Men of Mars

Barsoom #7-9

by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Though he is best known as the creator of Tarzan, Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) began his writing career in 1911 with a tale called "Dejah Thoris, Martian Princess." Thus his 11-book Barsoom series, featuring John Carter, Warlord of Mars, was born. With this exclusive omnibus, the third in our series, the SFBC gathers three more of these classic tales, adventures set on a brutal world where fierce green warriors roam the dead sea bottom and red men rule a civilization of decaying splendor.

A Fighting Man of Mars: When a nobleman's daughter is abducted at the point of a gun that can disintegrate metal, it portends great danger for the empire of Helium. To rescue the woman he loves and locate the source of the gun, Hadron of Hastor must run the gauntlet of giant Martians, man-eating apes and a xenophobic city where he is sentenced to "The Death" - a place of roiling horror that will carry him to the weapon's mad inventor...and a surprising twist of fate.

Sword of Mars: John Carter hires on as bodyguard to Fal Sivas, a scientist who steals ideas from other inventors and then has them killed. Sivas' greatest invention - a spaceship run by a mechanical brain - come in handy when Carter's wife, Dejah Thoris, is taken hostage on a moon of Mars. There, inside a castle built of precious gems, the Carters' fate may be sealed...unless they can foil invisible foes, cannibalistic cat-men and a powerful guild of assassins.

Synthetic Men of Mars: In a vat on an island in the Toonolian Marshes, a grand experiment has gone awry. Ras Thavas, the Master Mind of Mars, has learned the secret of growing humans from a single cell, but now these invulnerable warriors have taken control and cloned an army to conquer the world. As John Carter and young warrior Vor Daj discover, the only thing worse than a monster that cannot die is a giant writhing mass of them - a grotesque mutation that will grow to consume everything in its path.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Adventure, Classics, Planetary Romance, Sword and Planet, Science Fiction Fantasy

592 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

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

[Adam Chandler · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 7th to 9th books in the Barsoom series by Burroughs. Things get somewhat stale and redundant with plots being reused, even within the three books here. Basically, a beautiful princess is abducted for some reason, a heroic personage must save her, and after swashbuckling around the enemy camp, the woman is saved and in love with the hero. The best thing about the collection is the innovation of sci-fi elements that Burroughs tries to bring in. The last book in the collection contains the idea of synthetic men who are to overcome all real people (the various types of Martians) to dominate the planet (pitting life against control) when things go wrong and the synthetic comes into one globular mass which seeks to consume and destroy everything. This is an intriguing and relatively original idea considering it was written in 1940, well before the 1958 movie "The Blob".

[Whit]

Took me a long time to read this book -- three long stories, in all. You wouldn't think that the weapons of choice, for men who had traveled through space from the earth to the planet Mars (Barsoom), would be the long sword and dagger, but the strange and inconceivable battles and aggressors encountered through these incredible tales of adventure are astounding. I had only known Edgar Rice Burroughs through Tarzan of the Apes!

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third of the series of collected John Carter of Mars books. John Carter (the greatest warrior on two worlds) still with Dejah Thoris (the most beautiful woman on two worlds) continue their battles. Ya I know...sometimes their dated and "way un-PC" but you'll still find them fun.

This volume contains A Fighting Man of Mars, Swords of Mars, and Synthetic men of Mars.

Brain Candy of the first order.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of the same - - woman is kidnapped - man goes to the rescue - series of adventures - strange beings and strange locations - tight situations - improbable escapes - good guys win - off into the sunset the happy couple goes - - I guess 85-90 years ago this type of story telling was the best of the best

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! All of the great scifi writers had to have read the series in all or part. It was written almost a hundred years ago. There are so many references to Star Trek, Star Wars and so many others

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all-time favorite series...Burroughs is a master craftsman & I never tire of these stories...