The Warlord Of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

John Carter discovers that a First Born knows the secret of the Temple of the Sun and he and the Holy Hekkador Matai Shang want to rescue the Holy Thern's daughter who is imprisoned with Dejah Thoris and another Barsoomian princess, Thuvia of Ptarth. John Carter follows them in the hope to liberate his beloved wife. His antagonists manage to stay ahead of him and flee to the north, taking the three previously imprisoned women along. 

No ordeal can detain John Carter from his quest to be reunited with his wife. He follows them untiring into the undiscovered north polar regions where he discovers more fantastic creatures and ancient mysterious Martian races.

***

I hate to say that I have come to the end of one of the greatest adventures I have had the honor of encountering. This was a story so great and so monumental for me, it has left lasting effects on me and has changed the way I look at love and war.

The book opens up with John Carter trying to find a way to enter the Temple of the Sun, where lies imprisoned Dejah Thoris, Thuvia of Ptarth and Phaidor, Daughter of Matai Shang. The problem is the temple only opens once a Martian year and there was no other way he knew of to get her out unharmed. He does find a way though, after overhearing his enemies speak of a way to remove her before time. He tries to rescue her but is thwarted in his efforts when he is discovered lurking behind them. He arrives too late and his enemies, including Matai Shang, have escaped with Thuvia, Dajah Thoris and Phaidor.

There were so many twists in this adventure, they're almost too many to count. This final installment followed even more of his adventures as he battled for the love he would never forget.  I clung to every page, gripped (mentally) the binding of this dangerous page turner (as it was an ebook, I couldn't do it literally) as he finds his way into this quest to retrieve his wife from the clutches of Matai Shang and Thurid of the Black race.

I absolutely loved this book. It was brilliantly written and an amazing way to end the series. One thing stands true from reading this series: There is a hole in my heart where reading this series used to be.

Long live John Carter

The Gods Of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

1886. John Carter, forever 30, returns to Mars and again fights enemies with green Tars Tarkas and red Kantos Kan. In 'Heaven', Golden Cliffs, 'Goddess' Issus, cannibal, claims immortal divinity and supremacy of black Omeans and white Therns, to enslave and eat pilgrims - green or red. John is trapped, as is wife Dejah Thoris, son Carthoris. To stay or leave means death.

***

I could not resist but to continue on with this series as there is something deep and moving about it all. Firstly the way Burroughs has chosen to write this novel makes you feel as if it is a testimony of actual events, although it is a fictional work. The book opens up with John Carter standing outside of his house on the Hudson River, ten years after being catapulted back into the reality that he used to live on earth. He was thrust back so suddenly that he was unable to say goodbye to his beloved Dejah Thoris and his then unborn child. As he is overlooking the river he feels a strange sensation, a tugging at his heart and a feeling of detachment from his body, identical to the one that he experienced on that first unexpected voyage to Mars. He could think of nothing else but to give in to that urge, and had hoped that maybe he would find himself close again to his long lost love. He closes his eyes and loses himself to the urge and in what seems like seconds he is once again on his treasured Mars.

What he sees when he arrives though, is a peculiar sight: Flesh eating plant people, white ape beasts and strange new foliage that seems so out of place from what he knew of the red planet. From the minute he arrives his life is in immediate and unending danger, but he soon comes across a sight that makes all of the new sensations and sights all bearable - his truthful and faithful friend, Tars Tarkas, fighting for his own life against the plant men and white apes. He soon finds out that Tars was searching for him all this time that he had been away and kept the faith that John Carter, Prince of Helium, did not take what he, and every Barsoomian call, The Pilgrimage. Now, the Pilgrimage is when a person of Barsoom reaches the ripe and old age of 1000 years, they willingly travel to the River Iss and go to what they consider a Heaven of sorts. Those who take the pilgrimage never return and those who attempt to return would be considered a ghost because none that have died can then become alive again. When they meet again they are overwhelmed and happy to see each other, but their joy is short lived as they find themselves prisoners of a race of people that were unheard of on Barsoom by any living being at that time.

Throughout the book they fight battle after battle and succeed in impossible feats. There were instances where John Carter should not have survived by any means but the love for Dejah Thoris and the need to find his way back to her kept him alive and fighting. Now, I know that this is a lot of information but it is not even the half of what transpires in this novel. The details that Edgar Rice Burroughs was able to compile in 300 pages is unreal and impressive. For me these books are page turners, and I am not surprised that they are deemed American classics.

A Princess Of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

1866 Arizona, Confederate officer John Carter, Gentleman of Virginia, forever aged 30, wakes naked on Mars. Low gravity increases his speed and strength exponentially, so he impresses green alien Thark captors with fighting, wins high rank. He frees Dejah Thoris, Princess of red men in Helium, only to lose her to the Prince of opposing red Zodanga.

***

Normally I wouldn't have picked such an old tale to review but curiosity had taken the better of me when it came to this review. The book was released 97 years ago but it is an amazing tale. I became aware of it about five years ago when a Friend of mine mentioned a movie being released based off of the book. The movie is called John Carter of Mars. Now usually when it is a book to movie I read the book first of course, then watch as they brutally murder the literature on screen in movie form. This time was different because I had watched the movie first and LOVED it. So I had decided to take a chance with the book. Now that I have read it, I realize the movie itself is TRASH compared to the book. I knew that was going to happen. I can see how the movie was not rewarded a sequel. It wouldn't have done the tale justice. For those who have not read the book or heard of the tale of John Carter or A Princess of Mars, it is a story of a man who finds himself suspended in limbo near his body in what we as people can only closely compare to having an out of body experience; while a copy of himself, or his soul, or his being, gets slingshot onto Mars. He finds himself there for a course of ten years where he fights numerous battles with green men, Tars Tarkas, and wins the heart of a very beautiful red princess, Dejah Thoris.

What is cool about his experience on Mars is that he discovers he possesses almost a superhuman ability to jump impossible distances and has the brute force of a freight train. Its all due to the difference in gravity between Mars and Earth. Because of it, his muscles give him an unmatched advantage on mars.

I had so much fun reading this and experiencing John Carter learn the customs of a world that would only seem strange to us and thinking to myself, "Dude, he's only human." and then laughing at the irony of that statement. I would deem the book as an adventure piece. Not a lot of romance, nor murder or suspense, but TONS of action. When you find yourself immersed in the story, you get the feeling that you are right next to John Carter as all of these things are happening to him, and you feel sometimes as though you are goading him to do well. Overall the book was very entertaining. It reminds me of something that would have been read to little boys before bed. I can see this book on a shelf next to Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, Treasure Island and Gulliver's Travels easily. No wonder it's a classic. As a geek, it's a must read if you haven't already.

I give it 4 Stars. I would have given it 5 but as a new age literature reader, there were certain figures of speech that I didn't quite understand and certain contexts that were used that are not practiced in today's writing that slowed me down a little in the reading process.