I was shuffling through the "older science fiction" section of one of my favourite second-hand book stores recently when I happened upon a slim paperback edition of "The Princess of Mars". It looked kind of interesting, with rather guady cover art of a buffed hero with a semi-naked woman in his arms surrounded by what looked like the distant cousins of those weird six-limbed green creatures that appeared in the pilot of "Battlestar Galactica". Noticing that it was authored by Edgar Rice Burroughs of "Tarzan" fame, and that it was selling for a mere $NZ4, I bought it.

It wasn't long before I delved into it, and shortly afterwards I found myself hooked. Being Burroughs' first big break, having been published in 1912, it is a little rough around the edges and the prose is somewhat dated and difficult to get used to. My advice is to press on as you will find that you soon become familiar with the style.

The tale is of John Carter of Virginia, a nineteenth century gentleman who by unclear means happens to find himself transported to Mars, or as it is known in the Martian tongue, Barsoom. There follows action and adventure as Carter encounters the fearsome green men of Mars, the more civilised but perhaps equally dangerous red men, and the titular Princess of Mars. The Princess is of the red race, and is the most beautiful woman on Barsoom. Of the royal family of the city of Helium, Carter encounters Princess Dejah Thoris for the first time while both are captives of the green men. Naturally Carter and the princess fall in love, although the path to romance is by no means smooth.

The action in this novel, with Carter's heroic exploits in personal combat and leading vast armies and fleets of men, is reminiscent of 1930s cinema serials. Indeed, the story itself is very episodic, mostly because "A Princess of Mars" was originally published under the title "Under the Moon of Mars" in "All-Story Magazine" as a six-part serial in 1912. Nevertheless, the story never falters and moves along at a fast clip. However, this does mean that many epic battles along the way find themselves summarised in a paragraph or less.

The first of eleven Mars novels featuring John Carter, I was hooked by this first installment and am already seeking out the next adventure, "The Gods of Mars".

Great, classic science fiction. Enjoy!

Edgar Rice Burroughs will always be remembered first and foremost for his creation of Tarzan, but it was the character of John Carter, who first appeared in "A Princess of Mars" who truly served as a template for other science fiction writers. From Lin Carter's "Green Star" series to John Norman's "Gor" books there are tales of the man from Earth traveling to a strange new world and having wondrous adventures. John Carter was a gentleman of Virginia who finds himself looking at his dying body in an Arizona cave. Opening his arms to the planet Mars, Carter is suddenly whisked to the Red Planet, where rival tribes battle while the planet's atmosphere continues to dissipate. Captured by a band of six-limbed giants, Carter soon earns their respect for his prowess as a warrior and forges a lasting friendship with Tars Tara's of the Tharks. But then the Tharks attack a fleet of airborne vessels and capture Dejah Thoris, the Princess of Helium, the greatest city on Barsoom (as the Martians call Mars). Of course, they get off on the wrong foot, since Carter knows nothing about the culture of the red humanoid race. But the lovely Princess of Mars has captured the Virginian's heart. Abandoning dreams of returning to Earth, he wants nothing better than to win her love. In the meanwhile, he has to protect her from the amorous attention of the depraved ruler of the Tharks, bring some semblance of civilization to the barbarian tribes, and stop all out war between the green men and red men from ending Barsoom's last chance for survival.

"A Princess of Mars" is the first of eleven novels in Burroughs' Martian Series, which seemed to avoid the pitfalls of some of ERB's lesser Tarzan novels. All things considered the Martian Series is vastly superior to the more famous Tarzan books. If Dejah Thoris is not the most beautiful woman in the history of fantasy and science fiction, then she certainly has the all-time best name. John Carter is able to take advantage of the Red Planet's lesser gravity to do great feats of leaping about, but it is his innate intelligence and intense sense of personal honor that make him almost idealistically noble. When I first read every ERB novel I could get my hands on in Middle School, Tarzan was always Tarzan, but there was something about John Carter that somehow made him the greater hero in my eyes. Maybe it was the way he handled a sword or how he was always determined to make Barsoom a better place that made him seem Burrough's finest creation. Certainly you will find ERB's most imaginative work, including the great game of Martian Chess, in this series. Do not stop at the first book, because while these novels are fast approaching being a century old, they hold up much better than the writings of Jules Verne or H. G. Wells, at least in terms of being adventure yarns, whatever their limitations in terms of pure science fiction.

This is the most mystical of all of Edgar Rice Burroughs novels. The hero, Captain John Carter of Virginia, can remember no childhood. As far back as he can recall he has always been a fighting man of about 30. While called "Uncle Jack" by the Carters, his exact connection to the family is uncertain. As a soldier of fortune, he has traveled the world in the service of "an old and powerful emperor and several lesser kings." He has fought with distinction in the War between the States, as well as, lived and fought with the Plains Indians on the frontier.
It is while prospecting in the Arizona Territory that he runs afoul of Apaches and finds himself in the cave of a shaman. Here he undergoes what is obviously an out-of-the-body experience and transport to Mars, "god of my vocation." This is a Mars of majestic dead seas and dead cities, as well as, warring city states and aerial dreadnought fleets. It is a Mars of many races and species, some honorable and some monstrous. Above all, it is a Mars of high adventure.
Inspite of the fact that it was written in 1912, this story holds up. My mother, who was born in 1915 (right before the world started to go to hell) remembered my great aunt reading from this book ,aloud, on the front porch on summer evenings. Really, I do not think that a modern writer could recreate the style of this narrative. The themes of honor, loyalty, duty, courage, and friendship run too strong and too true. There is no modern cynicism and soul rot here.

"Jungle Tales of Tarzan" is the sixth volume in the Tarzan series by Edgar Rice Burroughs and pretty much goes back to the beginning for a collection of short stories set in the time when Tarzan still lived among the great apes. Tarzan has learned how to read from the books he has found and it is opening his young mind to new questions, like where do dreams come from and where he can confront Goro, the supreme being that is the moon. There is also the love triangle between Tarzan, his first love Teeka, and their rival Taug, as well as his adventures tormenting the people of the local Mbonga tribe. "Jungle Tales of Tarzan" is actually a nice companion volume to the original "Tarzan of the Apes," provide more depth and detail to the early years of the Lord of the Jungle. It also marks a coda to what we would now consider the original story arc of the Tarzan novels. Burroughs would write another 21 Tarzan novels but they would become increasingly formulaic. In many ways this is the last time we would see the original Tarzan; you can think of "Jungle Tales of Tarzan" as sort of being the "deleted scenes" from the original "Tarzan of the Apes" novel.

The customer review written here is about the ERB tarzan novel. All the used books being sold here are nothing but ERB tarzan novels. I put in the ISBN number and as you can see this is the jungle tales of Tarzan the big 10 by 13 book illustrated in comic book forum by the great Burne Hogarth not the tarzan novel by ERB. The people that wrote comments and the sellers of so called used copies are confused they are referring to a different book. I know I own the real one.

"The Master Mind of Mars" is book #6 of 11 John Carter adventures that Edgar Rice Burroughs gave to the world. It first appeared in the magazine "Amazing Stories Annual" in July 1927, and John Carter himself only puts in a cameo appearance near the book's end. Instead, our hero is another Earthman, Ulysses Paxton, who mysteriously gets transported to Barsoom (Mars) after being critically wounded on the battlefields of WW1. Paxton becomes an apprentice of the eponymous mastermind Ras Thavas, and from him learns all manner of surgical miracles, including brain transplantation. Paxton falls in love with a young woman, Valla Dia, whose body has been sold to an old empress, so that that empress can now live on in her new hotty body. Paxton vows to travel across Mars, kidnap the empress, and restore his beloved's body to her. He enlists the aid of some of Ras Thavas' medical subjects: a Barsoomian white ape with a half-human mind; a professional assassin; and another Martian who has had his body bought/stolen by another. This is a short but extremely entertaining and fast-moving fantasy novel. In it, Burroughs gives us some interesting philosophy on the correlation of mind and body (as he did with the kaldanes in "Chessmen of Mars"), as well as some interesting speculations on the necessity of war in any culture. He also pokes fun at the mumbo-jumbo aspects of organized religion. So there is some actual food for thought, in addition to the fun. And that equilibrimotor chase and scene in the Temple of Tur ARE very much fun! The heart, lung and other assorted transplants that Ras Thavas is engaged in must have seemed like real sci-fi improbabilities back in 1927, although these things are fairly commonplace today. The brain transplants are another matter, of course. (Perhaps one day...)
"Master Mind" seems to be slightly better written than some of the earlier Barsoomian novels; Burroughs DID improve with age, at least as far as technique is concerned. Still, there are the usual inconsistencies that crop up. For example, in one scene Thavas complains of the new young blood in his new young body, when it has been established that recipients of new bodies receive their old blood back. I was confused by this. In another scene, the 15-foot-tall ape/man puts on the leather harness of a regular-sized man. Does this seem possible? Clouds are said to obscure the moon in another scene, yet in earlier books, Burroughs has told us that clouds exist on Barsoom only at the poles. A body of a dozen Toonolian soldiers at one point mysteriously turns into 20, and the great scarlet tower of Lesser Helium, which was destroyed in "Chessmen," is inexplicably back again in this book. (I grant that it may have been rebuilt, but Burroughs might have said something to this effect.) The surprise regarding Valla Dia at the book's conclusion was one that was so obvious to me that I don't even think it was really meant to be a surprise after all. And here's another quibble: Paxton falls in love with Valla Dia only after he has seen what her actual body looks like. It might have been more effective had he fallen in love with her only AFTER she was trapped in the haggish body of the empress. A young, strapping American male falling in love with an old ugly woman, based solely on her gracious personality. Now THAT would have been a REAL fantasy!

Ulysses Paxton proves that John Carter is not as unique as the reader was led to believe. Mortally wounded on a World War I battlefield, Paxton is transported to Barsoom much like Carter was decades before. His sojourn on the red planet starts out more humbly, as Paxton fidns himself apprenticed to Ras Thavas, arguably the greatest scientist of the day.

ERB dons his lecturer persona once again as he unwinds an intriguing story about the perils of allowing science and political power to proceed in all directions unchecked. Knowledge gained irresponsibly leads to irresponsible actions. Paxton struggles to transport the moral lessons he has learned from the horrors of World War I to the almost savage and near-mercenary social hierarchy he finds himself trapped in on Barsoom.

The best elements of the story are undoubtedly the bizarre twists and turns which unsettle the hero and force him to fall back on his courage and ingenuity.

"The Master Mind of Mars" by ERB is a great book! ERB's Mars series takes second fiddle to his Tarzan books, but I respectfully argue they are superior. In "MMM", Ulysses Paxton, a critically wounded WWI soldier, is astral-projected (plot device to get things moving) to fabled Barsoom (Mars), dying planet of canals, hordes of 4-armed green warriors, scantily clad women, strong warriors wearing only their "sword and harness", and home of Ras Thavas, the Master Mind of Mars. It seems that Ras Thavas has an enormous talent - only he, among all the inhabitants of Barsoom, is able to perform the life-extending brain transplant. (Or maybe we should call it, ominously, the brain exchange. Too bad for the young body donor whose brain is unceremoniously evicted for the old, rich plutocrats...) However, now Ras Thavas is growing old and he needs his own brain transplanted. Who to train in the procedure? Why, none other than Ulysses Paxton (now called Vad Varo). But our hero turns out to have ethics and morals, and not only that, has fallen in love with a beautiful girl. Unfortunately, she is a body donor for a rich old hag. What happens next? Ulysses, the girl, and some sidekicks go off on a tour of Mars to reunite young girl brain with young girl body! On their Grand Tour of Barsoom, they come to various cities, each with different religious doctrine (I think ERB is indulging in a little gentle satire here). Take it as a given in pulp fiction that our heroes are successful and all ends well. Great enjoyable escapist reading. I found out later on as a veterinarian that it's a little tougher to do brain transplants than described in the book. (Maybe I just needed the super-healing elixir...)

"Synthetic Men of Mars" is the 9th of 11 books in Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars series. It first appeared serially in "Argosy Magazine" in early 1939, and is one of the most way-out entries in the Carter series. The book may be seen as a sequel of sorts to book #6, "The Master Mind of Mars," in that Ras Thavas, the eponymous superbrain of that earlier work, here makes a return, and the bulk of the action once again takes place in the dismal and forbidding Toonolian Marshes of Barsoom (Mars, to you and me). In "Synthetic Men," Carter and one of his lieutenants, Vor Daj, go in search of Ras Thavas, to enlist his aid when Carter's wife is critically injured in a midair collision. Thavas is engaged in creating an army of synthetic men (the so-called hormads), who have taken over an island in the Toonolian Marshes, made an unwilling slave of Ras Thavas himself, and are now plotting to take over all of Barsoom. Things get pretty wild when Vor Daj has his brain put into one of the hormad's bodies, so that he might better protect a pretty female prisoner who is being held on the island also. Then things go over the top completely, as one of the vats in which the hormads are created goes blooey, and a giant blob of living tissue spreads and spreads and threatens to envelop the entire planet! This blob is comprised of living heads and hands and other body parts; it feeds on itself and seemingly cannot be stopped. All this takes place in the first half of the novel; things get even hairier, if possible, in the final stages of the tale. Before all is said and done, we have been treated to a civil war amongst the hormads, an escape through the swamps of Toonol, encounters with giant insects and reptiles, a marsupial society, wild swamp savages, a Martian zoo, a tense little air battle, and the final confrontation with that living blob mass. It's as if Burroughs ate a headcheese and Fluffernutter sandwich before going to bed one night, had the wildest dream, and the next morning put it down on paper. The book has nice touches of incidental humor, and Vor Daj's predicament of being trapped in the body of a monstrous hormad while trying to win the affection of the girl of his dreams is an involving one. This leads to John Carter delivering one of his most touching lines: "It is the character that makes the man...not the clay which is its abode." So what we have here is a fantastic tale of wild imagination, with some touching passages and incessant action.
So why, then, have I only given this novel three stars? Well, as with most Carter novels, there are problems of inconsistency, and this novel contains one of the worst in the entire series. During the swamp escape, Vor Daj is accompanied by a party of five others, including a man named Gan Had, who later deserts him. Later in the book, it is stated that this deserter was named Pandar, one of the others of the five. The two characters are mixed up and confused by Burroughs for the remainder of the book, to the point that the reader doesn't know who Burroughs is talking about. This is a terrible and egregious error, I feel. I have discussed it with the founder of the ERB List, a really fine Burroughs Website, and he has told me that he and others have concocted some explanations for this seemingly incredible screwup, while admitting that the reader must read between the lines and do some mythmaking of his/her own to explain it. This giant problem aside, there is also the inconsistency of a character named Ur Raj, who is said to hail from the Barsoomian nation of Ptarth, and four pages later is said to be from the nation of Helium. This is the kind of sloppiness that I, as a copy editor, find especially deplorable. I also regret the fact that the ultimate fate of some of the book's main characters (Sytor, Gan Had and Ay-mad) is never mentioned. Another example of careless writing, I feel. "Synthetic Men of Mars" is a wonderful entertainment, but could have been made so much better by the exercise of just a little more care on the part of the author and his editors. Still, I quite enjoyed it, and do recommend it to any lover of fantastic literature.

A likeable, action-packed book--perhaps not as memorable as the author's Tarzan series, but admittedly, unquestionably =different=. That is to say, ERB's writing style isn't really different, and his pacing is typically breakneck, but it is a different topic, with some original ideas.

What's also fun, nearly 80 years later, is to read the thinly-disguised social commentary that ERB inserts into his work. One of the Tarzan books includes a section on a society destroyed by income tax--a new idea in ERB's time, and one that he personally was affected by. This book contains a short section on how streets should be engineered to speed traffic along. It isn't exactly a description of a freeway, but it's darned close!

Anyway, like all great pulp, a sense of adventure pervades and you're left both satisfied with the story and wanting more. They just don't write 'em like this anymore

The incomparable Dejah Thoris is injured and only the dangerous scientist Ras Thavas (The Master Mind of Mars) can save her life. So John Carter, the Warlord of Barsoom, sets out with a single companion, Vor Daj, to bring Thavas back from the Toonolian Marsh in time to operate on the dying princess.

Alas! Nothing goes right, and Carter and Daj are forced to make the most difficult choices of their lives. All Barsoom is threatened by Thavas' latest mad scheme, and it falls to Vor Daj to keep a lid on things until Carter can bring all his power to bear against the threat. In one of the best race-against-time stories ever written, the reader is forced to turn page after page to keep pace with all the setbacks, double-crosses, and unbelievable strokes of good fortune.

Along the way, the author pokes a little fun at a few long-cherished social conventions and hooty-tooty groups. But the most resounding comment of all is the statement that true friendship knows no boundaries, and that love is solidly based in friendship. This is simply a great and thoroughly enjoyable book to read.

I'm not too familiar with Burroughs' Tarzan work outside of the Movies and Comics, so the first half of this book had my mind swimming. There isn't enough recap for a Tarzan newbie like me; I bought it for the Predators, and, (sadly) they seem to be an afterthought in the plot. On the plus side, the book really picks up steam in the second half, and by the end I was totally engrossed.

Walt Simonson's story is pretty decent, as is Lee Weeks' art. Predator fans might be disappointed, but it's still entertaining.

Fans who enjoy this should check out Batman/Tarzan: Claws of the Catwoman. Great stuff!

The difficulty in writing a good Tarzan story is in finding a foe worthy of the Ape Man. The alien Predators and the mind-bending Mahars of Pellucidar are definitely up to the job. This is a tale of superheroics and Tarzan has never been more savage. Highly recommended.

Congratulations to Dark Horse! Perhaps, just perhaps, the inclusion of alien Preditors is the right touch to entice modern readers to Burroughs' jungle man. Here is an excellent effort!

This is actually two books in one. The first, describing the exploits of Julian 9 was the better of the two, in my opinion, due to the great struggle to lead a downtrodden people up from the dregs of existence and begin the revolution. The second book, taking place more than 300 years after the first book, is more of the typical ERB; i.e. hero gets captured, makes escape, gets the girl, and wins the war. There was some character development here and I found it interesting that the hero's brother was the "enlightened" one. The hero makes some progress towards changing his world view but in the end, remains the action-oriented adventurer. That doesn't mean its bad, just typical ERB. When I read ERB I am always amazed that he wrote his stories so long ago and yet had amazing insight on problems of today and tomorrow. An amazing feat. Enjoy reading the Moon Men.

As a child I wallowed in ERB, as an adult I pretty much dismissed him as the Slave To Formula he was (one might argue that he invented or refined the the formula but that does not make it a particularly good formula, and even a quick comparison with Dumas or Stevenson will suffice to blow this particular Mr. Burroughs out of the water) - however, something about the darkness and savagery of The Moon Men has always remained with me. His vision was here was uncharacteristically, studiously pessimistic and deeply cthonic - the narrator describing his own throat being slit, the dregs of humanity in the wake of the lunar invasion being raised like beef-cattle, and the wonderful evil of the "electric guns" which can be set at the frequency of bone, say, and thus dissolve all the bones of anyone coming within range of the rays (which is actually quite conceivable today, but rather innovative for Burroughs' era) - all in all, this book (and to a lesser degree its predecessor, The Moon Maid) seems ERB's darkest yet most advanced.

This was my First ERB book and I think that it is one of his finest and accompanied by the "Moon Maid", which I believe is the first book of this duet, makes this a very good ERB story.

The "conclusion" to the Mars series is not what I had hoped for. John Carter of Mars is actually two stories--Giant of Mars and Skeleton Men of Jupiter.

Giant of Mars is actually not written by Burroughs. The story is not nearly up to par with his writtings; in fact the story contains boring, childlike descriptions of uninspired incidents. The giant is not very interesting, and the way he is defeated is horribly boring.

Skeleton Men of Jupiter is better, actually worth reading, although I find the ideas about Jupiter to be simply ludicrous--much more so than the fantasy ideas about Mars. At the beginning, John Carter is kidnapped and taken to Jupiter. His adventures among the natives begin there. The biggest problem with Skeleton Men is that it was supposed to be the first part in a series of stories. The other stories were never written, and one is left with a feeling of "missing out."

The first half of the book is simply bad. The second half shows promise that is never realized. And finally, this book is afflicted with the same problems of books 4-10 in the series: they simply retell the same basic stories from the original trilogy, without the same flair for story-telling. Stick with the original trilogy (especially A Princess of Mars) if you want classic Sci Fi.

Other reviews appear to be speaking of the first book in the series, A Princess of Mars. John Carter of Mars is the 11th and last book of the Barsoomian adventure stories. In fact, this book is a combination of two stories: "The Giant of Mars", actually written by John Coleman Burroughs, and "The Skeleton Men of Jupiter", the first of a four-part series that was never finished.

"Giant of Mars" has long confused ERB fans, many of whom have wondered whether he actually wrote this story. The truth has been circulated for years but somehow doubt and literary legend seem to overwhelm it. John Coleman Burroughs did indeed write this story, and he admitted as much publicly.

"The Skeleton Men of Jupiter" is pure ERB space opera and it restores Barsoom's chapion to his former glory. This tale had the potential to become one of the all-time greatest ERB adventures, but he never wrote more than the first of four installments. Our hero resolves a major conflict and the reader is not left wondering if John Carter and Dejah Thoris survive, but their adventure is nonetheless incomplete.

Fans eager to read more about Carter's adventures need to get this book, but let the reader beware, it can only be unsatisfying. One is left with a sense of wonder, for Burroughs is said to have been burned out near the end of his life, but there is much about this story which is fresh and engrossing.

"John Carter of Mars" is the 11th and final volume in Edgar Rice Burroughs' classic John Carter series, and is comprised of two novellas of varying quality. The first, "John Carter and the Giant of Mars," first appeared in "Amazing Stories Magazine" in January 1941; the second, "Skeleton Men of Jupiter," first appeared in that same publication in February 1943. (For full details on the complicated publishing histories of these tales, I refer all interested parties to the ERB List, one of the best Burroughs Websites on the Net.) As most people seem to know by now, the first of these tales was NOT written by ERB himself, but rather by his son, John Coleman Burroughs, who illustrated 13 of his father's books and drew the John Carter comic strip from 1941-43. In this tale, Carter is captured by Pew Mogel, a synthetic man who is bent on conquering Barsoom with his intelligent apemen and flying malagors. The tale is an important one in the Carter saga, in that his city of Helium is almost sacked and captured at the end of a tremendous battle. Sad to say, however, Burroughs Jr.'s writing style is not up to the task of depicting such colossal doings. So this pastiche of a tale comes off like the work of a talented amateur, even though Burroughs Sr. supposedly did assist in the writing. Burroughs Jr. makes many mistakes in his writing; internal inconsistencies and inconsistencies with previous Carter books abound. For example, the characters refer to Barsoom as "Mars" in this book, and the two moons, Thuria and Cluros, are for the first time given their Earth names of Deimos and Phobos. These moons are said to travel quickly across the sky, whereas in every other Carter book, it has been said that Cluros is a very slow mover. Pew Mogel slaps Tars Tarkas, Carter's Tharkian buddy, in one scene, yet in previous books, it has been established that Tarkas is around 15 feet tall! One of the intelligent apemen falls out of a high window to his death in a courtyard in one scene, even though the characters are in an underground laboratory! The Martian rats that play such a central role in this story are made to appear similar in size to the Earth variety, whereas in previous volumes, they were said to be as big as Airedale terriers! For the first time in the entire series, the men of Barsoom are shown using radios, TV sets and visiscreens; a rather surprising advent, given all that has come before. I could go on, but you get the point. Anyone who has read the previous 10 Carter books will immediately notice the difference in style and content, and that difference is very jarring. Still, the story moves along very briskly, and the action IS relentless.
The "Skeleton Men..." tale is much better. This novella was written by ERB himself, and is a real return to form. In this one, Carter and his mate are kidnapped by the Morgors of the planet Jupiter, who intend to study them preparatory to their invasion of the Red Planet. This is the first Carter tale to take place on a planet other than Earth or Mars, and so Burroughs is given free rein to let his imagination fly. This story features some good scientific speculation on what that giant world might be like, and for once Burroughs makes no slips as far as inconsistencies are concerned. However, the story ends right in the middle of Carter's adventure; apparently, Burroughs intended this to be a multipart saga, but never did get around to finishing it. Talk about leaving the reader wanting more! But at least the story of John Carter ends on a high note here, bringing to a conclusion one of the best swashbuckling fantasy series of all time.
Perhaps this is as good a place as any to note that the 11 Carter books that I have just read were the Ballantine/DelRey paperbacks of the late '70s to early '80s. These are the ones that feature beautifully imaginative yet faithful-to-the-story cover art by Michael Whelan. Sad to say, these paperbacks are quite a mess. I have never seen books with more typographical errors in my life. It is painfully obvious that these books were never proofread. This is surprising, given the sterling job that Ballantine/DelRey did with their "Best of" series of 21 great sci-fi authors around that same time. Still, the power of Edgar Rice Burroughs' vision shines through, so that even in these poorly put-together editions, the saga of John Carter on the planet Barsoom manages to captivate the reader, even after all these years.

In the previous novel "The Beast of Tarzan," Jane and her infant son Jack were kidnapped by Tarzan's enemy Nikolas Rokoff and his henchman Alexis Paulvitch. Of course, Tarzan tracks down his wife and son and finally dispatches Rokoff. However, in this fourth Tarzan novel, "The Son of Tarzan," Edgar Rice Burroughs provides an adventure whose key point is: like father, like son. Paulvitch had survived the vengeance of Tarzan and now wants to even the score by luring young Jack Clayton away from London. However, his plan is foiled when Jack escapes with the help of Akut, the great ape. The pair flee to the same African jungle where Tarzan was raised a generation before. It there that young Jack Clayton establishes his own reputation as Korak the Killer. Not only does he find Korak find his own place in the jungle and amidst the great apes, he also rescues Meriem, a beautiful young woman, from a band of Arab raiders. Meriem turns out to be the daughter of Armand Jacot, a Foreign Legion Captain who is also the Prince de Cadrenet, and therefore a fitting mate for the son of Lord Greystoke.

On the one hand, "The Son of Tarzan" is a ERB adventure yarn that closely parallels many of the key elements of the original "Tarzan of the Apes." In that sense this is a fairly predictable story (almost from the moment we hear about "My Dear" we know who she will turn out to be in the end), but given all the speculation about what the Tarzan novels were saying about human society and evolution, it is interesting to note that we have the same relationship between "The Son of Tarzan" and the original "Tarzan of the Apes" that you find between Jack London's "White Fang" and "The Call of the Wild." In each we have the creature of the wild become civilized and then reverse the process in the second. Of course, London's novels have received a lot more consideration along these lines in terms of Darwinism and the whole nature versus nuture debate (effectively canceling the question out by taking it both ways in his two novels), but it is interesting to see Burroughs do essentially the same thing with his own two novels.

In the previous novel "The Beast of Tarzan," Jane and her infant son Jack were kidnapped by Tarzan's enemy Nikolas Rokoff and his henchman Alexis Paulvitch. Of course, Tarzan tracks down his wife and son and finally dispatches Rokoff. However, in this fourth Tarzan novel, "The Son of Tarzan," Edgar Rice Burroughs provides an adventure whose key point is: like father, like son. Paulvitch had survived the vengeance of Tarzan and now wants to even the score by luring young Jack Clayton away from London. However, his plan is foiled when Jack escapes with the help of Akut, the great ape. The pair flee to the same African jungle where Tarzan was raised a generation before. It there that young Jack Clayton establishes his own reputation as Korak the Killer. Not only does he find Korak find his own place in the jungle and amidst the great apes, he also rescues Meriem, a beautiful young woman, from a band of Arab raiders. Meriem turns out to be the daughter of Armand Jacot, a Foreign Legion Captain who is also the Prince de Cadrenet, and therefore a fitting mate for the son of Lord Greystoke.

On the one hand, "The Son of Tarzan" is a ERB adventure yarn that closely parallels many of the key elements of the original "Tarzan of the Apes." In that sense this is a fairly predictable story (almost from the moment we hear about "My Dear" we know who she will turn out to be in the end), but given all the speculation about what the Tarzan novels were saying about human society and evolution, it is interesting to note that we have the same relationship between "The Son of Tarzan" and the original "Tarzan of the Apes" that you find between Jack London's "White Fang" and "The Call of the Wild." In each we have the creature of the wild become civilized and then reverse the process in the second. Of course, London's novels have received a lot more consideration along these lines in terms of Darwinism and the whole nature versus nuture debate (effectively canceling the question out by taking it both ways in his two novels), but it is interesting to see Burroughs do essentially the same thing with his own two novels.

This one has an interestingly diverse plot that introduces to the public the character of Korak the Killer, son of Tarzan. Gotta read it!

I just finished rereading this remarkable adventure story, and must say, some of the capsule summaries above leave a bit to be desired.

Yes, John Carter returns to Mars after 10 years absence, and finds himself in a paradise. But ironically, it's a paradise that soon turns into a kind of violent warring hell. The plant men are only the beginning. The bitterest enemies are a race of almost diabolical priests, the Tharns, who set loose white apes and plant men to slaughter thousands of religious pilgrims. I'm not spoiling the plot at all, since this becomes clear in the first two or three chapters.

Again, there's a deep bond between the hero, John Carter, and a brave and stunning young woman named Thuvia. John Carter, a warlord, is not content to merely escape. He must somehow end this evil empire of hypocritical priests and mass slaughter.

One fine element is the reintroduction of the green warrior chieftan, John's dear friend from the first novel in the series.

There are strains of deeper thought woven throughout. For example, the biting satire against mindless "fanatic" religions.

Heck of a book. Burroughs writes in a style that would seem a bit heavy today. But after a chapter or two, the reader usually can get in the stride. These books read fast-- you can't put them down. The heroines are GORGEOUS-- but the language is "clean" and the books can be recommended for teens. The description-- often in battle scenes-- is up to anything written in adventure science fiction today. This book was written-- amazingly-- in about 1917.

People notice how ERB poked fun at religion in this book, but he ripped racism to shreds and made the reader laugh, cry, and want to visit Mars with a sword in one hand and a pistol in the other. Not even the evolutionists escaped the expert wit and satire of this masterful and entertaining epic story.

John Carter returns to his beloved Barsoom ten years later, but instead of finding himself in Helium with Dejah Thoris he instead awakens in the lost Valley Dor, the Barsoomian heaven. But in reality it's a far cry from heaven and Carter turns a world upside with his challenging revelations.

The real hero of the story, however, is Dator Xodar, a prince of the black-skinned First Born of Barsoom, the highest race on the planet. The First Born prey upon the white-skinned Therns, who in turn prey upon the nations of the Red and Yellow men of Barsoom. As Xodar learns from Carter that all men should be equal, Carter learns from Xodar that even the most feared Barsoomians can be a truly noble people.

Having introduced the characters in 'A Princess of Mars,' the author gets down to the action, in this the second Martian adventure of John Carter, with, as I recall, a new opponent, ready to fight, on almost every page.

The author subtly pokes fun at religion, race and our conventions and rituals regarding them, while writing an exciting adventure story that certainly gripped my imagination in the early sixties.

John Carter remains the perfect Virginian gentleman, respecting women, seeking no unfair advantage, while fighting plants, animals and multiple races of Martians. He must struggle to overcome them all, if he is to set free his beloved Dejah Thoris from a nested series of "Heavens within Heavens."

If he wins, will he kill the "Gods of Mars" in the title? What will happen to religion on Mars if he does? If he loses...........

An ideal introduction to science fiction and fantasy for boys reaching puberty. They can sublimate their aggressive tendencies as they imagine themselves opposing plant men, white apes and other foes.

It may not be Edgar Rice Burroughs at his best but, The Land that Time Forgot is great adventure. This book contains the three Caspak novels; The Land that Time Forgot, the People that Time Forgot, and Out of Times Abyss. Three stories that chronicle the adventures of three different men on the Antarctic sub continent of Caspak; a volcanic depression that supports a diverse and dangerous prehistoric eco-system. Bowen Tyler, the hero of the first story, leads a disabled German U-boat and English survivors into the isle of Caspak where they need to fight for survival and try to find a way to back home. In the second story would-be rescuer Tom Billings crash lands in Caspak and meets the prehistoric woman Ajor. Together they fight their way back the Ajor's home territory. The final Story, and perhaps the best is about English lieutenant Bradley and his capture by the highly evolved Weiroo men. His story shows the best of Burrough's rolling adventure style complete with unbelievable coincidences and narrow escapes only to be caught again to prolong the story. So suspend your disbelief and plunge into the world of 1914, fighting the Kiaser's men, Dinosaurs, and strange cavemen. The back drop and story line more than make up for the dated romantic ideas. Not as tight and focused as Tarzan, but where else does one get submaries and dinosuars?

It is hard to know exactly how to review this trilogy by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I remember being given the first book, The Land That Time Forgot, by my father and devouring it, followed quickly by the next two volumes. My tastes were not sophisticated but my eagerness was in the extreme and these three books took me away to a place of dinosaurs, evil Germans, stalwart heroes, beguiling animal-skinned beauties and a mystery that defied evolution (or, more precisely, any known logic or science). I was truly in the land before time: childhood. Imagine my joy on discovering all three very short books wrapped in a modern new package that I could feel confident reading on a commute to work without undue embarassment. These books are still fast paced and have a truly pulpy, nostalgic feel to them. They can grow repetitious read all at once and perhaps the border between pulpy and musty is a fine one. They are more adventure and action stories than tales of the imagination (although the third installment does conjure quite a number of interesting images). The writing is simple and the dialogue is ludicrous. But the whole experience is still a delight as I was transported back and for that I am thankful for this wonderful new edition.

While Burroughs was denigrated as being a "pulp" novelist for most of his literary career, he was clearly a better writer than the vast majority of genre writers who publish today, and he was also a better story teller than most. The complaint of a reviewer that Burroughs was an obsessive racist would be hilarious if it weren't so ignorantly misguided. Similarly the complaint that Burroughs had no ear for dialogue is drenched in ignorance. The dialogue of early 20th century America is not the dialogue of late 20th century England, a fact that should not need explaining, but unfortunately explication is needed for those who who lack the most rudimentary of analytical faculties. I find Hemingway to have a tin ear for dialogue because the people I grew up with didn't speak like Hemingway characters at all, but I don't criticize Hemingway for that and suspect that he accurately recorded the cadence of his fellows. Burroughs had a good feel for the common man of the early 20th century, which is one reason his books still sell.

The Land That Time Forgot is a great adventure by a very good fantasy writer. Check it out while it's still in print.