Customer Reviews

The Chessmen of Mars

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Conventional wisdom has it that the first three books of Burroughs' Martian series, "A Princess of Mars," "The Gods of Mars," and "The Warlord of Mars" form an excellent trilogy and all the rest of the Martian tales are quite poorly done in comparison. I disagree.

I will cite two examples as to why "Chessmen" is Burroughs' best work in this series.

[1] You can hardly conceive of a more ghastly creature than a spider-being who lives as a parasite on headless human bodies, but that is a perfect description of Ghek the Kaldane, one of the central figures of the book. Burroughs takes this repulsive monstrosity and makes him such a loveable character that you cannot help but like him.

[2] Burroughs not only wrote a good yarn, he wrapped his tale around a striking boardgame that he had invented--jetan, or Martian chess.

It's no real trick to invent a chess variant. There are thousands of them, and most of them are rubbish. What is so singular about jetan is that it is a good chess variant. I read "Chessmen" as a child, and after reading it, the first thing I had to do was make a jetan set and play the game. I whiled away several enjoyable hours with the game. John Gollon, a noted authority on chess variants, had a similar experience when he was writing "Chess Variations." He thought he'd include a chapter on jetan for some comic relief, so he made a jetan set and played a few games. He found jetan "quite good--very playable and interesting." He then pronounced jetan "not a mere novelty, but ... a respectable game."

These two singular achievments (Ghek & jetan) are not the only details that make "Chessmen" so enjoyable. Gahan of Gathol (aka Turan the Panthan) makes for a satisfying hero, and Tara of Helium fills the bill quite nicely for a damsel in distress.

The heros are noble, the villians are wicked, the cause is just, and the action is nonstop. Great escapist reading.

Burroughs' Martian Series is worth remembering and rereading from time to time. I first read these books well over 50 years ago and they, and this book, have lost none of their charm. For the student of SiFi and S&S, these are a must read. Granted, the style is certainly different than todays books, but this is a plus. We need to read and remember it. That being said, these books are just simply fun to read. Recommend them highly.

The Chessmen of Mars is, I think, the pinnacle of Burroughs career, and certainly the best of the Barsoom series. It's also one of the great science fiction romances of the Twentieth Century. As a boy, reading the typical John Campbell-influenced SF of the 1950s, nothing prepared me for finding this book (and about 30 other moldy Burroughs hardcovers) in my grandmother's attic. There's not an alienated child in the world who could read this book and not be struck deeply by the pathos and courage of Ghek the Kaldane, whose the real hero of the tale, rather than Gahan of Gathol, the golden boy who gets the girl.

"The Chessmen of Mars" is the fifth novel in the Edgar Rice Burroughs Martian (a.k.a. John Carter of Mars, Barsoom) series. Originally published serially in "Argosy All-Story Weekly" in 1921 and in hardback the following year it is arguably one of ERB's most imaginative stories. This reputation rests on two things. The first is the relationship between the Kaldanes "heads" and the headless Rykors who are the "descendants of exceedingly stupid humanoid creatures bred by the Kaladane over eons for strength, health, beauty and microcephaly." True, this makes no sense from an evolutionary standpoint, but it is one of the more imaginative parasitic relationships in science fiction history. The second is jetan, the Martian version of chess, which is usually played on a 10 x 10 game board of alternating black and orange squares in the cities of Barsoom, but in the city of Manator is played with living pieces in a giant arena. Of course in the living version of the game a moving piece is not guaranteed a square but has to fight for it.

The framing device for "The Chessmen of Mars" is told by John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, on a visit home to Earth to see his nephew (rather remarkable given how long it took Carter to get back to Barsoom after his first adventure). Over a game of chess Carter tells of jetan and the adventures of his daughter, Tara of Helium, in Manator. As was the case with the previous Martian novel, "Thuvia, Maid of Mars," ERB introduces a new hero for this adventure in Gahan, Jed of Gathol. The novel opens with the two of them dancing at a royal function in Helium. She has her eyes set on Djor Kantos, sons of her friend's best friend, but he is interested in somebody else. When Gahan declares his love for her, Tara throws a fit and we know these two are meant for each other. Taking her flier on an unadvised flight during a Gale, the princess ends up blown across Barsoom and as happened with both her mother and her sister-in-law, her hero has to track her down and effect a rescue.

The combination of the Kaladanes jumping from one Rykor to the next with the jetan game to the death is quite captivating. For many readers of ERB's pulp fiction yarns "The Chessmen of Mars" is a favorite and while it has the standard hero rescues beloved plot that is a Burroughs staple it is layered with all this interesting stuff. Actually, the romance is the least interesting part of the story. This is far and away the most memorable volume in the Martian series, which is saying something because from start to finish it is ERB's best. With the Tarzan series you can basically leave off once he meets La of Opar, but the Martian series is the one worth reading from start to finish and "Chessmen" is the highpoint.

"The Chessmen of Mars" is the fifth novel in the Edgar Rice Burroughs Martian (a.k.a. John Carter of Mars, Barsoom) series. Originally published serially in "Argosy All-Story Weekly" in 1921 and in hardback the following year it is arguably one of ERB's most imaginative stories. This reputation rests on two things. The first is the relationship between the Kaldanes "heads" and the headless Rykors who are the "descendants of exceedingly stupid humanoid creatures bred by the Kaladane over eons for strength, health, beauty and microcephaly." True, this makes no sense from an evolutionary standpoint, but it is one of the more imaginative parasitic relationships in science fiction history. The second is jetan, the Martian version of chess, which is usually played on a 10 x 10 game board of alternating black and orange squares in the cities of Barsoom, but in the city of Manator is played with living pieces in a giant arena. Of course in the living version of the game a moving piece is not guaranteed a square but has to fight for it.

The framing device for "The Chessmen of Mars" is told by John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom, on a visit home to Earth to see his nephew (rather remarkable given how long it took Carter to get back to Barsoom after his first adventure). Over a game of chess Carter tells of jetan and the adventures of his daughter, Tara of Helium, in Manator. As was the case with the previous Martian novel, "Thuvia, Maid of Mars," ERB introduces a new hero for this adventure in Gahan, Jed of Gathol. The novel opens with the two of them dancing at a royal function in Helium. She has her eyes set on Djor Kantos, sons of her friend's best friend, but he is interested in somebody else. When Gahan declares his love for her, Tara throws a fit and we know these two are meant for each other. Taking her flier on an unadvised flight during a Gale, the princess ends up blown across Barsoom and as happened with both her mother and her sister-in-law, her hero has to track her down and effect a rescue.

The combination of the Kaladanes jumping from one Rykor to the next with the jetan game to the death is quite captivating. For many readers of ERB's pulp fiction yarns "The Chessmen of Mars" is a favorite and while it has the standard hero rescues beloved plot that is a Burroughs staple it is layered with all this interesting stuff. Actually, the romance is the least interesting part of the story. This is far and away the most memorable volume in the Martian series, which is saying something because from start to finish it is ERB's best. With the Tarzan series you can basically leave off once he meets La of Opar, but the Martian series is the one worth reading from start to finish and "Chessmen" is the highpoint.

More stories followed after this one in the Barsoom series but with one exception none of them really came close to achieving the incredible feat of tale-weaving that Chessmen of Mars pulls off. Thuvia was the first fully capable of Burroughs' Barsoomian heroines, but Tara of Helium despite her petulant and child-like attitude comes across as one of the strongest and most winning heroines of early 20th century fiction.

She is equally matched by the courageous and totally dedicated Gahan of Gathol, a jed (prince) from a remote land who falls madly in love with Tara and throws all away to win her love. Tara and Gahan traverse half of Barsoom as they seek to win their way back to Helium, and all the while he poses as a lowly panthan (mercenary) because the haughty Tara has so many forgotten suitors she cannot even recognize him.

The most imaginitive parts of the story take place in the land of the Kaldanes, bodiless heads which worship only intellect, and in the barbaric land of Manator. The Manatorians prey upon their neighbors, including Gahan's own land of Gathol. Tara's cold facade of indifference slowly melts away as Gahan braves peril after peril to save her from the clutches on powerful warlords, and all the while he believes she wants nothing to do with him.

The best scene in the book comes when Gahan takes on one of the greatest swordsmen in Manator by playing a deadly game of Martian chess for possession of the princess of Helium. And once the action begins in the arena, it doesn't stop until the last page. By the time Tara confesses her true feelings, the reader is assured that Gahan is really getting a prize and not a pouty spoiled princess. Both characters show a lot of growth and resourcefulness in this story. It's well worth the money in any format.

Conventional wisdom has it that the first three books of Burroughs' Martian series, "A Princess of Mars," "The Gods of Mars," and "The Warlord of Mars" form an excellent trilogy and all the rest of the Martian tales are quite poorly done in comparison. I disagree.

I will cite two examples as to why "Chessmen" is Burroughs' best work in this series.

[1] You can hardly conceive of a more ghastly creature than a spider-being who lives as a parasite on headless human bodies, but that is a perfect description of Ghek the Kaldane, one of the central figures of the book. Burroughs takes this repulsive monstrosity and makes him such a loveable character that you cannot help but like him.

[2] Burroughs not only wrote a good yarn, he wrapped his tale around a striking boardgame that he had invented--jetan, or Martian chess.

It's no real trick to invent a chess variant. There are thousands of them, and most of them are rubbish. What is so singular about jetan is that it is a good chess variant. I read "Chessmen" as a child, and after reading it, the first thing I had to do was make a jetan set and play the game. I whiled away several enjoyable hours with the game. John Gollon, a noted authority on chess variants, had a similar experience when he was writing "Chess Variations." He thought he'd include a chapter on jetan for some comic relief, so he made a jetan set and played a few games. He found jetan "quite good--very playable and interesting." He then pronounced jetan "not a mere novelty, but ... a respectable game."

These two singular achievments (Ghek & jetan) are not the only details that make "Chessmen" so enjoyable. Gahan of Gathol (aka Turan the Panthan) makes for a satisfying hero, and Tara of Helium fills the bill quite nicely for a damsel in distress.

The heroes are noble, the villians are wicked, the cause is just, and the action is nonstop. Great escapist reading.

This review is not about Burroughs' book, per se, but about this particular "book" from the publisher, Filiquarian Publishing LLC. If you buy it, be forewarned that the publisher did NOT typeset the book, but rather copied a typewritten manuscript in a fixed-width font (it looks like Courier) and bound it. The readability of the text is terrible, and I returned the "book" to Amazon for a refund.

Another reviewer has pretty well summarized the plot, but a few comments might be added. As with most of Burroughs' fantasy novels, this one revolves around a love story. Burroughs' love interest is passionate, but "clean" in language and not objectionable for youths with an enthusiasm for adventure and fantasy.

Burroughs always has a surfeit of what Aristotle called "invention." His stories are wildly imaginative, and at times, very original. His monsters are really scary, his villains are wicked as sin, and his ladies, who the book's hero tends to rescue, court, lose, and rescue again, are downright stunning in beauty. His female characters are also surprisingly "modern." They are spunky, peppery, and have a mind of their own. Surprisingly, both the protagonist and the heroine emerge as pretty well realized characters, despite the action packed plots which leave little room for any sort of formal "character development."

If this particular book has a shortcoming, it may be too many chapters wandering through secret tunnels and subterranean passageways. Some of this is okay, but after 150 pages of this, the reader begins to get cabin fever.

A good read. One of the better Burroughs Mars ("Barsoom") novels.

Fifth book in the series of eleven, Chessmen of Mars paints three main charaters: Tara (daughter of John Carter of Mars), Gahan (Jed of Gathol, disguised as Turan the panthan), and Ghek the Kaldane (a man-like creature). It was written in 1922, but in 1996 a Kaldane action figure along with other Mars, Pellucidor and Tarzan action figures came on the market assocated with Tarzan, the Epic Adventures, etc. I enjoyed the character of Ghek the Kaldane so much during my college years that I have used it as my nickname and handle in the modem world since 1981. Storyline: Carried away in a great storm, Tara is lost on mars with but a slim dagger to guard herself...only to fall into the hands of the strange Kaldanes who happen to consider human flesh a delicacy (when nicely fattened up, of course). Also visited is Manator, where the dead are preserved as lifelike statues and where Jetan (martian chess - rules for play are included in the book) is played with living warriors contesting for possion of a square when a move is made. George Lucas admits that 1/3 of the inspiration for Star Wars came from the Books of ERB, especially the Mars series and in Robert A. Heinleins's "The Glory Road", Oscar, the main character wished several times for the hurtling moons of (ERB's) mars...read for yourself the books that inspired them. Love, romance, adventure, action and strange cultures are all waiting for you.