If I mention the name, Edgar Rice
Burroughs, some people may not know him. But I'd wager if I say
“Tarzan”, then 99% of the time, most people would have at least
heard of this name. Indeed, there are 4 immortal, pop-culture icons:
Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, Tarzan, and Conan of Cimmeria. And Edgar
Rice Burroughs is the creator of Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle.
The life story of Edgar Rice Burroughs
is the stuff of legends. In his career as an author, Burroughs wrote
over 70 novels, spanning across various genres. Tarzan was just one
of his many creations. I have read the first 6 Tarzan novels. To be
honest, other than the first novel, Tarzan of the Apes, I
thought most Tarzan novels are pretty average. But this didn't stop me
from reading more Burroughs' works, and I would say jewels do scatter
among the sea of novels written by Burroughs. For example, I was
really impressed by I am a Barbarian, a historical fiction
novel about the Roman emperor Caligula. So recently, I decided to
check out John Carter of Mars novels,
which were published a century ago and made an everlasting impact on
the modern sci-fi and fantasy genre. John Carter is one of Burroughs'
most important, but lesser known creations. That was, until Disney
movie John Carter hit the cinema in 2012, which turned out to
be a flop.
The Disney adaption may have been be a
box office bomb, but the question is, what about the quality of the
original John Carter books? Well, I have finished reading A
Princess of Mars, which is the first novel in John Carter
series. Today, I would like to provide a review for this book.
Synopsis:
Standing proud at 6 foot 2, and a body
build with the savage economy of a desert wolf, Confederate officer
John Carter is a striking gentleman from Virginia, who gazed into the
world with his steely, grey eyes.
In 1866, Captain Carter partook in a
profitable business venture of gold mine exploration in Arizona.
Misfortune struck Captain Cater and his business partner, when they
were ambushed by a group of Apache Indians.
To evade certain death at the knife
edge of the pursuing Apache warriors, John Carter fled and seek
refuge in a mysterious cave, only to become paralyzed, swooning into
unconsciousness. When Carter resuscitated, he found himself laying
naked in the desert sand of Mars. The low gravity on Mars
exponentially increased his strength, speed and agility, turning
Carter from a skilled warrior into a deadly force of nature.
Soon, Carter discovered that mankind is
not alone in the universe, when he chanced upon a race of bizarre
looking, but war-like, green aliens. At their first meeting, Carter
appealed to the warrior culture of the green Martians, and impressed
them with his super-human physical abilities. For his prowess, Carter
was given the status of a chieftain, yet remained a prisoner to the
green Martians whose culture is both cruel and brutal. On the red
planet of Mars, Carter lived among a people whose culture and customs bearing no human quality. As the days go by, Carter craved the
human touch from a kindred spirit.
One day, the green Martians shot down
an aircraft from the sky, and captured a prisoner. It was at this
time, when Carter first set his eyes upon a creature of unparalleled,
exotic beauty, Dejah Thoris, the princess of Helium ..
My thoughts on this book:
A Princess of Mars impressed me
with a fun, swashbuckling adventure and a world-building full of
creative imaginations. First published in 1912, this book is way
ahead of its time. In this novel, Burroughs envisioned plot features
such as spaceships, high velocity aerial combats, and a factory plant capable of regenerating the atmosphere. These plot features most likely didn't
exist a century ago, but they are the conventions of modern science
fictions.
This book is also surprisingly well
written. Burroughs vividly portrayed the world, and the populace of
Mars using well crafted sentences. I was most impressed by the scope
of Burroughs' creativity, as he lively narrated the lifestyles and
the cultures of alien races on Mars. The writing is both effective
and striking. In a mere space of 200 pages, Burroughs took his
readers on an exhilarating adventure full of twists and turns. In
other words, this novel is short and sweet.
Having said this, A
Princess of Mars does have its shortcomings. Firstly, the
major plot follows the mold of “rescuing the damsel in distress”
and it is cheesy. However, this novel was written 100 years ago, in a
time where the cultural values differ from our modern ones. So
perhaps John Carter novels should be appreciated in accordance
to the historical context of the era when they were written.
The second shortcoming for A
Princess of Mars, is its flat characterizations. While Burroughs
did paint his protagonists with striking physical appearances, but
nothing about their personalities really stood out. John Carter, as
the main protagonist, seems to be a two dimensional character. The
most outstanding aspect of John Carter's character, is his devotion
to the 19th century, gentlemanly code of honor. Other than
that, nothing about John Carter's character really grabbed me. The
same applies to the character of Dejah Thoris, where she didn't
really do much other than playing the role of “a lady in need of
rescue”. The most interesting character in the book, however, is
Sola. She is a female green Martian who exhibited a set of different
values unique in her culture, and constantly clashed with her peers
because of her differing values.
Despite some shortcomings, A
Princess of Mars is a fun adventure story. Most readers will most
likely have a good time reading this book, as they dive into a story
of intergalactic romance, and witnessing John Carter perform daring
feats. Not only is the novel different to the Disney movie
adaptation, but the content of the novel is also much, much richer
than its film counterpart. For the fans of science fictions, this
book is worth reading. Especially if you are interested to see where
the conventions of modern sci-fi genre originated from. As for me,
reading A Princess of Mars was a blast, and I am eager to
resume John Carter's high adventure in the second installment to the
series, titled “The Gods of Mars”.
Until the next time, happy reading!
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