Summary
Summary of Lost on Venus
Key ideas
Key idea 1
A death trap demands quick thinking
Carson Napier enters Kapdor as a prisoner of the Thorists, who blame him for a mutiny. His captors place him in a round room with seven doors, only one of which leads to freedom. Even the food and drink offer danger, and the turning floor destroys his sense of direction.
When snakes pour into the chamber, Carson opens a door and releases a hungry tharban. The animals turn on each other, giving him a narrow chance. His survival depends on thinking quickly inside traps designed to leave no escape.
Key idea 2
Rescue does not settle their love
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Key idea 3
Survival brings Carson and Duare closer
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Key idea 4
Skor's welcome hides a terrible purpose
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Key idea 5
Nalte becomes a brave companion
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Key idea 6
Havatoo makes perfection a condition
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Key idea 7
Nalte's abduction reveals a hidden passage
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Key idea 8
Carson enters Skor's city in disguise
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Key idea 9
Two cities expose the cost of control
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
You will enjoy this if you like escapes, strange creatures and imagined worlds, and if you enjoy a hero who relies on quick wits and a good arm while a proud princess gradually changes her mind about him.
What this book is
Lost on Venus is a planetary adventure by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the third book in his Venus series, set on the cloud-wrapped world its people call Amtor. It follows Carson Napier, an Earthman who flew a rocket to Venus and fell in love with Duare, the daughter of a king. Burroughs wrote it in the 1930s as a fast, inventive tale of capture, escape and strange societies. You get cannibals, monsters, a mad scientist, a city of perfect people and a love that keeps running into custom.
The book opens with Carson a prisoner of the Thorists, an enemy faction, in a city called Kapdor. Duare has been carried off in another direction, and he does not know if he will see her again. From there the story moves through forests, cliffs and rivers, and into two very different cities that face each other across a great river. Along the way Carson meets Nalte, a brave young woman with her own lost home. Let us begin where Carson does, in a round room with seven doors and only one of them leading to life.
In this summary
- 1Seven doors and a hungry tharbanFree
- 2Escape through the roof and a lucky meeting
- 3Cannibals, fire and a first spark
- 4Beasts, a cliff and a vere
- 5The gloomy castle of Skor
- 6Nalte, the dead men and the pygmies
- 7Havatoo and its perfect people
- 8A plane, a game and a stolen girl
- 9The city of the dead and a surprise in the palace
Key point 1 of 9
Seven doors and a hungry tharban
Carson Napier is marched into Kapdor, a drab Thorist town, by Moosko, a Thorist ruler, and Vilor, a spy. They blame him for a mutiny and want him to die slowly. A local officer called Sov offers the room of the seven doors, a round chamber where six doors lead to death and one to freedom.
Sov lists the horrors behind the doors. One has spikes, one has fire, one has deadly rays, one has a hungry beast called a tharban, one has acid, and one has walls that crush slowly. A noose hangs over a table of food and drink that is mostly poisoned. When the light goes out, Carson walks straight toward the door he knows, but the floor is turning, and he loses it.
Then snakes pour into the room. Carson jumps onto the table, then makes a run for a door and wedges it open with a spiked chair. It is the tharban's door. The roaring beast charges, and Carson flees back into the room.
In the fight that follows, the snakes attack the tharban and a huge serpent kills it. The victor then turns toward Carson. This opening shows the book's pattern. Carson faces a sealed trap, thinks fast, and survives by a thread. It also shows how Burroughs mixes cruelty and dark humor in the Thorist city.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Check yourself
How does Duare respond to Carson's love after he rescues her from Moosko?
Right. “But Duare, shaken, tells him that her earlier words of love were a mistake born of fear and gratitude.”Not quite. “But Duare, shaken, tells him that her earlier words of love were a mistake born of fear and gratitude.”
Why does Havatoo spare Carson after condemning him?
Right. “This is science unknown to Amtor, and they spare him to teach it.”Not quite. “This is science unknown to Amtor, and they spare him to teach it.”
What is the central contrast between Havatoo and Kormor?
Right. “One city breeds its people for perfection, and the other makes its subjects obey even in death.”Not quite. “One city breeds its people for perfection, and the other makes its subjects obey even in death.”
Questions about Lost on Venus
What is Lost on Venus about?
It follows Carson Napier, an Earthman on Venus, and the princess Duare as they escape traps, savage tribes and a mad ruler. They meet Nalte and reach two very different cities, Havatoo and Kormor.
Is Lost on Venus part of a series?
Yes. It is the third book in Edgar Rice Burroughs's Venus series, after Pirates of Venus and Carson of Venus. The opening foreword and first chapter explain enough of what came before to follow the story.
What is Amtor?
Amtor is the name the people of Venus give to their planet. In this book it is wrapped in clouds, lit by a soft glow from above and below, and filled with strange beasts, forests and cities.
Who is Skor and what does he do?
Skor is the jong of Morov, a ruler who experiments with the dead. He animates corpses as servants and soldiers and wants to create a new race. His castle and his city of Kormor are central settings.
What is Havatoo?
Havatoo is a white, carved city of scientists whose people have been selectively bred over many generations. It has no written laws and is ruled by five experts, and it is a sharp contrast to Kormor.
