Review Tuesday: A Princess Of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

A while back I was introduced to the character Deja Thoris, but knew nothing of her. More recently I was told about the forthcoming movie JOHN CARTER, and it was suggested that I should consider reading the related book by Edgar Rice Burroughs, A PRINCESS OF MARS.

Since I recently got the KINDLE FIRE, I decided this would be a good book to try reading in that format. This, among dozens of other books, can be downloaded for FREE!

Edgar Rice Burroughs was a very prolific author with many books to his credit, which included his Mars series and Tarzan. In 1917 A Princess of Mars was first published. It was a very interesting look at how one writer perceived life to be like on another planet. The main character, Captain John Carter of Virgina was transported across space when he died in an Arizona cave. He found himself on the planet Mars, or known there as Barsoom. He found a planet that was very similar to the Earth in many ways, there were human and humanoid creatures abound, and they were all at war with each other.

John Carter was immediately captured by the Tharks, a tribe of giant green men who live on Barsoom. Straight away, the Tharks take another prisoner, Deja Thoris, the stunning Princess of Helium, a city-state of red-skinned humans on Mars. They fall in love the the rest of the pages are about them trying to stay together despite many obstacles that the violent planet throws at them.

It's a very clever and well written tome, as well as a social commentary about the world we lived in at the time. Despite the various technological advances of Martian culture, aircraft, machines to create an atmosphere, advanced weaponry, they were still a barbaric and violent planet. All this creates a very interesting read and it draws you in. As most novels of the period (eg: Dracula by Bram Stoker) it almost seems to be written in some other, yet familiar, language. Additionally, there are several versions you can buy in hard-copy, or for your various devices.

Find it on Amazon