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The Moon Trilogy #1-3
The Lunar Trilogy: The Moon Maid, The Moon Men, and The Red Hawk
From the storytelling master behind the classic Tarzan and John Carter tales comes a three-part omnibus detailing the first contact between humans and the races of The Moon, the conflict that erupts, and its explosive conclusion.
In those first days, humanity basks in peace, and many of the Earth's nations disarm their militaries, paving the way for an invasion by the Kalkars, a vicious lunar race. Under the oppressive heel of Lunarian rule, the societies of Earth are reduced to impoverished ruins. Only one man is willing to fight to swing the balance of power: Julian. What follows is a saga of struggle spanning multiple generations in what stands as one of Edgar Rice Burroughs's most underrated works.
The three books of the Lunar Trilogy are of particular interest to readers with an academic interest in classic science fiction, as Burroughs's saga acts as a thinly veiled critique of the direction he saw the world drifting in, and it both celebrates human freedom while expressing apprehension over the development of Communism.
In those first days, humanity basks in peace, and many of the Earth's nations disarm their militaries, paving the way for an invasion by the Kalkars, a vicious lunar race. Under the oppressive heel of Lunarian rule, the societies of Earth are reduced to impoverished ruins. Only one man is willing to fight to swing the balance of power: Julian. What follows is a saga of struggle spanning multiple generations in what stands as one of Edgar Rice Burroughs's most underrated works.
The three books of the Lunar Trilogy are of particular interest to readers with an academic interest in classic science fiction, as Burroughs's saga acts as a thinly veiled critique of the direction he saw the world drifting in, and it both celebrates human freedom while expressing apprehension over the development of Communism.
530 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1926
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About the author
Edgar Rice Burroughs
2,902 books2,739 followersEdgar 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.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 1, 2021
Much like "The Lord of the Rings," Burroughs' Moon Trilogy is less a trilogy and more one epic novel under the somewhat lackluster title "The Moon Maid." However, the three parts were conceived and begun separately and do not continue a cohesive arc of a set of characters but are stories of three epochs in human civilization starting from first contact with lunar civilization, to conquest of the world by lunar invaders known as Kalkars, to their subsequent overthrow over three centuries later. The stories are all told by a man named Julian who claims to have "memories" of his future incarnations, where his soul seems to be reborn throughout generations of his direct ancestors. Together, this consists of some of the best work of Burroughs' entire famous and prolific writing career.
The first part is the story of the Moon Maid proper. An expedition consisting of four humans to Mars crash lands on the moon after the ship is sabotaged. They meet a variety of strange alien life forms and even civilizations of intelligent humanoids deep under the lunar surface. The tyrannical Kalkars, assisted by a treacherous human from the expedition, learn the technologies of weapons of mass destruction, which they use to conquer their peace-loving cousins and later to invade the Earth. This section is more typical of Burroughs' pulpy style, familiar territory to fans of his Pellucidar and Barsoom series.
But the second part is a reworked dystopian narrative originally about the aftermath of the takeover of America by Soviet Russia. Instead of the Soviets, the Kalkars have reduced humanity back to a feudal agrarian lifestyle where earthlings are under strict dictatorial control to prevent free thought, religious worship, and private property in order to prevent revolution. However, they clearly hadn't learned anything of the history of human colonialism, and their increasingly exploitative taxation and treatment of the farmers leads to the seeds of revolt. This section is unusually dark and political for Burroughs', showing the true range he was capable of as a writer.
Three hundred years later, the Kalkars have sufficiently interbred with humans so that they have forgotten much of the technology that made them a formidable conquering force, and the humans largely consist of nomadic tribes with cultures modeled after the native Americans, who worship the American flag as a kind of totem though they have long forgotten the original purpose.
Endlessly fascinating, inspiring a true sense of wonder and epic adventure, this is a highly entertaining classic of science fiction, and a must-read from the Radium Age. It loses a star because of it's awkward structure, shoehorning in a pulp space opera romance into a much darker post-apocalyptic political yarn. And when I say dark, I mean it. Heroes and children alike are killed off unceremoniously or quite brutally. So the tone is very inconsistent.
In addition, having a story spanning centuries in the future be told in the first-person by a single man from the perspective of his ancestors is awkward, unexplained, and unnecessary. Julian first begins the story to a fellow traveler on a dirigible, and I could not help but picture the listener getting up a quarter of a way through and saying, "Okay, that's nice, Mr. Crazy Person, but I gotta be going!" But that doesn't happen. I can only assume the man had tons of patience and zero hobbies to listen for hours to how brave, awesome, and essential Julian's ancestors were throughout the entire history of a supposed conquest of the Earth by men from the moon.
I know you guys who frequently read science fiction are capable of suspending disbelief during even the most outrageous fantasies, but some parts of this book you just can't buy into. So one human was able to teach a small civilization of moon men who still fought with swords and spears the secret of space travel AND how to develop weaponry capable of subduing an entire planet exponentially larger than their world? All in less than the span of a few years? Okay. Sure. Not to mention the fact that the moon people are genetically and morphologically similar enough to breed with humans. That's never explained. And speaking of lack of explanation, early in the novel, Julian points out a girl dancing in a lounge and tells his listener that he will meet the girl as one of his future incarnations. How that is possible or who the girl was supposed to be is never explained because the idea is forgotten.
But despite all of this lack of polish, I highly recommend this to any fan of sci-fi and fantasy, as well as anyone looking to be introduced to the work of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Also, for you John Carter fans out there, these lunar tales take place in the same fictional universe as the Mars series, and even the spaceship that makes first contact with the Kalkars is called "The Barsoom." Just in case you were wondering...
The first part is the story of the Moon Maid proper. An expedition consisting of four humans to Mars crash lands on the moon after the ship is sabotaged. They meet a variety of strange alien life forms and even civilizations of intelligent humanoids deep under the lunar surface. The tyrannical Kalkars, assisted by a treacherous human from the expedition, learn the technologies of weapons of mass destruction, which they use to conquer their peace-loving cousins and later to invade the Earth. This section is more typical of Burroughs' pulpy style, familiar territory to fans of his Pellucidar and Barsoom series.
But the second part is a reworked dystopian narrative originally about the aftermath of the takeover of America by Soviet Russia. Instead of the Soviets, the Kalkars have reduced humanity back to a feudal agrarian lifestyle where earthlings are under strict dictatorial control to prevent free thought, religious worship, and private property in order to prevent revolution. However, they clearly hadn't learned anything of the history of human colonialism, and their increasingly exploitative taxation and treatment of the farmers leads to the seeds of revolt. This section is unusually dark and political for Burroughs', showing the true range he was capable of as a writer.
Three hundred years later, the Kalkars have sufficiently interbred with humans so that they have forgotten much of the technology that made them a formidable conquering force, and the humans largely consist of nomadic tribes with cultures modeled after the native Americans, who worship the American flag as a kind of totem though they have long forgotten the original purpose.
Endlessly fascinating, inspiring a true sense of wonder and epic adventure, this is a highly entertaining classic of science fiction, and a must-read from the Radium Age. It loses a star because of it's awkward structure, shoehorning in a pulp space opera romance into a much darker post-apocalyptic political yarn. And when I say dark, I mean it. Heroes and children alike are killed off unceremoniously or quite brutally. So the tone is very inconsistent.
In addition, having a story spanning centuries in the future be told in the first-person by a single man from the perspective of his ancestors is awkward, unexplained, and unnecessary. Julian first begins the story to a fellow traveler on a dirigible, and I could not help but picture the listener getting up a quarter of a way through and saying, "Okay, that's nice, Mr. Crazy Person, but I gotta be going!" But that doesn't happen. I can only assume the man had tons of patience and zero hobbies to listen for hours to how brave, awesome, and essential Julian's ancestors were throughout the entire history of a supposed conquest of the Earth by men from the moon.
I know you guys who frequently read science fiction are capable of suspending disbelief during even the most outrageous fantasies, but some parts of this book you just can't buy into. So one human was able to teach a small civilization of moon men who still fought with swords and spears the secret of space travel AND how to develop weaponry capable of subduing an entire planet exponentially larger than their world? All in less than the span of a few years? Okay. Sure. Not to mention the fact that the moon people are genetically and morphologically similar enough to breed with humans. That's never explained. And speaking of lack of explanation, early in the novel, Julian points out a girl dancing in a lounge and tells his listener that he will meet the girl as one of his future incarnations. How that is possible or who the girl was supposed to be is never explained because the idea is forgotten.
But despite all of this lack of polish, I highly recommend this to any fan of sci-fi and fantasy, as well as anyone looking to be introduced to the work of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Also, for you John Carter fans out there, these lunar tales take place in the same fictional universe as the Mars series, and even the spaceship that makes first contact with the Kalkars is called "The Barsoom." Just in case you were wondering...
August 23, 2017
THE MOON MAID:
Very similar to THE PRINCESS OF MARS, although ERB's mild self-plagiarism doesn't particularly bother me in this case, in that I found THE MOON MAID to be something of an improvement. At least THE MOON MAID tries to be more scientific in terms of space travel, but of course the science is all bogus and horribly out of date. For me, though, it's the ridiculousness of it that gives the book much of its charm. At any rate, it is a fun adventure story, and I would heartily recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading about exotic alien races getting punched in the face.
THE MOON MEN:
This is basically JOHN CARTER OF MARS meets Ayn Rand. Burroughs does a great job detailing the subjugation of the human race by alien creatures from the moon. However, in typical Burroughs fashion, the hero is over-the-top. After discovering that he has been blessed with amazing super-strength (no explanation given), this hero goes through the rest of the book rescuing people, breaking out of prisons, wrestling with bulls, taming wild horses, leading revolutions, romancing a beautiful maiden, and breaking bad guys' necks.
All this action might have been exciting were it not so lazy. For example, during the first prison break scene, our hero is able to escape by simply climbing on top of a shed and jumping over the fence. When one of the guards sees him and tries to shoot, the guard's gun jams. How convenient!
The book also has a very weak ending. Sort of like watching an alternate version of BRAVEHEART in which William Wallace and his ragtag army never make it past their first battle.
THE RED HAWK:
THE RED HAWK manages to end the trilogy on a good note, though it never explains why the narrator can recall his past and future lives. For me, that angle was probably the most intriguing thing about the first two MOON books, and I was rather annoyed to find that, here, Burroughs just drops the whole concept entirely, as though hoping that no one would notice his complete failure to resolve the one overarching thread that joins this trilogy together.
Apart from that major complaint, however, THE RED HAWK is actually surprisingly good. I like that each of these books has a completely different feel to it, thereby preventing boredom from setting in. The first book was straight sci-fi, the second one felt more like a dystopian novel, and this one is sort of a sci-fi/western hybrid in which Americans have returned to living like Indians in the old West (and, in a politically incorrect twist, the actual remaining Native Americans have all become slaves). There is tons of action and all the usual Burroughs staples: kidnapped princess, brawny hero, alien bad guys, prison break, etc. It's all very been-there-done-that, but whatever. I can think of worse ways to spend a couple of lunch breaks.
Very similar to THE PRINCESS OF MARS, although ERB's mild self-plagiarism doesn't particularly bother me in this case, in that I found THE MOON MAID to be something of an improvement. At least THE MOON MAID tries to be more scientific in terms of space travel, but of course the science is all bogus and horribly out of date. For me, though, it's the ridiculousness of it that gives the book much of its charm. At any rate, it is a fun adventure story, and I would heartily recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading about exotic alien races getting punched in the face.
THE MOON MEN:
This is basically JOHN CARTER OF MARS meets Ayn Rand. Burroughs does a great job detailing the subjugation of the human race by alien creatures from the moon. However, in typical Burroughs fashion, the hero is over-the-top. After discovering that he has been blessed with amazing super-strength (no explanation given), this hero goes through the rest of the book rescuing people, breaking out of prisons, wrestling with bulls, taming wild horses, leading revolutions, romancing a beautiful maiden, and breaking bad guys' necks.
All this action might have been exciting were it not so lazy. For example, during the first prison break scene, our hero is able to escape by simply climbing on top of a shed and jumping over the fence. When one of the guards sees him and tries to shoot, the guard's gun jams. How convenient!
The book also has a very weak ending. Sort of like watching an alternate version of BRAVEHEART in which William Wallace and his ragtag army never make it past their first battle.
THE RED HAWK:
THE RED HAWK manages to end the trilogy on a good note, though it never explains why the narrator can recall his past and future lives. For me, that angle was probably the most intriguing thing about the first two MOON books, and I was rather annoyed to find that, here, Burroughs just drops the whole concept entirely, as though hoping that no one would notice his complete failure to resolve the one overarching thread that joins this trilogy together.
Apart from that major complaint, however, THE RED HAWK is actually surprisingly good. I like that each of these books has a completely different feel to it, thereby preventing boredom from setting in. The first book was straight sci-fi, the second one felt more like a dystopian novel, and this one is sort of a sci-fi/western hybrid in which Americans have returned to living like Indians in the old West (and, in a politically incorrect twist, the actual remaining Native Americans have all become slaves). There is tons of action and all the usual Burroughs staples: kidnapped princess, brawny hero, alien bad guys, prison break, etc. It's all very been-there-done-that, but whatever. I can think of worse ways to spend a couple of lunch breaks.
December 31, 2024
Since this author wrote adventure series taking place on Mars and Venus, it's not too surprising he'd turn to Earth's natural satellite as well. The first book, The Moon Maid, fits the general pattern of these tales, with a heroic guy from Earth arriving on another world to befriend some of the inhabitants and fight others, and have a romance with a hot alien woman. The Moon is described as more desolate than the other planets visited in Burroughs' stories, and the people there have to resort to cannibalism to survive. One of the other crew members turns traitor and joins up with the villains. A twist on the formula is that the book takes place in the far future, narrated by someone from our time who has a psychic link with his reincarnations in later times. The flight to Mars takes place after a world war that's won by "Anglo-Saxon forces," and after the visit to the Moon, the lunar people invade and conquer Earth. The sequel, The Moon Men, has another reincarnation living in a time when the world is ruled by a totalitarian government of people from the Moon and their descendants, with the human traitor from the first book apparently having spawned an entire race of cruel hybrids. There's some speculation that Burroughs originally wrote this one as a more Earthbound story of the United States under communist control, but he thought it would be more palatable as science fiction. Finally, The Red Hawk describes the final defeat of the Lunar Kalkars, centuries later when humanity had returned to a more primitive way of life, explicitly compared to the Native Americans but without any respect for the real natives, with some of them worshipping an old American flag like a god. The trilogy isn't as bizarrely imaginative as some of Burroughs' other work, and is definitely reflective of attitudes around the time it was written.
November 20, 2020
Flawed, but very good. Very much greater than sum of its parts.
This trilogy is very different than ERB other writings, in terms of its darkness of its tone. The only other ERB novel I’ve read that was this dark was his posthumously release Pirate Blood.
It’s one of the first every dystopian and post-apocalyptic books. Very imaginative. Below is my thoughts on each fo the 3 parts.
The Moon Maiden - It feels like a John Carter story but without the swordplay, much more proto sci-fi and a darker tone. It’s very imaginative and a good read. It shines in terms of creativity but falls short where ERB falls into his usual tropes. 4/5
The Moon Men - This is very arrestingly written. It’s essential a dystopian novel in the vein of 1984 or Brave New World. It takes place in a Post-apocalyptic America. The politics is very heavy handed, which I don’t care for, but for anyone familiar with the nightmares of communist regimes will find it very powerful. It’s very compelling to read, it has the bleakness of 1984, but with the hope of ERB fists. 4/5
The Red Hawk - A disappointing conclusion but it has a lot of good ingredients. The communists allegory society is all but collapsed. Americans have turned into nomadic tribes and are waging their ancient war against their enemies. What is really striking is this post apocalyptic vision. However, it feels like everything is happening to the main character, or in the background, not by the main character. It created a really striking world but failed to deliver. 3/5
Overall, this is some of the best stuff ERB ever wrote. Would highly recommend it to fans of his work, fans of early sci-fi, or people curious about the early origins of the post-apocalyptic genre.
This trilogy is very different than ERB other writings, in terms of its darkness of its tone. The only other ERB novel I’ve read that was this dark was his posthumously release Pirate Blood.
It’s one of the first every dystopian and post-apocalyptic books. Very imaginative. Below is my thoughts on each fo the 3 parts.
The Moon Maiden - It feels like a John Carter story but without the swordplay, much more proto sci-fi and a darker tone. It’s very imaginative and a good read. It shines in terms of creativity but falls short where ERB falls into his usual tropes. 4/5
The Moon Men - This is very arrestingly written. It’s essential a dystopian novel in the vein of 1984 or Brave New World. It takes place in a Post-apocalyptic America. The politics is very heavy handed, which I don’t care for, but for anyone familiar with the nightmares of communist regimes will find it very powerful. It’s very compelling to read, it has the bleakness of 1984, but with the hope of ERB fists. 4/5
The Red Hawk - A disappointing conclusion but it has a lot of good ingredients. The communists allegory society is all but collapsed. Americans have turned into nomadic tribes and are waging their ancient war against their enemies. What is really striking is this post apocalyptic vision. However, it feels like everything is happening to the main character, or in the background, not by the main character. It created a really striking world but failed to deliver. 3/5
Overall, this is some of the best stuff ERB ever wrote. Would highly recommend it to fans of his work, fans of early sci-fi, or people curious about the early origins of the post-apocalyptic genre.
December 8, 2023
ENTERTAINING
Interesting insight from one of the true masters of science fiction and What COULD have happened ! Very enjoyable read ! Burroughs was WAY ahead of his time ! Recommended Reading !
Think about it ! The First manned flight to the moon. Neil Armstrong, the first astronaut to set foot on the moon -- 1969 ! The first line - Chapter One of the first book, THE MOON MAID , speaks of "days of the twenty-second century", and they are attempting to get to Mars and , due to one the 'misbehaving' of one of their fellow crew mates, they cannot get beyond the moon. Burroughs was looking WAY AHEAD of his day and really Scientifically 'questimating' ---- WHAT IF --- ! ! RECOMMENDED AND FUN READ ! ! !
Interesting insight from one of the true masters of science fiction and What COULD have happened ! Very enjoyable read ! Burroughs was WAY ahead of his time ! Recommended Reading !
Think about it ! The First manned flight to the moon. Neil Armstrong, the first astronaut to set foot on the moon -- 1969 ! The first line - Chapter One of the first book, THE MOON MAID , speaks of "days of the twenty-second century", and they are attempting to get to Mars and , due to one the 'misbehaving' of one of their fellow crew mates, they cannot get beyond the moon. Burroughs was looking WAY AHEAD of his day and really Scientifically 'questimating' ---- WHAT IF --- ! ! RECOMMENDED AND FUN READ ! ! !
May 7, 2025
Always interesting to see how authors think the future will turn out. In this case it was another disaster. However, written in the 1920s this trilogy had no nuclear holocaust though a 50 year long world war, a communist plot and a flight to Mars via the moon (but with gas not rockets) were still in his grasp. An odd archaic writing style.
June 8, 2024
If I had read this when it debuted more than 100 years ago i Imagine it would have blown me away. I still enjoyed it but more as an artifact of proto sci-fi in the same way as War of the Worlds or 20,000 leagues under the sea .
March 22, 2020
A must read.
One of the best reads of it's time or anytime. Shows the genius of Burroughs. I highly recommend this book.
One of the best reads of it's time or anytime. Shows the genius of Burroughs. I highly recommend this book.
September 16, 2021
Meh, not ERB's best work. The second book felt anti-climactic. Actually, they kinda all felt that way. Quick, easy reads though. I do love the Tarzan and John Carter series though.
October 16, 2024
Tämä on suomennettu ja julkaistu 2024 nimellä Kuun neito. Paljon hienoja ideoita, scifiä ja barsoomia.
September 16, 2012
Se dico "Edgar Rice Burroughs" sono purtroppo in pochi che capiscono a cui mi riferisco: se dico "Tarzan" si illuminano gli occhi di tutti, sebbene l'uomo scimmia non sia lontanamente la miglior creazione dell'autore.Io, personalmente, l'ho conosciuto grazie ai mai troppo rimpianti volumetti del fantastico economico classico della Newton, che presentarono i primi tre romanzi del ciclo di John Carter di Marte: ne rimasi talmente folgorato che il passo verso l'acquisto dell'intero ciclo pubblicato dall'Editoriale Nord fu davvero breve.Il ciclo di John Carter rappresenta l'apoteosi dell'avventura eroica, dell'eroe che, in ambientazioni fantastiche e sfidando creature incredibili, trova la donna che gli rapisce il cuore e la conquista contro tutto e tutti.Avventura e svago allo stato puro.E' ovvio, quindi, che quand'ho trovato il volume "Il popolo della luna", scritto sempre da Burroughs e con chiari riferimenti al suddetto ciclo marziano, non abbia potuto fare a meno di acquistarlo e, pochi giorni fa, di leggerlo.Purtroppo la soddisfazione è stata molto minore dello sperato: il volume è composto di tre libri, di cui il primo è sicuramente il più fedele alle avventure precedenti, ma gli altri due si perdono in una narrazione piuttosto ripetitiva che, ad un certo punto, finisce per stancare: le idee originali e, per molti versi, geniali del passato diventano elemente da copiare ad oltranza, finendo per essere sfruttate oltre il limite accettabili e, spesso, ingiustificate rispetto al passato.Peccato, perché contavo molto su questo volume: vedrò di rifarmi, appena possibile, col ciclo Venusiano, che mi dicono degno di nota.
August 24, 2019
Not bad for probably the MOST racist, sexist and classiest book I've ever read.
By far it still it wasn't the worst story, and for it's time it was extremely original. It's epic, taking place over a 300 yr period, and involving a Battlefield Earth sort of tale.
I wouldn't say it's for everyone, but anyone who's a fan of classic SF might find it a fun read.
By far it still it wasn't the worst story, and for it's time it was extremely original. It's epic, taking place over a 300 yr period, and involving a Battlefield Earth sort of tale.
I wouldn't say it's for everyone, but anyone who's a fan of classic SF might find it a fun read.
April 26, 2014
Decepcionante. El clásico héroe que rescata princesas y descubre civilizaciones perdidas, es, en el caso de La Luna, bastante más flojo que en las más conocidas series de Marte / Barsoom o Venus y Pellucidar o el clásico Tarzán.
El esquema narrativo repetido una y otra vez en este caso no parece llegar a la agilidad de las demás series de Burroughs.
El esquema narrativo repetido una y otra vez en este caso no parece llegar a la agilidad de las demás series de Burroughs.
October 24, 2015
Burroughs breaks from his mold in this series. The Moon Men, almost totally breaks from his established writing formula. He had a weakness for writing Adventure Romance and had to have the "boy meets girl" theme. I would be willing to bet that The Moon Men was one of the first novels of the Post-Apoc genre.
July 1, 2016
Nos narra las 3 reencarnaciones en primera perdona de un fulano. Siempre luchando por una bella dama y contra la hostilidad de otra raza.
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