The Barsoom Series by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Barsoom Series, written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, is a groundbreaking collection of science fiction novels that chronicles the adventures of John Carter and his family on the planet Mars, known as Barsoom to its inhabitants. Spanning eleven novels, the series begins with "A Princess of Mars," where John Carter, an Earthman, finds himself transported to Mars after a series of extraordinary events, including an out-of-body experience. The narrative explores themes of love, heroism, and the struggle against tyranny as Carter navigates the complexities of Martian society and encounters various races, including the Tharks, Heliumites, and others.
Throughout the series, Carter's adventures intertwine with those of his family, including his wife Dejah Thoris and their son Carthoris, showcasing the legacy of courage and resilience across generations. Each installment introduces new characters and challenges, from battling carnivorous plant men to confronting oppressive rulers. The stories are characterized by imaginative world-building and adventurous plots that reflect Burroughs' fascination with adventure and exploration. The series concludes with "John Carter of Mars," which features a climactic battle against a monstrous threat, reaffirming Carter's role as the Warlord of Barsoom. Overall, The Barsoom Series remains a significant work in the science fiction genre, influencing countless stories and adaptations in popular culture.
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The Barsoom Series
First published:A Princess of Mars (1917; serial form, as by Norman Bean, “Under the Moons of Mars,” All-Story Magazine, 1912), The Gods of Mars (1918; serial form, All-Story Magazine, 1913), The Warlord of Mars (1919; serial form, All-Story Magazine, 1913-1914), Thuvia, Maid of Mars (1920; serial form, All-Story Weekly, 1916), The Chessmen of Mars (1922), The Master Mind of Mars (1928), A Fighting Man of Mars (1931), Swords of Mars (1936), Synthetic Men of Mars (1940), Llana of Gathol (1948; serial form, Amazing Stories, 1941), and John Carter of Mars (1964; serial form, Amazing Stories, 1941-1943)
Type of work: Novels
Type of plot: Science fiction—planetary romance
Time of work: The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
Locale: Earth and Mars
The Plot
Although the Barsoom series was written over a long period of time and spans a long time in its internal chronology, Edgar Rice Burroughs sustained his narrative by creating a plot line that chronicled the adventures of a family, not one individual. Through eleven novels, originally serialized in popular science-fiction magazines, the history of Mars is traced from ancient times to the present.
Seeking to recoup his fortunes after the defeat of the Confederacy, John Carter leaves Virginia to prospect for gold in Arizona. While trying to rescue his partner, who has been ambushed by Apaches, Carter is trapped in a cave by the same warriors, undergoes an out-of-body experience, and awakes on Mars.
A Princess of Mars initiates a series of amazing adventures. After being captured by a band of Tharks, the four-armed green men of Barsoom, the native name of Mars, Carter wins their admiration by strength of arms. Accepted into this warrior culture, he masters their language and encounters another captive, Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, a beautiful woman of the red Martian race. Carter falls in love with the princess, whom he rescues. They marry, and for nine years their happiness is complete. Then, while trying to save the system that stabilizes the atmosphere of Mars, Carter collapses. When he awakes, he is again in the cave.
After willing himself to return to Barsoom, Carter begins his adventures anew in The Gods of Mars. As he reveals the hypocrisy in the Martian religion, Carter encounters carnivorous plant men, vicious white apes, the white race, and finally the black race of Mars. After an absence of a decade, Carter is surprised and delighted to find his son, Carthoris, who is almost grown. They escape death only to discover Dejah Thoris trapped in an impregnable prison.
Having delivered the Martians from the religion that had duped uncounted generations, Carter rescues his beloved in The Warlord of Mars. While seeking Dejah Thoris, he encounters the yellow race of Mars, overthrows a tyranny more pernicious than any he had yet encountered, and is proclaimed Warlord of Barsoom.
Thuvia, Maid of Mars is a love story that relates the adventures of Carthoris. Thuvia, princess of Ptarth, is kidnapped by a rejected suitor who frames Carthoris with the crime, but Carthoris proves his innocence and wins his bride after a series of harrowing adventures.
Tara of Helium, the daughter of Carter and Dejah Thoris, is the heroine of The Chessmen of Mars. After she lands her damaged aircraft in a violent windstorm, Tara begins a series of adventures that include her capture by the inhabitants of the city of Manator, who play jetan, the Martian version of chess, to the death with living beings. Through the same tenacity shown by the other members of her family, Tara overcomes all difficulties.
Inspired by Carter’s example, Ulysses Paxton escapes from the trenches of World War I and awakes in the clinic of Ras Thavas, the title character of The Master Mind of Mars, who has perfected a technique for transplanting organs—including the brain—from one human to another. When an evil ruler purchases the body of the woman whom Paxton loves, the Earthman embarks on a successful quest to rescue his beloved.
A Fighting Man of Mars relates the quest of Tan Hadron, who saves Mars while trying to rescue the woman he loves from a power-crazed warlord. Absent from this narrative are the philosophical speculations that form an important part of The Gods of Mars and The Master Mind of Mars. This tale is pure adventure.
Swords of Mars is fascinating not merely for the swashbuckling exploits found in all the Barsoom novels but also for the introduction of an artificial brain capable of guiding a Martian airborne vessel. After Dejah Thoris is injured in an accident, Carter seeks Ras Thavas, the mastermind of Mars, who is unfortunately the prisoner of his own creations, a group of artificial humans. Following a series of harrowing escapades, Synthetic Men of Mars concludes with the treatment and recovery of Dejah Thoris.
In Llana of Gathol, Carter encounters a race of white men who have lived in secret for ages in one of the ruined cities of Mars. His discovery of this race sets in motion a number of exploits that lead him across the face of the planet. He ends his adventure by delivering the city of Gathol from Hin Abtol, a would-be conqueror from the frozen wastes of Barsoom.
In the final volume, John Carter of Mars, the red planet is threatened by a gigantic white ape that is the creation of a scientist gone mad. The Warlord of Mars once again delivers his adopted home from destruction.