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Rating: 
Summary: Edgar Rice Burroughs' final pair of decent Martian novels
Review: I am not sure if two novels really constitutes an omnibus, but that is what we have in "The Third Barsoom Omnibus," which has a pair of Edgar Rice Burroughs Martian novels, "The Master Mind of Mars" and "A Fighting Man of Mars." For "The Mastermind of Mars," the sixth volume in his Martian series, Burroughs introduces another new hero as American Ulysses Paxton crosses the void between Earth and Barsoom to become the chief assistant to the red planet's greatest scientist. Original published in the first "Amazing Stories Annual" in 1927, the story again begins with a letter, from Paxton, a Captain in the U.S. Army, to ERB in which he tells how he was fatally injured on a World War I battlefield and was transported to Barsoom, in the same way John Carter made the trip in "A Princess of Mars." Paxton has sent the author the manuscript, which allows Earthmen to "become better acquainted with the manners and customs of Barsoom." In what strikes me as an attempt to further explore the brain switching from previous novel, "The Chessmen of Mars," with the Kaldanes and Rykors, ERB's pulp fiction story has to do with human brain transfers performed by the title character, Ras Thavas. Early in the novel Paxton witnesses the scientist transferring the brain of Xara, Jeddara of Phundahl, in the body of a young girl. Now called Vad Varo, Paxton becomes the bodyguard and assistant to Ras Thavas in the city of Toonol, and falls in love with Valla Dia, the young girl whose mind is now in the ancient body of Xara. Our hero helps Ras Thavas transfer his brain to a younger body as well, but extracts a promise from the scientist to help restore Valla's body. Of course, just to make things interesting, Valla is the daughter of Kor San, Jeddak of Duhor, so once again ERB's damsel in distress is Barsoomian royalty (that is to say, yet another princess of Mars). The remainder of the novel follows Vad Varo's attempt to restore his beloved to her own body, which is complicated by a series of brain transplants that alternately help and hinder his effort. The brain switching angle is rather interesting, and actually makes more sense than your standard "strange alien device transfers consciousness between bodies" that we usually find in such science fiction stories (I just saw that on an old "Farscape" episode), but "The Mastermind of Mars" is pretty much an ERB potboiler where everything is resolved in the final chapter. The novel also has his standard indictment of the futility of war and a rather humorous little attack on false religions, as well as a rather confusing roster of characters. After the classic "Chessman" this next Martian yarn is a bit of a disappointment, but it is still at least an average offering in what is ERB's best series. The seventh book in the Martian series of Edgar Rice Burroughs, "A Fighting Man of Mars" is communicated to the author via the Gridley Wave (there is something rather quaint about the old convention of having a prologue purporting that what follows is true). Unlike the Tarzan series where ERB put his hero a series of similar adventures involving one lost civilization in the African interior after another, the Martian series offers up a series of heroes who have to rescue the woman they love. The titular character for this endeavor is Tan Handron, a Padwar of Helium who is in love with Sanoma Tora, daughter of Tor Haten, the Umak commander. Tan Handron is descended from a princess of Gatho, which pleases Tor Haten, who is only a minor noble, but Sanoma spurns the young padwar's love because he is poor. Tul Axtar, Jeddak of Jahar, is also interested in her hand, but before anything can be arranged, Sanoma is abducted by a mysterious flier and the chase is on. "A Fighting Man of Mars" was originally published in six-parts in "Blue Book Magazine" during 1930 and appears to be rather different from ERB's earlier Martian stories in that for one the damsel in distress is not a Barsoomian princess. As Tan Handron pursues the woman he wants across Barsoom he encounters some of ERB's better villains (basically a new one for each installment in the series). As Handron deals with green men and white apes, spiders, mad scientists, and cannibals, he picks up a companion and uncovers a plot that puts all of Barsoom in danger and sets up the big climax. This is one of ERB's better pulp fiction novels, arguably in the Top 10 of his pulp fiction adventures mainly because of all the fantastic creatures, futuristic weapons, and deadly dangers he crams into its pages. With Tan Handron ERB has a hero who is more plagued by doubt that we usually find and I also appreciate that in the end our hero goes for a real relationship rather than some idealized notion of love from afar. Going beyond this point in the Barsoom books is really not worth the effort, but making it this far certainly is for those who like good old fashioned pulp fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Edgar Rice Burroughs' final pair of decent Martian novels
Review: I am not sure if two novels really constitutes an omnibus, but that is what we have in "The Third Barsoom Omnibus," which has a pair of Edgar Rice Burroughs Martian novels, "The Master Mind of Mars" and "A Fighting Man of Mars." For "The Mastermind of Mars," the sixth volume in his Martian series, Burroughs introduces another new hero as American Ulysses Paxton crosses the void between Earth and Barsoom to become the chief assistant to the red planet's greatest scientist. Original published in the first "Amazing Stories Annual" in 1927, the story again begins with a letter, from Paxton, a Captain in the U.S. Army, to ERB in which he tells how he was fatally injured on a World War I battlefield and was transported to Barsoom, in the same way John Carter made the trip in "A Princess of Mars." Paxton has sent the author the manuscript, which allows Earthmen to "become better acquainted with the manners and customs of Barsoom." In what strikes me as an attempt to further explore the brain switching from previous novel, "The Chessmen of Mars," with the Kaldanes and Rykors, ERB's pulp fiction story has to do with human brain transfers performed by the title character, Ras Thavas. Early in the novel Paxton witnesses the scientist transferring the brain of Xara, Jeddara of Phundahl, in the body of a young girl. Now called Vad Varo, Paxton becomes the bodyguard and assistant to Ras Thavas in the city of Toonol, and falls in love with Valla Dia, the young girl whose mind is now in the ancient body of Xara. Our hero helps Ras Thavas transfer his brain to a younger body as well, but extracts a promise from the scientist to help restore Valla's body. Of course, just to make things interesting, Valla is the daughter of Kor San, Jeddak of Duhor, so once again ERB's damsel in distress is Barsoomian royalty (that is to say, yet another princess of Mars). The remainder of the novel follows Vad Varo's attempt to restore his beloved to her own body, which is complicated by a series of brain transplants that alternately help and hinder his effort. The brain switching angle is rather interesting, and actually makes more sense than your standard "strange alien device transfers consciousness between bodies" that we usually find in such science fiction stories (I just saw that on an old "Farscape" episode), but "The Mastermind of Mars" is pretty much an ERB potboiler where everything is resolved in the final chapter. The novel also has his standard indictment of the futility of war and a rather humorous little attack on false religions, as well as a rather confusing roster of characters. After the classic "Chessman" this next Martian yarn is a bit of a disappointment, but it is still at least an average offering in what is ERB's best series. The seventh book in the Martian series of Edgar Rice Burroughs, "A Fighting Man of Mars" is communicated to the author via the Gridley Wave (there is something rather quaint about the old convention of having a prologue purporting that what follows is true). Unlike the Tarzan series where ERB put his hero a series of similar adventures involving one lost civilization in the African interior after another, the Martian series offers up a series of heroes who have to rescue the woman they love. The titular character for this endeavor is Tan Handron, a Padwar of Helium who is in love with Sanoma Tora, daughter of Tor Haten, the Umak commander. Tan Handron is descended from a princess of Gatho, which pleases Tor Haten, who is only a minor noble, but Sanoma spurns the young padwar's love because he is poor. Tul Axtar, Jeddak of Jahar, is also interested in her hand, but before anything can be arranged, Sanoma is abducted by a mysterious flier and the chase is on. "A Fighting Man of Mars" was originally published in six-parts in "Blue Book Magazine" during 1930 and appears to be rather different from ERB's earlier Martian stories in that for one the damsel in distress is not a Barsoomian princess. As Tan Handron pursues the woman he wants across Barsoom he encounters some of ERB's better villains (basically a new one for each installment in the series). As Handron deals with green men and white apes, spiders, mad scientists, and cannibals, he picks up a companion and uncovers a plot that puts all of Barsoom in danger and sets up the big climax. This is one of ERB's better pulp fiction novels, arguably in the Top 10 of his pulp fiction adventures mainly because of all the fantastic creatures, futuristic weapons, and deadly dangers he crams into its pages. With Tan Handron ERB has a hero who is more plagued by doubt that we usually find and I also appreciate that in the end our hero goes for a real relationship rather than some idealized notion of love from afar. Going beyond this point in the Barsoom books is really not worth the effort, but making it this far certainly is for those who like good old fashioned pulp fiction.
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