Gulliver of Mars

Lieutenant Gulliver Jones, U.S.N., arrived on Mars in a most unexpected fashion and promptly found himself head-over-heels in adventure. For Mars was a planet of ruined cities, ancient peoples, copper-skinned swordsmen, and weird and awesome monsters. There was a princess to be rescued, a River of Death to be navigated, and a strange prophecy to be fulfilled.

Here is a long-lost classic of inter-planetary adventure which some science-fiction experts think may have helped to inspire the immortal Edgar Rice Burroughs. Though by no means a Burroughs novel, everyone who has ever enjoyed a novel of Barsoom will find Edwin L. Arnold's GULLIVER OF MARS a special reading delight.

Plot: Gulliver Jones gets flung to Mars on a flying carpet, where he finds a small, pretty race of drifters he calls the Hither folk, who seem to just happily while away the days. He learns another rather, the Thither Folk, who are big and hairy, demand tribute every year, including a beautiful maiden. Jones, naturally falls in love with the Princess, who gets taken, and he goes on a quest to save her. Just as he does, he gets sent back home to his fiancee and a promotion.. so they get married and live happily ever after... did he really go to Mars, or did the Navy man just turn sci-fi writer?