A long time ago in a galaxy not so far away

BEFORE STAR WARS and thedesert planet of TATOOINE

BEFORE SUPERMAN learned to FLY!

BEFORE the Cliffhanging Serial Adventures of Indiana Jones...

...Comes Edgar Rice Burroughs' Grandaddy

of all Science Fiction Stories

The John Carter of Mars Trilogy

A Princess of Mars * The Gods of Mars * The Warlord of Mars

BARSOOM

SETTING: PLANET BARSOOM (MARS)

Arizona 1866: While attempting to evade Apache Indians who are hot in pursuit, Confederate Officer John Carter takes cover in a sacred cave. Suddenly he is transported to a whole new place and finds himself waking up on the planet Mars (Called Barsoom by its inhabitants.)

The low gravity of the planet, increases his speed and strength making him a force to be to reckoned with. He soon falls in with a nomadic tribe of warlike Green Martians known as Tharks. They are around 15 feet tall, with tusks protruding from their mouths, green skin and six-limbs. Thanks to Carter’s strength and martial prowess, he rises to a high position in the tribe and earns the respect and eventually the friendship of Tars Tarkas, one of the Thark Chiefs.

In the first installment of the trilogy, Carter not only earns the respect of the Martian Warlord, Tars Tarkas but eventually wins the affections of the “Princess of Mars,“Dejah Thoris.

The story continues in The Gods of Mars where Carter engages the Black Pirates in airborne combat above the dead seas of Mars and leads a revolt to free the Martian races from a religion that thrives on living sacrifices. In the third book, Warlord of Mars, Carter overcomes the forces of evil that would destroy the planet.

Book Genre: Science Fiction

Main Characters: Tars Tarkas

John Carter

Dejah Thoris

Main Characters: Confederate Officer John Carter

Born in Virginia, John Carter served as an officer in the Confederate army in the Civil War. He is an honorable and courageous hero, but the ravages of the Civil War have left him broken, dispirited and personally defeated. Accidentally transported to Barsoom (Mars), Carter begins to realize that his strength and jumping abilities are greatly amplified in the low gravity of the planet. Carter reluctantly begins a journey to rediscover his humanity while at the same time saving his newfound world.

Main Characters: Dejah Thoris

Dejah Thoris, the beautiful, raven-haired princess of Helium, is a passionate advocate for the Heliumites and their way of life. Dejah is Regent of the Royal Academy of Science, and was trained to rule and fight. She is on the verge of a discovery that could permanently shift the balance of power between her nation Helium and their enemy Zodanga. But time is running out, and Dejah must convince John Carter to enlist in the fight to save Helium.

Main Characters: Tars Tarkas

Tars Tarkas is a fierce green Martian warrior who is the Jeddak (King) of the Tharks. The last vestige of nobility runs in his blood and is the only thing that keeps the Thark tribe from turning into beasts.

Blessed with a good sense of humor and patience, Tars befriends the earthman John Carter and gives him the Thark name Dotar Sojat, which roughly translates as "my right arms."

Writer's Style

Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote in such a way that he was able to transport readers to a world that was engaging, and that seemed to possess imagery with an innate appeal. The imaginary people and places that he describes in his stories seem all too familiar, making it easy for readers to connect with his material. His Post-Victorian Science Fiction made science an integral part of his story telling which also contained elements of adventure and fantasy.

Writer's Style

In many of Edgar Rice Burroughs' works, he combines multiple genres and builds strange new worlds that churn the imagination. He was one of the first authors to do this and after Burroughs, modern science fiction followed his lead. His work is fast paced and jumps from one adventurous image to the next. He’s not a great writer, but he sure is fun to read.

Author Biography

Edgar Rice Burroughs failed in nearly every enterprise that he ever tried. Born in 1875, Burroughs, a private in the Seventh U.S. Cavalry, served at Fort Grant in the Arizona desert. His mission, as he put it, was to “chase the Apaches," but like the many other failures in his life, I never caught up with any of them.” Burroughs had many odd jobs throughout his life. He became a cowboy in Idaho, then a shopkeeper, a railroad policeman, a gold miner, and even an “expert accountant”, although he knew nothing of the profession.

Author BiographyFinally at age 35, he hit rock bottom and found himself unsuccessfully selling lead-pencil sharpeners. During his leisure moments, he started writing UNDER THE MOONS OF MARS, his first story which he sold to a magazine for $400.

Success would follow with TARZAN OF THE APES which became a best-selling novel in 1911. A torrent of novels followed; stories about Mars, Venus, Apaches, westerns, social commentaries, detective stories, tales of the Moon and of the middle of the Earth–and more and more TARZAN books.By the time his pen was stilled, nearly 100 stories bore Edgar Rice Burroughs’ name.

Why you should read The John Carter of Mars

TrilogyIf you're a fan of Old-school pulpy goodness and enjoy reading fun filled adventures which strive to teach the virtues of manhood, then the Mars Trilogy might be just for you.

John Carter, Warlord of Mars, is the greatest Swordsman of two worlds', with super human abilities which inspired Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster to create Superman "The Man of Steel."