issues preaching that infects a lot of modern fantasy.
Thumbs up!
November 21, 2014
Very, very good. Leigh Brackett paints a gloriously vivid picture of a Mars in the Burroughs tradition and advances the state of art: the Martian people are not honor-bound warriors but largely self-interested thieves eking through the final centuries of their dying planet. Their cities are worn out, run down, filled with sin and corruption, and unspeakably old.
The selected pair of stories have interesting commonalities--both revolve around a deception or misunderstanding and involve lost cultures even older than the contemporary Martian societies.
The selected pair of stories have interesting commonalities--both revolve around a deception or misunderstanding and involve lost cultures even older than the contemporary Martian societies.
August 21, 2025
Although he isn't nearly as famous as John Carter, Leigh Brackett's Eric John Stark epitomizes everything that's great about "Sword and Planet" fantasy. Equal parts crafty and ruthless, with far more nuance than any character written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The only problem here is that Eric John Stark doesn't appear in very many places. In fact, even though Brackett's career stretched across four decades, Stark only starred in a total of three full-length novels (the Book of Skaith trilogy). And then there's the fact that much of Brackett's shorter fiction has become increasingly difficult to come by: a tragedy in the making for readers (like myself) who prefer to read their vintage pulp in physical form. Fortunately, Outlaw of Mars continues to provide a semi-easy way for modern readers to acquire both of Stark's most famous pre-Skaith adventures. A relatively obscure yet highly entertaining omnibus that's an excellent complement to the Book of Skaith.
Eric John Stark: Outlaw of Mars is a posthumously-released, mass market paperback that collects "The Secret of Sinharat" (1964) and "People of the Talisman" (1964). Both of those titles are novella-length adventures recounting Stark's experiences as a mercenary, years before his time on Skaith. In "The Secrets of Sinharat", Stark is enlisted to undermine a Martian warlord who asserts the ability to transfer human consciousness between bodies. In "People of the Talisman", Stark comes into possession of an artifact whose absence from the city of Kushat has doomed that remote stronghold to conquest. In both novellas, Stark is portrayed as an outwardly-amoral yet secretly honor-bound man, haunted by his cruel, semi-feral upbringing in the canyons of Mercury. Although the two novellas can be read independently, "People of the Talismen" does make several references to the events in "The Secrets of Sinharat".
Personally, I very much enjoyed both novellas, with a slight preference for "The Secret of Sinharat". Both stories are fast-moving but never cross the line into self-indulgent schlock, with an excellent balance between action sequences and interesting worldbuilding. Possibly more impressive are the thought-provoking, classic sci-fi-esque concepts that emerge during the final act of both stories- a rarity in Sword and Planet fiction, and something that you don't get a lot of in the Skaith novels. At any rate, I ultimately found both novellas to be slightly inferior to all three volumes in the Book of Skaith, and I suspect that most Sword and Planet fans will have a similar reaction (especially if they read the Skaith books first…). Apart from the aforementioned philosophical tidbits, everything here is done better in the Book of Skaith. A clear case of an author coming into their own as their career progresses.
Overall, Eric John Stark: Outlaw of Mars is unlikely to impress anyone who isn't already predisposed toward Sword and Planet (or Sword and Sorcery) pulp, but lovers of those genres should have a ton of fun with the work. I'd still advice that everybody begin their exploration of Leigh Brackett's unfairly overlooked catalogue with the Book of Skaith.
Eric John Stark: Outlaw of Mars is a posthumously-released, mass market paperback that collects "The Secret of Sinharat" (1964) and "People of the Talisman" (1964). Both of those titles are novella-length adventures recounting Stark's experiences as a mercenary, years before his time on Skaith. In "The Secrets of Sinharat", Stark is enlisted to undermine a Martian warlord who asserts the ability to transfer human consciousness between bodies. In "People of the Talisman", Stark comes into possession of an artifact whose absence from the city of Kushat has doomed that remote stronghold to conquest. In both novellas, Stark is portrayed as an outwardly-amoral yet secretly honor-bound man, haunted by his cruel, semi-feral upbringing in the canyons of Mercury. Although the two novellas can be read independently, "People of the Talismen" does make several references to the events in "The Secrets of Sinharat".
Personally, I very much enjoyed both novellas, with a slight preference for "The Secret of Sinharat". Both stories are fast-moving but never cross the line into self-indulgent schlock, with an excellent balance between action sequences and interesting worldbuilding. Possibly more impressive are the thought-provoking, classic sci-fi-esque concepts that emerge during the final act of both stories- a rarity in Sword and Planet fiction, and something that you don't get a lot of in the Skaith novels. At any rate, I ultimately found both novellas to be slightly inferior to all three volumes in the Book of Skaith, and I suspect that most Sword and Planet fans will have a similar reaction (especially if they read the Skaith books first…). Apart from the aforementioned philosophical tidbits, everything here is done better in the Book of Skaith. A clear case of an author coming into their own as their career progresses.
Overall, Eric John Stark: Outlaw of Mars is unlikely to impress anyone who isn't already predisposed toward Sword and Planet (or Sword and Sorcery) pulp, but lovers of those genres should have a ton of fun with the work. I'd still advice that everybody begin their exploration of Leigh Brackett's unfairly overlooked catalogue with the Book of Skaith.
August 28, 2024
I know this is going back to ancient times for science fiction authors, but I have enjoyed Brackett and her husband's (Edmond Hamilton) work. Hell, I think she improved his writing after they got married. In addition, much like what I have heard about Jack Vance's Planet of Adventure, Brackett turns the average planetary romance story on its head (well at least a little bit).
These are among the earlier Eric John Stark adventures, and in 2024 (probably even 1974) we now know Mars could be nothing like what Brackett describes. Her Stark, I'd argue is not portrayed as some great white savior. Stark sides with the indigenous people of Mars, and their rights, when he can. After all he was raised by Mercury's natives after his parents death.
Nor is he portrayed as the noble savage (which considering when Brackett began her screenwriting career, including westerns and John Wayne movies would not have been surprising). Stark is a violent man, one whom will look out for himself but arguably does have his own sense of ethics. In the first of the two novellas contained here Stark is essentially blackmailed into helping Earth's colonial authority try to put down a Martian uprising.
For the time these were written I think I can argue Brackett's writing reads more as literature than usual pulp/adventure writing. Some critics have said her writing comes across as anti-colonialist which I would agree with.
These are among the earlier Eric John Stark adventures, and in 2024 (probably even 1974) we now know Mars could be nothing like what Brackett describes. Her Stark, I'd argue is not portrayed as some great white savior. Stark sides with the indigenous people of Mars, and their rights, when he can. After all he was raised by Mercury's natives after his parents death.
Nor is he portrayed as the noble savage (which considering when Brackett began her screenwriting career, including westerns and John Wayne movies would not have been surprising). Stark is a violent man, one whom will look out for himself but arguably does have his own sense of ethics. In the first of the two novellas contained here Stark is essentially blackmailed into helping Earth's colonial authority try to put down a Martian uprising.
For the time these were written I think I can argue Brackett's writing reads more as literature than usual pulp/adventure writing. Some critics have said her writing comes across as anti-colonialist which I would agree with.
June 5, 2018
This book contains two novellas, the first is about a clan war of the people of the lower canals. Stark is tasked - or pressed rather - by his mentor to infiltrate and stop the situation from escalating. There are however, greater mysteries to be unveiled and the people in charge aren't what they seem to be. There is much adventure, suspense, action and a dash of romance against the colorful background and rich characters. In short, this is grand science fiction as its best and shows why Brackett is the undisputed Queen of Space Opera.
The second story is a re-telling of Black Amazon of Mars, which changes some small details that have rather large consequences towards the end of the story. I'm not sure which version I like more, this one feels a bit more rounded and has a more memorable characterisation, but I do not like turning Lord Ciaran from a redhead to a black haired.
The second story is a re-telling of Black Amazon of Mars, which changes some small details that have rather large consequences towards the end of the story. I'm not sure which version I like more, this one feels a bit more rounded and has a more memorable characterisation, but I do not like turning Lord Ciaran from a redhead to a black haired.
September 4, 2019
This book is the revised versions of Leigh Bracket’s two Martian EJS stories. The first is a remake of “Queen of the Martian Catacombs.” The two major changes are mixed IMO. Stark takes longer to figure out what is going one, which takes away from him being “the thinking man’s Tarzan.” The other change is great, as it adds way more time in the city of the immortal Ramas. Brackets unparalleled mastery of atmosphere really comes out here. The second story is a revision of Black Amazon of Mars. It’s still very good, again the positive change being more atmosphere building. However, I think the change to end is not for the better. It replaces the more “weird” horror of the original with a more “nihilistic” horror. It also looses the heroic fantasy aspect. Overall I liked it less than the original version, even if its more detailed.
June 23, 2021
I've only recently stumbled on Leigh Brackett, the "Queen of the Space Operas," and I've been reading her Mars "Eric John Stark" series. Essentially, these are a bit like Burrough's "John Carter" work, but I'm finding them infinitely more entertaining. Stark is a barbarian type, rugged yet clever. And the racial/social politics of the series are quite nice. Anyone who loves serial paperback pulp fantasy/sci-fi will adore these books... Brackett died a few years ago (one of her last well-known pieces was the orignal screenplay for the Empire Strikes Back -- we all know the lines "Do... or do not. There is no try."), so she's essential one of the older, classic writers of the genre, but definitely worth the time to track down.
November 19, 2025
Coming in just before the New Wave of science fiction that turned the genre on its head in the 1960s, this is a reflection of a genre relatively unchanged since the turn of the century. Brackett does a good Burroughs impression, but I didn't find this much more enjoyable than John Carter even with a half-century headstart. The prose is a little smoother than what you might find in the golden age of the pulps, and the racial elements are significantly toned down in comparison to the aggressively racialized residents of Burroughs's Barsoom, but I still found it difficult to connect with this one.
February 19, 2024
I've always loved this book, since I first read it. I have gone back recently and read the shorter, original versions and find them to be superior. The older versions are pulpier and do not apologize, though changing the title of the second story was a good idea. Still, Brackett's poetic language and ability to evoke mood is second to none.
July 7, 2019
Leigh Brackett is the unacknowledged queen of Golden Age sci-fi!
August 2, 2024
Swashbuckling and entertaining
September 6, 2024
Surprisingly enjoyable. Enjoyed digging into who Leigh Brackett is and the artists that have worked on her covers. The ending was stupid and weirdly kinky.
May 19, 2021
If you're a real Star Wars fan and also like the Mandalorian then you should go to the source and there is practically none better than Leigh Brackett's Eric John Stark for pulpy Planetary Adventure . This edition collects two novellas, "The Secret of Sinharat" originally published in Planet Stories as "Queen of the Martian Catacombs" and "People of the Talisman" as "Black Amazon of Mars". Highly recommended!
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October 17, 2016Excellent narrator - look for more recorded by him.
Classic science fiction, along the lines of John Carter
Classic science fiction, along the lines of John Carter
April 19, 2016
Take a page out of Burough's Barsoom and throw in a lead complex character who has both civilized and almost animal personalities and you have Brackett's version of Mars. Men have settled all the planets from Mercury to Mars and for some reason, they all have oxygen. The civilization on Mars is ancient and not all human. The lead character, Stark, wanders through two stories that are connected where he confronts human as well as spooky ancient semi-magical obstacles.
The writing is solid, tight, and evocative. The plots are not predictable. Worth reading at least once and perhaps holding onto your copy for another go-around in the future.
The writing is solid, tight, and evocative. The plots are not predictable. Worth reading at least once and perhaps holding onto your copy for another go-around in the future.
October 25, 2018
I read this a while ago, so I'm reluctant to review it, but should at least note that it's a pretty good Edgar Rice Burroughs/Barsoom clone. Eric John Stark is your typical John Carter, winning over the ladies without really trying and winning all the battles because, hey--he's Eric John Stark.
Brackett's famous for working on the Empire Strikes Back script, and wrote lots of this kind of stuff. This one doesn't add much to the fantasy (planetary romance?) genre that Burroughs hadn't already put there, but it's a short, fun read anyway.
Brackett's famous for working on the Empire Strikes Back script, and wrote lots of this kind of stuff. This one doesn't add much to the fantasy (planetary romance?) genre that Burroughs hadn't already put there, but it's a short, fun read anyway.
May 20, 2012
Very polished old school planetary romance. Both stories have nice ambiance and drip with ancient mystery, and the prose is vastly better than what's typical for this genre. Unfortunately, they feel a little thin somehow.
July 28, 2008
I like all four of the Eric John Stark adventures. This one takes place on a decaying Mars while the other three take place on a single planet.
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