From http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=50552
"SF author S.M. Stirling told SCI FI Wire that his latest novel, In the Courts of the Crimson Kings, was inspired by his feeling that classic pulp writers had an unfair advantage: namely, that they could imagine a much more interesting solar system than the one we actually have."
This could be interesting for Planet Stories fans.
That's a sequel to The Sky People, which pretty much is a modern version of the "sword and planet" pulps - though probably more "machine gun and planet" since it's set in modern times with the Cold War turning a bit hot after Soviets and Americans both discover intelligent life on Mars and Venus. (Ancient aliens terraformed Mars and Venus and transported current life forms from Earth - at least according to the backs of the books.)
However, I haven't read them yet, but he uses the same line about living in a less interesting solar system in his dedication to the old "pulpsters" in The Sky People. Court of the Crimson Kings is the book that actually caught my eye in the bookstore just the other day, but I decided to read the first book in the series first (funny that). But the premise sounds like pure pulp.