Books like 'The Swordsman of Mars'
Readers who enjoyed The Swordsman of Mars by Otis Adelbert Kline also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical sc-fi action / adventure 20th century sword-planet pulp mars
-
Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 68 ratingsFoundation and Empire tells the incredible story of a new breed of man who create a new force for galactic government. Thus, the Foundation hurtles into conflict with the decadent, decrepit First Empire. In this struggle for power amid the chaos of the stars, man stands at the threshold of a new, enlightened life which could easily be put aside for the old forces of barbarism... -
The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsThe Fated Sky continued the grand sweep of alternate history begun in The Calculating Stars. It is 1961, and the International Aerospace Coalition has established a colony on the moon. Elma York, the noted Lady Astronaut, is working on rotation, flying shuttles on the moon and returning regularly to Earth.But humanity must get a foothold on Mars...Categorized as:
mars 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history apocalyptic audiobook book -
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsRobert A. Heinlein was the most influential science fiction writer of his era, an influence so large that, as Samuel R. Delany notes, "modern critics attempting to wrestle with that influence find themselves dealing with an object rather like the sky or an ocean." He won the Hugo Award for best novel four times, a record that still stands... -
First and Only by Dan Abnett
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsIn the Chaos-infested Sabbat system, Imperial Commissar Gaunt must lead his men through as much in-fighting amongst rival regiments as against the forces of Chaos. For a thousand years, the Sabbat Worlds have been lost to the Imperium, claimed by the dread powers of Chaos. Now, a mighty crusade seeks to return the sector to Imperial rule... -
-
S Is For Space by Ray Bradbury
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsS is for science fiction, spine-tingling, supernatural and sublime! S is for stories from a "Star Wilderness that stretched as far as eye and mind could see and imagine"... -
The Short Victorious War by David Weber
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsThe proles are revolting.The families who rule the People's Republic of Haven are in trouble. The treasury's empty, the Proles are restless, and civil war is imminent.But the ruling class knows what they need to keep in power; another short, victorious war to unite the people and fill the treasury once more... -
The Color Out of Space by H.P. Lovecraft
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsSet in the fictional town of Arkham, Massachusetts, an unnamed narrator investigates a local area known as the “blasted hearth.” After failing to extract any information from the Arkham locals, the narrator encounters an old man, Ammi Pierce, who relates the story of a farmer who once lived there. The hearth, he claims, was caused by a meteorite that fell onto the farmer’s field in 1882... -
Stories Volume 1 by Ray Bradbury
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsOne hundred classic stories from the celebrated author of Fahrenheit 451. In this, the first volume of Ray Bradbury's short stories, some of the author's finest works are published together, among them 'Homecoming', 'Veldt', 'A Sound of Thunder' and 'The Long Rain'... -
On Basilisk Station by David Weber
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsHonor Harrington in trouble: Having made him look the fool, she's been exiled to Basilisk Station in disgrace and set up for ruin by a superior who hates her. Her demoralized crew blames her for their ship's humiliating posting to an out-of-the-way picket station. The aborigines of the system's only habitable planet are smoking homicide-inducing hallucinogens... -
Doorways in the Sand by Roger Zelazny
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe most humorous – and arguably the finest – novel by the master of inventive science fiction. Humanity is not alone in the cosmos. The aliens have given a precious relic to the people of Earth: star-stone. But the harmony of the galaxy is endangered when they discover that the star-stone has disappeared. Likeable Fred Cassidy is an eternal undergraduate... -
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick
Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsIn the overcrowded world and cramped space colonies of the late 21st century, tedium can be endured through the drug Can-D, which enables users to inhabit a shared illusory world. When industrialist Palmer Eldritch returns from an interstellar trip, he brings with him a new drug, Chew-Z... -
The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge by Harry Harrison
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDiGriz and Angelina are happily married and expecting the birth of their sons. The planet Cliaand is waging interstellar war, and against the odds, its Grey Men are invading and taking over planet after planet. The Rat is sent to Cliaand to start a one-man guerrilla campaign to put a stop to the plans of the planet's leader, Kraj... -
Lest Darkness Fall by L. Sprague de Camp
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen am I? Padway asked himself after the lightning-flash knocked him down. He knew where he was--Rome. He was there to study archaeology, and even though the lightning had left him dazed, he could see the familiar Roman buildings...Categorized as:
pulp 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history ancient-civilization book classics -
Rapture: The Big Daddy by Dustin Brubaker
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsArthur Winter, his wife and daughter move to Rapture with the promise of a better life and more importantly a new start. He intends to work hard and one day be wealthy just like Ryan promises everyone who moves to Rapture. He opens a small business. For a few years things are good, almost idyllic. The good life is shattered when one day his daughter mysteriously vanishes without trace... -
-
The Killing Machine by Jack Vance
Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsHaving brought arch-villain Malagate the Woe to justice, Gersen now sets his sights on Kokor Hekkus, another of the Demon Princes... -
Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsOne minute, down and out actor Lorenzo Smythe was — as usual — in a bar, drinking away his troubles as he watched his career go down the tubes. Then a space pilot bought him a drink, and the next thing Smythe knew, he was shanghaied to Mars.Suddenly he found himself agreeing to the most difficult role of his career: impersonating an important politician who had been kidnapped... -
Deathworld 1 by Harry Harrison
Rated: 3.98 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsThe planet was called Pyrrus...a strange place where all the beasts, plants and natural elements were designed for one specific purpose: to destroy man.The settlers there were supermen...twice as strong as ordinary men and with milli-second reflexes. They had to be. For their business was murder.. -
Yesterday's Son by A.C. Crispin
Rated: 3.98 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsThe Romulans attack the planet Gateway, where Federation scientists are studying the Guardian of Forever—the mysterious portal to the past. The Starship Enterprise™ must protect the Guardian—or destroy it. But Spock has already used the portal to journey to the past. On the planet Sarpedion, 5,000 years ago, Spock knew a beautiful, primitive woman... -
Tunnel in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA classic novel from the mind of the storyteller who captures the imagination of readers from around the world, and across two generations. The final exam for Dr. Matson's Advanced Survival class was meant to be just that: only a test. But something has gone terribly wrong.. -
Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe red planet is red no longer, as Mars has become a perfectly inhabitable world. But while Mars flourishes, Earth is threatened by overpopulation and ecological disaster. Soon people look to Mars as a refuge, initiating a possible interplanetary conflict, as well as political strife between the Reds, who wish to preserve the planet in its desert state, and the Green "terraformers"... -
Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsIn the first novel of C.S. Lewis's classic science fiction trilogy, Dr Ransom, a Cambridge academic, is abducted and taken on a spaceship to the red planet of Malacandra, which he knows as Mars. His captors are plotting to plunder the planet's treasures and plan to offer Ransom as a sacrifice to the creatures who live there... -
Arm of the Law by Harry Harrison
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAn experiment in robotic law enforcement goes awry in this thought-provoking read from the golden age of science fiction... -
Legacy by James H. Schmitz, D.A. Lockhart
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWelcome to the Federation of the Hub, an interstellar mosaic of governments and people. When ancient living biological machines suddenly begin to move after millennia of inaction many of the Hub's most powerful people and groups begin vying for the secret locked in these machines. Enter Trigger Argee, the closest associate of the man who first discovered these machines, Holati Tate... -
The Jupiter Theft by Donald Moffitt
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA massive alien convoy is hurtling toward Earth, but its true purpose is a puzzle: “It’s time to discover Donald Moffitt.” —Greg Bear The Lunar Observatory on Earth is picking up a very strange and unidentifiable signal from the direction of Cygnus. When the meaning of this signal is finally understood, it clearly spells disaster for Earth... -
-
The Prophet by Jerry Ahern
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWorld War III was just practice for what's coming. And even those who survived the original firestorm-like John Thomas Rourke-won't have a chance when the next round of carnage begins. But Rourke, the ex-CIA Covert Operations Officer, weapons specialist and survival expert didn't struggle to stay alive in this brutal world only to die in a final holocaust of fire and blood... -
A Trace of Memory by Keith Laumer
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsNightmare at StonehengeWhen Legion meets a strange old millionaire called "Foster,"" he doesn't know that his whole life will never be the same again. For "Foster" has a strange story to tell. Part of his story is contained in his diary, which not only describes things in the very recent past, but goes back for centuries. . .Foster has hired Legion to help him regain his lost memory... -
In the Walls of Eryx (Fantasy and Horror Classics): With a Dedication by George Henry Weiss by H.P. Lovecraft
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThis early work by H. P. Lovecraft was originally published in 1939. Born in 1890 in Rhode Island, USA, Lovecraft began writing at a very young age, quickly developing a deep and abiding interest in science... -
Deathstalker by Simon R. Green
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsThe Iron Bitch-- her Imperial Majesty Lionstone XIV-- ruled the human Empire with fear. From peasants to masters of the galaxy's most powerful families, all were subject to the queen's unpredictable decrees of "outlawing" and death.Owen Deathstalker, unwilling head of his clan, sought to avoid the perils of the Empire's warring factions but unexpectedly found a price on his head... -
A Fighting Man of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTan Hadron from the realm of Gathol encounters a wide range of enemies in this science fiction thriller of the 1930's. He fends off green men, mad scientists, cannibals, spiders and white apes. The main character, Tan Hadron, finds himself an unlikely hero in this pulp fiction classic. "A Fighting Man of Mars," is the seventh book in the Edgar Rice Burroughs Martian series... -
The High Crusade by Poul Anderson
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn the year of grace 1345, as Sir Roger Baron de Tourneville is gathering an army to join King Edward III in the war against France, a most astonishing event occurs: a huge silver ship descends through the sky and lands in a pasture beside the little village of Ansby in northeastern Lincolnshire... -
First Lensman by E.E. "Doc" Smith
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSecret PlanetNo human being had ever landed on the hidden planet of Arisia. A mysterious barrier, hanging unseen in space, turned back all ships. Then the word came to Earth, inexplicably but compellingly:'GO TO ARISIA!'Virgil Samms, founder of the Galactic Patrol, went - and came back with the Lens, the strange device that gave its wearer powers no man had ever possessed before... -
What Mad Universe by Fredric Brown
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsThe editor of a sci-fi pulp magazine is accidentally transported to a parallel universe where space travel is common, Earth is at war with creepy aliens, New York City isn't safe after dark, and his girlfriend is with someone else. Regularly appears on "Greatest science fiction" lists...Categorized as:
pulp 20th-century action-adventure adult aliens alternate-history alternate-universe book -
The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 53 ratingsIt's London, 1907. Journalist Edward Malone, rejected by the woman he loves because he is too prosaic, decides to go in search of adventure and fame to prove himself worthy of her. Soon after, he meets Professor George Challenger, a scientist who claims to have discovered a 'lost world' populated by pterodactyls and other prehistoric monsters... -
Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsIn the Nebula Award winning Red Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson began his critically acclaimed epic saga of the colonization of Mars, Now the Hugo Award winning Green Mars continues the thrilling and timeless tale of humanity's struggle to survive at its farthest frontier... -
-
Total Recall by Piers Anthony, Philip K. Dick
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsPublisher's WeeklyIn 1966, the late Philip K Dick published the novelette ''We Can Remember It for You Wholesale.'' A movie based on the story will be released next year; this book is a novelization of the script and the original novel. The first half of the book follows the original plot closely, despite transforming the unremarkable protagonist Douglas Quail into a musclebound man of action... -
Time Out of Joint by Philip K. Dick
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsRagle Gumm is an ordinary man leading an ordinary life, except that he makes his living by entering a newspaper contest every day - and winning, every day.But he gradually begins to suspect that his life - indeed his whole world - is an illusion, constructed around him for the express purpose of keeping him docile and happy... -
Earth Fire by Jerry Ahern
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Russians, consolidating their brutal hold on America after the bloody horror of World War III, are planning an act so vicious that mankind, itself, may never recover from the blow. John Thomas Rourke, the ex-CIA Covert Operations Officer, weapons expert, and survival authority is the only one with a prayer of stopping them.But the Reds aren't afraid of Rourke... -
The Savage Horde by Jerry Ahern
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsJohn Thomas Rourke, M.D., ex-CIA Covert Operations Officer, weapons expert, and survival authority is on the move again searching for a cache of eighty megaton warhead missiles secreted on the New West Coast.It all begins with a fire fight between Brigands and a unit of U.S. II armed forces, a battle that ends with Rourke, and a seriously wounded Natalia, taking refuge on a submarine... -
The Web by Jerry Ahern
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsJohn Thomas Rourke, M.D., ex-CIA Covert Operations Officer, weapons expert, and survival authority, has accomplished one of his goals-he's helped his young friend Paul Rubinstein locate his parents. Now, Rourke's search for his own family must continue, hampered by severe storms raging along the Eastern Seaboard caused by the earthquakes which destroyed Florida...Categorized as:
pulp 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history apocalyptic audiobook book -
Koniec Jest Bliski by Jerry Ahern
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWorld War III was only the beginning. Inevitable death now awaits every soul who lived through the holocaust as the earth's atmosphere is about to explode into a searing blaze of fire. But one man refuses to die, refuses to accept the horror: John Thomas Rourke, the ex-CIA Covert Operations Officer, eapons expert and survival authority... -
The Rolling Stones by Robert A. Heinlein
Rated: 3.84 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsWhen the Stone twins made up their minds to leave Lunar City in a secondhand spaceship, they hadn't planned on having their whole family accompany them. But the Stones were not your ordinary Lunar family -- no way! -- and their voyage through the solar system sure proved it... -
The Puppet Masters by Robert A. Heinlein
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsFirst came the news that a flying saucer had landed in Iowa. Then came the announcement that the whole thing was a hoax. End of story. Case closed.Except that two agents of the most secret intelligence agency in the U.S. government were on the scene and disappeared without reporting back. Then four more follow up agents also disappeared... -
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsJason Tavener woke up one morning to find himself completely unknown. The night before he had been the top-rated television star with millions of devoted watchers. The next day he was just an unidentified walking object, whose face nobody recognised, of whom no one had heard, and without the I.D. papers required in that near future... -
The Ginger Star by Leigh Brackett
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEric John Stark, Outlaw of Mars, travels beyond the solar system for exciting science fantasy adventures on the planet of Skaith, a lawless sphere at the edge of the known universe... -
-
Now Wait for Last Year by Philip K. Dick
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsDr. Eric Sweetscent has problems. His planet is enmeshed in an unwinnable war. His wife is lethally addicted to a drug that whips its users helplessly back and forth across time -- and is hell-bent on making Eric suffer along with her. And Sweetscent's newest patient is not only the most important man on the embattled planet Earth but quite possibly the sickest... -
Moving Mars by Greg Bear
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMoving Mars is a story of human courage and love set within the greater saga of a planetary liberation movement. Mars is a colonial world, governed by corporate interests on Earth. The citizens of Mars are hardworking, but held back by their lack of access to the best education, and the desire of the Earthly powers to keep the best new inventions for themselves... -
Fantastic Voyage by Isaac Asimov
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsFour men and a woman are reduced to a microscopic fraction of their original size, sent in a miniaturized atomic sub through a dying man's carotid artery to destroy a blood clot in his brain. If they fail, the entire world will be doomed...Categorized as:
pulp 20th-century action-adventure anthologies audiobook classics fiction historical -
The Voyage of the Space Beagle by A.E. van Vogt
Rated: 3.82 of 5 stars · 17 ratings*On and on Coeurl prowled.* So began Van Vogt's first published story, and so begins this novel. The saga of the Space Beagle, mankind's first effort to reach another galaxy... -
Non-Stop by Brian W. Aldiss
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsCuriosity was discouraged in the Greene tribe. Its members lived out their lives in cramped Quarters, hacking away at the encroaching ponics. As to where they were - that was forgotten. Roy Complain decides to find out. With the renegade priest Marapper, he moves into unmapped territory, where they make a series of discoveries which turn their universe upside-down.. -
Swords of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Michael Whelan
Rated: 3.81 of 5 stars · 16 ratings"Swords of Mars" is the eighth book in the Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian series. It was featured in six issues of the "Blue Book" magazine in 1934-1935. John Carter reprises his role of hero as he vows to bring an end to the Assassins Guild. He must travel to one of the moons of Barsoom, Carter then creates a race of secret super assassins to destroy this powerful Guild of Assassins...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.