Llana of Gathol

Rating:
Summary: John Carter has a series of semi-comic adventures
Review: "Llana of Gathol" is the oddest book in the Edgar Rice Burroughs Martian series for a couple of reasons. First, it is not a novel per se, but a collection of four novellas that ERB wrote for "Amazing Stories" in 1941. Consequently, it has more of the feel of a sequel than most of the Martian books. Second, there is a healthy suspicion that Burroughs was having a bit of fun with the formula he had made so successful in his pulp fiction yarns set on Barsoom. In other words, if you think of these stories as being parodies you are going to enjoy them a lot more than if you try to take them at face value as adventures. Llana is John Carter's granddaughter and the daughter of Gahan of Gathol and Tara of Helium and she is the requisite damsel in distress.

"The Ancient Dead" (originally published as "The City of Mummies") begins with John Carter out for a ride in his flier, saving a white man with yellow hair from a horde of green men, and ending up the prisoner of Ho Ran Kim, the Jeddak of Horz. Pan Dan Chee, the man Carter rescues, becomes his friend and while playing jetan with Carter's personal set, Pan Dee Chee falls in love with the piece fashioned to look like Llana. You have to admit this is a funny idea, and you have to laugh at the twist ERB comes up with for the "hero must fight for princess" bit that is a staple of his adventures once Llana literally pops up in the story.

"The Black Pirates of Barsoom" picks up where the previous story left off, with our trio walking back to Helium, and is basically one of those stories when John Carter and his group are enslaved and his fighting prowess gets him sent to the arena. There is an imaginative machine that helps keep the slaves in line, but overall there is nothing here that we have not seen before in this series. Meanwhile, Llana continues to act like a brat and put Pan Dan Chee through the wringer in clearly tongue-in-cheek fashion.

"Escape on Mars" (originally published as "Yellow Men of Mars") finds the gang in the vicinity of Gathol, which is being attacked by Hin Abtol, the self-proclaimed Jeddak of Jeddaks of the North. This is the story where Llana has to be rescued (come on, you know it was coming) and finds John Carter being rather glib when it comes to the "to be continued" climax.

"Invisible Men of Mars" has Carter trying to deal with Llana's romantic problems and the fact that he needs to have the fleet of Helium teach Hin Abtol a lesson about trying to conquer the world. He also has to deal with Rojas, a girl he picks up on the way and who keeps throwing herself at him in a way that makes La of Opar look like a nun (keep in mind, John Carter is a grandfather at this point). The big climax is standard ERB fare except the author is clearly having too much fun.

As I indicated above, if you take these stories seriously you are clearly missing the point. During this period Burroughs was into the idea of self-parody, and you can find similar satirical stories in both the Tarzan and Pellucidar series. I like the contrast between Carter being in the forefront with the heroic deeds while Llana toys with Pan Dan Chee in the romantic subplot. The results are not great, but certainly enjoyable, as is the wry sense of humor that the Warlord of Mars has suddenly developed (e.g., at the end of the first story he confesses to Pan Dan Chee, "Well, I never did understand women").

Rating:
Summary: John Carter has a series of semi-comic adventures
Review: "Llana of Gathol" is the oddest book in the Edgar Rice Burroughs Martian series for a couple of reasons. First, it is not a novel per se, but a collection of four novellas that ERB wrote for "Amazing Stories" in 1941. Consequently, it has more of the feel of a sequel than most of the Martian books. Second, there is a healthy suspicion that Burroughs was having a bit of fun with the formula he had made so successful in his pulp fiction yarns set on Barsoom. In other words, if you think of these stories as being parodies you are going to enjoy them a lot more than if you try to take them at face value as adventures. Llana is John Carter's granddaughter and the daughter of Gahan of Gathol and Tara of Helium and she is the requisite damsel in distress.

"The Ancient Dead" (originally published as "The City of Mummies") begins with John Carter out for a ride in his flier, saving a white man with yellow hair from a horde of green men, and ending up the prisoner of Ho Ran Kim, the Jeddak of Horz. Pan Dan Chee, the man Carter rescues, becomes his friend and while playing jetan with Carter's personal set, Pan Dee Chee falls in love with the piece fashioned to look like Llana. You have to admit this is a funny idea, and you have to laugh at the twist ERB comes up with for the "hero must fight for princess" bit that is a staple of his adventures once Llana literally pops up in the story.

"The Black Pirates of Barsoom" picks up where the previous story left off, with our trio walking back to Helium, and is basically one of those stories when John Carter and his group are enslaved and his fighting prowess gets him sent to the arena. There is an imaginative machine that helps keep the slaves in line, but overall there is nothing here that we have not seen before in this series. Meanwhile, Llana continues to act like a brat and put Pan Dan Chee through the wringer in clearly tongue-in-cheek fashion.

"Escape on Mars" (originally published as "Yellow Men of Mars") finds the gang in the vicinity of Gathol, which is being attacked by Hin Abtol, the self-proclaimed Jeddak of Jeddaks of the North. This is the story where Llana has to be rescued (come on, you know it was coming) and finds John Carter being rather glib when it comes to the "to be continued" climax.

"Invisible Men of Mars" has Carter trying to deal with Llana's romantic problems and the fact that he needs to have the fleet of Helium teach Hin Abtol a lesson about trying to conquer the world. He also has to deal with Rojas, a girl he picks up on the way and who keeps throwing herself at him in a way that makes La of Opar look like a nun (keep in mind, John Carter is a grandfather at this point). The big climax is standard ERB fare except the author is clearly having too much fun.

As I indicated above, if you take these stories seriously you are clearly missing the point. During this period Burroughs was into the idea of self-parody, and you can find similar satirical stories in both the Tarzan and Pellucidar series. I like the contrast between Carter being in the forefront with the heroic deeds while Llana toys with Pan Dan Chee in the romantic subplot. The results are not great, but certainly enjoyable, as is the wry sense of humor that the Warlord of Mars has suddenly developed (e.g., at the end of the first story he confesses to Pan Dan Chee, "Well, I never did understand women").

Rating:
Summary: The last but one of a great series
Review: John Carter discovers an incredible secret while exploring the long abandoned city of Horz, believed by many to be the most ancient ruined city on Barsoom: Orovars, the ancient race of white-skinned Barsoomians, still live outside of the city of Lothar!

But while Carter and his newfound friend Pan Dan Chee escape from the secretive Orovarian society, they discover Llana of Gathol, no other than Carter's own grand-daughter. She is fleing from Hin Abtol, another power-mad Jeddak (king) who has decided to unite Barsoom under his rule. Carter, Llana, and Pan Dan Chee take on Hin Abtol and his might war machine!

This story, broken down into four parts for serialization, is the last full adventure for John Carter. It comes across as a bit formulaic for anyone familiar with the earlier stories in the series but it's still a strong and compelling action/adventure yarn in its own right.

Rating:
Summary: The continuing adventures of John Carter
Review: This was the first Mars book that I ever read, and it was given to me when I was 13 by a boy on whom I had a terrible crush. The boy disappeared into the mists of high school, but I've still got the book. I recently decided to re-read it when I ran across it in the bottom of a box, and am certainly glad that I did.

John Carter faces a multitude of foes in order to rescue his granddaughter Llana of Gathol. From the corpses that don't know they're dead, to the brutal army of Hin Abtol, John Carter and Pan Dan Chee (Llana's loyal suitor) struggle against impossible odds to win the day.

Contains all of the elements that make the Mars series great-- I enjoyed it at 13 and again at significantly older than that.