(Mars [Barsoom] series, #1)

serial, 1912 ; first collected, 1917

Blackstone Audio Books, 2000

John Carter, a Virginian veteran of the American Civil War tries his hand at prospecting in the Arizona hills. Entering into a cave to escape attacking Natives, he finds himself helpless and unable to move. While his earthbound body lies in a coma of deathless repose, in some strange manner a duplicate essence of his body is transported to a strange world, the planet Mars. He spends the next ten years there, combating, learning and loving among the various races of the Martians - the insect-like pugnacious Green Men and the human-like Red Martians, and the many strange creatures, including the four-armed ferocious white apes.

So begins what is perhaps Edgar Rice Burroughs most famous series after his Tarzan tales, his tales of Mars - referred to by the Martian natives as "Barsoom". This is truly a "planetary romance" as Carter battles through his ordeals, making friends and enemies, and falling in love along the way. And, I might add, doing it all in his birthday suit! Now, there is a tough guy!

Burroughs alternates chapters of exposition with chapters of action and adventure that keep the reader interested. Even the exposition is fun, if not downright goofy.

It is the solar eighth ray which propels the light of the sun to the various planets, and that...is the individual eighth ray of each planet that 'reflects' or propels the light...out to space once more...constituting a force of repulsion of gravity...which has enabled [the Red Martians] to so perfect aviation...

Science 101 this is not. Sword-and-Planet 101, it most definitely is!

This novel is full of imagination, perhaps too much. But, you can't help but enjoy Carter's adventures as he uses fists, guns and swords, leaps about in the lesser gravity, and woos the lovely princess of Helium, Dejah Thoris. Not only are there different races among the Martians, but those races in turn are divided into city-states and territories. They are as prone to battling amongst themselves as they are prone to combat between the races. This gives Carter plenty of opportunity to engage in fisticuffs and action, quickly rising through the various pecking orders.

While there is a lot of action and imagination poured into this novel, it does have flaws. For me personally, they are the same flaws I have found in other Burroughs writings, so I suppose it was just his style. Or, perhaps because it was a thrilling serial tale, there was no time to stop and examine the story as a whole for Burroughs.

First of all, Burroughs loves to cram in too much! Red Martians, Green Martians, White Apes, flying navies, atmosphere plants, alien landscapes, alien beasts, pseudo-science, et cetera, all crammed into a relatively short book. One wonders just how much more will appear over the course of the eleven book series!

Burroughs' other annoying habit - coincidences that seriously strain one's suspension-of-disbelief. All fiction tales have convenient coincidences, but Burroughs takes it to the extreme. Carter needs political leverage; he just happens to rescue a nephew of a city-state ruler, which gives him political access. Carter's ship needs to get away from his pursuers; in hindsight, we are told that a Martian had explained to Carter how to alter the gearing on his vessel (mind you, we were never "shown" this.) Carter's ship crashes in the middle of a battle between two Green Martian tribes; there stands Carter's Martian ally, Tars Tarkas, not ten feet away. And the coincidences just keep coming...

The audio aspect of this presentation is very bad. I've been spoiled with some very good audio-books, and now I understand why actors and voice actors make good readers. They can bring the characters to life. The only equal is to hear a writer reading his or her own story. (I've heard some Ray Bradbury readings of his tales, and they are great. He knows where to put emphasis. It is his story, so he is passionate about it.)

But this reading by Dennis McKee is bland, bland, bland - nearly monotone, with little emphasis. And, his hal-ting man-ner in which all Mar-tians speak is e-nough to make you won-der if they be-came the Da-leks of Doctor Who!

Only Carter has a normal voice, but because the tale is from his first person view, he hardly speaks at all. I never noticed until listening, in fact, that there is no dialogue until well into the story. Most conversations are recapped by Carter's first person narrative.

In the end, I do find this to be one of Burroughs' more enjoyable efforts. For me, this was actually a re-read. I wanted to replay the adventure in my mind before the movie adaptation reaches the cinema. I plan on giving the second novel of the series, The Gods of Mars, a try in the near future, probably as an audio book from a different company with a different narrator. The upcoming movie, John Carter of Mars, will be based on A Princess of Mars, and is not to be confused with the final Barsoom entry, John Carter of Mars. (Hollywood!) I can only hope that the upcoming movie will keep true to the thrill ride essence of the novel while perhaps addressing some of its shortcomings.