A Princess of Mars

By Edgar Rice Burroughs and Mint Editions

Soon after the American Civil War, Confederate soldier John Carter joins the gold rush in Arizona. After striking a vein of gold, Carter runs into trouble with the natives of the area. In attempts to evade their pursuit, Carter hides in a cave, unaware of its magical properties. Mysteriously, Carter is transported to Mars, which the planet inhabitants call “Barsoom”. When Carter discovers that the gravity difference between Mars and Earth has granted him powers of extraordinary strength, he uses his ability to rise among the ranks of a tribe named the Tharks. However, when a group of Tharks kidnap Dejah, a princess, Carter feels obligated to save her. Promising to return her to her people, Carter helps Dejah escape, unintentionally becoming involved in political turmoil while he falls in love with the princess. When an opposing force plans to invade Dejah’s home city, Carter leads an army to fight back, risking his life for the woman he loves.

With high adventure, intense action, and fantasy, A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs is a classic example of 20th century pulp fiction. Set in the harsh environment of a dying planet, A Princess of Mars is a highly imaginative work that captures the minds of readers while entertaining with its adventure and romance. First published just over one hundred years ago in 1912, A Princess of Mars has remained a fan favorite of the series, inspiring film adaptations, including one produced by Walt Disney Pictures titled John Carter.

This edition of A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs features a new, eye-catching cover design and is printed in an easy-to-read font. With these accommodations, A Princess of Mars caters to a modern audience while preserving the original wonder and adventure of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ work.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mint Editions
• Release date: Feb 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9781513277073

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.

Book preview

I

ON THE ARIZONA HILLS

I am a very old man; how old I do not know. Possibly I am a hundred, possibly more; but I cannot tell because I have never aged as other men, nor do I remember any childhood. So far as I can recollect I have always been a man, a man of about thirty. I appear today as I did forty years and more ago, and yet I feel that I cannot go on living forever; that some day I shall die the real death from which there is no resurrection. I do not know why I should fear death, I who have died twice and am still alive; but yet I have the same horror of it as you who have never died, and it is because of this terror of death, I believe, that I am so convinced of my mortality.

And because of this conviction I have determined to write down the story of the interesting periods of my life and of my death. I cannot explain the phenomena; I can only set down here in the words of an ordinary soldier of fortune a chronicle of the strange events that befell me during the ten years that my dead body lay undiscovered in an Arizona cave.

I have never told this story, nor shall mortal man see this manuscript until after I have passed over for eternity. I know that the average human mind will not believe what it cannot grasp, and so I do not purpose being pilloried by the public, the pulpit, and the press, and held up as a colossal liar when I am but telling the simple truths which some day science will substantiate. Possibly the suggestions which I gained upon Mars, and the knowledge which I can set down in this chronicle, will aid in an earlier understanding of the mysteries of our sister planet; mysteries to you, but no longer mysteries to me.

My name is John Carter; I am better known as Captain Jack Carter of Virginia. At the close of the Civil War I found myself possessed of several hundred thousand dollars (Confederate) and a captain’s commission in the cavalry arm of an army which no longer existed; the servant of a state which had vanished with the hopes of the South. Masterless, penniless, and with my only means of livelihood, fighting, gone, I determined to work my way to the southwest and attempt to retrieve my fallen fortunes in a search for gold.

I spent nearly a year prospecting in company with another Confederate officer, Captain James K. Powell of Richmond. We were extremely fortunate, for late in the winter of 1865, after many hardships and privations, we located the most remarkable gold-bearing quartz vein that our wildest dreams had ever pictured. Powell, who was a mining engineer by education, stated that we had uncovered over a million dollars worth of ore in a trifle over three months.

As our equipment was crude in the extreme we decided that one of us must return to civilization, purchase the necessary machinery and return with a sufficient force of men properly to work the mine.

As Powell was familiar with the country, as well as with the mechanical requirements of mining we determined that it would be best for him to make the trip. It was agreed that I was to hold down our claim against the remote possibility of its being jumped by some wandering prospector.

On March 3, 1866, Powell and I packed his provisions on two of our burros, and bidding me good-bye he mounted his horse, and started down the mountainside toward the valley, across which led the first stage of his journey.

The morning of Powell’s departure was, like nearly all Arizona mornings, clear and beautiful; I could see him and his little pack animals picking their way down the mountainside toward the valley, and all during the morning I would catch occasional glimpses of them as they topped a hog back or came out upon a level plateau. My last sight of Powell was about three in the afternoon as he entered the shadows of the range on the opposite side of the valley.

Some half hour later I happened to glance casually across the valley and was much surprised to note three little dots in about the same place I had last seen my friend and his two pack animals. I am not given to needless worrying, but the more I tried to convince myself that all was well with Powell, and that the dots I had seen on his trail were antelope or wild horses, the less I was able to assure myself.

Since we had entered the territory we had not seen a hostile Indian, and we had, therefore, become careless in the extreme, and were wont to ridicule the stories we had heard of the great numbers of these vicious marauders that were supposed to haunt the trails, taking their toll in lives and torture of every white party which fell into their merciless clutches.

Powell, I knew, was well armed and, further, an experienced Indian fighter; but I too had lived and fought for years among the Sioux in the North, and I knew that his chances were small against a party of cunning trailing Apaches. Finally I could endure the suspense no longer, and, arming myself with my two Colt revolvers and a carbine, I strapped two belts of cartridges about me and catching my saddle horse, started down the trail taken by Powell in the morning.

As soon as I reached comparatively level ground I urged my mount into a canter and continued this, where the going permitted, until, close upon dusk, I discovered the point where other tracks joined those of Powell. They were the tracks of unshod ponies, three of them, and the ponies had been galloping.

I followed rapidly until, darkness shutting down, I was forced to await the rising of the moon, and given an opportunity to speculate on the question of the wisdom of my chase. Possibly I had conjured up impossible dangers, like some nervous old housewife, and when I should catch up with Powell would get a good laugh for my pains. However, I am not prone to sensitiveness, and the following of a sense of duty, wherever it may lead, has always been a kind of fetich with me throughout my life; which may account for the honors bestowed upon me by three republics and the decorations and friendships of an old and powerful emperor and several lesser kings, in whose service my sword has been red many a time.

About nine o’clock the moon was sufficiently bright for me to proceed on my way and I had no difficulty in following the trail at a fast walk, and in some places at a brisk trot until, about midnight, I reached the water hole where Powell had expected to camp. I came upon the spot unexpectedly, finding it entirely deserted, with no signs of having been recently occupied as a camp.

I was interested to note that the tracks of the pursuing horsemen, for such I was now convinced they must be, continued after Powell with only a brief stop at the hole for water; and always at the same rate of speed as his.

I was positive now that the trailers were Apaches and that they wished to capture Powell alive for the fiendish pleasure of the torture, so I urged my horse onward at a most dangerous pace, hoping against hope that I would catch up with the red rascals before they attacked him.

Further speculation was suddenly cut short by the faint report of two shots far ahead of me. I knew that Powell would need me now if ever, and I instantly urged my horse to his topmost speed up the narrow and difficult mountain trail.

I had forged ahead for perhaps a mile or more without hearing further sounds, when the trail suddenly debouched onto a small, open plateau near the summit of the pass. I had passed through a narrow, overhanging gorge just before entering suddenly upon this table land, and the sight which met my eyes filled me with consternation and dismay.

The little stretch of level land was white with Indian tepees, and there were probably half a thousand red warriors clustered around some object near the center of the camp. Their attention was so wholly riveted to this point of interest that they did not notice me, and I easily could have turned back into the dark recesses of the gorge and made my escape with perfect safety. The fact, however, that this thought did not occur to me until the following day removes any possible right to a claim to heroism to which the narration of this episode might possibly otherwise entitle me.

I do not believe that I am made of the stuff which constitutes heroes, because, in all of the hundreds of instances that my voluntary acts have placed me face to face with death, I cannot recall a single one where any alternative step to that I took occurred to me until many hours later. My mind is evidently so constituted that I am subconsciously forced into the path of duty without recourse to tiresome mental processes. However that may be, I have never regretted that cowardice is not optional with me.

In this instance I was, of course, positive that Powell was the center of attraction, but whether I thought or acted first I do not know, but within an instant from the moment the scene broke upon my view I had whipped out my revolvers and was charging down upon the entire army of warriors, shooting rapidly, and whooping at the top of my lungs. Singlehanded, I could not have pursued better tactics, for the red men, convinced by sudden surprise that not less than a regiment of regulars was upon them, turned and fled in every direction for their bows, arrows, and rifles.

The view which their hurried routing disclosed filled me with apprehension and with rage. Under the clear rays of the Arizona moon lay Powell, his body fairly bristling with the hostile arrows of the braves. That he was already dead I could not but be convinced, and yet I would have saved his body from mutilation at the hands of the Apaches as quickly as I would have saved the man himself from death.

Riding close to him I reached down from the saddle, and grasping his cartridge belt drew him up across the withers of my mount. A backward glance convinced me that to return by the way I had come would be more hazardous than to continue across the plateau, so, putting spurs to my poor beast, I made a dash for the opening to the pass which I could distinguish on the far side of the table land.

The Indians had by this time discovered that I was alone and I was pursued with imprecations, arrows, and rifle balls. The fact that it is difficult to aim anything but imprecations accurately by moonlight, that they were upset by the sudden and unexpected manner of my advent, and that I was a rather rapidly moving target saved me from the various deadly projectiles of the enemy and permitted me to reach the shadows of the surrounding peaks before an orderly pursuit could be organized.

My horse was traveling practically unguided as I knew that I had probably less knowledge of the exact location of the trail to the pass than he, and thus it happened that he entered a defile which led to the summit of the range and not to the pass which I had hoped would carry me to the valley and to safety. It is probable, however, that to this fact I owe my life and the remarkable experiences and adventures which befell me during the following ten years.

My first knowledge that I was on the wrong trail came when I heard the yells of the pursuing savages suddenly grow fainter and fainter far off to my left.

I knew then that they had passed to the left of the jagged rock formation at the edge of the plateau, to the right of which my horse had borne me and the body of Powell.

I drew rein on a little level promontory overlooking the trail below and to my left, and saw the party of pursuing savages disappearing around the point of a neighboring peak.

I knew the Indians would soon discover that they were on the wrong trail and that the search for me would be renewed in the right direction as soon as they located my tracks.

I had gone but a short distance further when what seemed to be an excellent trail opened up around the face of a high cliff. The trail was level and quite broad and led upward and in the general direction I wished to go. The cliff arose for several hundred feet on my right, and on my left was an equal and nearly perpendicular drop to the bottom of a rocky ravine.

I had followed this trail for perhaps a hundred yards when a sharp turn to the right brought me to the mouth of a large cave. The opening was about four feet in height and three to four feet wide, and at this opening the trail ended.

It was now morning, and, with the customary lack of dawn which is a startling characteristic of Arizona, it had become daylight almost without warning.

Dismounting, I laid Powell upon the ground, but the most painstaking examination failed to reveal the faintest spark of life. I forced water from my canteen between his dead lips, bathed his face and rubbed his hands, working over him continuously for the better part of an hour in the face of the fact that I knew him to be dead.

I was very fond of Powell; he was thoroughly a man in every respect; a polished southern gentleman; a staunch and true friend; and it was with a feeling of the deepest grief that I finally gave up my crude endeavors at resuscitation.

Leaving Powell’s body where it lay on the ledge I crept into the cave to reconnoiter. I found a large chamber, possibly a hundred feet in diameter and thirty or forty feet in height; a smooth and well-worn floor, and many other evidences that the cave had, at some remote period, been inhabited. The back of the cave was so lost in dense shadow that I could not distinguish whether there were openings into other apartments or not.

As I was continuing my examination I commenced to feel a pleasant drowsiness creeping over me which I attributed to the fatigue of my long and strenuous ride, and the reaction from the excitement of the fight and the pursuit. I felt comparatively safe in my present location as I knew that one man could defend the trail to the cave against an army.

I soon became so drowsy that I could scarcely resist the strong desire to throw myself on the floor of the cave for a few moments’ rest, but I knew that this would never do, as it would mean certain death at the hands of my red friends, who might be upon me at any moment. With an effort I started toward the opening of the cave only to reel drunkenly against a side wall, and from there slip prone upon the floor.

II

THE ESCAPE OF THE DEAD

A sense of delicious dreaminess overcame me, my muscles relaxed, and I was on the point of giving way to my desire to sleep when the sound of approaching horses reached my ears. I attempted to spring to my feet but was horrified to discover that my muscles refused to respond to my will. I was now thoroughly awake, but as unable to move a muscle as though turned to stone. It was then, for the first time, that I noticed a slight vapor filling the cave. It was extremely tenuous and only noticeable against the opening which led to daylight. There also came to my nostrils a faintly pungent odor, and I could only assume that I had been overcome by some poisonous gas, but why I should retain my mental faculties and yet be unable to move I could not fathom.

I lay facing the opening of the cave and where I could see the short stretch of trail which lay between the cave and the turn of the cliff around which the trail led. The noise of the approaching horses had ceased, and I judged the Indians were creeping stealthily upon me along the little ledge which led to my living tomb. I remember that I hoped they would make short work of me as I did not particularly relish the thought of the innumerable things they might do to me if the spirit prompted them.

I had not long to wait before a stealthy sound apprised me of their nearness, and then a war-bonneted, paint-streaked face was thrust cautiously around the shoulder of the cliff, and savage eyes looked into mine. That he could see me in the dim light of the cave I was sure for the early morning sun was falling full upon me through the opening.

The fellow, instead of approaching, merely stood and stared; his eyes bulging and his jaw dropped. And then another savage face appeared, and a third and fourth and fifth, craning their necks over the shoulders of their fellows whom they could not pass upon the narrow ledge. Each face was the picture of awe and fear, but for what reason I did not know, nor did I learn until ten years later. That there were still other braves behind those who regarded me was apparent from the fact that the leaders passed back whispered word to those behind them.

Suddenly a low but distinct moaning sound issued from the recesses of the cave behind me, and, as it reached the ears of the Indians, they turned and fled in terror, panic-stricken. So frantic were their efforts to escape from the unseen thing behind me that one of the braves was hurled headlong from the cliff to the rocks below. Their wild cries echoed in the canyon for a short time, and then all was still once more.

The sound which had frightened them was not repeated, but it had been sufficient as it was to start me speculating on the possible horror which lurked in the shadows at my back. Fear is a relative term and so I can only measure my feelings at that time by what I had experienced in previous positions of danger and by those that I have passed through since; but I can say without shame that if the sensations I endured during the next few minutes were fear, then may God help the coward, for cowardice is of a surety its own punishment.

To be held paralyzed, with one’s back toward some horrible and unknown danger from the very sound of which the ferocious Apache warriors turn in wild stampede, as a flock of sheep would madly flee from a pack of wolves, seems to me the last word in fearsome predicaments for a man who had ever been used to fighting for his life with all the energy of a powerful physique.

Several times I thought I heard faint sounds behind me as of somebody moving cautiously, but eventually even these ceased, and I was left to the contemplation of my position without interruption. I could but vaguely conjecture the cause of my paralysis, and my only hope

Reviews for A Princess of Mars

[marysneedle · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read a couple of the later books when I was a teenager.Burroughs knows how to mix high adventure and romance. A lot of the relationship interactions are very out dated but then again this was written in early 1900s. If you can get past that then you can sit back and enjoy a very action packed adventure. I'm looking forward to reading the second Barsoom John Carter book.

[eclecticdodo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

John Carter is a prospector in the US shortly after the civil war. He finds himself magically transported to Mars, and so begins an adventure with the 2 races of intelligent being, the red and the green peoples. The plot tends to support colonialism, where the white man has a civilising influence on other races and proves to be their salvation. The red people are even directly compared with Native Americans. The writing style is like much early science fiction, using many words where few would suffice. I found the love story a little too much, but then I don't really like romances. An good book, unashamedly copied by many later writers.

[leonardgmokos · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The first three books of the series are in fact a complete trilogy. One that has endured for a century, and rightfully so, but if action and adventure novels are common enough, what is the lasting appeal of these books? Simple: Honour & loyalty. Essential qualities of character. I am finding in the home brood that the internet generation are missing, and lacking, these seeds. Books like these, themes like these, have shaped me. Read them. Put them into your kid's hands and no, they won't die if the iPod goes away for hours each day, forcing them to grow roots into self evaluation, meaning, and notions about character, loyalty, service.
Okay and it's fun. Hot chicks, swords, wild landscapes and wilder humanoids. You gotta love it.

[comfypants · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful pulpy goodness.

[sf_addict · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Though seemingly far fetched from today's viewpoint it is an excellent adventure story.

[glennbell_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book is a science fiction adventure. It is filled with combat and a romance. The story line is interesting but the plausibility of the actions of the characters is poor. This book is appropriate for a young reader as it is without any significant meaning and is merely entertaining.

[minimarg · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A Princess of Mars follows the adventures of John Carter, Gentleman of VIrginia, when he finds himself on the surface of Mars. He is held prisioner by green martians, but falls in love with another prisoner, an red woman named Dejah Thoris. He saves her many times, and his love for her grows. They are seperated later, and John worries he will never see her again, or worse, that she is dead.

[jeffjardine · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A Princess of Mars is more of a swashbuckling adventure on Mars than a sci-fi story, at least as the genre is understood today. You can not deny its influence - the Barsoom series evidently inspired Bradbury, Clarke, Heinlein and Carl Sagan. Burroughs certainly has a way with words, but I found the plot patently ridiculous and would recommend it only to someone interested in exploring the history of the genre.

[leslie398 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It took a while for me to warm up to this 1912 classic but in the end it is a surprisingly good adventure & love story that happens to take place on Mars. This type of sci fi (aliens and weird creatures) is generally not what I care for but if you can accept the one giant leap of faith - how John Carter gets to Mars is inexplicable even to himself - Burroughs does a good job. And this book is the origin of the stereotype that men from Mars are green (which survived in the original Star Trek with the Klingons), although John Carter's love interest is a woman from the red people of Mars!

[xicanti_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An American man is mystically transported to Mars; there, he falls in love with a beautiful princess and must fight to win her.First published in 1912 as a six-part serial adventure, this book holds up very well. Burroughs writes simply and elegantly; the book is fun, exciting, and very readable. It often enters the realm of melodrama, and the world is not, perhaps, as well-developed as modern readers have come to expect, but it's a rewarding read nonetheless. There's always something interesting going on, and the ending is just the sort of romantic cliffhanger that Burroughs excels at. When I first read this, I was more than eager to get my hands on the next volume so I could make sure everything turned out all right.It's important to remember that this book comes from a time when science fiction was about romance and adventure rather than technology and ideas; it's quite a bit lighter than modern fare, and this might put some readers off. However, those who enjoy quick, purely entertaining reads should get a big kick out of it. I know I did.

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

I had heard from so many people about how good this books is, and frankly, I was disappointed. Maybe it is just not my thing, but John Carter seemed like a pretentious, self praising jerk. He set himself up above every other character in the book, and took numerous opportunities to assure the reader of his many skills, abilities and qualities, while feigning modesty. I understand that this book was written in a different era, but I felt that he looked down on the dog (thing) because he was a 'hideous beast' Dejah Thoris because she is a woman, the Green Men of Thark because they were less civilized than him, and the humans because they were not as clever as him. On top of that, I found the timeline hard to follow, and did not really understand if John Carter was human or not (because he did not age). Perhaps some of these questions are answered in one of the next 10 books, but I'm not sure if I can force myself to find out.
I did like the technology aspect of the book though. I found it really interesting especially because of when it was published.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoy's Civil War era science fiction.

[ikeman100 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fun space Opera. Burroughs knows how to keep a story moving. He is one of the early masters of the Space Opera. Great imagination.

[michael7kibler · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Recently, I have been reading the book, A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, it s a very interesting book including a lot more detail than other books written in our time. A Princess of Mars is one of the best books I have read because of the attention to detail during every move that the main character, John Carter, happens to make. It starts off with John in Montana based back in the civil war era when the nation is slowly being ripped apart by the north, south war going on. When John Carter makes it to Mars, he soon becomes acquainted with the Tharks. Tharks are a very intelligent but harsh clan that does not like to intervene with other clans that live upon Mars. They later capture a prisoner that turns out to be a princess that John Carter saves and falls in love with but rather than running away with her he has to fight for her love against other Martians. I would have thought that the author would take a different approach that all of the clans would group together and make a civilization to better the community since Mars is a very dry place, but he split them up to form rivalries between different clans and later create more action between them. John Carter, is more for peace and love. If what he wants, involves killing or harming other people or things he does what he needs to do to get his way. Such as when he first got to Mars and met up with the Tharks he had a big six legged animal following him for protection. John wanted to adventure around and explore his surroundings. When that happened, the animal following him was hissing and growling because of the boundaries he was passing, soon after the great white, four armed, apes of Mars rushed him and harmed the animal that had sworn to protect him. He later killed the apes and the animal was harmed in the wrong doing of his adventure. The Chieftan, Tonka Jan, wanted to put down the animal because of the culture he had came from, but John spared the animals life because that isn't how humans react to those kind of things. John ended up killing Tonka Jan because of the dispute. I think, that the Author didn't mean to write so highly about John Carter at first because later on he put more thought into developing his back ground information. Such as in the beginning of the book he was so happy to be with the Tharks because they accepted him for being an excellent warrior but showed no love towards him. He later craved that love that he missed for the ten years when he was with the Tharks and ran away to find the better civilization and take his true love, lovely princess of helium Dejah Thoris, back to her home in the town of helium where the it was a custom to show love and affection for one another. The Customs of the Tharks were very different, where every male was a warrior no matter what and couldn't show affection to anyone of any kind. The most of all I think that this book was very good because of the detail that he puts into each and every paragraph. Edgar Rice Burroughs, the Author, talks to highly of the landscape like it s the great Alaskan wilderness and John carter has to conquer it. On a scale of one to ten; I give this book a ten because of the amount of thought put into developing the story. If you were to guess what the story was about before reading the book you would be shocked how it actually ends. The Princess of Mars, was by far one of the greatest books I have ever read.

[the_hibernator · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In the post-Civil War era, John Carter enters an Arizona cave and is unexpectedly whisked away to Mars. There, he witnesses the depravity of a "highly developed" race of people who, because medicine helps them to live long lives, they perform population control by warring with each other. In some ways, though, they're happier than people on Earth, because they have no lawyers. John Carter takes Mars (and a Princess's heart) by storm. I'm not a huge fan of pulp fiction, so I expected very little out of this book. Because of that, I was impressed at how "not bad" it was. Actually, it was sort of interesting in a history-of-science-fiction sort of way. It did have some rather racist comments about Native Americans (an artifact of when it was written), and the Princess was a weak annoying little thing whose only virtues were rare beauty and a penchant for getting into trouble so that we could witness the excitement of her rescue (this is an artifact of being pulp). Overall, not too shabby. But not literature, either. I DID wonder whether John Carter was meant to be some sort of pulpy Christ figure. He was very good at saving people. And he had the right initials. ;)

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

Definitely pulp fiction, but more fun than I expected.

I wonder what it would have been like reading this before we had sent spacecraft to Mars, and before we had nice pictures of Martian surfaces.

I can't help but wonder if Burroughs meant the reader to believe Earthlings are descended from the red men of Mars--the planet is collapsing, the ancient humanoid residents of the huge now-dead cities created the atmosphere maker.

[bellafoxx · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

“A Princess of Mars” is the first in Burroughs’ eleven book “Barsoon” series, following the continued adventures of John Carter.John Carter, a Civil War veteran is prospecting in Arizona when attacked by Indians, taking cover in a cave he encounters some strange events, then he finds himself on the planet Mars and a prisoner of the Green Men of Thark, Dejah Thoris, a red Martian princess, is also a prisoner of the Green Men. John Carter has impressive skills, due to the difference in gravity between Mars and Earth and his being a combat veteran. This is important because he must fight for his and Dejah Thoris freedom. And later to save the planet from destruction.This was a fun easy read. Heavy on the action, lots of fighting and sword play, light on plot and character development. All in all an enjoyable and entertaining read.

[davewilde-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Edgar Rice Burroughs' 1912 novel "A Princess of Mars" is a brilliant, wonderful piece of literature. That it is still just as good one hundred years after it was written is testament to just how good a writer Burroughs was. What would it be like to be transported to another planet without a spaceship, guns, or even clothes? What would it be like to be plopped all alone in an alien culture with nothing to rely on but one's wits, strength, agility, courage, and ethics? What would that world be like if it was dried up planet with mere canals to provide water and its mighty seas were dried up? What if that planet had an ancient culture that had vanished with the drying up of the seas and all that remained were dead seas and hordes of savages roaming the dead sea bottoms? What if these savages did not even give birth as we do but laid eggs and placed them in incubators for five long years? These are the questions Burrough must have asked before writing this terrific novel that spawned generation after generation of science fiction novels.

At root, if you put aside the alien planet, it is a story of a mighty swordsman and a beautiful princess and the swordsman, blundering though he may be in the ways of women, has sworn to save this damsel in distress though a million swords be arrayed against him. It is a story of a gallant Virginia gentleman and his love story to rescue over and over again his princess, Dejah Thoris. It is at times chivalry like the knights of the round table or the three musketeers.

Burroughs, back in 1912, gave his swordfighting warriors of Mars a few technological details, such as fliers that hovered above the seabeds and ray guns, but they preferred to fight with swords and fists and wear little but harnesses to hold their weapons. The people of Burroughs' Mars had an atmospheric plant that kept the thin atmosphere breathable and navigation systems on their fliers, but they were, even the red martians, in numerous little city-states forever at war with each other.
Burroughs wrote this story of chivalry and derring-do for a readership that craved adventure, but he gave them far more than just adventure. He created mighty kingdoms and history and a whole culture that is just stupendous. No one before or since has created a sword and planet story quite as good as Burroughs did and this the first of the eleven Martian books was the best of all.

[isabelx_21 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I opened my eyes upon a strange and weird landscape. I knew that I was on Mars; not once did I question either my sanity or my wakefulness. I was not asleep, no need for pinching here; my inner consciousness told me as plainly that I was upon Mars as your conscious mind tells you that your are upon Earth. You do not question the fact; neither did I.There is a mystery about John Carter that is almost forgotten in the excitement of his adventures on Mars. He claims to be immortal and that he has been known as Uncle Jack to generations of his family but has appeared to be abut 30 years old (if indeed they are his relations, since he can't remember his childhood). I wonder whether this is explained in one of the later books, or whether his origins will remain forever mysterious.I noticed that in a couple of places John Carter uses the word shambles in its old sense, of a place where animals are slaughtered and butchered. When he describes the aftermath of a battle as a 'bloody shambles' he is not swearing, and means that it is literally covered in gore and body parts, and not that it is a disorganised mess. I wonder if that meaning was still in general use in Virginia at the time of the American Civil War, or whether his use of obsolete terms is pointing to his immortality? I liked Sola's story and how it showed that the green martians' cold and loveless society is a cultural artefact rather than determined by evolution and genetics I liked John Carter a lot too; he says that he isn't a hero because taking the easy way out never even occurs to him until afterwards, he sees the green martians as men and women rather than alien monsters, and he is very fond of animals and uses kindness to turn the 'guard-dog' into a loyal and friendly pet, and the unpredictable throats into reliable mounts who won't throw their rider at the worst possible moment and try to gore him. There is one one thing about this book that I definitely don't like - Edgar Rice Burroughs is just rubbish at thinking up character names! The women's names aren't so bad, but John Carter is a boring name for the protagonist, and the martian men's names such as Kantos Kan and Tars Tarkas.just seem ridiculously clunky.---I nominated this book for the Motley Fool on-line book club, because the recent film based on it, "John Carter", was so badly received that I thought it would be interesting to see what the original story was like, and it won the vote for a book available as a free download.Now that I have finished, I would quite like to see the recent film to see how they made such a mess of it. I would have thought that "A Princess of Mars" would made a good film, as it has an exotic alien setting, a likeable hero and heroine, romantic misunderstandings, character development (Tars Tarkas and the green martians), monstrous beasts (the white apes), cuddly beasts (the loveable Woola), and plenty of excitement in the form of daring escapes, airship chases, sword-fights and battles on land and in the air.

[imota_47 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Written in 1911, "A Princess of Mars" becomes Burrough's first novel in the Martian series.It is a fast-paced SF/adventure novel which features Captain John Carter of the U.S. Confederate Army who is mysteriously transferred to Mars from a Nevada cave after being chased by wild Indians. Having superior fighting skills and agility than his Martian warriors, John Carter soon becomes one of the key commanders in the Green Martian army. The Martian society is divided into several feuding parties (the most important - Green Martians and Red Martians). It is an equivalent of ancient Sparta or war stricken Iraq of today where military skills, discipline, brutality and heroism permeate all pores of society.Since the Green Martians don't know what friendship or mercy mean, they are often troubled by John Carter's display of similar traits. Further, they don't know what the real family is. Their babies were hatched from eggs and then taken care by the community. John Carter's encounter with Dejah Thoris, a beautiful Princess of Red Martians (now captured by the Green Martians and sentenced to death) is a turning point for John. Now, he must decide whether to switch his alliance from the Green Martians to the Red ones. Not only does the Princess Dejah Thoris look as a woman from the Planet Earth, she also harbors the same emotions as John - empathy, love, friendship, mercy...It's not surprising then that John (now stricken by love for beautiful Princess) decides to free her from her captors. This was eventually done after so many misfortunes, bloody fights and surprising twists in the story.In conclusion, this book is neither a masterpiece nor a trashy novel of pulp fiction. The author truly captured my imagination by his crafty story-telling which convincingly defines what a true adventure/SF novel is supposed to be.

[emscape · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A Princess of Mars is a Science Fiction classic for good reason. The exploration of new worlds and alien cultures, fierce battles in which our hero thrives, a lovely and courageous heroine, and wonderfully expressive writing combine to make this one of the best. That it is the first in a long series is even more amazing! I was late in coming to this author, but the timelessness of his tales make it a fantastic discovery. Looking forward to more!

[davidburrows · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First book I ever read. I loved these books.

[norabelle414 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

audiobook - Pretty cheesy, but fun. My narrator had this really crazy old-school Southern accent which grated on my nerves a bit, but I knew it was appropriate. Due to the cheese-factor I expected a happy ending (but didn't get one), but then I remembered that this is old-school science fiction, so of course it has a true science fiction ending in which the main story is not actually resolved.

[dinosaurhorrorshow · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is my absolute favorite book! I love everything about Burroughs writing, how wonderfully cheesy it is, the over dramatic adventure. It is absolutely perfect!

[kingoftheicedragons · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this book after having it suggested that I may like it after saying that reading is for fun and pleasure and the escape it provides, and that fiction--especially science fiction--shouldn't be akin to reading a physics text book. And since this book is going to be made into a movie, I figure that it can't be all bad. I wasn't disappointed, though of course, John Carter is transported magically to Mars just by falling asleep, as if he's dreaming the whole adventure, so that would be sort of hard to grasp, but considering when the book was written, it was probably no more hard to believe in his day than space craft would be in ours. The plot is fairly simple. It's a love story, and John Carter's adventures to win the heart of the woman who he met and fell in love with. Though the number of people that John Carter killed to accomplish this task is somewhat overwhelming, and included the inhilation of an entire people. The writing was sort of hard to get into, with a lot of what I thought were unnecessary words. Because of this, it took me quite awhile to read it, and if I couldn't sit down and read for an extended period of time decided against doing so. Overall, though, I am curious to see what the next book brings, so it was exciting enough for me in that regard. At the same time, the next book in the series will not be the next book I read.

[tjl-13 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Rating: 3.5/5 stars.

This is a classic pulp science-fiction/fantasy novel, with all that that title entails. So, there's colonialism (albeit turned kind of on its head), sexism (with an appropriately beautiful damsel in distress), and a hero who can practically accomplish anything. Very little goes wrong for our illustrious hero (aside from the events that land him on Mars to begin with and a few others).

The writing isn't spectacular, but it's serviceable. While ostensibly a science-fiction story due to its setting, this story has more to do with its contemporaries of Kull/Conan than the science-fiction of say E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman series.

I'd probably rate this higher if it weren't for the last chapter which lessened my enjoyment of the rest of the book for me. It seems to be there just to set up a sequel while pulling the rug out from the rest of the book. I
don't mind the set up for a sequel, it's the undermining of the book I disliked.

The narration by Scott Brick isn't outstanding, but it's not bad. He's certainly done a better job for other books.

[usnmm2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Have read all of this series ( 11 books ) several times. Pure no brainers and a pleasure to read. Good guy versus bad guys and the good guy always wins, gets the girl and sometimes the bad guys are converted.

[weakley_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What a treat! Pulp ficton at it's best. John Carter is one the ultimate "mighty thewed fighting men". Burroughs was the master of this genre. You don't get anything unexpected in this story. It's all pretty prosaic. Even with that being the case it stills carries you from scene to scene and leaves you wanting to read the next chapter. The fighting companions, the beautiful maiden, the mysterious far flung cities, escape after escape that lead to further dangers. You have to love it!

[benjamin.duffy · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

OK, I give up…(checking)…81% of the way through. Bag this book.

I grabbed Princess of Mars on Gutenberg.org, because it was in the Top Downloads chart, and because I’d never read any Burroughs before. (I realized a day or two later that it was being downloaded heavily because there’s a film adaptation out now.)

Having recently read a ton of fiction from the century spanning roughly 1820-1920, including a lot of pioneering science fiction, and having enjoyed most of it, I expected about the same from Princess of Mars: an enjoyable story rich with references to its time, probably loaded with amusingly quaint touches like hokey science and corny dialogue. And it didn’t disappoint on the “hokey” front, what with the chariot-riding, pistol toting Martians and all. But it failed to grab me, and ultimately I bogged down out of sheer boredom. It read almost like a (mediocre) Western novel in which the places and people had been hastily switched at the last minute to create a “Martian” setting. (I understand this was not the case, just saying that’s how it felt.) I can definitely tell this stuff must have been an influence on L. Ron Hubbard.

Having given this book an honest try, I don’t think I’ll be finishing it, let alone picking up one of the apparently 317 sequels. If I want my old-school fix, I’ll stick to Wells-Verne-Stevenson-Stoker and company.

[antiquary_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the first of Burroughs Mars series, not as well known as Tarzan but fairly good. It is frankly pulp fiction and makes no pretense of serious science: John Carter, a Confederate veteran (but apparently immortal --he has no memory of his birth), while escaping from Indians in the southwest, wishes to be on Mars and is there, a Mars based loosely on Percival Lowell, with drylands stretching between canals on which are ancient cities. The first is captured by the barbaric nomad green martians, giants with four arms, but later wins the love of a red Martian princess, fully human aside from laying eggs. While they are waiting for their first child to hatch, the machine that maintains the Martian atmosphere breaks down; Carter saves it but loses consciousness ad wakes on earth, where he tells his story to a young Burroughs and then vanishes, presumably back to Mars (where the second volume picks up.)

[infjsarah · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Having recently seen the film John Carter, I thought I'd download this classic from Gutenberg. It was OK but glad I saw the film first as the book is even more one fight after the next. It is also short so can be safely read on a phone in spare minutes.I have downloaded Gods of Mars too so will use spare minutes on that too.