Synthetic Men of Mars

The "master mind of Mars" resurfaces on an island of horrors.

2.5/4 (Okay).

It takes the promise of mind-swapping introduced in Maser Mind and actually does something interesting with it. Meanwhile, there's Vat Room No. 4, likely the most memorable thing in this entire series. But the protagonist is a complete ass (unbeknownst to Burroughs). And the last 50 pages or so are pointless padding.

The ninth books in the John Carter of Mars series set on Barsoom is markedly better than the previous offering Swords of Mars.

In this book, Dejah Thoris has been injured and is in a coma, all of Helium's best doctors have proven incapable of healing her. In an effort to find someone who can help her, John Carter with the assistance of a young noble named Vor Daj sets out to locate the best scientist on Mars: Ras Thavas (a character first introduced in The Master Mind of Mars). The story is told from Vor Daj's perspective. They set out for Phundahl, the last city where Ras Thavas was seen. On the way, they are captured by a band of misshapen, but almost indestructible men and, along with a female captive, are hauled into the last swamp show more on Mars to the city of Morbus.

Once there, they find out that Ras Thavas is responsible for the creation of the misshapen men called hormads, the synthetic men from the title. A band of hormads has taken over and are forcing Ras Thavas to churn out more, hoping to build an unstoppable army to conquer Barsoom. Carter and Daj are given the choice to join the Morban forces or die, and choose to join up and figure out how to escape. They also find out the female prisoner is named Janai (and, as always in Barsoom tales, is a beautiful princess) and one of the hormad rulers will pick her as his consort once they settle the question of who gets to claim her. Carter and Daj pledge to help her escape.

Carter and Daj are made Thavas' bodyguards (serendipity seems to run rampant on Barsoom), and he readily agrees to try to escape if the opportunity presents itself. Daj, having fallen in love with Janai at first sight, has his brain transplanted into the body of an immensely strong but hideously ugly hormad (Thavas pioneered brain transplanting in The Master Mind of Mars), and tries to infiltrate the palace and rescue her.

Daj rescues Janai, convincing her he is a friend of Vor Daj (since he is in a misshapen hormad body at the time) just in time for civil war among the hormads to break out. He helps one of the hormad leaders to win the war and claim the title Jeddak (King), and is given Janai as his reward as well as control of the laboratory where Thavas had been making hormads. Unfortunately Carter and Thavas had vanished, and the culture vats where the synthetic men were being grown have gone out of control - one turns into a huge misshapen living mass oozing about and growing out of control.

Daj and some other hormads and normal men who had been impressed into Morban service escape from the city, there is intrigue. Daj loses and rescues Janai again. He fights some swamp dwellers. Daj and Janai are taken prisoner by warriors from the city of Amhor - the jeddak of Amhor wants Janai to be his jeddara, and wants Daj's misshapen body for his zoo. Daj, with the help of a Red Martian and a Green Martian also used as zoo exhibits, escapes again, rescues Janai again, and finds John Carter leading a fleet from Helium to find them. They go back to Morbus, find the oozing mass of flesh has taken over the whole city and bomb it into oblivion. Vor Daj's brain is put back in his own body, and he and Janai are finally together.

The story works well, the twists and turns are somewhat predictable, but not so much so as to be uninteresting. Daj in the body of a powerful monster is an interesting character to follow about. Overall, it is a good swashbuckling tale. show less

This is one weird little book. Althoiugh the story elements are polished and shining, the imaginative leap is almost unbearable. Synthetic men are fashioned from a large pot of human remains and create themselves randomly. Most of the faces, arms and legs are absurd or ugly or monstrous, but if the thing can move, they use it as a soldier. The city-state of Marcus who makes these things is going to make millions and conquer the world. Well, they almost conquer the world all right, but also destroy themselvesw as the laboratory goes haywire and a big batch of the human life gook begins to enlarge itself and will take over tghe planet unless stopped by one element -- fire. I can not go on. there is too much silliness here. A brilliant show more surgeon can change heads on bodies withoujt any drugs and is so brilliant he can perform this operatiuon on a dirty, concrete floor within an hour or two. Give me stlrength!! I suggest this as a read for the unusual contents, and it is entertaining. show less

Volume 9 of John Carter of Mars

#113 in our old book database. Not rated.

A sorozat 9. kötetében John Carter megint Dejah Thorist szeretné megmenteni. Dejah súlyos beteg, így a 6. kötetben megismert tudóst Ras Thavast kell előkeríteni.

A történetet Vor Daj, John Carter testőre meséli el. Természetesen neki is jut egy gyönyörű nő ( Janai ) akiért epekedhet, és akit megszerezhet a könyv végén.

Ras Thavas a 6. kötetben még csak agyátültetéssel foglalkozott, de azóta továbbképezte magát és szintetikus embereket ( hormadokat ) tud létrehozni. Tartályban nagy mennyiségben képes embereket tenyészteni akik többnyire torzak és nem túl okosak, viszont a nagy számuk miatt jó ötletnek tűnik hadsereget képezni belőlük. Persze a rengeteg hormad közül néhánynak azért van show more esze, így fellázadnak és rabszolgaként dolgoztatják Ras Thavast.

A kötetben a fő cél tehát Ras Thavas kiszabadítása, hogy meggyógyíthassa Dejah Thorist. Mellékesen persze le kell győzni a hormadokat is, akik már a teljes bolygót el akarják foglalni.

Számomra kissé érthetetlen módon az nem merül fel, hogy Ras Thavast (érdemei elismerése mellett) örök életre börtönbe vessék mielőtt a nagyszerű ötleteivel megsemmisíti a bolygót. show less