A Princess of Mars

Publisher's Summary

“The green warrior decided to close in and end the battle; just as he rushed me, a blinding light struck full in my eyes, so that I could not see Zad’s approach and could only leap blindly to one side to avoid his mighty blade...”

Suddenly projected to Mars, John Carter finds himself the captive of the savage green men of Thark. With him is the lovely Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium. And between them and rescue lay a thousand miles of deadly enemies and unknown dangers.

Public Domain (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews

“Listening to this book on CD is a delight! McKee’s semi-voiced reading has just the right tone to pull the listener into the adventures of John Carter…”( Kliatt)

Everyman Civil Warrior = Martian Hercules

Edgar Rice Burrough's popular John Carter/Barsoom novels started with 'A Princess of Mars'. I can only imagine reading this cowboy in space novel when it was first published. It was absolute pulp (violent fights, naked women), but like all of Edgar Rice Burroughs' novels it can't be contained by any simple labels. Burroughs is able to explore ideas of eugenics and race, war and peace, love and family, all layered into a fast-paced, violent Martian travelogue. Burroughs loves supermen. The idea of John Carter having amazing strength because of the different gravities of Earth and Mars allows an everyman Virginian Civil Warrior to become a singular Martian Hercules.

Obviously, this is an extraordinarily influential sic-fi novel. It influenced everybody from Alex Raymond (Flash Gordon) to George Lucas (Star Wars) to James Cameron (Avatar). It is hard to watch Han Solo walk without thinking of John Carter's swagger or dream about Princess Leah in chains without my subconscious somehow floating back into visions of Princess Dejah Thoris in -- yes -- chains. It is a shame that Disney's John Carter movie didn't do better. I would love to see further efforts to make films out of the Barsoom series. It is a strange world where a movie that makes $200M+ globally and is still judged a failure.

20 of 27 people found this review helpful

Wish Upon a Star

IT WAS LOGIC, GOOD EARTHLY FEMINE LOGIC
If you have read "At The Earth's Core", you will be amazed in how similar the plots are. In both books John or David enter their new world in the nude. The gravity is less, although more so on Mars. He is taken prisoner, but is aloud to roam around and make weapons and plan his escape. He meets a dark haired Princess who is naked on Mars and scantly clad In Pellucidar. He falls in love each time. He kills for the Princess, but immediately follows that up by insulting the princess through his ignorance. Each time he could have proclaimed her his wife, but he does not. Both men are great physical specimens of Man and are rich. There are ape like creatures and humans on Mars and in Pellucidar. There are tall 8ft to 14ft creatures in both who lay eggs. Telepathy takes place in both books.

Princess of Mars, differs in the way John gets to Mars, has more and better characters. Sola is an interesting character and the ten legged Woola is very cute. This story is a little longer and has more fighting. I liked Princess of Mars better then At The Earth's Core. It seemed like more time and thought was put into this book.

Some of the weakness are glaring. I was very disappointed in how he got to Mars, basically he wishes upon a star. At one point he says he was in the military so long that he can't help, but follow orders and ten minutes later he is leaving his post to see his girlfriend. At one point he just happens to hear a plot against him at a most opportune time. He often explains things by saying, "I don't know why, I just knew it."

I was not crazy about the narrator. The books starts out by the author saying he is around 100 years old, but he does not age and that he seems to be around 30 years of age. The narrator ignores this and reads it like an old man talking, slow and gravely.

15 of 24 people found this review helpful

Mars or bust

I read Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian series during my teen age years and have fond memories of swashbuckling tales of John Carter as an Earthman on Mars. To make the review short, the story is great adventure with a cliffhanging ending for the next story in the series. The narrator speaks primarily in a southern accent that puts me off for some reason. The narrator is not bad but I might have preferred the story narrated without the heavy accent. All in all, it is well done and worth the entry fee to a great series.

A bit more violence than I was expecting but well written fantasy

An amazing story for the time it was written but with a fair share of violence in the book but probably normal for the cowboy and Indian type violence of the time.

Still an extremely enjoyable lead and will definitely go through the rest of the series.

favorite book

this has always been a favorite so glad that i have it on audio now.

Wow, leaves you wanting more!

Luckily there is more. Such a great story. The movie made no sense to me when it came out. I'll have to give it another go!

Great job

As a sci-fi buff and fan of Burroughs; I love this tale. The presentation was well done

A Princess of Mars

A great story of love, adventure and charm from a master storyteller, Edgar Rice Burroughs!

Awesome Sci Fi

An awesome sci fi book. I first read the John Carter series as a teen. The story of John Carter, his love Princess Dejah Thoris, and the ferocious Martian world of Barsoom is wonderfully creative and entertaining and as beguiling and enrapturing a read as decades ago. This book much influenced sci fi, comic, and fantasy literature.

LOVED IT!

Even with a few audio engineering inconsistencies it's still great! The story and delivery thereof transcend the minute issues.