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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
It's interesting every now and again to read the authors who inspired the creators that you know and love. Creators like George Lucas, Stephen Spielberg and most famously Ray Bradbury all cite Edgar Rice Burroughs as a major influence. Both the John Carter series and Tarzan are an indelible part of the public zeitgeist.
But unlike similar forays into the past I've made like H.P. Lovecraft or Robert E. Howard, I'm not sure that there is enough meat on Burroughs' bones to stand the test of time.
One could argue perhaps that my standards are too high. Sure. I do expect my science fiction and fantasy to have — if not an adherence to the laws of the natural world — than at least an internal logic that is consistent and makes sense. I prefer to get some insight into my characters' motivations.
Is that too much? I'm willing to forgive the celebration of a Confederate soldier. I can contextualize the treatment of women as a product of its time. Even the questionable allusions I can squint my way through. But I can't forgive bad storytelling.
And that's just what John Carter's got going. It's a pulpy, romantic tale clearly written for serialization. The storytelling is often lazy and just leaps over the corners Burroughs wrote himself into.
I honestly think his biggest strength is the fact that, by not doting too much on silly things like "character development" and "descriptive writing," Burroughs left room for an older generation of young men to project themselves into the world. One is left free for the most part to imagine the Martian landscape for himself. The relationship with the buxom Martian princess is similarly wide open to whatever strange sexual fantasy a person might have. Nowhere is that more clear than the highly divergent art that has sprung up around this series.
It's an interesting case. Not the kind of interesting where I feel I have to consume any more of his work for myself. But interesting at least to have as a data point for my broader understanding of western science fiction.
But unlike similar forays into the past I've made like H.P. Lovecraft or Robert E. Howard, I'm not sure that there is enough meat on Burroughs' bones to stand the test of time.
One could argue perhaps that my standards are too high. Sure. I do expect my science fiction and fantasy to have — if not an adherence to the laws of the natural world — than at least an internal logic that is consistent and makes sense. I prefer to get some insight into my characters' motivations.
Is that too much? I'm willing to forgive the celebration of a Confederate soldier. I can contextualize the treatment of women as a product of its time. Even the questionable allusions I can squint my way through. But I can't forgive bad storytelling.
And that's just what John Carter's got going. It's a pulpy, romantic tale clearly written for serialization. The storytelling is often lazy and just leaps over the corners Burroughs wrote himself into.
I honestly think his biggest strength is the fact that, by not doting too much on silly things like "character development" and "descriptive writing," Burroughs left room for an older generation of young men to project themselves into the world. One is left free for the most part to imagine the Martian landscape for himself. The relationship with the buxom Martian princess is similarly wide open to whatever strange sexual fantasy a person might have. Nowhere is that more clear than the highly divergent art that has sprung up around this series.
It's an interesting case. Not the kind of interesting where I feel I have to consume any more of his work for myself. But interesting at least to have as a data point for my broader understanding of western science fiction.
Este libro fue mi primera incursión en la ciencia ficción, creo que tenía unos 12 o 13 años. Me gustó muchísimo, no podía dejarlo, leía a escondidas, todo el tiempo.
Thrilling start, a bit long in the middle but then a fantastic ending.
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I think this is a solid 2/3 for me. It was not a bad read by any means, and I see how this book could be pivotal for sci-fi and fantasy works going forward in time. Considering this book was released in 1914, I’m also happy with how it read, and it wasn’t too complex that I was totally lost at what was going on. I didn’t love some of the content, it made me scoff a bit even, but I understand back then it was a different time (lol). I love the John Carter movie, it’s one of my all time favourites, and so I am really happy I got the chance to read the book finally. The story is so different in the movie, and I can understand why. This is a book you will pick up and push through because it’s easy, it’s fast, and even if it’s not insanely interesting, it’s still pretty cool. I have a bit of bias (which probably pushes this towards a 3 for me) because I love the movie so much, but the characters I also really enjoy reading about. Justice for my girl Sola bro.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, War
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5. This a favorite from high school that I haven’t read in almost 20 years. Wonderful sci-fi pulp that would go on to influence so many other great works.
Last Of The Mohicans meets Flash Gordon, this book (published 1912) straddles two bygone eras--and holds up quite well! Undoubtedly inspired by Jules Verne, this trailblazing work was undoubtedly an inspiration itself to the kids of that era who would later invent modern science fiction. However, like much SF in the intervening years, it is pulp through and through, without any of the intellectuality of Close Encounters, Star Trek, or even Avatar. This is the type of schlock fantasy where the hero escapes by the author "remembering" something that he failed to mention chapters earlier. Compared to most pulp, the characters are generally both believable and likeable, with quite a bit more depth than I expected from such an early work, and a culmination of events does manage to emerge. Though rare for both 1912 and most of the following century, I was also pleased to find the heroine portrayed as relatively intelligent, unapologetically strong of will, and fierce in personality--if still physically small, frequently in need of rescue, and primarily a love interest.
Though not a perfect story, it easily deserves my 4 stars if taken in context of its genre, as is my preference. If you care not for reading classics in context, or if you are not a fan of pulp in any form, then I fully recommend skipping this prime example. However, Princess of Mars is a classic and rightfully so. Though I am content with this initial episode, I understand why Burroughs' tales of John Carter are still beloved by so many well over a century after they were published.
Though not a perfect story, it easily deserves my 4 stars if taken in context of its genre, as is my preference. If you care not for reading classics in context, or if you are not a fan of pulp in any form, then I fully recommend skipping this prime example. However, Princess of Mars is a classic and rightfully so. Though I am content with this initial episode, I understand why Burroughs' tales of John Carter are still beloved by so many well over a century after they were published.
Okay, so as much as I adore the scifi genre, I am BORED TO DEATH with the "white savior" trope (for those unfamiliar, see basically any movie ever where a dude from Earth shows up and teaches alien primitives the correct way to behave and ends up marrying their princess and blah dee blah). But something about the fact that this story was done way before all of the others, makes it slightly endearing.
It's really interesting the types of ground work that Burroughs lays out for this Martian land. It's not... entirely coherent towards the end (there's the denouement and then BLAMMO WAIT DESPAIR CLIFFHANGER). It's kind of weird really. But there's something underneath that's charming. More so than my desire to read the history of a science fiction narrative, more so than the ideas that a man with much less knowledge of space travel than us came up with.
I really like John Carter. I really like Dejah Thoris. I like Sola, I like Tars Tarkas. I like 'em all. They're likeable characters in a weird, interesting type of world. It's got a divergant narrative structure and I can't say I'd recommend it. But this book has a charm all on its own and add in the layer of history in terms of a science fiction first... well it's kind of cool.
It's really interesting the types of ground work that Burroughs lays out for this Martian land. It's not... entirely coherent towards the end (there's the denouement and then BLAMMO WAIT DESPAIR CLIFFHANGER). It's kind of weird really. But there's something underneath that's charming. More so than my desire to read the history of a science fiction narrative, more so than the ideas that a man with much less knowledge of space travel than us came up with.
I really like John Carter. I really like Dejah Thoris. I like Sola, I like Tars Tarkas. I like 'em all. They're likeable characters in a weird, interesting type of world. It's got a divergant narrative structure and I can't say I'd recommend it. But this book has a charm all on its own and add in the layer of history in terms of a science fiction first... well it's kind of cool.
This classic piece of pulp fiction is the first of the John Carter stories. This is classic science fiction, but I would not call it the best of anything. It was a very imaginative story of life on Mars and a very easy book to read. I was not particularly engrossed by any of the characters and every challenge was just a bit too easy for the hero. A product of its time.