"I met [Julian the 3rd] in the Blue Room of the Transoceanic Liner Harding the night of Mars Day—June 10, 1967. (...) I had thought that Victory Day, which we had celebrated two months before, could never be eclipsed in point of mad national enthusiasm, but the announcement that had been made this day appeared to have had even a greater effect upon the minds and imaginations of the people. (...) Today, this tenth of June, 1967, there was broadcast to the world the first message from Mars. It was dated Helium, Barsoom, and merely extended greetings to a sister world and wished us well. But it was the beginning." -- from the Prologue to The Moon Maid by Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1923

"Mars Day—June 10". So it is written in the Burroughsian scriptures and so it is observed here at the DMR Books blog. I had planned to write a post on Mars Day both in 2018 and 2019, but simply couldn't find the time either year. This year, despite receiving some disturbing news earlier today, I am resolved to get something up, come Hell or a Warhoon horde.*

What's the big deal? Well, Edgar Rice frikkin' Burroughs himself--the Father and Once and Future King of Sword and Planet Fiction--gave us the date to celebrate. For any fan of ERB or S&P fiction, that should be more than sufficient reason to honor this day. Also, Ed gave us Mars Day in the opening pages of The Moon Maid, which was the very first non-Barsoomian S&P novel that he ever wrote. With The Moon Maid, Burroughs gave his fans a brand new exotic, unearthly world to explore. Not only that, but he put Barsoom (Mars) and Va-nah (the Inner Moon) in the same universe. While not a true "crossover" novel, it's close enough.

That crossover element is why I also consider Mars Day to be "(Unofficial) Sword and Planet Day". I mean, what're ya gonna do? Have one day for Mars/Barsoom and then another day for S&P (with or without Barsoom)? Until the market/audience for Sword and Planet fiction reaches a critical mass requiring some sort of mitosis, I say we keep things under one big tent.

There was a fairly big Mars Day celebration in Irving, Texas back in 2017. Sort of. The annual convention of the Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship society met in Irving on the second weekend of June. On Saturday, the tenth of June, 2017--fifty years to the day after the date given for the first Mars Day in The Moon Maid--representatives from ERB, Inc. announced the forthcoming publication of Christopher Paul Carey's Swords Against the Moon Men.

Pretty damned cool, if you ask me. I'd been asking on my ERB Facebook group if there was going to be some sort of mention of the Mars Day anniversary at the ECOF gathering, since the second day of the convention was on June 10. Talk about going big. The ERB crew had dropped a bombshell. On Mars Day.

It wouldn't have been quite such a big deal if the author hadn't been Christopher Paul Carey. He was already well-known to ERB fans as the man who carried on the Opar/Khokarsa series with Philip Jose Farmer's blessing. Carey's stellar writing skills and obvious knowledge of the works of Burroughs made him a perfect candidate to write a sequel to The Moon Maid.

Swords Against the Moon Men was released in late 2017. I can say in no uncertain terms that Carey did ERB proud. Not only do I consider it the best Burroughs pastiche I have ever read--and I've read most of them--I consider Swords Against the Moon Men to be easily one of the best pastiches ever done by any author. Carey nailed it. An instant classic in the Sword and Planet genre and a novel that finally made a true Barsoom/Va-nah crossover happen.

So, get out there and celebrate Mars/Sword and Planet Day. Reread one of your own S&P books, check out one of ERB's Barsoom/Va-nah/Amtor books over at Roy Glashan's awesome website or--better yet--buy a new S&P novel of some kind. Under a Dim Blue Sun from DMR Books would be a fine choice, in my opinion. We S&P fans can't make a true Sword and Planet Renaissance happen without showing that the genre has commercial potential. Kaor!

For those unfamiliar with the Barsoomian term, “kaor”, it means “welcome”, more or less.

*Connectivity issues thwarted my goal of getting this post up on June 10. Maybe next year…