Duel on Syrtis

About this book

Riordan is a ruthless millionaire and legendary big-game hunter. From the firedrakes of Mercury to the ice crawlers of Pluto, he has bagged them all. Only one trophy is missing from his collection: a Martian. Hunting the native "owlies" is now strictly illegal, with a twenty-year sentence for anyone caught, but out on the red frontier the Martian Commissioner is half a planet away. With the help of a greedy trader, Riordan lands in the Hraefnian Hills, where an ancient Martian warrior named Kreega lives alone in a ruined tower. Kreega has hated Earthmen since the first ships touched down. Now the hunter has a hawk, a rockhound and a rocket spraying glowing death across the desert, and Kreega is cut off from his weapons. But the old Martian has lived for two centuries, and the night itself whispers to him. First published in Planet Stories in March 1951, this tense, fast-paced short novel is classic pulp science fiction from Poul Anderson, one of the great names of the genre. It is a story of predator and prey on a harsh, dying world, and of how quickly the roles can change. Open it in your browser and start reading instantly on E-ComicBooks.com.

Author

Poul William Anderson, Poul Anderson

Length

~37 pages

Reading time

44 min

Chapters

2

Released

November 11, 2026

Languages

🇬🇧 EN · 🇵🇱 PL · 🇩🇪 DE · 🇫🇷 FR · 🇪🇸 ES · 🇮🇹 IT · 🇧🇷 PT-BR · 🇲🇽 ES-MX · 🇵🇹 PT · 🇺🇦 UK · 🇨🇿 CS · 🇸🇰 SK · 🇬🇷 EL · 🇭🇺 HU · 🇹🇷 TR · 🇳🇱 NL · 🇷🇴 RO · 🇧🇬 BG · 🇭🇷 HR · 🇷🇸 SR · 🇸🇮 SL · 🇱🇹 LT · 🇱🇻 LV · 🇪🇪 ET · 🇸🇪 SV · 🇩🇰 DA · 🇳🇴 NB · 🇫🇮 FI · 🇯🇵 JA · 🇰🇷 KO · 🇨🇳 ZH · 🇹🇼 ZH-TW · 🇮🇩 ID · 🇻🇳 VI · 🇹🇭 TH · 🇮🇳 HI · 🇸🇦 AR · 🇮🇱 HE

Formats

eBook

Print format

Paperback, 12.7 × 20 cm, 48 pages

Age rating

Teen 13+