Another Classic...

A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs was first serialized in 1912, "during the heyday of the pulp fiction era". It is the first book in Burroughs' John Carter of Mars series. The blurb on the back describes it as an "epic, swashbuckling Red Planet tale of derring-do and dazzling romance." I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading it, but even though there's a lot of detailed description to go along with the action, and the prose is decidedly old-fashioned, I thought it was kind of fun. And I ended up really liking John Carter who narrates the entire tale.

"I have determined to write down the story of the interesting periods of my life and of my death. I cannot explain the phenomena; I can only set down here in the words of an ordinary soldier of fortune a chronicle of the strange events that befell me during the ten years that my dead body lay undiscovered in an Arizona cave."






What else this novel contains:

• Woola, the loyal ten-legged Martian 'hound'
• sword fights and battles to the death
• an imaginative Martian landscape
• the warrior race of tusked and multi-limbed green martians
• Dejah Thoris, the beautiful red martian princess (in need of rescuing)
• adventure and romance

I'm glad I read this one. I think I might check out the movie now to see how it compares. And who knows, I might even read the next book in this series to see what happens to John and Dejah next.  Best of all? Since A Princess of Mars is less than 250 pages, it counts as my Classic Novella for Karen's Back to the Classics reading challenge. 

Happy Reading!