Perfect example of why being the first gets you undeserved accolades. Burroughs was one of the first science fiction writers. He was far from one of the best and the Barsoom series proves why. ( )

Not much you can say about the Mars series of books that hasn't been said before. Burroughs was the first and best of the 'barbarian planet' writers, and his stories are great entertainment. The earthman, John Carter, gets transported astrally to Mars, where he is a fantastic fighter. He meets and falls in love with a princess there, and has to save her from all sorts of dangers. There's a rumor that there's a movie based on these books coming out, and I can't wait! ( )

I read this book after having it suggested that I may like it after saying that reading is for fun and pleasure and the escape it provides, and that fiction--especially science fiction--shouldn't be akin to reading a physics text book. And since this book is going to be made into a movie, I figure that it can't be all bad.

I wasn't disappointed, though of course, John Carter is transported magically to Mars just by falling asleep, as if he's dreaming the whole adventure, so that would be sort of hard to grasp, but considering when the book was written, it was probably no more hard to believe in his day than space craft would be in ours.

The plot is fairly simple. It's a love story, and John Carter's adventures to win the heart of the woman who he met and fell in love with. Though the number of people that John Carter killed to accomplish this task is somewhat overwhelming, and included the inhilation of an entire people.

The writing was sort of hard to get into, with a lot of what I thought were unnecessary words. Because of this, it took me quite awhile to read it, and if I couldn't sit down and read for an extended period of time decided against doing so.

Overall, though, I am curious to see what the next book brings, so it was exciting enough for me in that regard. At the same time, the next book in the series will not be the next book I read. ( )

Link to a review on my personal website. ( )

First book I ever read. I loved these books. ( )