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A Princess of Mars (2006) ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ by Edgar Rice Burroughs
I read A Princess of Mars, which was originally published in 1912. I’d previously read an ebook version of this classic space fantasy, but this was quite a few years ago and before I started writing reviews, so I re-read it to do so. I loved it the first time, and I was curious if I still would like it just as much as before. I also didn’t remember much of it, so this was like reading a new book.
I started to re-read it in ebook form, but I was enjoying it so much that I wanted to get a hardcopy. Shortly, I had the good luck to find the first three books in the series in my local antique shop, if you can believe it! These are 2006 reprints, hence the year in the above listing. Needless to say, I finished the book with a hardcopy in my hand.
You may recognize the name Edgar Rice Burroughs as the author of Tarzan. You’d be recognizing right! But before Tarzan of the Apes, there was John Carter of Mars and his adventures. It was first serialized in a magazine before the chapters were put into book form.
I loved the book just as much, if not more, than I did the first go-around. The story follows John Carter, a Virginian Gentleman and American Civil War veteran, on a fantastical transporation to Mars and what happened to him in his ten years on the planet.
After his friend is killed by Apaches, he is chased by them and runs toward a cave for shelter. He shortly passes out. He awakes to find himself paralyzed, and eventually he is standing over his own body in his birthday suit. He looks to the sky and his eyes are drawn strangely to the planet Mars, which he can see from this spot. He reaches toward it, and he again passes out. He is now on Mars and meets an array of people and civilizations, mostly warring communities. The green Martians are fifteen feet tall, have four arms and, and they sport two big tusks. and there are also red Martians, who have a striking resemblance to the native American indians on his home planet.
Burroughs wrote this in a time where hardly anything was known about Mars, so he created an entirely new world. He created communities, customs, people, and animals. The Martians call their world Barsoom, and the green Martians are hostile, while the red Martians are more of a scientific community.
There are all kinds of animals, from Woola the calot (John Carter’s beloved loyal pet) to the fearsome great white apes of Mars, which are the Martian’s biggest natural threat besides themselves. The Martians lay eggs that incubate for five years. The green Martians are taught to fight almost from the beginning, and never is one seen without a weapon.
Through wars and love and friendships (pet friendship and human) —- John Carter goes through many trials and victories throughout his time on Mars. He meets Dejah Thoris — the princess for which the book is entitled, and much of the book revolves around her safe delivery back to her people. Though I don’t like the war scenes that much, they thankfully don’t drag out too long.
If you’re willing to throw facts out the window and just enjoy the adventure, A Princess of Mars is a great escape into another world —- a world that is created totally from the imagination and is guaranteed to give any action and space fantasy enthusiast thrills —- and maybe even a love story enthusiast or two! 😍
