The Master Mind of Mars

By Edgar Rice Burroughs

The Master Mind of Mars is the sixth novel in Edgar Rice Burroughs' amazing Barsoom series. Ras Thavas must recover the body of his beloved Valla Dia so that her brain may be restored to its rightful body. This edition has a new introduction by World Fantasy Award winner Darrell Schweitzer. Schweitzer the former Editor of Weird Tales and a pre-emanate scholar of fantastic fiction places the Barsoom novels in their proper context. These novels will transport you to a lush Mars that never was. A Mars filled with strange and wonderful flora and fauna; giants and monsters, and most importantly maidens in distress and fabulous adventures.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wilder Publications
• Release date: Jun 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781633840928

Edgar Rice Burroughs

Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) had various jobs before getting his first fiction published at the age of 37. He established himself with wildly imaginative, swashbuckling romances about Tarzan of the Apes, John Carter of Mars and other heroes, all at large in exotic environments of perpetual adventure. Tarzan was particularly successful, appearing in silent film as early as 1918 and making the author famous. Burroughs wrote science fiction, westerns and historical adventure, all charged with his propulsive prose and often startling inventiveness. Although he claimed he sought only to provide entertainment, his work has been credited as inspirational by many authors and scientists.

Reviews for The Master Mind of Mars

[olivermagnus · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Master Mind of Mars introduces us to Ulysses Paxton, a World War One officer. After being fatally wounded on the battlefield he found himself transported to Mars much as John Carter was.

He arrives in the country of Toonol and becomes the guest/prisoner of Ras Thavas, the nominal “Master Mind.” Ras Thavas works at embalming, surgery, and brain-switching in his laboratories, and Paxton serves as his assistant. Paxton has fallen in love with Valla Dia, one of Ras' young victims, whose body has been swapped for that of the Xaxa, Jeddara (empress) of Phundahl. He refuses to operate on Ras until his mentor promises to restore her to her rightful body.

Paxton is a good variant on Carter. He's heroic but without Carter’s huge ego. He never shows the same level of martial prowess, and offers almost no action at all until the halfway point. Ulysses Paxton is no John Carter he is still a worthy hero stand among the pantheon of Burroughs creations.

These novels are pulpy adventures in outer space, and despite his failings in terms of narrative and his very dated politics, Burroughs is still a compelling author.

[joe73-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is pure escapist SCI FI at its best. Brain Transplants done as routinely as a someone having their tonsils removed. Great story. It is predictable but still makes you go "WHAT?" at the end.

[comfypants · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A new Earthman goes to Mars and learns how to swap peoples' brains.2/4 (Indifferent).I have no real sense of who most of the characters are, including the protagonist. And the action doesn't start until halfway through the book. The brain-swapping is amusingly ridiculous, but there's not really anything else to the book.

[antiquary_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The hero of this story is an American World War 1 soldier, Ulysses Paxton, who finds himself on Barsoom and encounters the ":master mind" a classic pulp mad scientist named Ras Thavas, who is not consciously evil but entirely cold-blooded in his search for knowledge. Ultimately Ulysses settles down and marries a Martian lady he considers even more lovely than John Carter's Dejah Thoris.

[angelarenea-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked this book more than the previous few, although it still didn't thrill me. I liked the medical aspect of this book, and I think that is why I liked it more than the previous. I was a bit confused by the beginning. What seems to be a letter from a fan to Burroughs turns out to be part of the book. I liked that there was little to no John Carter in this book, and even though this new lead shares some of the flaws, he's most definitely more bearable.

[reneh-2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is book #6 of the Barsoom series, and I think it is - so far - one of the best. There is a good sf-story in this book with good content and no excessive figting. John Carter only plays a tiny part in he last chapter, and in fact all the characters are new after the first five books.
It is the story of Ulyssus Paxton, an American soldier, who is transposed to Mars and arrives there near a laboratory where dubious experiments take place. This is worked out in an inventive way into a story with tension, romance and humour. Five stars.