Customer Reviews

The Master Mind of Mars: (#6) (Martian Tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs, No 6)

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

 

 

Number 6 in Edgar Rice Burrough's Mars series features a new character, Ulysses Paxton, a critically injured World War I soldier given new life on Mars. He awakens in the laboratory of Ras Thavas, Mars' resident expert in body transference. Fun to see another newcomer to Mars tackle it's unique problems in entertaining plot. Story doesn't let up, is fairly short and in the classic save-the-girl Burrough's mold. Recommended.

"The Master Mind of Mars" by ERB is a great book! ERB's Mars series takes second fiddle to his Tarzan books, but I respectfully argue they are superior. In "MMM", Ulysses Paxton, a critically wounded WWI soldier, is astral-projected (plot device to get things moving) to fabled Barsoom (Mars), dying planet of canals, hordes of 4-armed green warriors, scantily clad women, strong warriors wearing only their "sword and harness", and home of Ras Thavas, the Master Mind of Mars. It seems that Ras Thavas has an enormous talent - only he, among all the inhabitants of Barsoom, is able to perform the life-extending brain transplant. (Or maybe we should call it, ominously, the brain exchange. Too bad for the young body donor whose brain is unceremoniously evicted for the old, rich plutocrats...) However, now Ras Thavas is growing old and he needs his own brain transplanted. Who to train in the procedure? Why, none other than Ulysses Paxton (now called Vad Varo). But our hero turns out to have ethics and morals, and not only that, has fallen in love with a beautiful girl. Unfortunately, she is a body donor for a rich old hag. What happens next? Ulysses, the girl, and some sidekicks go off on a tour of Mars to reunite young girl brain with young girl body! On their Grand Tour of Barsoom, they come to various cities, each with different religious doctrine (I think ERB is indulging in a little gentle satire here). Take it as a given in pulp fiction that our heroes are successful and all ends well. Great enjoyable escapist reading. I found out later on as a veterinarian that it's a little tougher to do brain transplants than described in the book. (Maybe I just needed the super-healing elixir...)

In the sixth installment of the Martian Tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs, it focusses on a new man from Earth named Ulysses Paxton, who after dying in World War One finds himself in a strange facility on Barsoom run by a crazy old man that is master of modifying bodies. There Ulysses is apprenticed by this old man and he assists him in various surgeries. He meets the love of his life, a beautiful woman, only to discover the man he works for has stolen her body and now houses the brain of the wicked Jeddara (queen) Xaxa. Thus Ulysses goes on a quest to find Xaxa and recover the body of the woman he loves. To accomplish this he recruits a religious zealot, an atheist and a Great White Ape that has had it's brain spliced with that of a man's and thus can talk.

This story is a little slow at first but it's very interesting. It contains action and suspense. For once this is not a tale about rescuing the damsel in distress, which is a nice break (unless you count the quest for the body Xaxa stole, so it's like the body in distress.....)

It's weird but it's fun. I recommend it.

Ulysses Paxton proves that John Carter is not as unique as the reader was led to believe. Mortally wounded on a World War I battlefield, Paxton is transported to Barsoom much like Carter was decades before. His sojourn on the red planet starts out more humbly, as Paxton fidns himself apprenticed to Ras Thavas, arguably the greatest scientist of the day.

ERB dons his lecturer persona once again as he unwinds an intriguing story about the perils of allowing science and political power to proceed in all directions unchecked. Knowledge gained irresponsibly leads to irresponsible actions. Paxton struggles to transport the moral lessons he has learned from the horrors of World War I to the almost savage and near-mercenary social hierarchy he finds himself trapped in on Barsoom.

The best elements of the story are undoubtedly the bizarre twists and turns which unsettle the hero and force him to fall back on his courage and ingenuity.

Again, we have pulp fiction at it's best. I gave this one five stars simply because it is Burroughs, even though it probably was not up to the standards of "Chessman" or some of the earlier works in this series. I had problems following the many, many characters when I was a young boy, and found I still had the same problem now that I am in my dotage. We do have a new character here, a fellow by the name of Baxter, so we get away from following John Carter somewhat. In a way this was good. All this series should be read and studied by SiFi and S&S Fans, as they are the basis for so much that is written today. All in all recommend this one and the entire series quite highly.