Rating: 
Summary: A good start, but not the best of the series
Review: This is Edgar Rice Burroughs's first novel, and he obviously had some growing pains to go through first. But he got up to speed extremely quickly. "A Princess of Mars" is imaginative, far exceeding anything else written in science-fiction before it. H. G. Welles wrote allegorical and social-commentary science-fiction, and Verne concentrated on scientific prediction. But Burroughs essentially took an old-fashioned Knight-errant story and tossed it onto Mars. The result: a fastasia of plutonium guns, sowrd fighting, flying platforms, 15 ft green aliens, and fercious four-armed white apes. Outrageous, ridiculous, and oh so much fun!But the series would get better in the later books. To fully enjoy "Princess", you must also read "Gods of Mars", and "Warlord of Mars", which complete an informal trilogy within the series. Burroughs has some difficulty structuring this first novel, and the events do not fit together as well as his later works. Escpeially in the first fifty pages, Burroughs appears to be just winging it. Also, some of the stodgy poeticisms of earlier fantasy and sci-fi haven't quite left his pen. In a few more novels, he would trim his style down even further and revolutionize popular literature. With only his next book, "Tarzan of the Apes" (you've probably heard of it), he would make vast improvements in plotting and characterization. But if you want to read Edgar Rice Burroughs (and few authors are more enjoyable), there's no better place to start than the beginning, and you'll quickly forgive "Princess"'s faults and be able to enjoy it...and the best is yet to come!
Rating: 
Summary: Must be read.
Review: I'm writing from a point-of-view that belongs to the 21yr, sci-fi freak, martial artist, I.D.F soldier, israeli citizen, and man that I am. The series of books this book begins, is something that should unite all mankind in it's pleasures, it's wonder, it's fascinating mind (from 1912!), in great things sci-fi make you think of, in it's mind-developing in kids, and other pluses. Mean while, those great pleasures are saved, reluctently, to us alone, science-fiction readers. You should be happy that YOU have an open mind- to enjoy "Princess from Mars". Wonderfull world, exciting life-forms, cruel fighters, beautifull princesess, non-stop action, with this BASIC masterpiece from the dawn of sci-fi. An avid reader can spot the "Barsoom" and "Jhon Carter" in many of the later coming top-authors. Zelazney AND Larry Niven are amongst those who paid tribute to Edgar rice Burroughs in their works (Niven I believe, was very influenced by Tars Tarakas, while writing "Ringworld", and conjuring Speaker-to-animals.) Anyway, I found those books in my continuing study of old sci-fi, and they are ofcourse among my most treasured ones, with 12 (for now) books of A.e Van Vogt, and the Lensmen series of E.E Smith. And don't think im one of those old-guys who read nothing written after the 50' too. I've read Niven, Zelazney, Heinlin, Asimov, silverberg, Sheffield, Vinge, Bester,'K.Dick, williamson, Holdman, Herbert, Hoze Farmer, and many more. Those books i'm talkin' about are written with a different style maybe, but they are just as good as modern sci-fi knockout's like "Dune" or "Ringworld" or I don't know, the're excellent! For those "Hard sci-fi only" guys(with you at spirit) these books tend to be somewhat fantastical. But that's because they were written before sci-fi and fantasy broke away in their own directions and became different janres. Just don't say I didn't warn 'ya. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible Imagination
Review: This is a type of science fiction that is pure fantasy, there are no fancy explanations of technology here. This was written in a time that there were simple rockets, but no one really believed we'd be able to put a person in space, so it's interesting to see how people thought of other worlds. Needless to say, Mars in this book is not the dull frozen planet we've seen in the news, but a lush moss covered world brimming with bizarre creatures, developed technologies and politics. What is described in this book is a whole new world created of pure imagination, with bizarre creatures, romance, heroism, exploration and discovery, and non stop action. I LOVED this book, I couldn't put it down. You find find anything described realistic, but the plot and imagination will grab you. If you like pure escapism, this is definitely the read. It concerns an army man who is suddenly transported to Mars and immediately has to start dealing with the various political forces and creatures and dangers there.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining Pulp Fiction
Review: Civil War veteran John Carter is carried away to Mars. There, he impresses the giant green Tharks with his hand-to-hand combat skills, falls in love with Princess Dejah Thoris, and has many adventures. Very fun escapist yarn. Totally implausible, but never really asks you to take it seriously. Pure wish-fulfillment heroic fantasy. Burroughs' prose is a bit archaic and stilted, and some plot twists were too extraordinary to be satisfying. Overall, however, Princess is very entertaining pulp fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Recently reunited with a long lost friend
Review: 30 years ago, when I was 14, I read this book from cover to cover in a day. Action of this sort was new to me & I was hooked on it. I could not get enough of John Carter & his adventures and read all the books in the series. John Carter was a real hero and what boy becoming a man didn't want to be just like Carter? While browsing the local library shelves last week I found an old edition of A Princess of Mars.It was like rounding a corner and walking into your best friend you've not seen in forever.I read this book again as if it was the first time ...it was more glorious this time than 30 years ago.This book is filled with adventure,courage, action,devotion,insight & is extremely well written. A Princess of Mars is a must read..as great as Tolkien's Rings & Howard's Conan.
Rating:
Summary: An old favorite
Review: I just recently read this book again a good fifteen years after I first encountered it, and it was still a pleasure. I am picking up a copy on amazon as I will be sending the older printing I found in a used bookstore to my uncle, who was introduced to science fiction through the eyes of John Carter. This book is of a class with a wonderful group of fiction writers including Robert Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, and even Tolkien. Basically if you like Flash Gordon, Tarzan, Conan, and Cuthulu you will very probably enjoy John Carter and Dejah Thoris.
Rating:
Summary: It's no classic, but it is a good book.
Review: While it isn't a classic, A Princess of Mars is good escapist fare. Easy to read and always interesting. If you want to kill some time with some good pulp fiction, you probably can't do better than this. All the elements are here: action, interesting aliens and strange cultures, romance, heroism. If your looking for hard SF you'd probably do better elsewhere. But if you want something light, check this out.
Rating:
Summary: Alex Sydorenko
Review: Long Live John Carter Warlord of MArs. When I was a kid and read this series, I wanted to be John Carter of Mars. Now I'm much older and still fascinated while rereading A Princess of MArs. Who can forget the opening part with John Carter lying in that Arizona cave and gazing at the strange red planet Mars while something behind him in the cave's darkness is stirring. What was that force that sent Carter to the red planet? And then there's his arrival in Mars and that strange green many-armed creature Tars Tarkas of the mighty green men of Thark. And then there's Dejah Thoris, the princess, a woman that words can't even begin to describe. What a babe. This book is still as good as it was back then. --Alex Sydorenko, Chicago, Sept 1999.
Rating:
Summary: Once you begin reading this series, it'll be hard to stop!!!
Review: This whole John-Carter-on-Mars series is, in my opinion, even better than his Tarzan series! Burroughs lets his imagination go wild, creating an entire planet of noble Martian warriors, lots of evil Martians, and plenty of beautiful Martian women for the men to fight over! This first book sets the stage for the rest of the series. Books 2 & 3 are a bit over-long, but it really picks up after that! The people and races of Martians created by Burroughs is really fantastic --- this is sci-fi which is still excellent reading today!
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Summary: The first in the famous John Carter of Mars series.
Review: This is the first novel in the adventures of John Carter on Mars (#1 in the Barsoom series), where Mars is referred to as Barsoom. These novels contain great creations of flora and fawna. I first read all the books in this series when I was in high school in the early 1960s and they are just as much fun now as they were then. And, my Dad loved this series when he was a teenager as well. This book is regarded as a classic and landmark in the history of the science fiction novel. Any serious student of science fiction literature should be very familiar with them. The story opens up in 1865. The U. S. Civil War has just ended and the former Confederate officer John Carter has traveled west to Arizona with a friend to prospect for gold. Although successful initially, they are attacked by Indians. Carter's friend dies and he finds himself cornered inside a cave. Carter awaits the final attack but is perplexed when the Indians fail to do so. Moments later, Carter finds himself transported from Arizona to the desert sea bottoms of Mars, called Barsoom by its natives (this transportation to Mars via a type of astral projection or teleportation was an early example of such transportation methods appearing in science fiction literature). Carter soon finds that he has great leaping abilities and comes in contact with tall, green, nomadic warriors with six limbs. He also finds humans like himself, albeit with red skin and more advanced scientifically. Carter soon befriends a captive red woman, named Dejah Thoris, who is a princess of Helium. He takes on the task of returning the princess to her people. In the accomplishment of this task, Carter learns much about the world of Barsoom and much about Dejah Thoris. A great adventure tale that has remained popular for more than four score years.
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