John Carter: The Complete Barsoom Series

Barsoom #1-11

by Edgar Rice Burroughs

When John Carter goes to sleep in a mysterious cave in the Arizona dessert, he wakes up on the planet Mars. There he meets the fifteen foot tall, four armed, green men of mars, with horse-like dragons, and watch dogs like oversized frogs with ten legs. His adventures continue as he battles great white apes, fights plant men, defies the Goddess of Death, and braves the frozen wastes of Polar Mars. In other adventures, the Prince of Helium encounters a race of telepathic warriors, the Princess of Helium confronts the headless men of Mars, Captain Ulysses Paxton learns the secret of human immortality, and Tan Hadron's idealized notion of love is tested as he fights off gigantic spiders and cannibals.

Edgar Rice Burroughs vision of Mars was loosely inspired by astronomical speculation of the time, especially that of Percival Lowell, who saw the red planet as a formerly Earth-like world now becoming less hospitable to life due to its advanced age. Burroughs predicted the invention of homing devices, radar, sonar, autopilot, collision detection, television, teletype, genetic cloning, living organ transplants, antigravity propulsion, and many other concepts that were well ahead of his time. The books in the Barsoom series were an early inspiration to many, including science fiction authors Robert A. Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke and Ray Bradbury, they influenced renowned scientist Carl Sagan in his quest for extraterrestrial life, and were instrumental in the making of James Cameron's Avatar, and George Lucas' Star Wars.

This edition includes 59 illustrations by Frank Schoonover, J. Allan St. John, V. Cutta, P. J. Monahan, George Wildschut & Frank R. Paul.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Classics, Ebooks

1977 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 25, 2012

About the author

Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.

Reviews

[Devero · Rating 1 out of 5]

Raccoglie i primi 5 romanzi del ciclo di Barsoom. Ma questa saga è interessante solo per il primo romanzo, e peggiora man mano che i romanzi proseguono. Dal quarto la noia è totale, e la verosimiglianza è totalmente perduta.

[Aaron Ward]

Never finished this one. I read the first in the series, half of the second. Will maybe try again at some point.

[Massimo Penazzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gli albori della fantascienza. Commovente.

[Ethan Knierim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read only by the fact that I've read every story within this volume (save John Carter and the Giant of Mars). This document has proved of great value in referencing the series for use in my John Carter of Mars TTRPG campaign(s). I have latched onto this series for about a year and a half and have enjoyed it quite a bit. My rating reflects that.

[Il Lettore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un classico della fantascienza e del fantasy mondiale, immancabile il ciclo di Barsoom nella libreria di qualunque appassionato del genere fantastico.
Inutile dire che lo stile è quello degli anni in cui è stato scritto, pertanto alla lunga potrebbe anche annoiare, come per l'altro grande classico - Conan il barbaro - è una lettura che va fatta per gradi, tanto è vero che nonostante sia un lettore vorace, in questi casi tendo a rallentare.
Nel complesso è una raccolta di tutti e cinque i libri di Barsoom, il migliore dei quali è innegabilmente il primo, dove il patto con il lettore è bilanciato in maniera perfetta e tutto è scoperta. Dal secondo in poi, a volte questa voglia di continua scoperta risulta quasi forzata, facendo scadere un po' la qualità dello scritto, senza davvero mai intaccarne la coerenza o, comunque, la bellezza.
Vale sempre la pena di leggerlo per rendersi conto di cosa sia davvero l'originalità nel fantasy.

[Rust · Rating 3 out of 5]

Diciamo una lettura leggera. Non male, simpatico, divertente e direi a tratti originale (per il suo tempo). Libro dai molti sequel, ho letto anche La mente di marte e Llana di gathol che sono sullo stesso livello direi. E' un romanzo d'avventura, senza introspezione psicologica nè pretese di scientificità (newton si rivolta nella tomba a sentir parlare di quei favolosi e superpotenti colori in più nello spettro prismatico). Ma va bene così, non sono molti i libri del genere ad essere leggibili dopo quasi un secolo.

[idego · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic space adventure series.

I know people say don't judge a book by its cover - please really don't in this case. Don't let the awful cover put you off exploring these great, action packed, imaginative tales.

I got this massive omnibus bundle on Kindle - for how cheap it was there is a ton of great adventure with some memorable characters, creatures and set pieces.

god that cover is awful ....

[Kane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got into the first book in the series because of the moview previews for "john carter". Just couldn't put it down until I finished it. Awesome. If you are into science fiction, action, this is the book. The guys is practically a superhero who cannot be defeated. Some might find it boring but I found it invigorating and uplifting. Simple to read and uplifting.

[Jael and Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun series.

[H.V. Loren]

A course on Coursera on writing Fantasy discussed these stories as an example. Interesying to read the limited knowledge allowing this fantasy at the time.