Edgar Rice Burroughs' "John Carter of Mars"

bropous · 03-12-2007, 02:26 PM

And, yes, another author you should try, dusty and venerable though his tomes may be.

Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan, also wrote some very readable science fiction, and one of the characters he created was John Carter.

A Virginian ripped from nineteenth-century Earth to "Barsoom" [the natives' name for Mars], John Carter fights his way across the Red Planet in a world reminiscent of the 1930s-era "Flash Gordon" series. Winning and losing his life's love time and again, Carter's tale is bittersweet, and even though you might find the language and sensibilities a bit stilted, Burroughs does paint a detailed picture of the imaginary world that many of his time existed on Mars (back in his day, they thought they saw canals stretchign across the orange deserts of Mars).

If you want a good, fun read without the moralizing and preachiness of many modern authors, you might want to pick these books up. Barnes and Noble has released an omnibus edition, with the full Mars trilogy included, and I do recommend these books for anyone who wants to see from where modern science fiction came.

***IronParrot*** · 08-24-2007, 05:15 AM

I picked up the first John Carter book, A Princess of Mars about two years ago. I'm going to have to second that recommendation, though I'm not exactly sure I would go so far as to claim that it isn't heavy on "message." Yes, there's a certain purity to its element of adventure that isn't polluted by obvious political subtext, but I think it definitely advances a certain humanistic argument in favour of a civilizing mission.

Then again, this is the same Edgar Rice Burroughs who wrote Tarzan, so that really shouldn't be a surprise. And it doesn't take away from the fun at all - this is just an observation of mine.

GrayMouser · 08-26-2007, 07:19 AM

Also Carson of Venus, a similar if slightly wetter series. Loved them as a kid, though lacking somewhat in plausibility, i.e. flying boats that outperform airplanes combined with cavalry charges; guns that can shoot miles, but lots of swordplay....good stuff though.

03-12-2007, 02:26 PM	#1
bropous EIDRIORCQWSDAKLMED DCWWTIWOATTOPWFIO Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Littleton, CO Posts: 1,176	Edgar Rice Burroughs' "John Carter of Mars" And, yes, another author you should try, dusty and venerable though his tomes may be. Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan, also wrote some very readable science fiction, and one of the characters he created was John Carter. A Virginian ripped from nineteenth-century Earth to "Barsoom" [the natives' name for Mars], John Carter fights his way across the Red Planet in a world reminiscent of the 1930s-era "Flash Gordon" series. Winning and losing his life's love time and again, Carter's tale is bittersweet, and even though you might find the language and sensibilities a bit stilted, Burroughs does paint a detailed picture of the imaginary world that many of his time existed on Mars (back in his day, they thought they saw canals stretchign across the orange deserts of Mars). If you want a good, fun read without the moralizing and preachiness of many modern authors, you might want to pick these books up. Barnes and Noble has released an omnibus edition, with the full Mars trilogy included, and I do recommend these books for anyone who wants to see from where modern science fiction came. __________________ "...[The Lord of the Rings] is to exemplify most clearly a recurrent theme: the place in 'world politics' of the unforeseen and unforeseeable acts of will, and deeds of virtue of the apparently small, ungreat, fogotten in the places of the Wise and Great (good as well as evil). A moral of the whole (after the primary symbolism of the Ring, as the will to mere power, seeking to make itself objective by physical force and mechanism, and so also inevitably by lies) is the obvious one that without the high and noble the simple and vulgar is utterly mean; and without the simple and ordinary the noble and heroic is meaningless." Letters of JRR Tolkien, page 160.

08-24-2007, 05:15 AM	#2
*IronParrot* Fowl Administrator Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Calgary or Edmonton, Canada Posts: 53,420	I picked up the first John Carter book, A Princess of Mars about two years ago. I'm going to have to second that recommendation, though I'm not exactly sure I would go so far as to claim that it isn't heavy on "message." Yes, there's a certain purity to its element of adventure that isn't polluted by obvious political subtext, but I think it definitely advances a certain humanistic argument in favour of a civilizing mission. Then again, this is the same Edgar Rice Burroughs who wrote Tarzan, so that really shouldn't be a surprise. And it doesn't take away from the fun at all - this is just an observation of mine. __________________ All of IronParrot's posts are guaranteed to be 100% intelligent and/or sarcastic, comprising no genetically modified content and tested on no cute furry little animals unless the SPCA is looking elsewhere. If you observe a failure to uphold this warranty, please contact a forum administrator immediately to receive a full refund on your Entmoot registration. Blog: Nick's Café Canadien

08-26-2007, 07:19 AM	#3
GrayMouser Elf Lord Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Ilha Formosa Posts: 2,068	Also Carson of Venus, a similar if slightly wetter series. Loved them as a kid, though lacking somewhat in plausibility, i.e. flying boats that outperform airplanes combined with cavalry charges; guns that can shoot miles, but lots of swordplay....good stuff though. __________________ Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep. Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them? "I like pigs. Dogs look up to us, cats look down on us, but pigs treat us as equals."- Winston Churchill

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