Much as J. R. R. Tolkien and others, Edgar Rice Burroughs, popular purveyor of pulp fiction, had "lost" tales. I like to read ERB, but this is not the Mars books or even the best of the Tarzan books. This volume contains two unrelated stories, but are illustrative of second string ERB. "The Wizard of Venus" continues the saga of Wrong Way Carson, who set out for Mars and found Venus instead. I agree with ERB biographer Richard A. Lupoff, the story has merit as an easy introduction to the Venus series. If you dont't like it, you don't have to bother reading any of the other four volumes. "Pirate Blood" is a foray into 20th Century pirate-adventure land. Even for pulp fiction, this tale relies way too much on ERB's love of fantastic coincidence. Through several wild circumstantial developments, a California motorcycle cop, who is also a descendant of Jean Lafitte, joins modern pirates raiding in the Pacific. Both...