The novel “Lieut. Gullivar Jones, His Vacation” (cover photo ©Simon Jones), also known as “Gulliver of Mars”, by Edwin L. Arnold was published for the first time in 1905. It’s freely available at Gutenberg Project.
US Navy Lieutenant Gulliver Jones found himself on Mars unexpectedly, thanks to a magic carpet. There he discovers ancient civilizations and strange places where people are in part very different from the Earth’s but otherwise similar. Slowly, he’s at least partly able to settle in one of Mars exotic city.
Among the people Gulliver Jones meets there’s the beautiful princess Heru. When a group of people with bad intentions kidnap the girl to give her to the sovereign of another kingdom, the Earthsman decides he’s going to save her at all costs. Jones begins a long and dangerous journey to find her.
“Gulliver of Mars” is one of the precursors of the “sword and planet” stories, a subgenre of what we now call science fantasy. These are adventures set on other planets with characteristics closer to classic adventure or heroic fantasy than to science fiction in which the protagonists use weapons such as swords instead of beam weapons.
The adventures of John Carter by Edgar Rice Burroughs, started with the novel “The Princess of Mars“, are typically mentioned as the origin of sword and planet stories. Actually, the 1880 novel “Across the Zodiac: The Story of a Wrecked Record” by Percy Greg is credited as the first example of this subgenre.
At the time, modern science fiction didn’t even exist and the expression scientific romance was used to describe the stories by Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. Edwin L. Arnold had already written novels containing fantasy elements and “Gulliver of Mars” was inspired by various previous stories including “Gulliver’s Travels” by Jonathan Swift.
In the novel by Edwin L. Arnold, the protagonist arrives on Mars thanks to a magic carpet. The first part of the story is about his “culture shock” in dealing with the many differences found in the red planet’s inhabitants. The author was English and gives the impression that at the time the opinion of the Americans was already not very good. “Gulliver of Mars” isn’t specifically a satire like “Gulliver’s Travels” but the protagonist doesn’t come out very well.
Gulliver Jones seems the stereotypical American’s full of himself, convinced of his superiority. In fact, in the course of his adventures, his behavior that are supposed to be heroic haven’t always a great success. For this reason, you may not like him but at least the reader can laugh at his limits and his skills not always up to the situations in which he finds himself.
A protagonist who turns out to be far from a strong hero could be one of the reasons why “Gulliver of Mars” had initially a limited success, so much so that Edwin L. Arnold stopped writing fiction. Curiously, the success came with in time and today this is his most famous novel. The various editions not only have different titles but also spell the protagonist’s name either Gullivar or Gulliver.
Another problem with the novel is that the first part is slow and I think it aged badly. Gulliver Jones tries to understand Martians customs so there are many dialogues and little happens. The language is full of big words and for the protagonist everything is wonderful and exceptional. Unfortunately Edwin L. Arnold is not Jack Vance and his descriptions were perhaps evocative for the readers of his time but reading them today I think they’re a burden to the story rather than enriching it.
It’s not until about halfway into the novel that the most adventurous part begins and the pace accelerates. in the course of the story, Gulliver Jones meets a number of characters but I didn’t find them very interesting. The narration is in first person, as it’s a chronicle made by the protagonist, but because of his characteristics perhaps that wasn’t the best choice.
Maybe Edgar Rice Burroughs saw the flaws of “Gulliver of Mars” and, also because he got inspired to pulp magazines, wrote the John Carter’s adventures keeping a faster pace making his hero stronger than Edwin L. Arnold’s. Honestly, I think that “Gulliver of Mars” can be liked mostly by people interested in the precursors of science fiction and fantasy.
