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The Master Mind of Mars is the sixth novel in Edgar Rice Burroughs' amazing Barsoom series. Ras Thavas must recover the body of his beloved Valla Dia so that her brain may be restored to its rightful body. This edition has a new introduction by World Fantasy Award winner Darrell Schweitzer. Schweitzer, the former Editor of Weird Tales and a pre-emanate scholar of fantastic fiction, places the Barsoom novels in their proper context. These novels will transport you to a lush Mars that never show more was. A Mars filled with strange and wonderful flora and fauna; giants and monsters; and most importantly, maidens in distress and fabulous adventures. Wilder Publications is a green publisher. All of our books are printed to order. This reduces waste and helps us keep prices low while greatly reducing our impact on the environment. show lessTags
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This was a definite upswing in the series. The Barsoom series is at its best when there's a full cast of characters, we get reunited with old friends, bigger existential issues are tackled, and brevity is maintained. This story was about a mad scientist who allows people to pay to have their brains installed in newer, fresher bodies. The hero of this book is a John Carter dupe, a WWI soldier who finds himself dying on the battlefield and then suddenly gets transported to Barsoom which he's read about through all of Burroughs' previous writing. He ends up working for the mad scientist and falls for a beautiful young Barsoomian woman who's body was given to a mean, aging high priestess. In this book, he's quickly joined by a motley crew show more of warriors to help him retrieve his love's body.
Along the journey, Burroughs lightly tackles internal vs external beauty, war, religion, and sentimentality vs science. The war bit was oddly touching to me. Paxton, our hero, discovers a device that allows him to zoom into the surface of Earth and he sees all the destruction that the war he almost died in caused. That sort of hopeful, concerned homesickness was a nice touch of reality in this sci-fi/fantasy series.
I also have to give Burroughs some credit for how he wrote the heroine. She was once very beautiful and for the first half of the book she's in an old, ugly body. The hero could give her any of the other beautiful bodies that are in the lab, but she refuses. She'd rather have her own body or the old body dealt to her, and nothing else. She refuses to be so vain as to take beauty that doesn't belong to her. And the hero falls for her in her ugly body. Of course, he sets out on a mission to make her hot again, but I really liked that in this fairly shallow series, Burroughs took the time to acknowledge that beauty isn't just skin deep.
My only real complaint is that the pacing felt a little slow, which may just be because I've been in this universe for six books now. show less
Along the journey, Burroughs lightly tackles internal vs external beauty, war, religion, and sentimentality vs science. The war bit was oddly touching to me. Paxton, our hero, discovers a device that allows him to zoom into the surface of Earth and he sees all the destruction that the war he almost died in caused. That sort of hopeful, concerned homesickness was a nice touch of reality in this sci-fi/fantasy series.
I also have to give Burroughs some credit for how he wrote the heroine. She was once very beautiful and for the first half of the book she's in an old, ugly body. The hero could give her any of the other beautiful bodies that are in the lab, but she refuses. She'd rather have her own body or the old body dealt to her, and nothing else. She refuses to be so vain as to take beauty that doesn't belong to her. And the hero falls for her in her ugly body. Of course, he sets out on a mission to make her hot again, but I really liked that in this fairly shallow series, Burroughs took the time to acknowledge that beauty isn't just skin deep.
My only real complaint is that the pacing felt a little slow, which may just be because I've been in this universe for six books now. show less
Our hero, Ulysses Paxton (yes), is dying on a WWI battlefield in France. He has always loved reading Burroughs' books about John Carter and his adventures on Mars, and in his final thoughts he focuses on the stars and thinks about how much he wishes he could have seen this amazing world. Then, through the wonder of astral projection (or something), he wakes up in the compound of a scientist on the red planet. Yay!
The scientist, Ras Thavas, quickly teaches Paxton the Barsoomian language and gives him a new name: Vad Varo. Ras Thavas has perfected a method of transplanting the brain and soul of one person into the body of another, and is charging wealthy Barsoomians tons of money to trade into younger and better looking bodies. He can show more also bring the dead back to life and transplant limbs and organs. It's a pretty good system really.
Paxton plays along as his lab assistant until he meets Valla Dia, a beautiful and benevolent young woman who has had her body switched against her will with an old and ugly empress. Paxton falls in love with Valla Dia's mind, even though she is stuck inside a crappy body, and vows to reunite her with her proper form. This leads to all kinds of adventures, and Paxton teams up with a revived assassin, a giant ape that has half of a man's mind (one of Ras Thavas' many experiments), and a proud warrior whose body was stolen by an evil courtier to woo away the woman he loved. Confused yet? Top that all off with some pretty funny critiques of religion and the masses and you have a very fun science fiction book that shows Burroughs at the top of his form. An excellent read.
[full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2008/11/mastermind-of-mars-1928.html ] show less
The scientist, Ras Thavas, quickly teaches Paxton the Barsoomian language and gives him a new name: Vad Varo. Ras Thavas has perfected a method of transplanting the brain and soul of one person into the body of another, and is charging wealthy Barsoomians tons of money to trade into younger and better looking bodies. He can show more also bring the dead back to life and transplant limbs and organs. It's a pretty good system really.
Paxton plays along as his lab assistant until he meets Valla Dia, a beautiful and benevolent young woman who has had her body switched against her will with an old and ugly empress. Paxton falls in love with Valla Dia's mind, even though she is stuck inside a crappy body, and vows to reunite her with her proper form. This leads to all kinds of adventures, and Paxton teams up with a revived assassin, a giant ape that has half of a man's mind (one of Ras Thavas' many experiments), and a proud warrior whose body was stolen by an evil courtier to woo away the woman he loved. Confused yet? Top that all off with some pretty funny critiques of religion and the masses and you have a very fun science fiction book that shows Burroughs at the top of his form. An excellent read.
[full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2008/11/mastermind-of-mars-1928.html ] show less
The Master Mind of Mars introduces us to Ulysses Paxton, a World War One officer. After being fatally wounded on the battlefield he found himself transported to Mars much as John Carter was.
He arrives in the country of Toonol and becomes the guest/prisoner of Ras Thavas, the nominal “Master Mind.” Ras Thavas works at embalming, surgery, and brain-switching in his laboratories, and Paxton serves as his assistant. Paxton has fallen in love with Valla Dia, one of Ras' young victims, whose body has been swapped for that of the Xaxa, Jeddara (empress) of Phundahl. He refuses to operate on Ras until his mentor promises to restore her to her rightful body.
Paxton is a good variant on Carter. He's heroic but without Carter’s huge ego. He show more never shows the same level of martial prowess, and offers almost no action at all until the halfway point. Ulysses Paxton is no John Carter he is still a worthy hero stand among the pantheon of Burroughs creations.
These novels are pulpy adventures in outer space, and despite his failings in terms of narrative and his very dated politics, Burroughs is still a compelling author. show less
He arrives in the country of Toonol and becomes the guest/prisoner of Ras Thavas, the nominal “Master Mind.” Ras Thavas works at embalming, surgery, and brain-switching in his laboratories, and Paxton serves as his assistant. Paxton has fallen in love with Valla Dia, one of Ras' young victims, whose body has been swapped for that of the Xaxa, Jeddara (empress) of Phundahl. He refuses to operate on Ras until his mentor promises to restore her to her rightful body.
Paxton is a good variant on Carter. He's heroic but without Carter’s huge ego. He show more never shows the same level of martial prowess, and offers almost no action at all until the halfway point. Ulysses Paxton is no John Carter he is still a worthy hero stand among the pantheon of Burroughs creations.
These novels are pulpy adventures in outer space, and despite his failings in terms of narrative and his very dated politics, Burroughs is still a compelling author. show less
This is pure escapist SCI FI at its best. Brain Transplants done as routinely as a someone having their tonsils removed. Great story. It is predictable but still makes you go "WHAT?" at the end.
This is book #6 of the Barsoom series, and I think it is - so far - one of the best. There is a good sf-story in this book with good content and no excessive figting. John Carter only plays a tiny part in he last chapter, and in fact all the characters are new after the first five books.
It is the story of Ulyssus Paxton, an American soldier, who is transposed to Mars and arrives there near a laboratory where dubious experiments take place. This is worked out in an inventive way into a story with tension, romance and humour. Five stars.
It is the story of Ulyssus Paxton, an American soldier, who is transposed to Mars and arrives there near a laboratory where dubious experiments take place. This is worked out in an inventive way into a story with tension, romance and humour. Five stars.
I liked this book more than the previous few, although it still didn't thrill me. I liked the medical aspect of this book, and I think that is why I liked it more than the previous. I was a bit confused by the beginning. What seems to be a letter from a fan to Burroughs turns out to be part of the book. I liked that there was little to no John Carter in this book, and even though this new lead shares some of the flaws, he's most definitely more bearable.
A new Earthman goes to Mars and learns how to swap peoples' brains.
2/4 (Indifferent).
I have no real sense of who most of the characters are, including the protagonist. And the action doesn't start until halfway through the book. The brain-swapping is amusingly ridiculous, but there's not really anything else to the book.
2/4 (Indifferent).
I have no real sense of who most of the characters are, including the protagonist. And the action doesn't start until halfway through the book. The brain-swapping is amusingly ridiculous, but there's not really anything else to the book.
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Author Information
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Edgar Rice Burroughs was born on September 1, 1875, in Chicago. His father, George Tyler was a distiller and a battery manufacturer. Early in life Burroughs attempted to support his family in a variety of occupations, including railroad policeman, business partner, and miner. None of these proved successful. However, Burroughs had always enjoyed show more reading adventure fiction and decided to try his hand at writing. His first attempt, written under the pseudonym Normal Bean, sold very quickly and Burroughs' career took off. Although critics and educators have not always been supportive of Burroughs' writing, the characters in his stories have entertained readers for many years. Tarzan was the most popular, earning Burroughs enough money to start his own publishing house and a motion picture company. Another character, John Carter, is the hero of Burroughs' Mars adventure series. The continuing popularity of these characters has led some critics to reconsider the value of Burroughs' writing and to acknowledge significant themes in his stories. Burroughs died on March 19, 1950. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Work Relationships
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Return to Mars: Thuvia, Maid of Mars; The Chessmen of Mars; & The Master Mind of Mars (Barsoom #4, 5, & 6) by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Master Mind of Mars
- Original title
- The Master Mind of Mars
- Original publication date
- 1927-07-15
- People/Characters
- Ulysses Paxton; John Carter; Valla Dia; Dar Tarus; Ras Thavas; Gor Hajus (show all 7); Hovan Du
- Important places
- Mars; Barsoom; Phundahl, Barsoom
- First words
- Helium, June 8th, 1925
My Dear Mr. Burroughs:
It was in the fall of nineteen seventeen at an officers' training camp that I first became acquainted with John Carter, War Lord of Barsoom, through the pages of your ... (show all)novel "A Princess of Mars
I must have closed my eyes involuntarily during the transition for when I opened them I was lying flat on my back gazing up into a brilliant, sunlit sky, while standing a few feet from me and looking down upon me with the mos... (show all)t mystified expression was as strange a looking individual as my eyes ever had rested upon. - Quotations
- If you mean that you hope your principle will triumph because you fought and won, or that peace will come, your hopes are futile. War never brought peace - it but brings more and greater wars.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Though to me, beautiful as she is, there is another even more beautiful—Valla Dia, Princess of Duhor—Mrs. Ulysses Paxton.
- Original language
- English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 813.087626
Classifications
- Genres
- Science Fiction, Fiction and Literature
- DDC/MDS
- 813.087626 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English By type Genre fiction Adventure fiction Speculative fiction Science fiction Planetary romance
- LCC
- PS3503 .U687 — Language and Literature American literature American literature Individual authors 1900-1960
- BISAC
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- ISBNs
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