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Barsoom #4-6
Return to Mars
Three of the classic books from the Mars series - Thuvia, Maid of Mars, The Chessmen of Mars & The Master Mind of Mars.
485 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1962
3 people are currently reading
145 people want to read
About the author
Edgar Rice Burroughs
2,903 books2,740 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 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 28, 2018
Rice Burroughs uses ‘gorgeous’ too much. The proof-reading of The Mars Trilogy 2 is sloppy. The plotting is ingenious. The footnote on Mars linear measurements confusing. The philosophic dispute in Thuvia, Maid of Mars between etherealists and realists is interesting. The author thinks telepathy a crude way of communication between man and animals. It isn’t at all crude. He just doesn’t know it. When Rex jumped up to bite Ian Thompson on the cheek he kept his eye on me to make sure he was doing it right.
In the prelude to The Chessmen of Mars, John Carter says he crossed the void between Earth and Mars in spirit, despite arriving with a body there, an impossibility. Last time he came back to his body left here, leaving no body there. This time he’s come back with his Martian body and inanimate accoutrements, having imagined the latter into matter as he learned from the bowman imagined by the etherealists but who stayed materialised and went on to imagine other bowmen himself. That a once imagined character should have inherited his author’s ability to imagine characters who can stay materialised stretches belief, like a Hamlet going on to write plays, but I suppose if an imagined character can stay on as real, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t have the ability to realise who he imagines. It may be that he can is why he’s the one materialised bowman to stay materialised after his usefulness is over. This goes one better than the etherealists of the author’s last book with two species evolving together as one. Greater Helium is as bad as Greater London: seven assassinated in ten days.
The letter from Helium at the beginning of The Mastermind of Mars makes clearer any fighter dying who worships war and its god can by faith and prayer make the transition to the planet named after him. The characters have to change because the story stays much the same: love lost, denied or the beloved’s body gone awol and by heroic effort on the heterosexual hero of narrow hips’ part regained, gained or restored. What do you expect? The author churned out seventy-three novels. Like American films, his characters’ answer to everything is violence. It isn’t made explicit how letter and manuscript of The Mastermind was delivered to Edgar Rice Burroughs. One suspects, from what John Carter said at the beginning to the previous novel, the manuscript of which it may be presumed he brought with him, that this time, for this one, once written, it was reimagined in its entirety and transmitted to Earth where it, as an inanimate object, would materialise. I worried about the smelliness of the bed clothing which was never washed but is aired. I thought the characters might be noisome too. Incidence of their washing is rare and they go about naked. Food prevails without specificity except for unpalatable tubers. The narrative mocks religion, then goes on to use its falsity to resolve the story of the last novel In this trilogy satisfactorily.
In the prelude to The Chessmen of Mars, John Carter says he crossed the void between Earth and Mars in spirit, despite arriving with a body there, an impossibility. Last time he came back to his body left here, leaving no body there. This time he’s come back with his Martian body and inanimate accoutrements, having imagined the latter into matter as he learned from the bowman imagined by the etherealists but who stayed materialised and went on to imagine other bowmen himself. That a once imagined character should have inherited his author’s ability to imagine characters who can stay materialised stretches belief, like a Hamlet going on to write plays, but I suppose if an imagined character can stay on as real, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t have the ability to realise who he imagines. It may be that he can is why he’s the one materialised bowman to stay materialised after his usefulness is over. This goes one better than the etherealists of the author’s last book with two species evolving together as one. Greater Helium is as bad as Greater London: seven assassinated in ten days.
The letter from Helium at the beginning of The Mastermind of Mars makes clearer any fighter dying who worships war and its god can by faith and prayer make the transition to the planet named after him. The characters have to change because the story stays much the same: love lost, denied or the beloved’s body gone awol and by heroic effort on the heterosexual hero of narrow hips’ part regained, gained or restored. What do you expect? The author churned out seventy-three novels. Like American films, his characters’ answer to everything is violence. It isn’t made explicit how letter and manuscript of The Mastermind was delivered to Edgar Rice Burroughs. One suspects, from what John Carter said at the beginning to the previous novel, the manuscript of which it may be presumed he brought with him, that this time, for this one, once written, it was reimagined in its entirety and transmitted to Earth where it, as an inanimate object, would materialise. I worried about the smelliness of the bed clothing which was never washed but is aired. I thought the characters might be noisome too. Incidence of their washing is rare and they go about naked. Food prevails without specificity except for unpalatable tubers. The narrative mocks religion, then goes on to use its falsity to resolve the story of the last novel In this trilogy satisfactorily.
May 13, 2024
Books 4-6 in Burroughs' Barsoom series which shift focus from the heroic John Carter to his daughter and the valiant suiters for her hand. Even though this is more or less the classic "rescuing the princess" trope, it is still a fun read to have it in the world of Barsoom with the sword and ship fights throughout. The later books get into some interesting plots and ideas where a certain species is nothing but a head and uses artificial bodies to move about, which in turn invites the desire to capture and manipulate other people's bodies, then there is a storyline where individuals are trying to body swap to perpetuate their lives. While these are not novel in the sci-fi world, these were definitely novel concepts back when these books were written in the 1910s and '20s. It's good to see how they were introduced into literature at large.
April 7, 2016
Read this series in High School a long time ago. Just wanted to experience the amazing writing and imagery of Edgar Rice Burroughs again and the experience was all I had hoped. A good adventure and fantasy compilation containing three of the popular books in this series. You should pick it up and reread the series or if never enjoyed John Carter and the numerous fantasy characters, give it a try. The recent movie was a disaster and does not reflect on the energy of the actual stories.
October 24, 2009
The second in a series of collected works of the John Carter of Mars Burroughs books. They have been around a long time and for a good reason.
In this volume there are three more of Burroughs' voulmes. The books here are Thuvia Maidof Mars, The Chessmen of Mars, and The Master Mind of Mars.
Enjoy.
In this volume there are three more of Burroughs' voulmes. The books here are Thuvia Maidof Mars, The Chessmen of Mars, and The Master Mind of Mars.
Enjoy.
June 17, 2012
I read this one because the Princess of Mars, the book upon which the movie "John Carter" was based, was checked out. This one is further on in the series and the hero is John Carter's son. Old fashioned sci-fi is very fun to read.
June 7, 2010
Barsoom,ERB,John Carter
November 6, 2011
Takes me back to the early 1960s when my friend bought the paperback editions of all of the Barsoom (Mars) books.
July 3, 2012
One of my all-time favorite series...Burroughs is a master craftsman & I never tire of these stories...
December 10, 2012
I loved this book. ERB sure had an imagination-creatively so. I love the combination of futuristic stuff with swashbuckler stuff. Can't wait to read more of ERB's books.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews