“We made a most imposing and awe-inspiring spectacle as we strung out across the yellow landscape; the two hundred and fifty ornate and brightly colored chariots, preceded by an advance guard of some two hundred mounted warriors and chieftains riding five abreast and one hundred yards apart, and followed by a like number in the same formation, with a score or more of flankers on either side; the fifty extra mastodons, or heavy draught animals, known as zitidars, and the five or six hundred extra thoats of the warriors running loose within the hollow square formed by the surrounding warriors. The gleaming metal and jewels of the gorgeous ornaments of the men and women, duplicated in the trappings of the zitidars and thoats, and interspersed with the flashing colors of magnificent silks and furs and feathers, lent a barbaric splendor to the caravan which would have turned an East Indian potentate green with envy.” – A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
With just mere hours left until the much anticipated John Carter movie opens in theatres worldwide, I feel compelled to write this blog reminding everyone that this film is so much more than just a movie – it is a golden nugget from the Golden Age of science fiction/fantasy reimagined. Based upon a sequence of stories that is arguably one of the cornerstones of contemporary science fiction/fantasy, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ seminal Barsoom series – a fusion of science fiction and adventure fantasy that follows Confederate veteran of the American Civil War John Carter as he is inexplicably transported to an awe-inspiring Mars where he becomes a heroic figure while living amongst the Martians – began exactly 100 years ago as a serialized story in The All-Story magazine. A few years later A Princess of Mars was released (1917) – which was not only the first novel in the saga but also Burroughs’ debut novel.
Burroughs’ Barsoom saga – which spanned 11 novels, I believe (written from the 1910’s to the 1940’s) – had a huge influence on young writers like Robert A. Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, and Arthur C. Clarke, to name just a few. References and homages to Burroughs’ Barsoom have appeared in countless novels over the decades, including Heinlein’s The Number of the Beast, Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy and Stephen King’s The Dark Tower II: the Drawing of the Three.
The enduring influence of this series is still noticable – just look at new releases like Jane Carver of Waar by Nathan Long and Under the Moons of Mars, an anthology edited by John Joseph Adams.
I discovered Burroughs’ Barsoom novels back in the ‘70s as a kid, when the series of Del Rey paperbacks (featuring spectacular cover art by Michael Whelan) were being marketed as “The Martian Tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs.” I was instantly addicted – it was pure and perfect literary escapism. Burroughs’ mastery at world-building is evident in the excerpt that begins this blog – the sense of wonder and feeling of total immersion that I experienced reading about John Carter’s adventures on Mars amongst 14-foot, green Martians with four arms (like Tars Tarkas); riding eight-legged thoats; and romancing the red Martian princess Dejah Thoris… wow.
The series was a like gateway drug for me – after the experience of John Carter, I moved on to Michael Moorcock’s Elric, Asimov’s Foundation, Clarke’s Childhood’s End, etc. After the John Carter novels, I was hopelessly hooked on science fiction and fantasy. And after almost 50 years of bibliophilic addiction, I’m still hooked.
How many millions of readers has Edgar Rice Burroughs turned into lifelong science fiction fans over the last century? How many writers has he inspired? How many works of genre fiction are still being read and still relevant after 100 years? The historic magnitude of this series cannot be understated – without Burroughs’ John Carter saga, the current landscape of SF/fantasy would be radically different, radically diminished.
So, with that said, I’m hoping that people don’t lose sight of the significance of Burroughs’ Barsoom when the John Carter movie opens. These novels are pretty much sacred to me, so if the movie is successful, I’m hoping that it inspires droves of young readers (and old) to visit (or revisit) Burroughs’ wondrous, adventure-filled world. If the movie flops, I hope that it doesn’t unfairly taint the legacy of this beloved, truly classic series.
Paul Goat Allen has been a full-time book reviewer specializing in genre fiction for the last two decades and has written thousands of reviews for companies like Publishers Weekly, The Chicago Tribune, Kirkus Reviews, and BarnesandNoble.com. He is a member of the National Book Critics Circle.
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This might be a good time to mention that B&N has the first five John Carter novels in one volume at the unbeatable price of 99 cents (or you can download them individually for free from Gutenberg):
Contents:
A Princess of Mars
The Gods of Mars
Warlord of Mars
Thuvia, Maid of Mars
The Chessmen of Mars
