The Barsoom Series

The John Carter Trilogy

This is an awesome adventure series by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The first three books are great classics, and form a trilogy. This is the saga of John Carter, Warlord of Barsoom. I highly recommend them in these lovely hardcover editions.

A Princess of Mars 1587156164 Hardcover $29.95 1912

The Gods of Mars 1587156199 Hardcover $29.95 1913

The Warlord of Mars 1587156229 Hardcover $29.95 1914

The Extended Barsoom Series

If you wish to collect the entire series, in my experience the 1960s Ballantine edition pictured below is the best set for doing so. Though of course long out of print, it is fairly easy and inexpensive to get copies of them, and they have an attractive cover layout and art by Robert Abbett. (The links provided point you to the most recent Ballantine edition for review purposes.)

It is overall an enjoyable series. The first three, of course, are great. Part of that is the main character, John Carter, and the sense of a greater, overarching tale to be told over the course of the trilogy, with big mysteries and developments to be explored. The rest of the books in the series, unfortunately, are each more-or-less standalone tales, with a main character (usually not John Carter, again unfortunately) seeking to rescue his own "princess" from a set of dangerous and weird circumstances.

The Master Mind of Mars is probably the best of the extended series. It's unique in introducing an Earthman other than John Carter as the hero (Ulysses Paxton/Vad Varo), but more importantly it introduces Ras Thavas, Master Mind of Barsoom, a very important character in the rest of the series and certainly one of the most interesting. The book brings up some very interesting issues, and is also one of the most humorous of the series.

I also enjoy Swords of Mars, Llana of Gathol, and John Carter of Mars because they bring back John Carter as the main and central character. It is refreshing to get back into the mind of this interesting character and once again witness his awesome feats. He also becomes much more humorous than his previous trilogy. Note that only the second half of John Carter of Mars is considered a proper contribution to the series. The first half is a rather amateurish offering by Burroughs's young son.

A Princess of Mars Paperback 1912	The Gods of Mars Paperback 1913	The Warlord of Mars Paperback 1914	Thuvia, Maid of Mars Paperback 1916	The Chessmen of Mars Paperback 1922	The Master Mind of Mars Paperback 1927
A Fighting Man of Mars Paperback 1930	Swords of Mars Paperback 1935	Synthetic Men of Mars Paperback 1939	Llana of Gathol Paperback 1941	John Carter of Mars Paperback 1943

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