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A Princess Of Mars

A Princess Of Mars

Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs

In the latter years of the 19th century, astronomers detected lines on the surface of Mars, and before long these were being identified as irrigation canals, suggesting notm only that the planet was habitable, but that it had an older and more advanced civilisation than our own. These ideas fed directly into works such as The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. By early in the 20th century, the idea of canals had mostly been abandoned, but the romance of an ancient Mars continued, and it was this romance that Edgar Rice Burroughs caught perfectly in his colourful adventure stories beginning with A Princess of Mars.In this first novel, Civil War veteran John Carter is fleeing from Indians in Arizona when he is suddenly transported to Mars. Because of the lower gravity, he finds he has super powers, which he puts at the service of the warlike Tharks, the six-limbed green Martians. Then he meets and falls in love with Dejah Thoris, Princess of the humanoid red Martians. He goes on to play a leading part in the political conflicts between the various tribes of Mars, or Barsoom as it is known.Carter returned to Mars for ten further adventures with his wife, Dejah Thoris, the last of them cobbled together from previously published material long after Burroughs's death. Let's be honest, this isn't great literature. It's crude pulp adventure full of villainous villains and noble heroes, hairs-breadth escapes, abrupt coincidences. It's written in broad strokes and bold colours, but if you want something to keep you turning the page, this is it. And if you find yourself recognising bits and pieces, that's because an awful lot of better sf writers have borrowed from this series.

Books in Barsoom Series (12)

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Burroughs churned out his pulp adventures at a tremendous rate. As well as going to Mars in the Barsoom series, there's the Pellucidar series of hollow Earth stories, or the Amtor series set on the waterworld of Venus.

Burroughs may have been the originator of what became known as planetary romance, but there were an awful lot of other writers doing something similar, most of them an awful lot better.

For example, you should seek out Northwest of Earth by C.L. Moore, a collection of stories about Northwest Smith, who is effectively a cowboy in space, with a raygun instead of a six shooter. Look out especially for the first of the stories, "Shambleau", an absolute classic in which Smith encounters a medusa-like alien.

You also need to check out the Eric John Stark stories by Leigh Brackett, an Earthman raised by the aliens of Mercury who aids those fighting against the tyranny of earth.

A more recent example is the Darkover series by Marion Zimmer Bradley, set on a lost human colony where psi powers have developed but technology has regressed.