The Gods of Mars

Rating:
Summary: A heck of an adventure, with some satire of mass religions
Review: I just finished rereading this remarkable adventure story, and must say, some of the capsule summaries above leave a bit to be desired.

Yes, John Carter returns to Mars after 10 years absence, and finds himself in a paradise. But ironically, it's a paradise that soon turns into a kind of violent warring hell. The plant men are only the beginning. The bitterest enemies are a race of almost diabolical priests, the Tharns, who set loose white apes and plant men to slaughter thousands of religious pilgrims. I'm not spoiling the plot at all, since this becomes clear in the first two or three chapters.

Again, there's a deep bond between the hero, John Carter, and a brave and stunning young woman named Thuvia. John Carter, a warlord, is not content to merely escape. He must somehow end this evil empire of hypocritical priests and mass slaughter.

One fine element is the reintroduction of the green warrior chieftan, John's dear friend from the first novel in the series.

There are strains of deeper thought woven throughout. For example, the biting satire against mindless "fanatic" religions.

Heck of a book. Burroughs writes in a style that would seem a bit heavy today. But after a chapter or two, the reader usually can get in the stride. These books read fast-- you can't put them down. The heroines are GORGEOUS-- but the language is "clean" and the books can be recommended for teens. The description-- often in battle scenes-- is up to anything written in adventure science fiction today. This book was written-- amazingly-- in about 1917.

Rating:
Summary: This one blew me away
Review: People notice how ERB poked fun at religion in this book, but he ripped racism to shreds and made the reader laugh, cry, and want to visit Mars with a sword in one hand and a pistol in the other. Not even the evolutionists escaped the expert wit and satire of this masterful and entertaining epic story.

John Carter returns to his beloved Barsoom ten years later, but instead of finding himself in Helium with Dejah Thoris he instead awakens in the lost Valley Dor, the Barsoomian heaven. But in reality it's a far cry from heaven and Carter turns a world upside with his challenging revelations.

The real hero of the story, however, is Dator Xodar, a prince of the black-skinned First Born of Barsoom, the highest race on the planet. The First Born prey upon the white-skinned Therns, who in turn prey upon the nations of the Red and Yellow men of Barsoom. As Xodar learns from Carter that all men should be equal, Carter learns from Xodar that even the most feared Barsoomians can be a truly noble people.

Rating:
Summary: A TREMENDOUS FEAT OF IMAGINATION
Review: This book, #2 of 11 in Burroughs' John Carter series, is a direct sequel to the classic "A Princess of Mars," and a reading of that earlier volume is fairly essential before going into this one. "Gods..." was first published in serial form in "All-Story Magazine" in 1913, and comprises one of Burroughs' earliest works. It is amazing how much action the author manages to cram into the book's 190 pages; on just about EVERY page there is some kind of incredible happening or colorful bit. The book really is hard to put down, and yet, at the same time, the end of just about every paragraph could serve as a cliffhanger! The pace of the book is brisk and relentless, and really carries the reader along to another great cliffhanger at the conclusion. In this volume, our hero, John Carter, returns to Barsoom after a decade's absence, and goes to that planet's "heaven." But heaven turns out to be anything but, and our man gets caught up in battles with plant men and white apes, lost civilizations, religious taboos, the plots of an evil "goddess," duels in the arena and on and on. There are two action set pieces that Burroughs really puts over well. One is the slave revolt that takes place halfway through the tale; the other, a bravura, four-way air battle between the forces of the black, white, red and green men of Barsoom. Both of these sections are thrilling in the extreme; better than anything in the first Barsoom novel. It's also nice that Carter, an Earthman on Mars, fights alongside men and women of varied races, colors, and religious beliefs in a common cause; there's some kind of message there--one for tolerance and brotherhood--that we could all avail ourselves of today.
Having said all this, however, I must admit that there are problems in this novel that prevent me from giving it a top grade. These problems mainly take the form of fuzzy writing and internal inconsistencies. Burroughs, in this novel, does not do well in describing geography; his depictions of the Valley of the Therns, for example, are almost impossible to visualize (for me, anyway). A map of this planet (such as the one provided in LeGuin's Earthsea books) would have greatly helped, given Burroughs' inability to clearly set out his world. As for the inconsistencies: Burroughs, the "editor" of the novel, says he first read Carter's manuscript (for Book #1) 12 years previously; but if he had really obeyed Carter's will (that the manuscript not be opened for 11 years), then he would have only first seen the text of "A Princess of Mars" ONE year before! Tars Tarkas is said to be grieving over his kidnapped daughter in one section of this book; then, a few scenes later, he learns of this kidnapping for the first time. Huh?!?! The scene with Carter on the black-pirate cruiser contains many inconsistencies. Carter is said to be fighting five of these men; he kills three of them, and then three are left. Huh?!?! Six pirates are killed, all told, but later in the book, the number is said to be seven. Carter is said to have killed all these men single-handed, although the Thern princess, Phaidor, had helped him. These pirates are all asleep in the cruiser when Carter comes upon them, although they had been sacking the Thern temple scant minutes before. Does this seem likely? Inconsistencies such as this can drive an alert reader crazy. And don't even get me started on the redundant expressions such as "haven of refuge" and "craven cowards" that pop up all the time. Burroughs improved with age, but these early books are rife with problems that a good copyediting should have weeded out. Still, these minor problems are easily overlooked when one is caught up in the sweep of the story, and this story is as exciting as they come. It really is a tremendous feat of imagination, and one that any lover of swashbuckling fantasy should hugely enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly enjoyable
Review: This is the second book in the series, _A Princess of Mars_ being the first. I like this one better. Again, John Carter astral-travels to Mars, and instantly finds himself in a battle with the plant men, alongside his old friend Tars Tarkas. A new resourceful female character, is introduced. Surprisingly, Burroughs does a hatchet-job on fanatical mass religion and corrupt priests, which is something I didn't expect in an action-adventure novel [...]. Burroughs is generally an adequate, workman-like writer, but, boy, could he tell a story! This book is just one action-packed adventure after another. And even though Burroughs wrote most of his Mars novels right around 1912, they still hold up today.