Book Cover
Title A Princess of Mars
Author Edgar Rice Burroughs
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Publisher Free e-Book
First Printing 1912
Book Cover
Title The Gods of Mars
Author Edgar Rice Burroughs
Cover Art ---
Publisher Free e-Book
First Printing 1913
Book Cover
Title The Warlord of Mars
Author Edgar Rice Burroughs
Cover Art ---
Publisher Free e-Book
First Printing 1914
Book Cover
Title Thuvia, Maid of Mars
Author Edgar Rice Burroughs
Cover Art ---
Publisher Free e-Book
First Printing 1916
Book Cover
Title The Chessmen of Mars
Author Edgar Rice Burroughs
Cover Art ---
Publisher Free e-Book
First Printing 1922
Book Cover
Title The Master Mind of Mars
Author Edgar Rice Burroughs
Cover Art ---
Publisher Free e-Book
First Printing 1927
Book Cover
Title The Fighting Man of Mars
Author Edgar Rice Burroughs
Cover Art ---
Publisher Free e-Book
First Printing 1930
Book Cover
Title Swords of Mars
Author Edgar Rice Burroughs
Cover Art ---
Publisher Free e-Book
First Printing 1935
Book Cover
Title Synthetic Men of Mars
Author Edgar Rice Burroughs
Cover Art ---
Publisher Free e-Book
First Printing 1939
Book Cover
Title Llana of Gathol
Author Edgar Rice Burroughs
Cover Art ---
Publisher Free e-Book
First Printing 1941
Book Cover
Title John Carter and the Giant of Mars
Author John Coleman Burroughs
Cover Art ---
Publisher Free e-Book
First Printing 1940
Book Cover
Title Skeleton Men of Jupiter
Author Edgar Rice Burroughs
Cover Art ---
Publisher Free e-Book
First Printing 1912
Category Science Fiction
Warnings None
Main Characters John Carter, Dejah Thoris, Thuvia, Ulysses Paxton, Tara, Tan Hadron, Ras Thavas, Llana, and many more
Main Elements Aliens
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Click to read the summaryA Princess of Mars

Click to read the summaryThe Gods of Mars

Click to read the summaryThe Warlord of Mars

Click to read the summaryThuvia, Maid of Mars

Click to read the summaryThe Chessmen of Mars

Click to read the summaryThe Master Mind of Mars

Click to read the summaryA Fighting Man of Mars

Click to read the summarySwords of Mars

Click to read the summarySynthetic Men of Mars

Click to read the summaryLlana of Gathol

Click to read the summaryJohn Carter and the Giant of Mars

Click to read the summarySkeleton Men of Jupiter




I never thought I'd enjoy these pulp adventure stories, but Burroughs is a good writer and while the science aspect of the science fiction is a little shaky (even if you take the time period into account) no one said it was meant to be entirely believable, it was just meant to be fun.

Sure, women are pretty much there just to be rescued, sometimes over and over again, but remember when it was written and who the target audience was (i.e. young men). At least the men were just as scantily clad. Instead, you can focus on Burroughs' creativity, coming up with stranger and stranger beings as the stories progress. Starting of course with the green men of mars, tall and with multiple arms. And then there are the red men, and the white ones and the black ones and the yellow ones. Since pretty much everyone fights with everyone else, and each race has its good people and bad ones (and the main race being red though our hero is white) it doesn't come off as racists as many other authors in that time period would.

And there are times I wonder if he was best friends with Lovecraft, like when he came up with the heads that had no bodies, and the bodies that had no heads...there were several stories that could certainly be described as weird. But that just made me want to read the next one, to see what he manages to come up with next!

And yet that's the one unbelievable things, that there's all these "lost" cities of Mars, each one thinking they are the last remaining haven of the ancient race. I mean how many could there be? Was John Carter the only guy that decided to do some exploring? But even though Mars is smaller than Earth, its a dying planet, it's oceans dried up with a lot more landmass, so I suppose you could hide a civilization here and there. Besides, like I said, best not think too much about the science and logic, just enjoy the story.

They were perfect reads on my commute to work, short and lively, and of course free. And for what its worth, Barsoom is one of the classics of science fiction and defined much of what came after. Kim Stanely Robinson may have written a much more factual version of Mars, but Burroughs was by far much more fun to read.

Just as a parting note, DO NOT READ John Carter and the Giant of Mars. It was written by his son and comes of as extremely poor fan fiction. The difference in quality is so enormous I don't see how Burroughs allowed that to be published. Also note that if you want you can skip Skeleton Men of Jupiter because Burroughs passed away before finishing it so there's no real ending to the story, it just kind of stops in the middle of Carter searching for (yet again) Dejah Thoris.




Posted: June 2018

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