Menace Under Marswood

I really enjoyed reading "Menace Under Marswood" (MUM). MUM is a fun little pulp sci-fi romp written by Sterling E. Lanier in 1983. Lanier is better known for novel "Hiero's Journey" and for the prolific amount of novels he helped publish including the very well known "Dune" series when he worked at Chilton Publishers. The novel itself is an adaptation of a "into the wilds" adventure complete with wild savages called "Ruckers" who are the feral descendants of failed Mars colonists. The hero of the novel is Slater, an English / Pathan (Afghani) member of the Earth-based UN task force that supervises the colonization of Mars. In MUM, Earth started the terraforming of Mars several centuries ago except they ran into one problem: China was left out. In revenge, China sent scores of pests and parasites (Kudzu vines, rats, mosquitos, fleas, etc.). As a result, what was once an orderly job of terraforming has turned Mars into a wild overgrown alien jungle lethal to the unprepared. Mars is now an overgrown jungle filled of a mix of dangerous Mars-indigenous and transplanted Earth plants, insects and animals. In the lower gravity of Mars, some animals become truly horrific, growing larger and leaner than they were on Earth. We first meet Slater while he is serving at a frontier fort protecting miners from the wild Ruckers. A mining convoy returning from the wilds is ambushed before the entrance of the fort and Ruckers are held to blame. Mysteriously, several Ruckers intentionally give themselves up in a very staged surrender. Slater's superior officer, Muller, a renowned woodsman experienced with the Ruckers and Mars wilds interrogates the prisoners. Slater and Muller find out that the Ruckers themselves are under great pressure. Some unknown force out in the Mars wilds is pushing the Ruckers out of their "native" habitat. Not only that, but one of the Rucker prisoners is a famous chief known to Muller and asks the Earthers for their help. One of the other Rucker prisoners is a beautiful young woman and a Rucker "wise women" with strange powers of the mind... She and Slater drink a mystical tea and fall into a strange dream of alien beings on a Mars covered with water. The expedition to explore the cause of the disturbance is soon organized and both Earther and Rucker men will be working together including the Rucker chief and "wise woman." The expedition travels through many challenges in the wilds of Mars encountering enemy Rucker tribes, wild beasts and even signs that there may be aliens behind the disturbances in the wilds... add in an escaped convict / evil mastermind and the plot thickens! The novel reminded me a lot of the British adventure novels from India and the Far East. I was particularly reminded of H. Beam Piper's "Uller Uprising." It had that touch of pulp adventure and excitement that once drove the entertainment industry. I enjoyed reading "Menace Under Marswood" and recommend it. Review by: Maksim Smelchak.

Although I don't consider Menace Under Marswood to be as great an achievement as the Hiero books, it is quite good. The plot, tone, and characters are very similar to Lanier's other books and you are bound to like this if you are a Hiero fan. The plot, in brief: Centuries ago, Earth governments sent unmanned ships to terraform Mars. Some of the governments on Earth weren't included and responded by sending follow on ships containing the nastiest forms of life Earth had to offer. The end result is a wild and dangerous planet, almost too inhospitable for colonization. Some of the original settlers of Mars have gone native. These "ruckers" are now in conflict with the colonial government, which hides behind the walls of a few fortified complexes. To complicate the situation, a mysterious new movement has appeared among the ruckers, which may be controlled by a criminal from Earth or, possibly, the "old martians."

like other books of mr. lanier's this book is very good also like his Heiro books it leaves you with the impression that more books will follow covering the same heros. This book also sujested that there were books before it.