Customer Reviews

The Gods of Mars

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While digging through my large collection of books, I came across this one, along with the entire John Carter Series. I hate to admit to the fact that I first read these books over 45 years ago. I sat down and read them again. I was as delighted this time as I was when I was fifteen. This is fiction from an era we will not see again. This is the stuff little boys dream of! Read it, savor it and enjoy it! I cannot recommend this one high enough.

I just finished rereading this remarkable adventure story, and must say, some of the capsule summaries above leave a bit to be desired.

Yes, John Carter returns to Mars after 10 years absence, and finds himself in a paradise. But ironically, it's a paradise that soon turns into a kind of violent warring hell. The plant men are only the beginning. The bitterest enemies are a race of almost diabolical priests, the Tharns, who set loose white apes and plant men to slaughter thousands of religious pilgrims. I'm not spoiling the plot at all, since this becomes clear in the first two or three chapters.

Again, there's a deep bond between the hero, John Carter, and a brave and stunning young woman named Thuvia. John Carter, a warlord, is not content to merely escape. He must somehow end this evil empire of hypocritical priests and mass slaughter.

One fine element is the reintroduction of the green warrior chieftan, John's dear friend from the first novel in the series.

There are strains of deeper thought woven throughout. For example, the biting satire against mindless "fanatic" religions.

Heck of a book. Burroughs writes in a style that would seem a bit heavy today. But after a chapter or two, the reader usually can get in the stride. These books read fast-- you can't put them down. The heroines are GORGEOUS-- but the language is "clean" and the books can be recommended for teens. The description-- often in battle scenes-- is up to anything written in adventure science fiction today. This book was written-- amazingly-- in about 1917.

Having introduced the characters in 'A Princess of Mars,' the author gets down to the action, in this the second Martian adventure of John Carter, with, as I recall, a new opponent, ready to fight, on almost every page.

The author subtly pokes fun at religion, race and our conventions and rituals regarding them, while writing an exciting adventure story that certainly gripped my imagination in the early sixties.

John Carter remains the perfect Virginian gentleman, respecting women, seeking no unfair advantage, while fighting plants, animals and multiple races of Martians. He must struggle to overcome them all, if he is to set free his beloved Dejah Thoris from a nested series of "Heavens within Heavens."

If he wins, will he kill the "Gods of Mars" in the title? What will happen to religion on Mars if he does? If he loses...........

An ideal introduction to science fiction and fantasy for boys reaching puberty. They can sublimate their aggressive tendencies as they imagine themselves opposing plant men, white apes and other foes.

This book, #2 of 11 in Burroughs' John Carter series, is a direct sequel to the classic "A Princess of Mars," and a reading of that earlier volume is fairly essential before going into this one. "Gods..." was first published in serial form in "All-Story Magazine" in 1913, and comprises one of Burroughs' earliest works. It is amazing how much action the author manages to cram into the book's 190 pages; on just about EVERY page there is some kind of incredible happening or colorful bit. The book really is hard to put down, and yet, at the same time, the end of just about every paragraph could serve as a cliffhanger! The pace of the book is brisk and relentless, and really carries the reader along to another great cliffhanger at the conclusion. In this volume, our hero, John Carter, returns to Barsoom after a decade's absence, and goes to that planet's "heaven." But heaven turns out to be anything but, and our man gets caught up in battles with plant men and white apes, lost civilizations, religious taboos, the plots of an evil "goddess," duels in the arena and on and on. There are two action set pieces that Burroughs really puts over well. One is the slave revolt that takes place halfway through the tale; the other, a bravura, four-way air battle between the forces of the black, white, red and green men of Barsoom. Both of these sections are thrilling in the extreme; better than anything in the first Barsoom novel. It's also nice that Carter, an Earthman on Mars, fights alongside men and women of varied races, colors, and religious beliefs in a common cause; there's some kind of message there--one for tolerance and brotherhood--that we could all avail ourselves of today.
Having said all this, however, I must admit that there are problems in this novel that prevent me from giving it a top grade. These problems mainly take the form of fuzzy writing and internal inconsistencies. Burroughs, in this novel, does not do well in describing geography; his depictions of the Valley of the Therns, for example, are almost impossible to visualize (for me, anyway). A map of this planet (such as the one provided in LeGuin's Earthsea books) would have greatly helped, given Burroughs' inability to clearly set out his world. As for the inconsistencies: Burroughs, the "editor" of the novel, says he first read Carter's manuscript (for Book #1) 12 years previously; but if he had really obeyed Carter's will (that the manuscript not be opened for 11 years), then he would have only first seen the text of "A Princess of Mars" ONE year before! Tars Tarkas is said to be grieving over his kidnapped daughter in one section of this book; then, a few scenes later, he learns of this kidnapping for the first time. Huh?!?! The scene with Carter on the black-pirate cruiser contains many inconsistencies. Carter is said to be fighting five of these men; he kills three of them, and then three are left. Huh?!?! Six pirates are killed, all told, but later in the book, the number is said to be seven. Carter is said to have killed all these men single-handed, although the Thern princess, Phaidor, had helped him. These pirates are all asleep in the cruiser when Carter comes upon them, although they had been sacking the Thern temple scant minutes before. Does this seem likely? Inconsistencies such as this can drive an alert reader crazy. And don't even get me started on the redundant expressions such as "haven of refuge" and "craven cowards" that pop up all the time. Burroughs improved with age, but these early books are rife with problems that a good copyediting should have weeded out. Still, these minor problems are easily overlooked when one is caught up in the sweep of the story, and this story is as exciting as they come. It really is a tremendous feat of imagination, and one that any lover of swashbuckling fantasy should hugely enjoy.

People notice how ERB poked fun at religion in this book, but he ripped racism to shreds and made the reader laugh, cry, and want to visit Mars with a sword in one hand and a pistol in the other. Not even the evolutionists escaped the expert wit and satire of this masterful and entertaining epic story.

John Carter returns to his beloved Barsoom ten years later, but instead of finding himself in Helium with Dejah Thoris he instead awakens in the lost Valley Dor, the Barsoomian heaven. But in reality it's a far cry from heaven and Carter turns a world upside with his challenging revelations.

The real hero of the story, however, is Dator Xodar, a prince of the black-skinned First Born of Barsoom, the highest race on the planet. The First Born prey upon the white-skinned Therns, who in turn prey upon the nations of the Red and Yellow men of Barsoom. As Xodar learns from Carter that all men should be equal, Carter learns from Xodar that even the most feared Barsoomians can be a truly noble people.

At the end of "A Princess of Mars," the first in the John Carter series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, John Carter got the factory that produced oxygen for Barsoom (the Martian name for Mars) working again, but had collapsed. When he revived he found himself back on earth, separated from Dejah Thoris, the Princess of Helium and his beloved. Originally published in 1913 as a serial in "All-Story Magazine," this story finds John Carter returning to Mars and setting off to find his woman. Knowing that it was originally published as a serial is useful because Burroughs loads on the cliffhangers throughout the novel. When Carter returns to Barsoom a decade has passed and he finds himself in that part of the planet that the natives consider to be "heaven," which proves to be a more ironic idea. Carter has to reunite with his friend the fierce green warrior Tars Tarkas, fight with the great white apes of Barsoom and plant men, violate some significant religious taboos, survive the affections of an evil goddess, help with a slave revolt, fight in an arena, and still save Dejah Thoris in the middle of a giant air battle between the red, green, black and white people of Barsoom.

"The Gods of Mars" is an early Burroughs novel, which means it is high on action and low on details. ERB would set his adventures in strange worlds such as Barsoom, Venus, Pellucidar, etc., but beyond the basic idea of it being a strange world he was content for such places to be the settings for this stories. The writing is a bit stilted and ERB likes to mix cliches and ponderous phrases that make the narrative seem dated, but "The Gods of Mars" meets his basic criteria of providing a ripping yarn for his readers. The best thing you can say about this novel is that the action never stops from start to finish. The worst thing you can say about it is that Burroughs puts off reuniting our hero with his beloved, but if you have read many of ERB's novels, Tarzan or otherwise, you know that once his happy couple is back together the story is pretty much over. However, even at the end there is another cliffhanger that will make you track down "The Warlord of Mars," the next installment in what is clearly the best Burroughs series. ERB milked the Tarzan character dry and still produced another dozen novels in that series, while the Mars books (sorry, the Barsoom series) remained relatively fresh.

It would be difficult for this book to top its predecessor. In fact I would say this is a step down from A Princess of Mars in general quality. However, A Princess of Mars is, in my opinion, the best story ever written. If you're looking for an interesting, fun sequel, this book delivers well. John Carter returns to Mars after a ten year exile on Earth. There he is reunited with his old friend Tars Tarkas. Together they fight their way through the Martian "heaven" (which turns out to be a living hell) past giant apes, plant men and false gods. Along the way they meet new people, discover hidden races of "gods," and find new quests.

However, this book fails to reunite John Carter with his wife Dejah Thoris until late in the book (very late in the book). Their relationship was always my favorite part of the original, A Princess of Mars. Naturally, I am a bit disappointed in this. However, I feel that The Gods of Mars holds up better than most sequels--it is fun and exciting, and returns the reader to one of the most interesting worlds ever conceived in all of fiction. As an avid Sci Fi reader, I can honestly say this is one of the better science fiction books I have read.

It'll be hard to write this review without including spoilers, but I'll give it a shot.

The main problem I had with The Gods Of Mars is its inconsistent depiction of John Carter's intelligence. Carter's supposed to be this brilliant guy, a master strategist, a think-on-his-feet kind of fella who can puzzle his way out of any dilemma, no matter how difficult. So why is it that when he is presented with something so simple as the "mystery" of the identity of one of the major characters, said identity being so glaringly obvious that the reader has it figured out within a paragraph of the character's introduction, it takes Carter SEVERAL CHAPTERS to figure out who this guy is?

This inconsistency (not the only one, I'm afraid), isn't really all that bothersome in and of itself, but it's problematic in that it (sin of sins!) takes the reader out of the story. In a novel like The Gods Of Mars, all you've GOT is story. Anything that takes you out of it is therefore a major flaw.

I still enjoyed a lot of The Gods Of Mars, and will probably read The Warlord Of Mars (the next book in the series) if for no other reason than to see how TGOM's cliffhanger ending is resolved (yes, I admit it, I wanna find out). I just hope it's an improvement upon its predecessor.

This second installment in Burroughs' Martian series surprisingly outshines A Princess of Mars. Sporting even more action than the first novel, it makes good use of ideas made mention in Princess. Add to it a cliff-hanger ending even more "edgey" than before, and you've got one of Burroughs' best.

The Viking lander in the 70's proved there was no life on Mars. If you just forget that while reading this book you will enjoy it from beginning to end. Gods of Mars takes place ten years after the first John Carter Mars book, A Princess of Mars, but you really don't have to read it to enjoy this one. Another note, this there is a John Carter of Mars movie in the works due out some time in 2006-(7?). Check out this imdb link to learn more:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401729/