
A tired writer finds his imagination slipping beyond the page, thrusting him into the crimson deserts of a hostile Mars. He becomes Thon Carther, an Earth‑born champion standing on the ochre moss of a dead sea, sword in hand, with a striking blond princess from the triple cities of Hydrogen clinging to his arm. The scene crackles with the imminent charge of the green‑skinned Tark horde, their six‑legged mounts thundering across the alien landscape, while the fading sunlight catches the blade’s gleam.
Caught between fantasy and reality, he must act quickly, leaping over the advancing enemy thanks to the planet’s low gravity. The desperate rescue of the princess and the sudden, daring maneuver give a thrilling glimpse of the larger war that looms on this strange world. Listeners will be drawn into the vivid, pulpy adventure as the story teeters on the brink of chaos, promising more daring exploits ahead.
Language
en
Duration
~18 minutes (17K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
New York, NY: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, 1962.
Credits
Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2023-11-17
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1915–1986
Best remembered for lyrical science fiction with a warm, human touch, this American writer published stories and novels from the 1950s into the 1980s. His work often mixed space-age ideas with nostalgia, humor, and a deep sympathy for ordinary people.
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