Maza of the Moon

Another decent pulp story. A Tony Stark-like protagonist accidentally starts a war with the Moon-Chinese (this section is a twist on Verne's story 'Earth to the Moon'). Yes in this all Chinese and presumably all other asians, are descended from moonmen.
If that sounds a bit racist then you would be right, the descriptions of the moon-chinese are particularly stereotypical. However overall the chinese people on earth are fairly dealt with.
There is of course the requisite princess (a caucassian, needless to say), there are also space-ships, deathrays, spacedragons, etc.
This is at least as pulp as 'Princess of Mars' but i liked it far more. One great thing was the background material about a war between Mars and the Moon. That really helped show more give the story-world a bit of depth. show less

Trite sword and planet offering from Otis Adelbert Kline, a contemporary and rival of Edgar Rice Burroughs. When a missile is test fired at the moon, the moon fires back. To end the confrontation, the Americans who fired the missile travel to the lunar surface. The rulers of the moon have a common ancetry with Earth's Chinese population, making this "Yellow Peril in Space." Kline did much better with his Planet of Peril series.

This story is set in the far off future of 1964. Like much speculative fiction from the early part of the 20th century, it can now probably better be appreciated from the alternate time-line viewpoint?
The story is loosely set in the same universe as OAK's other novels 'Swordsman of Mars' and the Venusian 'Peril' sagas.

Entrepreneur and genius Ted Dustin, who back in the '50s perfected solar energy to a state where it has taken over from coal and oil as Earth's principle power sources; is now running out of money after a long stint of private research into atomic energy.
As luck would have it there is a prize for the first person who manages to get an object on the moon. So eager to win the prize money and rescue his company from show more bankruptcy, he builds a giant canon in the Galapagos and fires!
The missile launch on March 16 is a technical success, but in the process of exhorting incredible force to fire the projectile, it triggers a series of volcanic eruptions which not only destroy the island but any record of the success of the launch!
Theodore Dustin, Inc. is ruined and Ted is disgraced!

Then on May 5, there are a series of five flashed from a crater on the moon visible from Earth, followed by five cities being destroyed!

The president asks Ted to mediate with the Lunites via his powerful radio television for a peaceful end to the conflict. Ted receives the response when a beautiful (and scantily clad) female graces his screen, apparently captivating Ted's heart; but seconds later the signal is lost and replaced by that of a a fat round yellow creature with oriental features and pagoda head gear and speaking only in ancient Chinese! An interpreter is quickly found; a Doctor Wu - who uncovers that this alien may well be the origin of the Chinese civilization on Earth?
Doctor Wu is trusted to vocalize a diplomatic apology, but his speech is received with horrified expressions from both the fat yellow creature and the beautiful space princess who's name we learn is 'Maza an Ma Gong'
(apparently the Yellow creatures are the same Ma Gongi from 'Swordsman of Mars')

Following an even more frenzies series of attacks on Earth, Ted completes a small one man space craft, armed with degravitor ray gun and blasts off for the Moon with no real plan but to get stuck into the action and figure out how to fix it once he gets there?
On arrival at the Hipparchus crater Ted stumbles into some local carnivorous plant life and is rescues by none other then Maza, mounted on a flying dragon; and the the two form an allegiance.

Maza takes Ted inside the craters where the true lunar atmosphere and surface life exists including the real life counterparts of many of the real life creatures from Chinese mythology.
Maza is snatched by a flying beast and Ted gives chase.

Meanwhile on Earth the Lunites form a cultural alliance with China (albeit fraught with civil unrest).
Ted's second in command, Roger Sanders, builds a flying battleship based on Ted's earlier designs and follows him to the Moon - just in time to assist Ted and Maza in Lunar war between the exiles Martians of Maza's race and the Pot-bellied yellow Ma Gongi.

The story has some interesting references, including the earliest I've come across for a 'light sabre' battle between red and green degravitator sabres! But this is a very different style of OAKs other planetary romance novels and bears more resemblance to some of the Flash Gordon stories? There is also a great deal of time spent on Earth which threw me a little, expecting a sword and planet adventure from the off.

Still an interesting read if only to finish off the entire series. show less