Review: Queen of the Martian Catacombs by Leigh Brackett

To stop a war, Eric John Stark must infiltrate an army. But is the warlord the real danger, or is his queen the true threat?

War comes to the Red Planet once more as a man claiming powers beyond mortal ken raises an army from the tribes of Mars. On the run for breaking the law, Eric John Stark is offered the chance to wipe the slate clean if he will find out more about Kynon of Shun – and stop him, if he can. But danger lurks in the shadows and not all is as it seems. More than Kynon’s ambition threatens to send the desert world tumbling into the bonds of slavery and death!

The story

On the run for aiding planetary primitives in their fight against those who would use and abuse them, Eric John Stark drives his mount to exhaustion in his flight from the Earth Police Control. If they catch him, he faces twenty years in a Lunar prison without hope of seeing the sun again for at least that long. Death in the Martian desert would be preferable.

With his mount unable to continue Stark sets up behind a rock, prepared to make a last stand. Only the police have prepared for that; they set up a Banning, a device that can shoot an electric beam to kill…or stun. If the latter setting is used Stark will be captured and brought to Luna, to die a lingering death of spirit in the catacombs. His own position has put him out of range of his opponents, meaning he cannot fire on them with any hope of hitting them. The police have the upper hand and they all know it.

Then one of the policemen – Simon Ashton – comes forward and asks to talk with him. Ashton found Stark when the latter was a wild boy captured and held caged by miners in the canyons of Mercury. The miners caught Eric after they killed the tribe of Mercurians who raised him under the name N’Chaka, meaning “Man-without-a-tribe.” Though of Earth stock Stark naturally relates more to the savages of the solar system than to civilized men.

Understanding that, Ashton doesn’t blame him for doing what he did to land in this mess. But the fact that Stark is headed to meet Delgaun of Valkis for a job – that he dislikes. Delgaun is in league with Kynon of Shun, a man whipping the Martian tribes into a frenzy over an old cult from a tribe long dead. All the civilized men on Mars and on Earth fear something is afoot but the Martian tribes will not allow sophisticated men into their ranks. They will, however, tolerate an outworld barbarian much like themselves. If Stark goes to Valkis as Ashton’s agent, then the policeman can get the charges against him dropped. Otherwise, they will use the Banning to bring him in and Mars will be left to its fate.

With a choice like this before him, Stark knows he has no recourse at all. He accepts Ashton’s offer and the police leave him to complete his journey to Valkis.

The characters

Eric John Stark is a protagonist in the mold of Tarzan of the Apes. A savage at heart, he nevertheless has enough civilizing influences that he is rational, calm, and controlled in most rational situations. But when the fighting starts, he becomes a primeval force to be reckoned with, frightening even the battle-tested barbarians of the Martian desert. The other characters are well-drawn and memorable.

Kynon is the charismatic leader of the tribesman with ambitions to rule all of Mars. Though despicable it is easy to see why people follow him – he has a silver tongue and he knows how to use it. Berild, Kynon’s ostensible mistress, is cunning and cruel, with her beauty making her twice as perilous as she would be otherwise. Delgaun himself is a blackguard who seems to think Berild belongs to him, when her only interests are her own.

Finally, there is Fianna. A girl with eyes older than her body Fianna helps Stark navigate the intrigue swirling through the upper echelons of Kynon’s army. But she can only tell him so much, and her mysterious past has more bearing on the present than is immediately understood. Of all the side characters in the novel she is the most likeable despite receiving less “screentime.”

The world

For a barren, desert world, Mars is absolutely rich in detail. Brackett brings the politics and culture of Mars to life as a master weaver spins threads into tapestries. This isn’t Burroughs’ Barsoom but it is a very lifelike Mars which one may easily get lost in.

The politics

All the politics in this book are related to the story and have nothing to do with current or past policies anywhere on Earth.

Content warning

There is some drug use in the story, though it does not occur in a modern form. Brackett does not spare the reader the horror of addiction, so some might find it a touch graphic nonetheless. Berild and Stark also have some romantic scenes together but those are far less explicit than modern ones and are easy to skim if a reader finds them problematic.

Who is it for?

Sci-fi lovers, space opera fans, and those who just enjoy a good story will love Queen of the Martian Catacombs. Andre Norton fans and those who like paranormal plot twists and powers will find this tale a fantastic read, too. This is classic Sword and Planet fiction at its best, and anyone interested in the genre should take a look at this book ASAP.

Why read it?

It is a story written by one of the best sci-fi writers of the 20th century. Leigh Brackett wrote for Hollywood but the reason George Lucas hired her to write The Empire Strikes Back was her science fiction. What other reason do you need to pick it up and give it a read?