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Wolfgang
2.0 out of 5 stars Poorly formatted ebook
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2019
Verified Purchase
Really looking forward to reading this book. Also looking forward to using my Kindle again. Unfortunately this Kindle book is a pain to read due to poor text formatting. See photo. Too much space between each word. Looks more like a spreadsheet than a book. Tried different text sizes, but the spacing between words doesn’t change.
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T. Hooper
4.0 out of 5 stars A Thrilling Adventure
Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2008
Verified Purchase
"The Gods of Mars" is the second book in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars series. In this adventure, John Carter returns to Mars and finds himself in a mysterious garden of eden. However, he quickly finds that this paradise has some horrible secrets. In an effort to escape, he discovers two new races on Mars and manages to destroy Martian religion by exposing it as a scam.

This is adventure writing from the age of pulp fiction, so don't expect the writing to be the best. You'll find people talking in highly unnatural ways and people will do highly unnatural things. In addition, a lot of the story development relies heavily on chance meetings. However, if you read it just for fun, you'll find a highly imaginative tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat. If you can take off your critic's glasses, you'll find this to be an enjoyable read.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting reading even after printed nearly 100 yeaqrs ago
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2016
Verified Purchase
Interesting reading even now, nearly 100 years after written. Seems as thro some of the stuff mentioned in this book is also in the star wars story. Also interesting is the fact that on Mars, according this story there are white, black and red people and they needed to learn how to live together without war. ,
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E. A. Solinas
HALL OF FAME
4.0 out of 5 stars "This, John Carter, is Heaven."
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2012
When we last saw John Carter, he had been accidentally transferred back to Earth, and away from his beloved Dejah Thoris. Well, obviously in a novel named "The Gods of Mars," he isn't going to stay on his home planet. But Edgar Rice Burroughs' second Barsoom novel introduces a whole new dilemma for our hero -- how to get back to the world of the living.

John Carter returns to Mars, but is shocked to find that he's in a completely unfamiliar part of it, populated by grotesque Plant Men and white apes. After encountering his old friend Tars Tarkas, Carter learns that they are in the Barsoomian afterlife. The problem is, nobody can return from the pilgrimage to the River Iss -- and if anyone tries, they will be killed.

But the greatest threat comes from two breeds of Martian that Carter has never seen before -- the Black Martian pirates and the White Martian Therns, both of whom consider themselves to be gods.

Anyone who survives the valley is turned into a slave, and Carter soon makes new allies among his fellow captives. But even if he can escape the grasp of the "goddess" Issus, he may not be able to survive in a world where escaping from "death" is blasphemy -- especially when he finds that Dejah Thoris may be doomed as well.

"The Gods of Mars" is a much faster-moving story than the first Barsoom book, even though we're introduced to a whole new part of Mars and two new Martian species. Burroughs just plunges right into the main story right away, and it's a long time before he stops to contemplate the flora/fauna/customs of the Martians.

Burroughs' prose is also more polished in this story, with longer action scenes and a faster pace -- as well as some moments that are absolutely horrifying (the plant men, with their corpselike skin, ragged noses and wormy hair). And while he still has the slight stuffiness of early 20th-century pulp, he injects a lot of vivid descriptions and action into the story.

John Carter is still a bit on the Stuey side -- multiple women are in love with him by the story's end, for instance. But he's still a very strong character, with lots of guts and courage. Burroughs throws a rather unexpected twist into the story when Carter discovers that one of his fellow captives is actually related to him; and he also introduces some other interesting characters, such as the malignant Issus and the strong, proud Thuvia.

"The Gods of Mars" is one of the few sequels that is actually markedly better than the original book. But be warned: it leaves you dangling on a cliffhanger that will leave you scrabbling for the third book.
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Edward M. Van Court
4.0 out of 5 stars John Carter returns to Mars
Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2009
Still naked, still thinking with his muscles, and still sword in hand.

Returning to Mars in the second book of the Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars series, John Carter finds that his beloved Dejah Thoris has made the journey to the valley of the gods of Mars, a journey without return. He ventures forth to rescue her, meeting old friends, new friends, new enemies, disrupting the religion of Mars, fighting to the death, and hanging from cliffs again. And all his efforts wind up in the supreme cliff-hanger of literary history.

Like the first book of the Mars series,  A Princess of Mars (Penguin Classics) , there are feats of courage and recklessness, non-stop action, cliff hangers, and a complete absense of political correctness.

Old school, first rate fun that leaves you ready for the next volume of this light weight adventure.

E. M. Van Court
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wutagai
2.0 out of 5 stars This second book was ridiculous, outrageous, and unbelievable, unfortunately not in a good way
Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2018
I couldn’t wait to finish it because I wanted to get through it only to be DONE with it. The plots were ridiculous, far-fetched, outrageous coincidences, sometimes completely predictable, sometimes “oh he’s not going to go there” and YES he went there.
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B. Chandler
HALL OF FAMEVINE VOICE
5.0 out of 5 stars Be sure to read "A Princes of Mars" first
Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2014
We last left John suffocating and wondering if we will ever see him again (except for those few intrepid people that dare to read ahead)

"Twelve years passed since I laid the body of my great-uncle, Captain John Carter, of Virginia, way form the sight of men in that strange mausoleum in the old Cemetery at Richmond."

John returns to a Mars he never saw before yet soon finds old friends and new adventures. Once again, we get to kibitz.
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betty novak
2.0 out of 5 stars The Gods of Mars
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2012
The production and reading of this book are not good. There are frequent unexplained pauses. The reader attempting various voices is frequently difficult to understand.
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Top reviews from other countries

Robin Clarke
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing narration.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 3, 2019
Verified Purchase
I found the narration to be stilted, with some echo, at least at the start, at which point I threw the CD in the bin.
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Michael Ryan
1.0 out of 5 stars Poor quality editing makes for a frustrating read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 6, 2012
Verified Purchase
I bought this book recently from Amazon, it reports to be printed by Amazon though I believe it is POD. I have quite a serious complaint about the quality of the type in this book especially as Amazon prides itself on being a book seller. I really expected better. It is clear to me that no real person has ever bothered to look over the text of the book prior to printing. My complaints are many but the most serious are: 1. Many chapter heading start at the bottom of the page with the actual chapter beginning on the next page. 2. There is double spacing between paragraphs on every page making the text feel more like a school book than a novel. 3. Many lines, particularly at the bottom of the left page, are indented for no reason when they should be justified with the rest of the text. This is very sloppy printing and something I wouldn't expect from any publisher and certainly not from Amazon. I feel like demanding a new copy but if it also published in the same haphazard manner there would be no point.
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Bazzamiller
4.0 out of 5 stars Flowery Language
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 21, 2014
Verified Purchase
Keeping mind then Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote these books the flowery language is quite acceptable. I sometimes thought that if it had been written in today's parlance they would be a lot shorter. The stories are pretty good but one has to switch off the things we know about Mars in the scientific terms of today.
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Amos
5.0 out of 5 stars but if it is anything like the others in the series it will be well ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 5, 2016
Verified Purchase
Not yet read the book again since I first read it years ago, but if it is anything like the others in the series it will be well worth reading.
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Good read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 31, 2014
Verified Purchase
Love reading about John Carter's adventures on Mars . The author must have an amazing imagination! Looking forward to seeing this one on the big screen.
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