The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

This is to discuss August's Group read, A princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Another group I'm in is reading this book this month.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

It was pointed out that this is in the public domain & that Libervox has a couple of versions of it in audio format. The one read by Mark Nelson is supposed to be good.

A Princess of Mars was one of my earliest Science Fiction reads, before I really knew it was Science Fiction I enjoyed most to read. My first encounter with it was Marvel 's John Carter Warlord Of Mars comic book series in the 70's. At some point I realized there were also books, so I looked for them on my next trip to the book store and convinced my Mom to buy me one. I didn't start with Princess. The book I bought had to have the same title as the comic, so I started with Book 11, then read A Princess of Mars. I got a few for Christmas that year. For some reason I made it through 1/2 of book 5 and stopped. That book would sit for about 25 years until I had my first PDA, a green Handspring Visor (green to go with my Lime iMac), and I discovered there were books I could download for free and read on it. So, the first book I read digitally was The Chessmen Of Mars, probably around 2000 or 2001. I finished reading the rest of the series over the next couple of years.

I'm just looking at the publication dates for these books. They were published over 30 years. The waiting must have been excruciating.

I also read Michael Moorcock's Mars books based on Burrough's Mars; The City of the Beast or Warriors of Mars, Lord Of The Spiders Or Blades Of Mars and Masters Of The Pit Or Barbarians Of Mars, which are pretty good if you've read all the Burroughs Mars books and want something more.

As you can tell, the Mars series holds a special place in my heart. I'm getting the itch for a reread of A Princess Of Mars, but I may not have time this month. I've already got three books for group reads going. It's short, though, so you never know.

Jim wrote: "Another group I'm in is reading this book this month.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

It was pointed out that this is in the public domain & that Libervox has a couple of versions of..."

Thanks for the link. There are some interesting posts there about the history of our knowledge of Mars.

I started it today during lunch. One thing that gets me about JC is that he's a Southern gentleman, yet a self-described soldier of fortune who has a place on the Hudson. For some reason that strikes me as an odd combination.

Rereading this is like visiting with an old, very good friend. I loved these books in my pre & early teens. I don't know how many times I read them, but I'm reading my 'new' paperback. It cost a whole $1.25 replacing one of my father's that probably cost 35¢. (I thought that awfully high at the time. Books had been just 95¢ & 75¢ not long before that.)

I read Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom, a collection of modern short stories based on Barsoom, a month ago. Overall, I gave it 3 stars & reviewed it here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

David wrote: "Jim wrote: "Another group I'm in is reading this book this month.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

It was pointed out that this is in the public domain & that Libervox has a couple of..."

I have started the Librivox audiobook read by Mark Nelson. I also did the Librivox version of The Iron Heel, our group read last month. I had qualms that Librivox recordings, by volunteers, would be less than professional, but these books have both been quite well done.

I downloaded Nelson's reading of it along with several other books read by him, so will be interested in what you think of his reading, Buck. I decided to read it since I have more audio books I want to listen to at the moment.

Jim wrote: "I downloaded Nelson's reading of it along with several other books read by him, so will be interested in what you think of his reading, Buck. I decided to read it since I have more audio books I want to listen to at the moment."

That's exactly why I chose the audio book. I was going to download the kindle version from my library, but I was in the middle of reading a book and I have a backlog of reading and I had just finished an audiobook, so the timing was good for an audiobook. I like audiobooks. I usually have two books going at once - one audio, one visual.

Me, too. Magazines are scattered around like snacks.
;)

I haven't had much time to read this, but just ran across JC's line about Martians being a happy people in one way; they didn't have lawyers. Guess that's not a new observation.
;)

I've seen comments that ERB was both racist & misogynistic. In the other group, someone pointed out that old stories like this have to be read with a context of the times in mind, so I don't think he really was in this series, although the same can't be said for all his other works. Mars is peopled with all sorts of colors & all save the Therns had both good & bad people in them. Early on he discusses how the females of the green race not only do all the labor, but are also even better fighters when they have to be. Dejah Thoris always seems to need rescuing, but she fights well when she gets a chance.

Much of the science in this is practically indistinguishable from magic. Radium & the sun's rays are mysterious sources of energy, even antigravity. He got the moons of Mars almost right, anyway.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moons_o...

John Carter, a Virginia gentleman and former Confederate officer, inexplicably finds himself on Mars. (view spoiler)[He discovers two species of warlike people there, the green men and the red men. They live in city states and seem to be in a continuous state of war with one another and among themselves. Carter is captured by the green men, proves himself a fierce warrior and becomes a chieftain. They capture a beautiful woman, a princess of the red men, with whom Carter falls in love. With many adventures and great battles, and just-in-the-nick-of-time swashbuckling, Carter saves the day helps red men and green men form an alliance and defeat their enemies. He becomes a hero and marries the princess. The ending is a cliffhanger with Carter suddenly finding himself back on Earth. (hide spoiler)]

The description of Carter learning the language and ways of his captors and gaining the confidence of the tribal chiefs is like something out of Gulliver's Travels. The writing is somewhat similar to what one would expect in the age of Verne and Wells, but the science fiction is much less sciency. The story seems comic-bookish and surely was aimed at a young audience. Burroughs' ability to write dialog is atrocious.

A Princess of Mars is easy reading and action packed, I agree with Buck that this was aimed at a younger audience. I didn't find the writing sexist but it was clearly aimed at boys so I can imagine those reading this in their younger years would have wanted to be like John Carter. As a sci-fi adventure story it was fun. I can't make up my mind whether I want to read any further in the series or not but as the first five in the series are in the public domain maybe I will pick them up in the future.

I'm listening to another Librivox book read by Mark Nelson, City at World's End by Edmond Hamilton originally published in 1950. Nelson is by far the best reader I've heard on a Librivox book. He's as good as most commercial ones, better than most.