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Alan W
3.0 out of 5 stars
Space Opera/Fantasy - ages Well!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 November 2012
This title in the chronicles of John Carter has aged very well. The storyline is good, though predictable. As Space-Opera/Fantasies go it has all of the staple ingredients - A hero who faces danger, escapes from impossible situations and/or horrible creatures, chases his enemies tirelessly across half a planet, gets the girl, etc. ect. Even so I found the book to be a good 'page-turner', As are all of the titles I have read in this series. Considering that the book is one of many free titles available for my Kindle, I thoroughly enjoyed the story and would recommend the title to anyone who enjoys reading a good 'Space-Opera/Fantasy'.
Ian Adams
5.0 out of 5 stars
The inspiration of countless other science fiction writers!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 February 2015
The first three books in this series have inspired many other writers to, either simulate to a degree, or produce their own great works is review enough. Though sometimes the reader can be frustrated at the main character for his naivety, you must remember that it was written in 1911/1912, and that, a lot, if not most of sci fi that we have become used to have been influenced in no small part from these books. They are great stories from a great mind
Jimbo
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another engaging adventure
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 March 2013
These books are all about adventure and in this context are timeless. The world Edgar Rice Burroughs creates in the depth of his own mind is one the reader can enter knowing that the princess always gets rescued, the hero survives to be proclaimed, and the villain always gets his or her just deserts!
Mike S
4.0 out of 5 stars
Warlord Of Mars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 April 2013
I liked the book because I was interested in the historic science fiction as written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The language though is archaic and might not suit everyone.
Anne
3.0 out of 5 stars
Curiosity
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 April 2013
You need to switch off your 21st century sensibilities to read John Carter, very dated now in attitudes, sexist and racist (Martian tribes are characterised are distinguished by their colour) they are best read as historical curiosities.
Anexus6
3.0 out of 5 stars
Outdated
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 April 2013
Outdated by today standards. Each book in the series is very similars with the end result like a corny romance novel. Some of the consepts were interesting for an early 20th centry story.
denand
5.0 out of 5 stars
Where does it go now
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 January 2013
Great series so far, where does it go now. There are many small bits to tidy up but no major villain still to kill, more will need to be identified and a new strategy or direction found.
Gransmithies
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 April 2013
As with my other reveiws of this author it is a good old fashioned read very "boys own" stuff.Written at the turn of the last century it is old fashioned ,but I enjoyd it
Top reviews from other countries
the gunner
5.0 out of 5 stars
The third of the John Carter novels
Reviewed in the United States on 26 March 2012
The Warlord of Mars
++++++++++++ caution contains what some might construe as spoilers++++++++++++++++++
The Warlord of Mars is a science fiction novel written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the third of his famous Barsoom series following The Gods of Mars (Townsend Library Edition) . Burroughs began writing it in June, 1913, going through five working titles; Yellow Men of Barsoom, The Fighting Prince of Mars, Across Savage Mars, The Prince of Helium, and The War Lord of Mars.
The finished story was first published in All-Story Magazine as a four-part serial in the issues for December, 1913-March, 1914. It was later published as a complete novel by A. C. McClurg in September, 1919
This novel continues where the previous one in the series, The Gods of Mars abruptly ended. At the end of the previous book, John Carter's wife, the princess Dejah Thoris, is imprisoned in the Temple of the Sun by the vile pretender goddess Issus. It is said one has to wait an entire Barsoomian year before the room the prisoner is in revolves back to the entrance
John Carter discovers that a First Born knows the secret of the Temple of the Sun and he and the Holy Hekkador Matai Shang want to rescue the Holy Thern's daughter, who is imprisoned with Dejah Thoris and another Barsoomian princess, Thuvia of Ptarth. John Carter follows them in the hope of liberating his beloved wife. His antagonists flee to the north, taking the three women along. Thereafter John Carter follows them untiring into the north polar regions where he discovers more fantastic creatures and ancient, mysterious Martian races. These he overcomes in battle, and is later proclaimed "Warlord of Barsoom" by his allies. This book is the last to feature Tars Tarkas, John Carter's ally, in any major role; indeed, the green Barsoomians of whom Tars Tarkas is an oligarch disappear altogether from most of the later novels.
Characters
* John Carter: Protagonist of the first three novels. Carter is an American Civil War veteran, transported to the planet Mars by a form of astral projection. There, he encounters both formidable alien creatures and various waring Martian races, wins the hand of Martian princess Dejah Thoris, and rises to the position of Warlord of Mars.
* Dejah Thoris: A Martian Princess of Helium, who is courageous, tough and always holds her resolve, despite being frequently placed in both mortal danger and the threat of being dishonored by the lust of villains. She is the daughter of Mors Kajak, jed of Lesser Helium and granddaughter of Tardos Mors, jeddak of Helium; highly aristocratic; and fiercely proud of her heritage. She is the love interest of John Carter. She was imprisoned by the Martian false deity Issus, at the end of The Gods of Mars. A central character in the first three Barsoom novels, whose capture by various enemies, and subsequent pursuit by John Carter, is a constant motivating force in these tales.
* Tars Tarkas: A Green Martian, who becomes the ally of John Carter and at his behest, the overlord of his clan. An archetypal noble savage, and considered John Carter's first and closest friend upon Barsoom.
* Thuvia of Ptarth: A Princess of Ptarth, who appears in The Gods of Mars as a slave girl rescued by John Carter from the Therns. She is later imprisoned with Carter's wife Dejah Thoris, in a prison which can only be opened once per year and remains by her side until the conclusion of The Warlord of Mars. Like many of Burroughs' heroines, she is tough, courageous, proud, and strongly identified with her aristocratic position in Martian society.
Burroughs vision of Mars was loosely inspired by astronomical speculation of the time, especially that of Percival Lowell, who saw the planet as a formerly Earthlike world now becoming less hospitable to life due to its advanced age, whose inhabitants had built canals to bring water from the polar caps to irrigate the remaining arable land. [ Lowell was influenced by Italian astronomer, Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli, who in 1878, had observed features on Mars he called canali (Italian for "channels"). Mistranslated of this into English as "canals" fueled belief the planet was inhabited. The theory of an inhabited planet with flowing water was disproved by data provided by Russian and American probes such as the two Viking missions which found a dead, frozen world where water could not exist in a fluid state
A million years before the narrative commences, Mars was a lush world with oceans. As the oceans receded, and the atmosphere grew thin, the planet has devolved into a landscape of partial barbarism; living on an aging planet, with dwindling resources, the inhabitants of Barsoom have become hardened and warlike, fighting one another to survive. Barsoomians distribute scarce water supplies via a worldwide system of canals, controlled by quarreling city-states. The thinning Martian atmosphere is artificially replenished from an "atmosphere plant".
Race
The world of Barsoom is divided by the territory of White, Yellow, Black, Red and Green skinned races. Each has particular traits and qualities, which seem to define most individuals within them. This concept of race is more like a division between species than ethnicity.
The Warlord of Mars introduces the Yellow Martians, supposedly extinct, whom John Carter finds in secret domed cities at the poles. They are black-bearded, exceptionally cruel, and keep slaves, acquiring these by using a giant magnetic device which sends fliers off course, and allows the Yellow Martians to capture the occupants
Numerous novels and series by others were inspired by Burroughs' Mars books: the Radio Planet trilogy of Ralph Milne Farley; the Mars and Venus novels of Otis Adelbert Kline; Almuric by Robert E. Howard; Warrior of Llarn and Thief of Llarn by Gardner Fox; Tarzan on Mars, Go-Man and Thundar, Man of Two Worlds by John Bloodstone; the Michael Kane trilogy of Michael Moorcock; The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, Through the Gates of the Silver Key by H.P. Lovecraft, the Gor series of John Norman; the Callisto series and Green Star series of Lin Carter; The Goddess of Ganymede and Pursuit on Ganymede by Mike Resnick; and the Dray Prescot series of Alan Burt Akers (Kenneth Bulmer). In addition, Leigh Brackett, Ray Bradbury, Andre Norton, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and Alan Dean Foster show Burroughs' influence in their development of alien cultures and worlds.
A. Bertram Chandler's pulp novels The Alternate Martians and The Empress of Outer Space overtly borrow a number of characters and situations from Burroughs' Barsoom series.
Robert A. Heinlein's novels Glory Road and , and Alan Moore's graphic novels of Allan and the Sundered Veil and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II directly reference Barsoom.
In Philip José Farmer's World of Tiers series (1965-1993) Kickaha, the seri The Number of the Beast es' adventurer protagonist, asks his friend The Creator of Universes to create for him a Barsoom. The latter agrees only to make an empty world, since "It would go too far for me to create all these fabulous creatures only for you to amuse yourself by running your sword through them." Kickaha visits from time to time the empty Barsoom, complete with beautiful palaces in which nobody ever lived, but goes away frustrated.
L. Sprague de Camp's story "Sir Harold of Zodanga" recasts and rationalizes Barsoom as a parallel world visited by his dimension-hopping hero Harold Shea. De Camp accounts for Burroughs' departures from physics or logic by portraying both Burroughs and Carter as having a tendency to exaggerate in their storytelling, and Barsoomian technology as less advanced than usually presented.
Furthermore, his Viagens Interplanetarias series of novels and short stories, especially those set on Krishna, one of Tau Ceti's inhabited planets, owe much to the premise of feudal co-existence alongside advanced technology pioneered within the Barsoom series.
In 1989 Larry Niven and Steven Barnes published "The Barsoom Project", where a futuristic form of live action role-playing games (LARPs) is based on the Barsoom books.
The Mars-based novels of Kim Stanley Robinson (published from 1992 to 1999) also offer several nods in Burroughs' direction.
The 2008 novel In the Courts of the Crimson Kings by S.F. writer S. M. Stirling is an alternate telling of the Princess of Mars story but this time the princess is a very powerful character indeed.
DC Comics character Adam Strange's method of transportation, the Zeta Beam, recalls the way Carter is transported to Mars.
In the Commonwealth Saga novels by Peter F. Hamilton a group of humans who undertake unprecedented and often illegal genetic modifications of their own bodies are known as the Barsoomians, in apparent reference to Burroughs' creation.
Richard Corben's Den series also appears to be inspired by the Barsoom series. It features a hero, Den, who mysteriously arrives naked on a (largely) desert planet where he becomes a great warrior and where the humanoids wear no clothes. Many of the creatures resemble the description of the white apes of the Gods of Mars. Like John Carter, he also receives great physical prowess from arriving in Neverwhere, although Carter's prowess stems from gravity, whereas Den undergoes a complete physical transformation.
In Stephen King's novel The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three, Eddie Dean compares the All-World and the quest for the Dark Tower to a Barsoom novel.
The John Carter of Mars series was also felt to be one of the inspirations for the Dark Sun Dungeons & Dragons game world setting.
In A Wizard of Mars by Diane Duane, the main character Kit is a major fan of the Barsoom series and a long dormant wizard artifact recreates Barsoom as Kit imagines it to communicate with him.
I highly recommend this book and series to 12 -18 year olds who enjoy swashbuckling adventures and tales of derring-do.
Gunner March, 2012
++++++++++++ caution contains what some might construe as spoilers++++++++++++++++++
The Warlord of Mars is a science fiction novel written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the third of his famous Barsoom series following The Gods of Mars (Townsend Library Edition) . Burroughs began writing it in June, 1913, going through five working titles; Yellow Men of Barsoom, The Fighting Prince of Mars, Across Savage Mars, The Prince of Helium, and The War Lord of Mars.
The finished story was first published in All-Story Magazine as a four-part serial in the issues for December, 1913-March, 1914. It was later published as a complete novel by A. C. McClurg in September, 1919
This novel continues where the previous one in the series, The Gods of Mars abruptly ended. At the end of the previous book, John Carter's wife, the princess Dejah Thoris, is imprisoned in the Temple of the Sun by the vile pretender goddess Issus. It is said one has to wait an entire Barsoomian year before the room the prisoner is in revolves back to the entrance
John Carter discovers that a First Born knows the secret of the Temple of the Sun and he and the Holy Hekkador Matai Shang want to rescue the Holy Thern's daughter, who is imprisoned with Dejah Thoris and another Barsoomian princess, Thuvia of Ptarth. John Carter follows them in the hope of liberating his beloved wife. His antagonists flee to the north, taking the three women along. Thereafter John Carter follows them untiring into the north polar regions where he discovers more fantastic creatures and ancient, mysterious Martian races. These he overcomes in battle, and is later proclaimed "Warlord of Barsoom" by his allies. This book is the last to feature Tars Tarkas, John Carter's ally, in any major role; indeed, the green Barsoomians of whom Tars Tarkas is an oligarch disappear altogether from most of the later novels.
Characters
* John Carter: Protagonist of the first three novels. Carter is an American Civil War veteran, transported to the planet Mars by a form of astral projection. There, he encounters both formidable alien creatures and various waring Martian races, wins the hand of Martian princess Dejah Thoris, and rises to the position of Warlord of Mars.
* Dejah Thoris: A Martian Princess of Helium, who is courageous, tough and always holds her resolve, despite being frequently placed in both mortal danger and the threat of being dishonored by the lust of villains. She is the daughter of Mors Kajak, jed of Lesser Helium and granddaughter of Tardos Mors, jeddak of Helium; highly aristocratic; and fiercely proud of her heritage. She is the love interest of John Carter. She was imprisoned by the Martian false deity Issus, at the end of The Gods of Mars. A central character in the first three Barsoom novels, whose capture by various enemies, and subsequent pursuit by John Carter, is a constant motivating force in these tales.
* Tars Tarkas: A Green Martian, who becomes the ally of John Carter and at his behest, the overlord of his clan. An archetypal noble savage, and considered John Carter's first and closest friend upon Barsoom.
* Thuvia of Ptarth: A Princess of Ptarth, who appears in The Gods of Mars as a slave girl rescued by John Carter from the Therns. She is later imprisoned with Carter's wife Dejah Thoris, in a prison which can only be opened once per year and remains by her side until the conclusion of The Warlord of Mars. Like many of Burroughs' heroines, she is tough, courageous, proud, and strongly identified with her aristocratic position in Martian society.
Burroughs vision of Mars was loosely inspired by astronomical speculation of the time, especially that of Percival Lowell, who saw the planet as a formerly Earthlike world now becoming less hospitable to life due to its advanced age, whose inhabitants had built canals to bring water from the polar caps to irrigate the remaining arable land. [ Lowell was influenced by Italian astronomer, Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli, who in 1878, had observed features on Mars he called canali (Italian for "channels"). Mistranslated of this into English as "canals" fueled belief the planet was inhabited. The theory of an inhabited planet with flowing water was disproved by data provided by Russian and American probes such as the two Viking missions which found a dead, frozen world where water could not exist in a fluid state
A million years before the narrative commences, Mars was a lush world with oceans. As the oceans receded, and the atmosphere grew thin, the planet has devolved into a landscape of partial barbarism; living on an aging planet, with dwindling resources, the inhabitants of Barsoom have become hardened and warlike, fighting one another to survive. Barsoomians distribute scarce water supplies via a worldwide system of canals, controlled by quarreling city-states. The thinning Martian atmosphere is artificially replenished from an "atmosphere plant".
Race
The world of Barsoom is divided by the territory of White, Yellow, Black, Red and Green skinned races. Each has particular traits and qualities, which seem to define most individuals within them. This concept of race is more like a division between species than ethnicity.
The Warlord of Mars introduces the Yellow Martians, supposedly extinct, whom John Carter finds in secret domed cities at the poles. They are black-bearded, exceptionally cruel, and keep slaves, acquiring these by using a giant magnetic device which sends fliers off course, and allows the Yellow Martians to capture the occupants
Numerous novels and series by others were inspired by Burroughs' Mars books: the Radio Planet trilogy of Ralph Milne Farley; the Mars and Venus novels of Otis Adelbert Kline; Almuric by Robert E. Howard; Warrior of Llarn and Thief of Llarn by Gardner Fox; Tarzan on Mars, Go-Man and Thundar, Man of Two Worlds by John Bloodstone; the Michael Kane trilogy of Michael Moorcock; The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, Through the Gates of the Silver Key by H.P. Lovecraft, the Gor series of John Norman; the Callisto series and Green Star series of Lin Carter; The Goddess of Ganymede and Pursuit on Ganymede by Mike Resnick; and the Dray Prescot series of Alan Burt Akers (Kenneth Bulmer). In addition, Leigh Brackett, Ray Bradbury, Andre Norton, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and Alan Dean Foster show Burroughs' influence in their development of alien cultures and worlds.
A. Bertram Chandler's pulp novels The Alternate Martians and The Empress of Outer Space overtly borrow a number of characters and situations from Burroughs' Barsoom series.
Robert A. Heinlein's novels Glory Road and , and Alan Moore's graphic novels of Allan and the Sundered Veil and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II directly reference Barsoom.
In Philip José Farmer's World of Tiers series (1965-1993) Kickaha, the seri The Number of the Beast es' adventurer protagonist, asks his friend The Creator of Universes to create for him a Barsoom. The latter agrees only to make an empty world, since "It would go too far for me to create all these fabulous creatures only for you to amuse yourself by running your sword through them." Kickaha visits from time to time the empty Barsoom, complete with beautiful palaces in which nobody ever lived, but goes away frustrated.
L. Sprague de Camp's story "Sir Harold of Zodanga" recasts and rationalizes Barsoom as a parallel world visited by his dimension-hopping hero Harold Shea. De Camp accounts for Burroughs' departures from physics or logic by portraying both Burroughs and Carter as having a tendency to exaggerate in their storytelling, and Barsoomian technology as less advanced than usually presented.
Furthermore, his Viagens Interplanetarias series of novels and short stories, especially those set on Krishna, one of Tau Ceti's inhabited planets, owe much to the premise of feudal co-existence alongside advanced technology pioneered within the Barsoom series.
In 1989 Larry Niven and Steven Barnes published "The Barsoom Project", where a futuristic form of live action role-playing games (LARPs) is based on the Barsoom books.
The Mars-based novels of Kim Stanley Robinson (published from 1992 to 1999) also offer several nods in Burroughs' direction.
The 2008 novel In the Courts of the Crimson Kings by S.F. writer S. M. Stirling is an alternate telling of the Princess of Mars story but this time the princess is a very powerful character indeed.
DC Comics character Adam Strange's method of transportation, the Zeta Beam, recalls the way Carter is transported to Mars.
In the Commonwealth Saga novels by Peter F. Hamilton a group of humans who undertake unprecedented and often illegal genetic modifications of their own bodies are known as the Barsoomians, in apparent reference to Burroughs' creation.
Richard Corben's Den series also appears to be inspired by the Barsoom series. It features a hero, Den, who mysteriously arrives naked on a (largely) desert planet where he becomes a great warrior and where the humanoids wear no clothes. Many of the creatures resemble the description of the white apes of the Gods of Mars. Like John Carter, he also receives great physical prowess from arriving in Neverwhere, although Carter's prowess stems from gravity, whereas Den undergoes a complete physical transformation.
In Stephen King's novel The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three, Eddie Dean compares the All-World and the quest for the Dark Tower to a Barsoom novel.
The John Carter of Mars series was also felt to be one of the inspirations for the Dark Sun Dungeons & Dragons game world setting.
In A Wizard of Mars by Diane Duane, the main character Kit is a major fan of the Barsoom series and a long dormant wizard artifact recreates Barsoom as Kit imagines it to communicate with him.
I highly recommend this book and series to 12 -18 year olds who enjoy swashbuckling adventures and tales of derring-do.
Gunner March, 2012
Ruth Anderson
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fitting conclusion to John Carter's first adventures!
Reviewed in the United States on 28 July 2012
Edgar Rice Burroughs concluded John Carter's first cycle of adventures on Mars -- sometimes referred to as the Martian Trilogy -- with the serialized publication of The Warlord of Mars in 1913-1914. At the conclusion of the previous installment, The Gods of Mars, the future of John Carter's beloved princess Dejah Thoris was in grave doubt. Having proven that the centuries-old Martian worship of Issus was falsehood perpetuated by power-hungry members of the Holy Therns and the First Born races, Carter set about destroying the religious infrastructure in order to free Barsoom from the false promises of the Issus-worshippers, where devotion is repaid with slavery and violent death. But Carter's quest to spread the truth is not without a price, as in repayment for his actions Carter's enemies lock the one he holds most dear in the vault at the center of the Temple of the Sun -- a room that can only be accessed once per Martian year. Seconds before the door closed, Carter saw Dejah Thoris nearly stabbed by Phaidor, the daughter of the head of the Therns and his avowed enemy since he spurned her romantic overtures. Living with the torment of not knowing whether his beloved wife is alive or dead, Carter has worked furiously to discover a way to free Dejah from her prison -- but his enemies will do anything to get to her first and claim her as their own. Fighting men who have nothing to lose, Carter chases news of Dejah across Barsoom, confronting countless new enemies, challenges, and even climates in his single-minded quest to save his imprisoned wife.
The Warlord of Mars is the slimmest of the first three volumes in Burroughs's John Carter of Mars series, but it is every bit as action-packed as its predecessors. Unlike the first two Carter novels, there is no prologue from Edgar Rice Burroughs, no preface to the following action from Carter to his "nephew" and guardian. The action opens a few months after Carter deposed the fake goddess Issus , with our hero deep in the throes of his search for a way to rescue the imprisoned Dejah and Thuvia, the latter a former Thern slave instrumental in aiding Carter when he returned to Mars in hostile territory at the beginning of the second novel. Whereas the previous novel saw Carter dealing essentially a death blow to the age-old Martian religion, exposing it as a cult, this follow-up adventure is largely concerned with the fall-out of that successful assault and sets up endless possibilities for future battle with the false religion's deposed leaders. Is there ever any question of Carter's ultimate success? No -- but that is part of the fun and magic of these books. Burroughs was a master craftig non-stop action sequences and building tension and suspense in his novels. Just when you think that surely Burroughs's imagination must be tapped out, he introduces new people, places, and customs to challenge Carter's seeming invincibility. Predictable? Sure, such is perhaps the nature of pulp fiction. But in the hands of a master like Burroughs, he proves that the journey is always a worthwhile and entertaining ride.
John Carter's third Martian adventure is just as fast-paced a rollicking adventure ride as its predecessors, and serves as a fitting capstone to the first "trilogy" within the overall series. When he was first introduced in A Princess of Mars, Carter was a man without a country or purpose, forced to make his way in a wholly alien world. In The Gods of Mars, Carter returns to Barsoom after an absence of ten years, and has to fight to reclaim the life he built with Dejah Thoris's people. The Warlord of Mars brings Carter full circle, forcing him to fight for the life he wants on his new home, culminating in a rather touching recognition of Carter's place and the esteem in which he's held by his adopted countrymen and friends. Having never explored pulp fiction of this ilk until recently, I remain thorougly impressed by Burroughs's work and in no little awe of his standing as a trailblazer in the science-fiction world. Barsoom is peopled with colorful peoples of wildly varied cultures, fascinating landscapes, and never-ending posibilities for adventure and death-defying escapades.
These novels are sheer fun from start to finish. I adore John Carter's completely over-the-top, unbelievable invincibility and his old-fashioned heroic charm. I love how much he adores Dejah Thoris -- it could be argued that he's the anti-James Bond, since Carter is just as ridiculously perfect and appealing to women, but he's very much a one-woman man, and his love story appeals to the old-fashioned romantic in me. :) Snappily plotted, well-written, imaginative, and endlessly adventurous, The Warlord of Mars confirms me as an avid John Carter fan, and happily there is no end in sight when it comes to exploring Burroughs's backlist. Barsoom and its people are a world I love getting lost in -- escapist entertainment of the highest order.
The Warlord of Mars is the slimmest of the first three volumes in Burroughs's John Carter of Mars series, but it is every bit as action-packed as its predecessors. Unlike the first two Carter novels, there is no prologue from Edgar Rice Burroughs, no preface to the following action from Carter to his "nephew" and guardian. The action opens a few months after Carter deposed the fake goddess Issus , with our hero deep in the throes of his search for a way to rescue the imprisoned Dejah and Thuvia, the latter a former Thern slave instrumental in aiding Carter when he returned to Mars in hostile territory at the beginning of the second novel. Whereas the previous novel saw Carter dealing essentially a death blow to the age-old Martian religion, exposing it as a cult, this follow-up adventure is largely concerned with the fall-out of that successful assault and sets up endless possibilities for future battle with the false religion's deposed leaders. Is there ever any question of Carter's ultimate success? No -- but that is part of the fun and magic of these books. Burroughs was a master craftig non-stop action sequences and building tension and suspense in his novels. Just when you think that surely Burroughs's imagination must be tapped out, he introduces new people, places, and customs to challenge Carter's seeming invincibility. Predictable? Sure, such is perhaps the nature of pulp fiction. But in the hands of a master like Burroughs, he proves that the journey is always a worthwhile and entertaining ride.
John Carter's third Martian adventure is just as fast-paced a rollicking adventure ride as its predecessors, and serves as a fitting capstone to the first "trilogy" within the overall series. When he was first introduced in A Princess of Mars, Carter was a man without a country or purpose, forced to make his way in a wholly alien world. In The Gods of Mars, Carter returns to Barsoom after an absence of ten years, and has to fight to reclaim the life he built with Dejah Thoris's people. The Warlord of Mars brings Carter full circle, forcing him to fight for the life he wants on his new home, culminating in a rather touching recognition of Carter's place and the esteem in which he's held by his adopted countrymen and friends. Having never explored pulp fiction of this ilk until recently, I remain thorougly impressed by Burroughs's work and in no little awe of his standing as a trailblazer in the science-fiction world. Barsoom is peopled with colorful peoples of wildly varied cultures, fascinating landscapes, and never-ending posibilities for adventure and death-defying escapades.
These novels are sheer fun from start to finish. I adore John Carter's completely over-the-top, unbelievable invincibility and his old-fashioned heroic charm. I love how much he adores Dejah Thoris -- it could be argued that he's the anti-James Bond, since Carter is just as ridiculously perfect and appealing to women, but he's very much a one-woman man, and his love story appeals to the old-fashioned romantic in me. :) Snappily plotted, well-written, imaginative, and endlessly adventurous, The Warlord of Mars confirms me as an avid John Carter fan, and happily there is no end in sight when it comes to exploring Burroughs's backlist. Barsoom and its people are a world I love getting lost in -- escapist entertainment of the highest order.
Franco Luciano
4.0 out of 5 stars
A triumphant return
Reviewed in the United States on 6 October 2021
Still not quite as good as the first book, but a very long-awaited and pleasant conclusion to the storyline started in book 2. The author did a better job in properly foreshadowing and covering the appropriate amount of ground than in the previous book. There were very few times that I shook my head, confused; most of the events and characters were reasonable. Again, the world building was superb, covering increasing areas of Mars with new cultures and peoples that until now had not been seen before. New friends were made, old friends rejoined. And less subterranean adventures, fortunately; I was starting to get claustrophobic after the previous book. This one also takes more time to pause between breakneck chases or breathless combat, giving the reader time to appreciate the world building and the detailed descriptions of people, places and things. I'm interested to see where the series goes from here, as the main motivation of the titular character has been achieved. Looking forward to continuing this adventure!
D. D. LeDu
4.0 out of 5 stars
I never tire of John Carter
Reviewed in the United States on 1 March 2012
I first read one of this series when a kid. I don't know how I came across it, but I was so fascinated that I read every one I could get from the library -- probably most of the series. That was a long, long time ago.
I often thought of John Carter, and even started a book of my own based on similar principles. Nothing much came of it, except that my son and his friends would pass around and read each chapter as soon as I finished typing. I would sit with them and tell them about John Carter of Mars. They were very interested but, unfortunately, the local library did not stock any of the series.
When I searched Burroughs on Amazon, I came across the John Carter series and felt as if I had found an old friend, missing for sixty years. I downloaded them and once again read every volume, almost straight through.
Burroughs knew how to tell a story, and freed himself from the constraints of earth gave free rein to his imagination -- which never was that much tethered. A key attraction to Burroughs is that he feels no need to be politically correct. Even in his own time, much of his theories were out-of-date. His concepts of race, honor and merit cannot be expressed today, even in fiction. I suspect this is why the libraries do not make his books as available as they should be.
I particularly think these books make good reading for young teenage boys. Some would object to the racial overtones, but these are part of the plot. Mainly, Burroughs teaches honor, bravery and loyalty -- traits that are considered quaint and antiquated today.
This is the last of the series, and should be read last. Once done, you may feel as I do, having rediscovered an old friend.
I often thought of John Carter, and even started a book of my own based on similar principles. Nothing much came of it, except that my son and his friends would pass around and read each chapter as soon as I finished typing. I would sit with them and tell them about John Carter of Mars. They were very interested but, unfortunately, the local library did not stock any of the series.
When I searched Burroughs on Amazon, I came across the John Carter series and felt as if I had found an old friend, missing for sixty years. I downloaded them and once again read every volume, almost straight through.
Burroughs knew how to tell a story, and freed himself from the constraints of earth gave free rein to his imagination -- which never was that much tethered. A key attraction to Burroughs is that he feels no need to be politically correct. Even in his own time, much of his theories were out-of-date. His concepts of race, honor and merit cannot be expressed today, even in fiction. I suspect this is why the libraries do not make his books as available as they should be.
I particularly think these books make good reading for young teenage boys. Some would object to the racial overtones, but these are part of the plot. Mainly, Burroughs teaches honor, bravery and loyalty -- traits that are considered quaint and antiquated today.
This is the last of the series, and should be read last. Once done, you may feel as I do, having rediscovered an old friend.
Melvin Anderson
4.0 out of 5 stars
ERB writes almost timelessly.
Reviewed in the United States on 30 December 2011
This book was written in 1913 and is still being read today, in 2011. It lacks the punch it carried when written, everyone knows too much now about the conditions on Venus and Mars but when we read fantasy we set aside certain facts, Hence Burroughs writes as though the conditions on Mars are earthlike, except for gravity, permitting John Carter to be Superman for his day. Earth at that time gloried in war, although face to face combat was disappearing. But not so on Burroughs worlds, his hero John Carter gloried in his fighting ability, using antique weapons. The warriors of Venus and mars acknowledged his prowess and spread his fame all over. How then did Burroughs create tension, and hold interest? Carter's opponents were not his physical equals, so there were more of them. Also knowledge not known to Carter was available to them which they could exploit to their advantage and impede John Carter, Burroughs never let this knowledge be great enough to defeat Carter.
So it was in Warlord of Mars. He sought his wife, the beautiful Dejah Thoris, so beautiful that she was stolen (kidnapped) and taken with some of the highest rulers of Mars to become their wife, not polyandrous, but one would prevail. So John sets out to foil their plans. He trails these men. Along the way he determines their purpose. He makes friends with various Martians, some piratical, some unknown to the other nations of Mars, but he unites them and unites Mars as much as possible given its warrior culture. If you like action there is a lot of fighting. Coincidences occur to allow the story to proceed but after all this is almost one hundred years ago, time enough for almost anything to happen. Frankly I read it for its old time appeal, or I should say reread it from seventy or eighty years ago. Try it, you might like it.
So it was in Warlord of Mars. He sought his wife, the beautiful Dejah Thoris, so beautiful that she was stolen (kidnapped) and taken with some of the highest rulers of Mars to become their wife, not polyandrous, but one would prevail. So John sets out to foil their plans. He trails these men. Along the way he determines their purpose. He makes friends with various Martians, some piratical, some unknown to the other nations of Mars, but he unites them and unites Mars as much as possible given its warrior culture. If you like action there is a lot of fighting. Coincidences occur to allow the story to proceed but after all this is almost one hundred years ago, time enough for almost anything to happen. Frankly I read it for its old time appeal, or I should say reread it from seventy or eighty years ago. Try it, you might like it.