Edwin Lester Arnold facts for kids
Edwin Lester Linden Arnold (born May 14, 1857 – died March 1, 1935) was an English writer. He is best known for his book Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation. This story is one of the earliest examples of a "planetary romance." A planetary romance is a type of science fiction where characters travel to other planets and have exciting adventures.
About Edwin Arnold's Life and Books
Edwin Arnold was born in Swanscombe, England. He spent most of his childhood in India. Later, he returned to England to study farming and birds. In 1883, he became a journalist, which means he wrote for newspapers and magazines.
His first books were A Holiday In Scandinavia (1877) and Bird Life In England (1887). Then, he wrote his first novel, The Wonderful Adventures of Phra the Phoenician. This book is about a warrior named Phra. He keeps falling into a deep sleep for long periods. When he wakes up, he sees different invasions of England happening over time. This story was first published in a famous magazine called Illustrated London News. Later, it became a book in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
Arnold wrote other novels too, like Rutherford the Twice-Born (1892) and Lepidus the Centurion: A Roman of Today (1901). These books did not sell very well. In 1905, he published his most famous novel, Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation. This book is also known as Gulliver of Mars. When it first came out, people didn't pay much attention to it. Because of this, Arnold stopped writing fiction. However, his book later became important. It was seen as an early example of the planetary romance type of story.
Why Edwin Arnold's Stories Are Important
Edwin Arnold's book, Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation, is very important to early science fiction. Many people think it might have inspired the famous Barsoom series by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Burroughs wrote his first Barsoom book six years after Arnold's.
In both stories, the main characters are military men from the Southern United States. They both end up on Mars and have many adventures. They even fall in love with a Martian princess! Burroughs' character, John Carter, first appeared in A Princess of Mars (1917). Some critics say Arnold's Martian adventure was not as well written. Also, Gullivar doesn't quite defeat his enemies or get the girl in the end. This might explain why his novel was not as popular as Burroughs', which had ten sequels.
The company Ace Books reprinted Arnold's Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation in 1964. They gave it a new title: Gulliver of Mars. Later, another publisher, Bison Books, released it as Gullivar of Mars.
Marvel Comics made a short comic book version of Gullivar of Mars in the early 1970s. This might have been because DC Comics had the rights to publish Burroughs' John Carter stories. The Marvel comic featured art by Gil Kane. It appeared in several issues of a comic book series called Creatures on the Loose. In Marvel's version, Gullivar was a soldier from the Vietnam War. The series started in modern times. Even though it used many of Arnold's characters and ideas, it was not exactly like the original book.
Both Gullivar and John Carter also appear in a comic book series called League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore. They show up at the beginning of the second book in that series.
