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Black Amazon of Mars Leigh Brackett
Grimly Eric John Stark slogged toward that ancient Martian city—with every step he cursed the talisman of Ban Cruach that flamed in his blood-stained belt. Behind him screamed the hordes of Ciaran, hungering for that magic jewel—ahead lay the dread abode of the Ice Creatures—at his side stalked the whispering spectre of Ban Cruach, urging him on to a battle Stark knew he must lose! On his deathbed, Camar the Martian told Stark an awful secret—as a youth, Camar had stolen the talisman of Ban Cruach. Now, Camar wants Stark to return the talisman to the city of Kushat. But on his way to Kushat, Stark falls into the hands of the Ciarans, who want the talisman for themselves to help in their conquest Kushat. But who is the mysterious Lord Ciaran who holds sway over the Ciarans? And who is the Black Amazon? This classic science fiction short story by Leigh Brackett was first published in Planet Stories in March 1951. Leigh Brackett (1915-1978) was an American science fiction author. Most of Brackett's science fiction can be characterized as space opera or planetary romance. Almost all of her stories take place within a common invented universe, which contains richly detailed fictional versions of the consensus Mars and Venus of science fiction in the 1930s-1950s. Brackett was also a screenwriter, known for her work on films such as The Big Sleep (1945), Rio Bravo (1959), The Long Goodbye (1973), and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Brackett was married to fellow scifi author Edmond Hamilton (1904-1977).
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