Published in 1905, six years before the first Barsoom adventure, this novel was the probable muse that inspired Edgar Rice Burroughs to send John Carter to Mars, or so Richard A. Lupoff tells us in his introduction. Okay, ERB didn't pluck his idea out of rarefied atmosphere. No big deal, not gonna send me screamin' for the nearest foxhole. However, when Lupoff revealed Gulliver got to the red planet via magic carpet I almost slammed the book shut,. But by the end of the first chapter the way it played out was so completely unexpected that any other mode of transport would now be a monumental letdown. It's too soon to be over confident but all the hallmarks of a good read are on display. Have high hopes for this one.