Dark Tides of Mars: A Novel of Barsoom

Wild Adventures of Tarzan

by Chris L. Adams, Douglas Klauba (Illustrator)

For more than a century readers have been entranced by Edgar Rice Burroughs' arid red planet of Barsoom, with its valiant city states and hordes of four-armed green Martians inhabiting the dead sea bottoms, all pitted against one another in a deadly fight for survival. But what was ancient Barsoom like in its prime, before the oceans evaporated and its proud peoples were forced to construct an atmosphere factory to keep themselves alive on a dying world? Find out the answer in Dark Tides of A Novel of Barsoom by Chris L Adams, the newest volume in the Wild Adventures of Edgar Rice Burroughs series! Barsoom is dying, its atmosphere thinning with each passing year, the seas that once flourished upon its surface dried up eons ago. When warrior-scientist Dat Voga is asked to become Helium's ambassador to distant cities that may provide a desperate chance at life for the people of Barsoom, he leaps at the opportunity. But even as this new hope dangles on a thread, a madman seeks to hasten the Red Planet's doom-and Dat Voga is hurled headlong upon an odyssey across the chasm of Time itself!

Genres: Science Fiction

314 pages, Paperback

Published November 21, 2023

About the author

Writes scy-fy, horror, fantasy, poetry

Reviews

[Win Scott Eckert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark Tides of Mars (#13 in the authorized Wild Adventures of Edgar Rice Burroughs line of novels) by Chris L Adams is everything a reader could hope for in a sword-and-planet adventure. It is true to the characters, lore, and world-building that Burroughs established in his John Carter of Mars/Barsoom series, and equally importantly it’s a page turner!

Adams is master at detailed descriptions that pull the reader in, and his portrayal of the dying planet of Barsoom evokes a deep sense of melancholy. He introduces a great new character, Dat Voga, warrior, scientist, and diplomat, and also does a wonderful job with a pre-existing Burroughs character, Carthoris, the son of John Carter and the incomparable Dejah Thoris.

The most important test of a book, for me, is: was I eager to keep reading? The answer here is a resounding yes! Adams wisely leaves the reader wanting more, and I for one cannot wait for the sequel, Gauntlets of Mars. Highly recommended!

[Clark Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. At first I wasn't sure if I would like it since I've been reading ERB for most of my life and couldn't imagine anyone coming close to his writing style, but Adams does a great job with this book. After awhile I couldn't even tell this wasn't an ERB book that I had, by some miracle, missed reading. Looking forward to the next book.

[Bill Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

Excellent in the tradition of ERB. I felt I was reading the original Mars classics. I will happily read the next chapter in this heroic story.

[Chuck Loridans · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased my copy at Pulpfest last summer.

Edgar Rice Burroughs second greatest creation, the world of Barsoom (The planet we know as Mars) was the fountainhead of heroic Sci-Fi adventure as we know it today. There would be no Dune, Star Wars etc. without Burrough's Barsoom saga.
Chris L. Adams takes full advantage of what Burroughs created, and seems to love writing in that world.
He lovingly takes us back to visit characters and places we knew before, but then introduces us to new ideas, people and locales that captivate our imaginations like Burroughs and other select authors before him.
Douglas Klauba's wonderful cover and interior art compliment the story magnificently.

The story will be continued in "Gauntlets of Mars" and I'm looking forward to reading it!!

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reads like a lost manuscript of Edgar Rice Burroughs has surfaced seventy-three years after the great man passed. It embodies the flavor of ERB’s work from the narrative style, to the brilliant action scenes, to the tense little political intrigues and dialogues. It opens with the rulers of Helium having uncovered a threat to the existence of all life on Mars. The stores of radium which power all of their advanced technology are depleting and unless they find new sources to mine, Barsoomian civilization will grind to a halt. Yet, while there is life, there is hope, and Helium decides to send Dat Voga, a young scientist-warrior, as an ambassador to a distant city which historically had been a major producer of radium to work out an alliance. But as Dat Voga is about to learn, this city has problems of its own—problems that the emissaries from Helium cannot help but become involved in. Soon Dat Voga is fighting for his life, tiptoeing around a mad scientist, and—most importantly—visiting a place that not even John Carter has been—the ancient seas and civilizations of the red planet. And while the reader discovers wonder after wonder, the action never stops.

This is a remarkable book which I just couldn’t put down. Dat Voga is a hero ERB could have created, on an adventure that feels like a remarkably fresh product of the master-writer’s mind. Rumor has it that more books are coming and I can’t wait to read them.

[Joel Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adams makes a smart choice in making someone other than John Carter the protagonist. This allows him some leeway for character development and the ability to transport his scientist character into another earlier epoch of Mars. This appears to be the first of a planned series.