Paragaea: A Planetary Romance

Lou Anders’ latest post, A Princess of Counter-Earth, recounts his intro to science fiction via the work of Edgar Rice Burroughs; specifically A Princess of Mars. Anders’ love of ERB and his kind of fiction has apparently influenced his editorial vision of Pyr, his publishing house. First there was Charles Coleman Finlay’s Tarzan-like story, The Prodigal Troll. Second (due in May) comes Chris Roberson’s Paragaea: A Planetary Romance which takes ERB’s Warlord of Mars as its inspiration. Anders’ describes the book as “old style pulp fiction” and a “swashbuckling adventure.”

To support the book, Roberson has launched the content-rich Paragaea.com, replete with map, character bios and (not least of all) a free prequel novel in its entirety, Set the Seas on Fire, a nautical adventure set during the Napoleonic wars…with zombies! (An SF Signal fave. :)) That should whet the apetite for the upcoming sequel, but just in case, Roberson has also posted the first three chapters of Paragaea.

This is something I definitely want to check out, not only because I tend to like the adventure side of the science fiction literary spectrum, but also because I immensely enjoyed Roberson’s Here, There & Everywhere.