Review Tuesday: The Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

If it seems like I've reviewed a bunch of these Mars books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, it's because I have, and I have a bunch yet to go! Today's review is for the fifth book in the Barsoom Series, THE CHESSMEN OF MARS.

Here's the full listing and proper order of the series of books:

1. A Princess of Mars (1912)
2. The Gods of Mars (1914)
3. The Warlord of Mars (1918)
4. Thuvia, Maid of Mars (1920)
5. The Chessmen of Mars (1922)
6. The Master Mind of Mars (1928)
7. A Fighting Man of Mars (1931)
8. Swords of Mars (1936)
9. Synthetic Men of Mars (1940)
10. Llana of Gathol (1948)
11. John Carter and the Giant of Mars (1940) Actually written by Burroughs's son, John Coleman Burroughs.
12. Skeleton Men of Jupiter (1942)

The first three are considered the John Carter of Mars Series because he is the star of those novels. After that other characters take over. This tome is about an adventure that Carter's daughter, Tara, Princess of Helium, goes on for more than a year. Of course, it starts off with John Carter coming back to Earth to visit his nephew Edgar Rice Burroughs. How else could the story be told on this planet?

 

If you think brawds are hard to understand on this planet, John Carter told the story of his strong-willed and capricious daughter Tara. On a whim she picks up and takes off on her personal airship during a rare Barsoomian storm just for the thrill of it. Next thing she knows, her craft is damaged in a rare Martian storm and she's dragged to a far away land that she knows nothing about with all manner of fantastical beasts and beings to chase and trap her. As typical for a story on Mars, there is a wealthy love interest, Gahan of Gathol who persues and protects Tara throughout the book.

As usual, this story is written in the language of a century ago. The form and vocabulary takes a little getting used to, but it's not difficult. There is a theme of intelligence that goes through the entire book. With that, JETAN, Martian chess, is explained in detail and has a vital importance to the story. (It's actaully a very playable chess variation and you can try it out over here: http://play.chessvariants.org/erf/MartianC.html )

I found something very unusual in this book. Gahan, who is clearly supposed to be a hero, comes off badly in the beginning. First impressions are very important, even in literature, and it takes a good portion of the story for him to correct and reconcile his previous poor actions. Burroughs manages to invent more fantastical creatures in this story, namely the kaldanes, which are an intelligence oriented race, which look like a human head propped on top of a tiny lobster. To help them get around they have a symbiotic relationship with headless / brainless creatures called rykors that the kaldanes climb onto and take control of.

I would call this another fun read. You don't need to keep reading these if you want to know more about John  Carter as his role was very minor in the scheme of this story, as well as the legend of the Warlord himself. But it's full of twists and turns and some new tricks to keep your interest. You can get it on AMAZON in various formats (and various prices) or read it online for free!