
stories by L. Sprague de Camp
, begun in the late 1940s and written under the influence of contemporary space opera
and sword and planet
stories, particularly Edgar Rice Burroughs
's Martian
novels. Set in the future in the 21st and 22nd centuries, the series is named for the quasi-public Terran agency portrayed as monopolizing interstellar travel, the Brazilian-dominated Viagens Interplanetarias ("Interplanetary Voyages" or "Interplanetary Tours" in Portuguese).
"We could try phasers at twenty paces..."
to Splink: "Okay, even alternate versions of you are weird!"
"And they have the nerve to say I'm the weird one."
to the author-breaking the fourth wall: "We need a deus ex machina|deus ex machina, and you're deus!"
"We have a saying about our women, 'can't live with 'em, can't sacrifice them to giant, primitive alien beast gods!'"
"Why do I have the feeling this is deteriorating into the climax of Blazing Saddles?" - Ralph Zinobop (Melonpool crossover)