I see that Glenn Reynolds has been touting S.M. Stirling's latest novel, In The Courts Of The Crimson Kings.

If you don't feel like waiting until March eighteenth, the first six chapters are available online, for free, right here. From what I've read so far, I think I'll enjoy it much more than The Sky People. Battling Venusian cavemen is okay, I guess, but tales of amazing and decadent super-science truly rock.

Also, it's nice to see Burroughs lovingly updated for the oughts. I've always rather enjoyed the Bottoms of Barsoom, and I'm not talking about the Folsom Street Fair.

Though they are rather reddish, come to think of it. Ahem.

If you're the type who's reluctant to follow a link, here's an excerpt for you. I chose it to illustrate the insidious perils awaiting us in the Brave New World...

Biotech from this planet was revolutionizing a dozen industries on Earth, from waste disposal to fuel production. The powers-that-were viewed archaeology and cultural studies mainly as a means to get the Martians to cough up their knowledge, and to figure out ways of keeping them from lynching or poisoning or infecting the irritatingly inquisitive Wet Worlders.

"I just know enough of the cultural ins and outs not to get killed. Yet." With a wry twist to her mouth: "At least they're more likely to listen to you on short acquaintance, you God-damned beanpole."

The labor gang squatting on the many-footed cargo pallets trotting forward to the flier's freight ramp were the reason for her complaint. They were De'ming, bred for menial labor by the geneticists--or possibly wizards--of the Crimson Dynasty era. They didn't really look like Earth-humans; they were just thick-bodied and short by this planet's standards, enough that they were well within the Terran bell-curve. That was enough to get anyone below six feet perceived as inherently stupid and servile here.

And I don't like their eyes. There's nobody home there.Their kind had been working with that same placid, witless docility for the last thirty thousand earth-years or so, just smart enough to take simple directions...