by Otis Adelbert Kline, with an introduction by Joe R. Lansdale
Sentenced to Death!
A master of the sword and planet genre, Otis Adelbert Kline is
considered by many to be the only true equal of Edgar Rice Burroughs.
From his position on the original editorial staff of Weird Tales and
as the literary agent for Conan creator Robert E. Howard, Kline was
instrumental in shaping the face of science fiction as we know it.
Now, in its first complete edition since 1934, Kline blasts off to
Mars with the story of Jerry Morgan, a disgraced American soldier
convinced he has nothing left to live for. Nothing, that is, until his
eccentric scientist uncle offers to make him the first man to explore the
Red Planet in person. Transported through space by powers beyond
his understanding, Jerry lands on Mars only to find himself sentenced
to death for a crime he didn’t commit. Hunted by both sides of a
vicious civil war and spurned by the beautiful princess he loves, Jerry
Morgan is left with only one choice: to unite the slaves and malcontents
of the Red Planet beneath his own banner, and take the throne himself
as an outlaw of Mars.
“Enough action for three novels... court intrigue, treachery,
weird inhabitants, sword fighting, and one hot mama.” —Joe R. Lansdale, award-winning author of “Bubba Ho-Tep”
Known today primarily as the literary agent of Conan creator Robert E. Howard and supposed rival of Edgar Rice Burroughs, in his day Otis Adelbert Kline (1891–1946) was nearly as popular as Howard and Burroughs themselves. Though Kline's famous feud with Burroughs, in which the two published competing Mars and Venus books in constant attempts to one-up each other, may have been the creation of imaginative fans, there can be no doubt that the two authors shared both style and subject matter. Indeed, Kline has frequently been called Burroughs's only true competitor. While he produced only a handful of novels before his death at the age of 55, Kline's presence on the original editorial staff of Weird Tales and his sword-swinging romances on the red and green planets did much to influence the genre, and his legacy lives on in the tradition of sword and planet novels to this day.
Wow I remembering reading this almost 35 years ago glad to see they are being reprinted going to have to get them thanks for rekindling old memories of the old Burroughs/Kline rivalry/feud over planet jumping
James Sutter
Senior Editor/Fiction Editor
