A Princess of Mars

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Summary: John Carter meets Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium
Review: Edgar Rice Burroughs will always be remembered first and foremost for his creation of Tarzan, but it was the character of John Carter, who first appeared in "A Princess of Mars" who truly served as a template for other science fiction writers. From Lin Carter's "Green Star" series to John Norman's "Gor" books there are tales of the man from Earth traveling to a strange new world and having wondrous adventures. John Carter was a gentleman of Virginia who finds himself looking at his dying body in an Arizona cave. Opening his arms to the planet Mars, Carter is suddenly whisked to the Red Planet, where rival tribes battle while the planet's atmosphere continues to dissipate. Captured by a band of six-limbed giants, Carter soon earns their respect for his prowess as a warrior and forges a lasting friendship with Tars Tara’s of the Tharks. But then the Tharks attack a fleet of airborne vessels and capture Dejah Thoris, the Princess of Helium, the greatest city on Barsoom (as the Martians call Mars). Of course, they get off on the wrong foot, since Carter knows nothing about the culture of the red humanoid race. But the lovely Princess of Mars has captured the Virginian's heart. Abandoning dreams of returning to Earth, he wants nothing better than to win her love. In the meanwhile, he has to protect her from the amorous attention of the depraved ruler of the Tharks, bring some semblance of civilization to the barbarian tribes, and stop all out war between the green men and red men from ending Barsoom's last chance for survival.

"A Princess of Mars" is the first of eleven novels in Burroughs' Martian Series, which seemed to avoid the pitfalls of some of ERB's lesser Tarzan novels. If Dejah Thoris is not the most beautiful woman in the history of fantasy and science fiction, then she certainly has the all-time best name. John Carter is able to take advantage of the Red Planet's lesser gravity to do great feats of leaping about, but it is his innate intelligence and intense sense of personal honor that make him almost idealistically noble. When I first read every ERB novel I could get my hands on in Middle School, Tarzan was always Tarzan, but there was something about John Carter that somehow made him the greater hero in my eyes. Maybe it was the way he handled a sword or how he was always determined to make Barsoom a better place that made him seem Burrough's finest creation. Certainly you will find ERB's most imaginative work, including the great game of Martian Chess, in this series. Do not stop at the first book, because while these novels are fast approaching being a century old, they hold up much better than the writings of Jules Verne or H. G. Wells.

Rating:
Summary: A very old Sci-Fi novel.
Review: Considering the original copywrite is 1912, it is astounding to see this story still in print! The hero, John Carter, a civil war veteran finds himself suddenly transported to a very warlike Mars. Due to the lower gravity he is a bit like a swasbuckling super man. This novel is a fast paced action adventure story with an ending that will make you regret that you did not buy the second novel when you purchased the first. Young and old will enjoy this book. Considering the age of the story I found it amazing how much the author knew about the planet Mars. Of course what was not known about Mars in 1912 certainly allowed the author to be wildly inventive. This is a true classic.

Rating:
Summary: JOHN CARTER OF MARS BETTER THAN ANY JEDI KNIGHT!
Review: A PRINCES OF MARS IS A THRILLING SWASH BUCKELING
STAR WARS TYPE BOOK WITH ROMANCEADD FOR FLOVER, IT IS ONE OF THE BEST OF THE SERIES EVEN BETTER THAN TARZAN, IF YOU LIKE SI FI
FANNISY,YOU WILL LIKE THIS BOOK IT IS A GREAT ADVENTER STORY
OF NO COMPARE! EXECTING ,FILLED WITH ACTION!

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Summary: Mars Series
Review: An excellent story, well told. I have read the entire series as listed at Amazon (...). The first three are very interesting but the story line appears laboured and a bit stale starting with the fourth book. (...)

I downloaded the entire series to my Handspring visor using a Memplug Smartmedia adaptor springboard module I bought at Amazon. (...) I have converted text files from Project Gutenberg to doc format and now have an impressive library in the palm of my handspring ;-)

Rating:
Summary: Great Adventure, Wonderful Characters
Review: Quite simply, this is my favorite book. The story is told first person by John Carter, a former civil war officer who is "projected" to Mars. The story centers around his adventures in the alien world with Dejah Thoris, a princess, and Tars Tarkas, a great green warrior. His adventures help both them and himself to find humanity and happiness in an otherwise bleak, dying world. A Princess Of Mars is an epic tale of romance, war, friendship, and the personal struggles of a man, once lost, finding himself; but what sets it apart from the rest is the truely human struggles of its truely human characters.

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Summary: Pure Fun
Review: I recently reread A Princess Of Mars primarily to see if I would enjoy it as much at 34 as I did at 14. I was not disappointed. Burroughs' Martian novels remain, for me, among the most purely FUN books I have come across in a lifetime of reading. There's a little something here for the adolescent male in all of us.

In a word: Yahoo!

Rating:
Summary: Very good Sci-Fi
Review: After fighting in the Civil War, John Carter travels west with a friend to pan for gold. Attacked by Indians, his friend is killed.

John Carter not only survives the attack, he is transported from Arizona to the desert sea bottoms of Mars. He encounters green, six-limbed nomadic warriors, red skinned humans, and a beautiful princess.

This page turning book is filled with everything you ever wanted in Science Fiction. Edgar Rice Burrows great writing makes "A Princess of Mars" come to life. With his impeccable attention to detail and brilliant storytelling, travel on a journey filled with aliens, strange plants, a beautiful princess, and a great hero.

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Summary: This is the stuff that dreams are made of
Review: Robert Silverberg was once asked "When was the Golden Age of Science Fiction?" His answer was "13". And if there is one book that every thirteen-year-old (male, at least) SF reader should read, it is this one.

This book is the root tale of modern science fiction. Nearly every SF author, sometime or other, will include an homage to John Carter of Mars in his work. It may seem a bit unsophisticated to modern adult readers, but it is the foundation for most reader's (AND writer's) love of SF.

To be followed immediately by The Gods of Mars and The Warlord of Mars.

Rating:
Summary: A Timeless Classic
Review: This is a fascinating book from a fascinating series with each chapter drawing you into the story, and each book into the world of Barsoom. The book flows with a wonderful lure of suspense, action, and romance. The whole series is a fabulous work of literary art. The victorian style science fiction coupled with the writing skills of Mr. Burroughs hooked me the moment I started reading. After twenty plus years, still the most favored of my collection.

Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary Book
Review: I was skeptical becuase i had never heard of this author before. I went ahead and purchased the book because of the high rating. I should say know that i thoroughly loved this book. I finished it in 2 days. It was a real page burner. I just bought the rest of this chronicle and plan on reading it post hast.