John Giorno is one of the finest spoken word poets in New York City. He is also quite adept at getting the word down on paper, too. You Got to Burn to Shine is a great collection of poems. It even includes an introduction by William S Burroughs. Giorno writes poetry from the gut. It is free verse that swings with intensity. if you like a snifter of realism in your poetry then this book is for you. Giorno writes with a hard nosed frankness that is both poignant and refreshing without being overbearing. Poems like Stretching it Wider and (Last Night) I Gambled With My Anger and Lost are classic free verse. I read this collection with great delight.

I found this book to be powerful and truthful. The context and the langauge were delicate machines portaying the life of the author. It should not be read by anyone with a closed mind.

"The Warlord of Mars" (1914) is the 3rd of ll John Carter novels from the pen of Edgar Rice Burroughs. It is a direct continuation of the first two in the series--"A Princess of Mars" and "The Gods of Mars"--and a reading of those earlier titles is absolutely essential before going into this one. Here, Carter tries to rescue his princess, Dejah Thoris, from the clutches of some particularly nasty villains. In his relentless pursuit, one that makes Indiana Jones look like a slacker, Carter travels from the south pole of Mars to the forbidden lands of the north. He encounters many varieties of monster, such as the apt and the sith, and gets into more fights and cliffhanging situations than a reader would believe could be packed into a mere 160 pages. The pace of the book is furious, never pausing for breath, and the final battle in the north polar city of Kadabra, in which the combined armies of Barsoomian green, red and black men attack the yellow tribes of the north, is thrilling in the extreme. What amazing films these first three John Carter novels would make, if done faithfully and with the requisite ... million thrown into each one!
So why the 3-star rating? Well, there are numerous problems with the book that prevent me from giving it top grades, despite the fun I had reading it. For one, there are countless inconsistencies and implausibilities. For example, it is difficult for the reader to accept that Carter's enemies cannot recognize him, just because he has smeared some red tint over his skin. Difficult to believe that Carter is able to scale the side of a tower in the pitch black of night. Difficult to believe that Carter (or any man) could live in a pit for nine days without food and especially water. Verrry hard to believe that Thurid, Carter's archenemy, could carry the struggling captive princess over a foot-wide ledge without toppling into the abyss beneath. Impossible to believe that Dejah Thoris couldn't recognize Carter by his voice alone, despite his yellow-man disguise. All these are hard to swallow in the extreme. As for the inconsistencies: It is stated that Carter saved Thuvia from the Warhoons in book 2, when in actuality it was Carthoris, Carter's son. The city of Kaol is said to be rendered invisible by the forest that surrounds and tops it, but later it is stated that this forest is cut back from the city. Huh? Worst of all is the aforementioned tower-scaling scene, in which dusk becomes early afternoon in a matter of minutes. Here's something that Ed Wood would have appreciated! This day/night confusion is straight out of "Plan 9," but for me is the hallmark of incredibly sloppy writing and even poorer copyediting. Further, Burroughs' descriptions of the Valley of the Therns, and its geographic proximity to the land of the First Born, are simply impossible to visualize. Throw in a bunch of misplaced modifiers and some awkward turns of phrase and you've got a real mess of a manuscript. So why did I have a tear in my eye by the book's end, when Carter gets his rewards and the entire city of Helium turns out to greet him? I guess that the power of storytelling can outweigh petty matters of consistency and grammar. And Burroughs WAS a great teller of tales, and this book IS as thrilling as they come.

The Warlord of Mars is significant to ERB fans in that it concludes his original Martian Trilogy. The story itself is a step down from the adventure that is The Gods of Mars and fails to come close to the excellence of A Princess of Mars. That being said, this is still a fun story.

Burroughs concludes his trilogy with a chase across Mars. The story picks up 6 months after The Gods of Mars. John Carter follows the kidnappers of his wife across river, desert, jungle, fortress and ice. The story itself is, as with all the Martian Trilogy, quite entertaining. However, this book cuts almost all the human interaction out that made the first two books the classics they are.

I have read this book some ten times, and I still enjoy it. As I've grown older I have discovered many Sci Fi authors and stories, but none that enrapture my imagination like the original Martian Trilogy by Edgar Rice Burroughs. This is a must read for anyone who enjoyed the first two books, as it actually has a final conclusion.

Yes, the books (all 11!) are great works, despite the quaint narrative in use at that time.

I would like to take (small) issue with the remarks of "_Vegas_" though. The first three books were indeed intended as a trilogy, and were marketed as such in the early part of the 20th cenury, in "THE ALL-STORY" magazine. The fact that the first three books cover a continuous story, with a definite conclusion in this third book, also points to it being written a true trilogy. Please do not allow yourself to be confused by the fact that 7 (or 8) more "John Carter" novels succeeded this one.

I've read this collection several times in my distant past, and loved the stories! I was very disappointed when I received the CD and learned that the only way I could read it was on a PC monitor. Audio or the ability to print the stories for reading is not available on the CD. It is extremely misleading on the way it's sold. Buyer Beware!

The John Carter of Mars Series is my all time favorite Science Fiction series, and in fact it was this ERB series that got me started on a lifetime of reading. And it IS nice to see it collected on a cd rom for delivery to yet another generation. I still have ten of the eleven novels in the series in paperback from my childhood, but have been unable to find a replacement for "The Princess of Mars" that fell apart after the Nth reading. Now that I've ordered the first five on the cd rom, I hope to get my kids hooked on them as well.

i read my first John Carter book when i was 12 years old; i am considerably older than that now and still enjoy re-reading them; a must for anyone who likes good story telling with the added dimension of science fiction - science fiction that was remarkably advanced for its time

Although far less plausible and possessing characters of much less depth than Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth, Burrough's At the Earth's Core, despite some embarrassingly preposterous elements, is an entertaining read due to its well-rendered, imaginative fantasy setting and fast-paced swashbuckling adventure. The story is never dull, and the hideous and hypnotic bat-winged Mayars make for memorable villains. The depiction of a human sacrifice to these monsters halfway through the novel is particularly unforgettable. There is also a multifarious array of attacking prehistoric monsters, without the claustrophobic feel of the 1970's film.

Also recommended is Basil Copper's treatment of the descent-into-the-earth theme in his creepy novel The Great White Space, now unfortunately out of print.

For Edgar Rice Burroughs, life was relatively simple. Men fell into one of three categories: muscular heroes, ordinary types, and evil, greasy villains. Women existed primarily to act as universal lighting rods that attracted either the first or third category. Regardless of the universe that ERB wrote of, these constants held with predictable regularity. With the publication of AT THE EARTH'S CORE, he began yet another series that put the hero at odds with nature, evil doers, and beautiful, virtuous women. David Innes, the handsome hero, drills down to the center of the earth in a manner that brings to mind Jules Verne's tale, both of which posit a habitable, temperate core that supports a variety of lush, prehistoric life. Despite knowing that the earth's core was held to be molten, ERB did not hesitate to bend science for the sake of a good tale. ATEC possesses both the plusses of ERB at his best and the negatives at his worst. Like Tarzan, Innes is a likable, manly sort who feels at home regardless of whether home is a jungle or a tea room. The logic of how ERB gets his hero placed in an exotic locale is irrelevant and often purely unscientific. For his Martian (Barsoom) series, he merely had his hero, John Carter, gaze at the Red Planet to effect his transport there. For his inner world series (Pellucidar), Innes used a drill machine, a device that at least tries to be scientific. Once there, Innes has the necessary adventures with beasts, villains, and beautiful women, in this case Dian the Beautiful. The workings of the plot about how he finds her, loses her, and then finds her again are almost not to the point. Where ERB excels in his ability to place the reader, who is usually a 15 year old boy, in a realm that allows imagination to run riot. Events flow so smoothly that the youthful reader will probably overlook the negatives of ERB's prose style. In the world of ERB's muscular heroes, both hero and villain speak in the artificial, courtly dialogue that rings true only to the ears of the young. Coincidence runs rife to the point of ridicule. Beautiful women are haughty at first, but lusty later, and then only to the clean-limbed hero. His plots are often mirror images of one another. You can substitute the center of the earth for Mars, Venus, Africa, or wherever, and hero, villain, and lovely lady are interchangeable. Yet, despite all this, AT THE EARTH'S CORE is the kind of read that ought to be part of any kid's early mental universe. Reading Burroughs as a thirty year old requires a strong ability to suspend one's disbelief, but once having done so, the ride is usually worth the effort.

...so one day independently wealthy David Ennis is confronted by his scientist buddy Abner Peery who has just invented a vehicle that essentially drills through the earth. (If the reader is into descriptives it looks like the device Dr Evil of Austin Powers fame has devised to take over the world.) They decide, "Well, let's try it out." and the reader is then treated to a journey to middle earth which is similar to Jules Verne's, but not as serious. I would say that Burroughs brings us satire similar to Voltaire's "Candide" or Swift's "Gulliver's Travel". The inner world, Pellicidar, is one where if you are not careful, you can be awake for days because the sun never sets or rises--that sun being the molten earth core rather than the sun we all know of. In Pellucidar, the various dragons, apes, and reptiles and mutations of such, are heads of gangs, tribes and kingdoms in the middle earth. And the royalty has beautiful sorcery princesses like Dian the Beautiful, who David falls for and who leads him into an innerworld adventure taking the reader to an unforgettable serial-pulp style reading enjoyment. If you dig Robert E. Howard or Jules Verne or Rice Burroughs' Tarzan series you will definitely love this. My opinion is that this is one of those series that could stand some revamping and the reader will feel that this is somewhat dated but, I feel that it is still well-worth the investment of time and $.

This book, #2 of 11 in Burroughs' John Carter series, is a direct sequel to the classic "A Princess of Mars," and a reading of that earlier volume is fairly essential before going into this one. "Gods..." was first published in serial form in "All-Story Magazine" in 1913, and comprises one of Burroughs' earliest works. It is amazing how much action the author manages to cram into the book's 190 pages; on just about EVERY page there is some kind of incredible happening or colorful bit. The book really is hard to put down, and yet, at the same time, the end of just about every paragraph could serve as a cliffhanger! The pace of the book is brisk and relentless, and really carries the reader along to another great cliffhanger at the conclusion. In this volume, our hero, John Carter, returns to Barsoom after a decade's absence, and goes to that planet's "heaven." But heaven turns out to be anything but, and our man gets caught up in battles with plant men and white apes, lost civilizations, religious taboos, the plots of an evil "goddess," duels in the arena and on and on. There are two action set pieces that Burroughs really puts over well. One is the slave revolt that takes place halfway through the tale; the other, a bravura, four-way air battle between the forces of the black, white, red and green men of Barsoom. Both of these sections are thrilling in the extreme; better than anything in the first Barsoom novel. It's also nice that Carter, an Earthman on Mars, fights alongside men and women of varied races, colors, and religious beliefs in a common cause; there's some kind of message there--one for tolerance and brotherhood--that we could all avail ourselves of today.
Having said all this, however, I must admit that there are problems in this novel that prevent me from giving it a top grade. These problems mainly take the form of fuzzy writing and internal inconsistencies. Burroughs, in this novel, does not do well in describing geography; his depictions of the Valley of the Therns, for example, are almost impossible to visualize (for me, anyway). A map of this planet (such as the one provided in LeGuin's Earthsea books) would have greatly helped, given Burroughs' inability to clearly set out his world. As for the inconsistencies: Burroughs, the "editor" of the novel, says he first read Carter's manuscript (for Book #1) 12 years previously; but if he had really obeyed Carter's will (that the manuscript not be opened for 11 years), then he would have only first seen the text of "A Princess of Mars" ONE year before! Tars Tarkas is said to be grieving over his kidnapped daughter in one section of this book; then, a few scenes later, he learns of this kidnapping for the first time. Huh?!?! The scene with Carter on the black-pirate cruiser contains many inconsistencies. Carter is said to be fighting five of these men; he kills three of them, and then three are left. Huh?!?! Six pirates are killed, all told, but later in the book, the number is said to be seven. Carter is said to have killed all these men single-handed, although the Thern princess, Phaidor, had helped him. These pirates are all asleep in the cruiser when Carter comes upon them, although they had been sacking the Thern temple scant minutes before. Does this seem likely? Inconsistencies such as this can drive an alert reader crazy. And don't even get me started on the redundant expressions such as "haven of refuge" and "craven cowards" that pop up all the time. Burroughs improved with age, but these early books are rife with problems that a good copyediting should have weeded out. Still, these minor problems are easily overlooked when one is caught up in the sweep of the story, and this story is as exciting as they come. It really is a tremendous feat of imagination, and one that any lover of swashbuckling fantasy should hugely enjoy.

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.

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.

A documentary anthology focusing almost exclusively on writings by and about people using drugs before the 1960s -- before, as one of its editors states, "the modern era of drug use and drug hysteria." The sources collected within are excerpted from some of the more usual suspects, like Jean Cocteau, Aldous Huxley, Albert Hofmann, and Baudelaire, but there are also a few surprises (for example, Mark Twain and Sigmund Freud). The reader will come away with a newfound understanding of how unoriginal much of our present dialogue over similar issues actually is.

A compilation of selections for those interested in drug use by historical figures. Features Anais Nin dropping acid, Sigmund Freud on cocaine, Mark Twain nearly becoming a coca trader, as well as the usual suspects (Hofmann, Baudelaire, Huxley, Ludlow) and others.

Published over twenty years ago, Naked Angels still holds up as a thorough critical study of the works of Ginsberg, Burroughs, and Kerouac. The first section deals mainly in biography, but it seeks to explain why each of the writers explored certain topics and how their experiences shaped their styles. However, if you have studied these three in a biographical sense, the information presented here will not be new to you.

The second section covers the works of the three writers. While there is certainly a wealth of sources that give critical insights into Beat writing, this section brings them together into an often detailed, more often general study of Beat themes, styles, and voices. The Ginsberg section is particularly detailed in its analysis of Ginsberg's long lines and mysticism. Though Kerouac and Burroughs receive their share of treatment, the Burroughs section lacks the further illumination provided by Burroughs over the last twenty years of his life. And the Kerouac section hits only the high points, simply because it would be too difficult to cover every aspect of this prolific writer's work in a mere 70 pages.

This book is a solid overview of the core Beats and their seminal works. Its age shows at times, but it's worth a read as a well-written and well-thought treatment of Beat literature.

Tytell gives an excellent insight into the founding members of the Beat movement. He shows the backgrounds and the motivations of one of the most innovative literary movements in the 20th century. I would strongly recomend this for anyone , especially if they are just starting to explore this group of writers.

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.

Don't take the star rating wrong - this is as good as any of the other books in this series, but this edition (Quiet Vision Publishing - paperback, printed in 2000) is the cheapest printing of a book I've ever seen. Only about 20 pages into it, pages started falling out of the back. The type is huge and goes all the way to the edge of the page so your thumbs are constantly in the way while you're trying to read, and there are typographical errors like using two hyphens instead of em dashes. I know they make an electronic version of this book. As part of my job I convert a lot of print-intended content to digital publishing formats, and that's what usually happens to em dashes during that process, so I almost wonder if they just printed out their digital version and bound it. It looks like it was printed on a laser printer (especially the terrible cover illustration which looks like it was drawn by a 12-year old), and the fonts look like they're just PC-standard 'Times'. There are also several footnotes, which in the original edition that I read years ago were placed at the bottom of the page they were referenced from. In this edition they're in the back of the book.

"Thuvia, Maid of Mars" is the 4th of 11 John Carter novels from the pen of Edgar Rice Burroughs. It first appeared in April 1916, as a three-part serial in the magazine "All Story Weekly." This is the first Carter novel that does not feature John Carter himself as the central character; he only makes a brief cameo appearance early on. Instead, the action mantle is taken up by Carthoris, Carter's son, but fortunately, Carter Junior turns out to be just as good a swashbuckler as the old man. In this installment, Princess Thuvia of Ptarth has been kidnapped by the spineless Prince Astok of Dusar, which abduction almost causes a world war on Barsoom (Mars). Young Carthoris, in his quest to free his beloved princess, runs across deserted cities, a forgotten kingdom, banths (10-legged Barsoomian lions), ethereal warriors, mucho swordplay, giant white apes, and on and on. As is usual for these books, the amount of action that Burroughs packs into a small compass is quite surprising. Whereas previous Carter books seem to read more like fantasy/fairy tales than science fiction, this installment veers even more to the fantastic, mainly in the use of those phantom warriors just mentioned. These bowmen are called up from the minds of the remaining members of the lost city of Lothar, and have no "real" concrete existence. However, their arrows can still kill. In this book we also get, for the first time, a nice, detailed look at life in Helium; what the people do, how they live and the like. We also receive a biological explanation of how Carthoris, who was 10 years old but a seeming adult in the previous books, got to be that way. The worldwide peace that apparently prevails at the end of book 3, "The Warlord of Mars," is shown in this volume to be not as widespread as was inferred, which makes for some nice tense situations. So this is a good, fast-moving, detailed entry in the series.
There are some minor problems of inconsistency and fuzzy writing, however, although not as prevalent as in previous entries. For example, in one scene, Carthoris is said to be fighting a force of a dozen Dusarians; three of these are killed, and so three are left. Huh? Carthoris seems to know exactly where to find water in the dead city of Aaanthor, despite the fact that he has never been there before. Wha? Vas Kor, one of Carthoris' chief enemies, fails to recognize him merely because Carthoris is dirty, tired and covered with blood; this is just a bit hard to swallow. Perhaps worst of all, the book ends extremely abruptly, just as all of Barsoom is about to be plunged into that world war. We never learn the fate of several of the main villains, nor do we see the end of hostilities as the realization of the true facts becomes known. This is a short book, and would not have suffered by the addition of such scenes to make it more satisfying. Still, this is a fun entry in the John Carter series, one that all lovers of fast-moving fantasy should enjoy.

More similar in its simplicity to a Princess of Mars than Gods/Warlord. John Carter's son engages in search for abducted Thuvia, while he remains the prime suspect in her abduction. Usual strange meetings and stranger neighborhoods, but this story is a little less frenentic than Gods/Warlord, and both Carthoris and Thuvia are solid characters.