Maureen Birnbaum: Barbarian Swordsperson, George Alec Effinger, Guild America Books, 1993
Maureen "Muffy" Birnbaum is your average prep-school senior from the suburbs of New York City. One day, she is skiing down a Vermont mountain, wearing the latest from L.L. Bean, when, suddenly, she has this weird feeling, and finds herself on the Mars of Edgar Rice Burroughs. This very handsome prince, who happens to speak English, was having a hard time fighting this hideous monster, so Muffy grabs a sword and lends a hand. After the monster is vanquished, she returns to Earth and tells the story to Bitsy Spiegelman, her best friend. Muffy plans to return to this handsome prince, but keeps missing the mark.
She becomes the queen of a group of apes, again speaking English, at the Earth's Core. She becomes involved in a warped version of the Civil War 800 years in the future. In a London shopping mall called Sherwood Forest, Muffy takes part in a clothes shopping contest against Maid Marian, with Robin Hood and Little John as judges. She finds herself in the middle of Isaac Asimov's classic story "Nightfall". (It takes place on a planet with six suns. Every 2000 years, all of the suns set on the same day, plunging the civilization into chaos. On this day, five of the suns have set and the sixth is about to set.)
For a look at some famous science fiction series from a very different perspective, definitely check this out. It's well worth reading.
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