This reminded me of 'Flash Gordon conquers the universe' and similar shows that I used to watch on TV on Saturday mornings as a child, presumably the people who made such films grew up reading stories like this. In the same way as those shows, although they had rocket ships (apparently powered by sparklers),they also featured magic amulets and spells. This isn't so much science fiction as fantastic fiction which is sciency in that the action takes place on Mars but the hero gets there and back a...

2.5 stars. I know, I know. I can hear you out there saying “2.5 stars for one of the ALL TIME PULP SF CLASSICS" and looking at me like I just made a mess on the floor. Rest assured, I'm not trying to drop gastronomical "leftovers" in the PULP SF punch bowl and my rating does not indicate a dislike for the book. As mentioned below, I was probably between 3 and 4 stars on the book EXCEPT FOR ONE THING THAT DROVE ME BAT SHIT NUTSO. So please let me explain my rating before you begin planning to

Some years back David Bowie asked the musical question, "Is there life on Mars?" Had he read A Princess of Mars he might have known the answer.Back in the early 60’s I fell in love. Not with a girl, (well, there were one or two cracks opened in that young heart, but we do not speak of that now) but with reading. And the brazen hussy that led me down that path was none other than Edgar Rice Burroughs. Of course there were others, all vying for my immature attention, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov...

Old-school pulpy goodness. Fun classic full of manly adventures and good cheesy romance between an awesomely manly man John Carter (did I mention manly?) and a scantily-clad beautiful (and at necessary times appropriately helpless) princess Dejah Thoris among the red landscapes of Mars Barsoom. And let's not forget John Carter's favorite Barsoomian "dog" Woola. Who in my head, thanks to the otherwise forgettable movie, will always look like this insanely adorable menacing monster-cutie - SQ

Lately I've been in the mood for sci-fi novels and I've been meaning to read this cult classic, published in 1912. This is old, and certainly not the usual deep-minded sci-fi work, it has more adventure elements, mixing pulp fantasy and western genre, the progenitor to modern star wars. I have the impression that this book didn't age as ideally and is kinda outdated but still is an interesting reading experience. At the same time, it is kinda wacky and bizarre, but fun and will get you hooked.I

He died at 75, with a wish-list for the afterlife: “I want to travel through the space to visit other planets”. Edgar Rice Burroughs outsold the combination of Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Faulkner, at his time. He ventured far (and wide) in the realm of imagination. Maybe he "caught" kids and teens first, then adults, definitely. I was one of the "caught-ups" in this vast world imagined, when I was a teen. I read Tarzan whenever possible and all the pulp fiction I could grab. Ray Bradbury was righ...

A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs was not the book that transformed Burroughs into a publishing success, that honor belongs to Tarzan of the Apes. However, this was the book, published in 1912 that effectively began a career that would change the face of American literature in various genres from then on. The stamp of Burroughs influence can be seen in the works of Heinlein, Clarke, Bradbury and countless others as well as film and television. Flash Gordon used the Barsoom series as a t...

A SYNOPSIS OF THE BOOK A PRINCESS OF MARS!John Carter travels to Barsoom to live, love, and fight amongst the Green Men, the Red Men, and the White Apes! his Earthman physique combined with Barsoomian gravity means he's incredibly strong and can jump like a giant-sized super-grasshopper!John Carter arrives there nekkid! everyone is nekkid! they only wear weapons and ornaments! the Red Race knows what Earthers look like and they think all the clothing we wear is apalling and disgusting! i agree!J...

It can be said at the outset that Burroughs was not a very deep nor a very disciplined writer. His disdain for research often shows in his work, and it does here; and in his science fiction (he would write voluminously in this genre --this novel sparked a series, and he produced two other popular sci-fi series as well) consistent and well-thought world building wasn't his strength. For instance, his Martian children incubate in eggs and hatch only when they're able to eat solid food --but his Ma...

This is one of those books I can't even pretend to be objective about. I know it's flawed -- it was Burroughs' first novel, and it's occasionally a bit sloppy, entirely too reliant on coincidence, and (remembering that it was first published in 1912) has a couple of, shall we say, uncomfortable ethnic depictions (relatively mild, but they're there). But.I.Don't.Care.Barsoom is my absolute favorite imaginary world -- a world of giant, four-armed savage green hordes, noble warriors and beautiful m...

Maybe even 4.5 - I really enjoyed this and I plan to read the rest of the series. This must have been very creative for the time it was written.

Rating: 3* of fiveThe Book Review: No one ever nominated Burroughs for the Nobel Prize.The Movie Review: Seriously, what was all the butt-hurt over this movie about? Yeah, the title stank. Shoulda called it Barsoom and had done with it. The hunky young actor who played John Carter wasn't likely to get an Academy nod. Dejah-Thoris was mildly pretty. The f/x were just fine, and that leaves the script, which was every bit as finely crafted as the book.It was perfectly acceptable summer-afternoon wa...

It's hard to classify this book, both in terms of genre and quality. There is no doubt that Burroughs is an important, influential and remarkably talented writer (the writing itself is extraordinarily good sometimes), and overall, this is a book that I am very glad that I read.On the other hand, it has not aged well. While it contains many fun and interesting elements, it has been so widely surpassed in almost every single area by all the brilliant masterpieces of fantasy and science fiction tha...

Let's not try and pretend that Princess of Mars is some kind of unique trailblazing original that Science fiction and fantasy writing owes some huge debt to. Authors had been writing about Sci-fi concepts involving other worlds and other cultures for a long time, and as early as the 17th Century we have an example (The Blazing World) of a writer imagining another world full of beasts and bird-men, whose entrance is located at the North Pole. Popular Victorian author Edgar Bulwer Lytton wrote abo...

'A Princess of Mars' is the first of Edgar Rice Burroughs 'Barsoom' books, set on a mythical Mars, and the first introduction of the character of John Carter, 'Warlord of Mars', 'the greatest Swordsman of two worlds', and something a demigod of war himself. It is a giant in the history of science fiction, fantasy, and modern superhero stories, and a rollicking good adventure story filled with wonder and imagination. Modern 'Swords and Sorcery' and 'Space Opera' are both deeply indebted to this w...

The books is full of familiar cliches: it created most of them. I am also having a great trouble between classifying this book between fantasy and scifi. As I am not the only one with such problem a new genre was created dubbed "sword and planet". Coming back to the plot, an American Civil War veteran and a perfect southern gentleman (he calls himself thus, so who am I to call him differently?) John Carter ended up on Mars, of all places - straight from an Arizona desert, minus all his cloths. P...

Transcript from the John Carter sessions(from the files of Dr. Wm (Bill) Loney, Doctor of Psychiatry)Carter: So where were we last time, doc?Doctor: We were talking about representations of things that are ideals for you, and how they are expressed in imaginative fantasies.Carter: What was that?Doctor: (sighs) You were telling me about Barsoom and your adventures there.Carter: Yeah... that's right. I traveled there, you know? It's Mars, actually.Doctor: How did you know it was Mars?Carter: There...

Way back in 1912, Burroughs of Tarzan fame make a big manly adventure on the desert-like Martian landscape with warriors like alien American Indians while saving buxom alien maidens.Does this sound silly?It should. It has been mimicked thousands of times over the years and found great fame and infamy during the later Golden Age of SF, cheesy TV dramas of all flavors, including SF, F, and especially Westerns.HOWEVER... a special place should be set aside for this work. It DID transform the landsc...

A Princess of Mars is a forerunner in the sci-fi genre and as such some of the science herein is off. On the other hand, one has to be impressed with the guesswork a fictional novelist made regarding living conditions on another planet, considering he was writing at a time prior to space exploration. Hell, this was written a mere nine years after the first flight by man. The real reason this didn't resonate with me had to do with the story's hero, John Carter. He's just too good at everything to...

I had fun reading this adventure tale. There is nothing serious here, only adventure fun. Edgar had a great imagination and he bring a new planet to life in this portal fantasy.When John Carter the movie came out I saw it in theatres and loved it. I thought it was great. It was poorly marketed at the time. I think the movie pieced the story together in a great way and I love it. I think the book is good, and I prefer the movie. I'm glad I read this classic. The story is over a hundred years old