To start off with, these are true classics, early in the history of science fiction. If you look at the copyright information, A Princess of Mars (#1) was actually written and first published in 1912 in a pulp fiction magazine and the last one is from the '40s. That should give you some idea of their author's attitudes (I really don't think that ERB could ever have subscribed to the idea of the equality of women). When compared to some of today's sci-fi/fantasy fiction, readers might think the series shallow, but it is in truth a paradigm that many writers followed in the decades after. So don't judge them without understanding them in the context of their time.
That said, I think they're great!
Just what does the series consist of? There are eleven books in total. As previously mentioned, many of these were done as serials in a magazine. This shows up most conspicuously in some of the books which are merely short stories run together. The actual titles are #1 A Princess of Mars, #2 The Gods of Mars, #3 The Warlord of Mars, #4 Thuvia, Maid of Mars, #5 The Chessmen of Mars, #6 The Master Mind of Mars, #7 A Fighting Man of Mars, #8 Swords of Mars, #9 Synthetic Men of Mars, #10 Llana of Gathol, and #11 John Carter of Mars. The most interesting ones to me are # 1-5, and #10. Why? # 1-3 are the story of John Carter's first visit to Mars, wherein he finds and marries his princess, 2 and 3 are the story of his return and the reclaiming of his princess, #4 is the story of his son, and #5 is the story of his daughter, and #10 is the story of a granddaughter in connection with his own adventures. Of the others, only #8 and 11 are actually stories of John Carter, #6-7, and 9 all take other men as the main character, although their adventures are in many ways similar to his.
Why do I like them? It is sometimes hard to give a good answer to that, but I think the simple truth is that Edgar Rice Burroughs could always tell a good yarn. He makes of Barsoom (the Martians' own name for their planet) a lively and fascinating place, where princesses can be won by great fighters, where honor is truly a fighting matter, and the adventure never stops. I can pick out quite a few faults, of course; women are often (though not always) ciphers, characters never change, stereotypes abound, and the hero always wins. On the other hand, the hero is also a good friend, once you get to know him, and one is always delighted to accompany him on his adventures, however hair-raising they may be. His character may not change all that much, but then one likes him just as he is. One can truly escape into the world of Barsoom and not worry about paying bills or fixing one's food, because on Barsoom, there will always be a last-minute escape or a fortunate coincidence to take care of the details.
I don't really want to give many details about the stories themselves; part of the fun of reading science fiction/fantasy is learning about a new world. I just want to make it clear that Tarzan is not the only reason that ERB has gained so many fans or so much fame -- John Carter is another one of those reasons.
Recommended:
