John Carter of Mars - volume 2 - Warlord of Mars & Thuvia, Maid of Mars (John Carter of Mars)

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Leonaur Ltd. is publishing the definitive Edgar Rice Burroughs 21st century editions.

Wartlord of Mars & Thuvia, Maid of Mars; CONFUSED REVIEWS

John Carter of Mars - volume 2 - Warlord of Mars & Thuvia, Maid of Mars

The truth

The final adventures of ERB's hero, John Carter of Mars

John Carter of Mars - volume 2 - Warlord of Mars & Thuvia, Maid of Mars (John Carter of Mars)
Edgar, Rice Burroughs
Manufacturer: Leonaur Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1846771250

Book Description

John Carter of Mars Volume 2. Warlord of Mars & Thuvia Maid of Mars John Carter of Mars, the Prince of Helium, returns in Edgar Rice Burroughs' famous series. In Warlord of Mars, Carter embarks on a relentless search for his wife, Dejah Thoris, and must pit his wits against the remaining Therns and the renegade black dator, Thurid of the First Born. In Thuvia, Maid of Mars, Cathoris, son of John Carter, embarks on a hair-raising adventure to save the beautiful Thuvia of Ptarth from treachery, mind manipulators and the green horde! The planet Mars itself, as always, plays a colourful and exotic role in these fantastical adventures.

Customer Reviews:

Leonaur Ltd. is publishing the definitive Edgar Rice Burroughs 21st century editions........2007-04-13

Leonaur Ltd. is publishing the definitive Edgar Rice Burroughs 21st century editions. These usually contain 2 books of the different ERB major series in order - thus far John Carter, Pellucidar, and Carson of Venus. In the future, possibly Tarzan!
These books are handsome and my rating is mainly based on this - the ERB fan knows best about the rest of it.
This volume contains the 3rd part of the John Carter of Mars trilogy as it brings the saga of John Carter and Dejah Thoris' romance, marriage, dissaperances, et al to a close. It also contains "Thuvia, Maid of Mars", the adventures of Carthoris, JC and DT's son. It should be acquired by ERB fans.

Wartlord of Mars & Thuvia, Maid of Mars; CONFUSED REVIEWS.......2007-03-30

For some reason, Amazon has mixed in reviews here that have NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS VOLUME. All the talk about "the 11th book" in the series pertain to another volume altogether. I hope someone from Amazon reads this and finds the mistake.

That said . . .

The Mars series by ERB is excellent. I've read each book half a dozen times over the course of my life. Burroughs had an amazingly fertile imagination, but the Tarzan movies his mind look vapid.

But these books are his masterworks.

If you like adventurous science fiction you should love these.

John Carter of Mars - volume 2 - Warlord of Mars & Thuvia, Maid of Mars.......2007-02-21

Great reprint of this great classic science fiction / fantasy series. Much appreciated. Looking forward to purchasing the remainder of the series when they are published.

The truth.......2005-03-05

Alot of reviews are saying the Edgar Rice Burroughs did not actually write "John Carter and the Giant of Mars". The truth is that he did. This is what happened and what causes confusion: a childrens publisher wanted a short version of a Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel. Mr. Burroughs was concerned that he could not keep it short enough for the publisher so he asked his son to help craft a shorter story. At the same time, Amazing Stories asked Edgar Rice Burroughs for another Mars novel. A full lenght one to serialize. Edgar took the short story and stretched it to a full novel. This is confirmed by several sources and by Edgar Rice Burroughs estate. It explains why some of the novel strays from the rest of the series. So, yes his son was involved, but it is wrong to say that Edgar Rice Burroughs did not write it. He did. Especially the novel version.

Anyway, all of the Mars books are exciting and I recomend all the books in the series.

The final adventures of ERB's hero, John Carter of Mars.......2003-08-29

This is the 11th and final volume in the celebrated Martian series by Edgar Rice Burroughs has a couple of shorter stories featuring John Carter. "John Carter and the Giant of Mars" first appeared in the January 1941 issue of "Amazing Stories," and was written by Burroughs and his youngest son John Coleman Burroughs. The story was originally intended for a Whitman Big Little Book, which meant the story had to be 15,000 words long and have facing pages illustrating the action. The younger Burroughs was also the illustrator. At some point 6,000 words were added to the story and it was published in "Amazing," with no one ever knowing for sure how much ERB actually wrote of this story, which was the final complete John Carter tale. As you would expect when ERB was writing for children, he goes back to his standard formula. John Carter and Dejah Thoris are having a nice ride of a thoat when they are attacked and his beloved princess is once again captured. Carter is off to the rescue with help from his old friend Tars Tarkas. Along the way they encounter Joog, a 130-foot tall giant, and a city of rats; just the sort of fantastic characters kids would be looking for in a story. Beyond sticking to the standard Burroughs formula, there is not much here of interest.

"Skeleton Men of Jupiter" was originally published in "Amazing Stories," and was intended to be the first of a four-part story, but ERB died before it could be completed. Since then it has been, by several pastiche writers. John Carter is called away from his beloved princess Dejah Thoris to meet with Tardox Mors in the Hall of Jeddaks, when he is captured by men that look like human skeletons speaking a strange language. It turns out the Morgors are from Sasoom, the Barsoomian name for Jupiter, which is where our hero ends up. ERB has to play fast and loose with science, arguing that Jupiter rotates fast enough that Carter is not crushed by the gravity. Still, he has lost the advantage he had on Barsoom with its lower-than-Earth gravity. Anyway, it would not be a Burroughs Martian novel if the hero did not have to rescue his beloved, and it turns out Dejah Thoris has been captured as well. Consequently, Carter has to escape and tracked down his princess. Slightly better than "The Giant of Mars," the story is hurt by the lack of an ending. Fans will read these stories out of a sense of completeness, but clearly ERB's Barsoom series went out with a whimper.

Return to Mars (Contains Thuvia, Maid of Mars, The Chessmen of Mars, The Master Mind of Mars)
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The next generation of ERB heroes for his Barsoom

Return to Mars (Contains Thuvia, Maid of Mars, The Chessmen of Mars, The Master Mind of Mars)

Manufacturer: Science Fiction Book Club
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0739448846

Product Description

Three of the classic books from the Mars series - Thuvia, Maid of Mars, The Chessmen of Mars & The Master Mind of Mars.

Customer Reviews:

The next generation of ERB heroes for his Barsoom.......2005-12-16

The first three volume of the Martian series of Edgar Rice Burroughs focused on how John Carter, former cavalier of Virginia, made his way to the planet Barsoom (what we call Mars) and won the hand of Dejah Thoris, princess of Helium after having to repeatedly rescue her from one danger after another. "Return to Mars" collects the next trio of ERB pulp fiction adventures in the Barsoom series, which focus on first the son, then the daughter of John Carter and his beloved princess, and then introduces a new visitor from Earth. Consequently, it is we the readers who return to Barsoom rather than John Carter. He might be a minor character in these new stories, but each reflects the combination of romance and pulp adventure that worked so well in the first three.

"Thuvia, Maid of Mars" focuses on a new hero, Cathoris, son of the Warlord of Mars and his beloved princess. Cathoris is one of two princes and a Jeddak who are seeking the hand of the Thuvia of Ptarth. When she is kidnapped by the sinister Prince Astok of Dusar, the entire planet is about to be thrown into a bloody war and Cathoris has to follow in his father's footstep and deal with savage beasts and phantom armies as he rescues Thuvia and saves Barsoom from a costly war. Of course, by the time he catches up with his beloved, Cathoris finds the situation is slightly more complicated than he thought, mainly because ERB never provides a smooth ending for his couples. In many ways this is like the previous novel, "The Warlord of Mars," where the hero chases his beloved across the landscape of Barsoom and has to deal with green men and white apes. Fortunately, unlike ERB's Tarzan series, "Thuvia, Maid of Mars" is really the only time that repeats himself like this in the Martian series, which stands out as his best as he proves in the next and most inventive volume in the series.

"The Chessmen of Mars" is arguably one of ERB's most imaginative stories. This reputation rests on two things. The first is the relationship between the Kaldanes "heads" and the headless Rykors who are the "descendants of exceedingly stupid humanoid creatures bred by the Kaladane over eons for strength, health, beauty and microcephaly." True, this makes no sense from an evolutionary standpoint, but it is one of the more imaginative parasitic relationships in science fiction history. The second is jetan, the Martian version of chess, which is usually played on a 10 x 10 game board of alternating black and orange squares in the cities of Barsoom, but in the city of Manator is played with living pieces in a giant arena. Of course in the living version of the game a moving piece is not guaranteed a square but has to fight for it.

The framing device for "The Chessmen of Mars" is told by John Carter on a visit home to Earth to see his nephew. Over a game of chess Carter tells of jetan and the adventures of his daughter, Tara of Helium, in Manator. As was the case with the "Thuvia, Maid of Mars," ERB introduces a new hero for this adventure in Gahan, Jed of Gathol. Dancing at a royal function in Helium she has her eyes set on Djor Kantos, son of her friend's best friend, but he is interested in somebody else. When Gahan declares his love for her, Tara throws a fit and we know these two are meant for each other. Taking her flier on an unadvised flight during a Gale, the princess ends up blown across Barsoom and as happened with both her mother and her sister-in-law, her hero has to track her down and effect a rescue. The combination of the Kaladanes jumping from one Rykor to the next with the jetan game to the death is quite captivating. For many readers of ERB's pulp fiction yarns "The Chessmen of Mars" is a favorite and while it has the standard hero rescues beloved plot that is a Burroughs staple it is layered with all this interesting stuff.

For "The Mastermind of Mars" Burroughs introduces another new hero as American Ulysses Paxton crosses the void between Earth and Barsoom to become the chief assistant to the red planet's greatest scientist. Paxton, a Captain in the U.S. Army, is fatally injured on a World War I battlefield and then transported to Barsoom, in the same way John Carter made his first trip to Mars. In what strikes me as an attempt to further explore the brain switching from previous novel with the Kaldanes and Rykors, ERB's pulp fiction story has to do with human brain transfers performed by the title character, Ras Thavas.

Early in the novel Paxton witnesses the scientist transferring the brain of Xara, Jeddara of Phundahl, in the body of a young girl. Now called Vad Varo, Paxton becomes the bodyguard and assistant to Ras Thavas in the city of Toonol, and falls in love with Valla Dia, the young girl whose mind is now in the ancient body of Xara. Our hero helps Ras Thavas transfer his brain to a younger body as well, but extracts a promise from the scientist to help restore Valla's body. Of course, just to make things interesting, Valla is the daughter of Kor San, Jeddak of Duhor, so once again ERB's damsel in distress is Barsoomian royalty . The remainder of the novel follows Vad Varo's attempt to restore his beloved to her own body, which is complicated by a series of brain transplants that alternately help and hinder his effort.

The brain switching angle is rather interesting, and actually makes more sense than your standard "strange alien device transfers consciousness between bodies" that we usually find in such science fiction stories, but "Mastermind" is pretty much an ERB potboiler where everything is resolved in the final chapter. This second Martian trilogy is not as great as the original one, but "Chessman" makes it worthwhile.

Thuvia, Maid of Mars: (#4) (Martian Tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs, No 4)

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Less substance than a Cugel novel.
Answer to Terrible edition
STILL FUN AFTER ALL THESE YEARS
Like father, like son, Cathoris pursues his beloved Thuvia
A FAST-MOVING FANTASY

Thuvia, Maid of Mars: (#4) (Martian Tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs, No 4)
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0345339932
Release Date: 1986-07-12

Book Description

The author of Tarzan of the Apes, delivers an adventure tale like none other. In this fourth book in the Martian series, Carthoris falls in love with Thuvia, Princess of Ptarth. After she is stolen away by Astok, Prince of Dusar, Ptarth's rival, Carthoris follows her across Barsoom and rescues her, encountering some strange and fascinating creatures.

3 hours 2 cassettes abridged. told by Grover Gardner

Download Description

Volume four of the epic Mars Series finds Thuvia, Princess of Ptarth abducted -- and the suspect is Carthoris, son of John Carter!

Customer Reviews:

Less substance than a Cugel novel........2005-07-29

Come on people! Even Jack Vance's zany Dying Earth novels (Cugel in particular) have more substance than this lackadaisical tour-de-force. Skip out on Burroughs, if you want quality sci-fi read the Demon Princes by Jack Vance...

Answer to Terrible edition.......2005-01-19

The edition specified was done for Quiet Vision
by a third party and was discontiuned years ago. This edition's cover is a reproduction of the original St. John dust jacket. All the original
St. John interiors are present.

Quiet Vision not longer uses outside printers and binders.

STILL FUN AFTER ALL THESE YEARS.......2004-10-03

I first read this book and this series some 52 years ago...I recently dug them out and had another go. They are as fun now as they were then. Burroughs' style is absolutely great and needs to be savored. The books are action packed and certainly reflet a time in our society long past. I feel to understand current SiFi and S&S, you really need to start during this time period. We certainly have come along way, in may ways, but it is very evident that this writer and his contemporaries certainly had a profound influence on what we are getting today. This are books for little boys and girls and thank goodness I have enough of that little boy in me to still enjoy them.

Like father, like son, Cathoris pursues his beloved Thuvia.......2003-08-27

It took the first three volumes of his Martian series for Edgar Rice Burroughs to get his hero John Carter, former cavalier of Virginia, and Dejah Thoris, princess of Helium to the point where they could live happily ever after. Satisfied with the combination of romance and pulp adventure, this fourth Martian novel turns to the next generation of Barsoomians. Cathoris, son of the Warlord of Mars and his beloved princess, is one of two princes and a Jeddak who are seeking the hand of the Thuvia of Ptarth. When she is kidnapped by the sinister Prince Astok of Dusar, the entire planet is about to be thrown into a bloody war and Cathoris has to follow in his father's footstep and deal with savage beasts and phantom armies as he rescues Thuvia and saves Barsoom from a costly war. Of course, by the time he catches up with his beloved, Cathoris finds the situation is slightly more complicated than he thought, mainly because ERB never provides a smooth ending for his couples.

A FAST-MOVING FANTASY.......2003-02-19

"Thuvia, Maid of Mars" is the 4th of 11 John Carter novels from the pen of Edgar Rice Burroughs. It first appeared in April 1916, as a three-part serial in the magazine "All Story Weekly." This is the first Carter novel that does not feature John Carter himself as the central character; he only makes a brief cameo appearance early on. Instead, the action mantle is taken up by Carthoris, Carter's son, but fortunately, Carter Junior turns out to be just as good a swashbuckler as the old man. In this installment, Princess Thuvia of Ptarth has been kidnapped by the spineless Prince Astok of Dusar, which abduction almost causes a world war on Barsoom (Mars). Young Carthoris, in his quest to free his beloved princess, runs across deserted cities, a forgotten kingdom, banths (10-legged Barsoomian lions), ethereal warriors, mucho swordplay, giant white apes, and on and on. As is usual for these books, the amount of action that Burroughs packs into a small compass is quite surprising. Whereas previous Carter books seem to read more like fantasy/fairy tales than science fiction, this installment veers even more to the fantastic, mainly in the use of those phantom warriors just mentioned. These bowmen are called up from the minds of the remaining members of the lost city of Lothar, and have no "real" concrete existence. However, their arrows can still kill. In this book we also get, for the first time, a nice, detailed look at life in Helium; what the people do, how they live and the like. We also receive a biological explanation of how Carthoris, who was 10 years old but a seeming adult in the previous books, got to be that way. The worldwide peace that apparently prevails at the end of book 3, "The Warlord of Mars," is shown in this volume to be not as widespread as was inferred, which makes for some nice tense situations. So this is a good, fast-moving, detailed entry in the series.
There are some minor problems of inconsistency and fuzzy writing, however, although not as prevalent as in previous entries. For example, in one scene, Carthoris is said to be fighting a force of a dozen Dusarians; three of these are killed, and so three are left. Huh? Carthoris seems to know exactly where to find water in the dead city of Aaanthor, despite the fact that he has never been there before. Wha? Vas Kor, one of Carthoris' chief enemies, fails to recognize him merely because Carthoris is dirty, tired and covered with blood; this is just a bit hard to swallow. Perhaps worst of all, the book ends extremely abruptly, just as all of Barsoom is about to be plunged into that world war. We never learn the fate of several of the main villains, nor do we see the end of hostilities as the realization of the true facts becomes known. This is a short book, and would not have suffered by the addition of such scenes to make it more satisfying. Still, this is a fun entry in the John Carter series, one that all lovers of fast-moving fantasy should enjoy.

Edgar Rice Burroughs Science Fiction Classics: Pellucidar, Thuvia Maid of Mars, Tanar of Pellucidar, the Chessman of Mars, the Master Mind of Mars

Average customer rating:

great buy for my needs
Light-hearted escapism
I might, just might, be missing something
one of burroughs' best!
Old friends revisited - I sure enjoyed it

Edgar Rice Burroughs Science Fiction Classics: Pellucidar, Thuvia Maid of Mars, Tanar of Pellucidar, the Chessman of Mars, the Master Mind of Mars
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Manufacturer: Book Sales
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0890095825

Customer Reviews:

great buy for my needs.......2007-05-13

can't believe I got the book for such reasonable price and prompt service with delivery

Light-hearted escapism.......1999-04-06

These books are great fun for kids and teenagers, even some adults. I suspect, however, that if you don't read Burroughs between 12 and 14, you'll miss out on 90% of the fun. None of his Mars books are to be taken seriously. In "The Mastermind of Mars," for example, before there is even any dialogue, the hero is blown up in WWI, astral-travels to Mars, immediately has a swordfight, then witnesses a brain transplant by an almost-blind, 1000-year-old Martian! Then he falls in love with an old hag with the brain of a beautiful, kind young woman. Later he recruits the help of a gigantic ape with a half-human, half-ape brain. The author isn't the greatest stylist that ever lived, but he knew how to tell a story.

I might, just might, be missing something.......1999-03-27

Writers I admire (C.S. Lewis and Robert Sheckley, and I know that there are others as well) have kind words to say about Edgar Rice Burroughs, and claim to derive inspiration from him. I mention this because I have to. It means that perhaps there is something in the man's writing that I'm missing. I must be honest and allow this possibility. The more LIKELY possibility, though, is that writers make poor critics, and will allow their superior imaginations to do the work that Burroughs didn't.

For one thing that has been said about Burroughs is that, while he could scarcely write, and was woefully ignorant, and inconsistent, he at least had a vivid imagination. Like hell he did. His imagination was the most pallid thing about him. This is clearer in the Mars books than anywhere else. Everywhere there are beasts exactly like terrestrial ones but bigger, fiercer, with more limbs and sharper teeth and brighter colours ... every forgettable sort of detail-enhancement that might substitute for true invention.

Burroughs takes the standard view of an ancient, decadent, dying Mars and adds nothing, except damsels and stilted dialogue. These are the books of someone who spends valuable time working out new units of measurement to replace feet and inches, whiles away afternoons dreaming up pointless bigger-is-better variations on terrestrial chess, but makes up the details about character and social organisation as he goes along. Admittedly he has plenty of time, since the story is invariably a fight-after-fight-after-fight affair, the author doing little to disguise the fact that he's being paid by the word. (Never let anyone convince you otherwise: his prose is ghastly.)

If you sense that Burroughs must have been reaching towards something worthwhile, you're right. If you want to know what it was, exactly, read someone by Jack Vance. Any reason there might be to read Burroughs is a reason to read Vance. But not vice versa.

one of burroughs' best!.......1999-02-20

one of burroughs' best

Old friends revisited - I sure enjoyed it.......1998-08-07

These stories are as much a part of me as my beard. I first read them as a boy nearly fifty years ago, and they're as enjoyable today as then.

When Amazon says a book is 'value-priced,' they ain't kidding. Not only do you get five for the price of one, but you also get to see the original illustrations from a time long past. That alone was worth the price of this book.

Of course, younger readers won't get the nostalgia rush I did, but SF devotees should all read Burroughs; he was one of the giants who founded the genre.

Three Martian Novels : Thuvia Maid of Mars, The Chessmen of Mars, The Master Mind of Mars
Average customer rating:

The next generation of ERB heroes for his Barsoom

Three Martian Novels : Thuvia Maid of Mars, The Chessmen of Mars, The Master Mind of Mars
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Manufacturer: Dover Pubns
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

19th Century | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Burroughs, Edgar Rice | ( B ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Paperback | Burroughs, Edgar Rice | ( B ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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Customer Reviews:

The next generation of ERB heroes for his Barsoom.......2004-09-03

The first three volume of the Martian series of Edgar Rice Burroughs focused on how John Carter, former cavalier of Virginia, made his way to the planet Barsoom (what we call Mars) and won the hand of Dejah Thoris, princess of Helium after having to repeatedly rescue her from one danger after another. "Three Martian Novels" collects the next trio of ERB pulp fiction adventures in the Barsoom series, which focus on first the son, then the daughter of John Carter and his beloved princess, and then introduces a new visitor from Earth. Carter might be a minor character in these new stories, but each reflects the combination of romance and pulp adventure that worked so well in the first three.

"Thuvia, Maid of Mars" focuses on a new hero, Cathoris, son of the Warlord of Mars and his beloved princess. Cathoris is one of two princes and a Jeddak who are seeking the hand of the Thuvia of Ptarth. When she is kidnapped by the sinister Prince Astok of Dusar, the entire planet is about to be thrown into a bloody war and Cathoris has to follow in his father's footstep and deal with savage beasts and phantom armies as he rescues Thuvia and saves Barsoom from a costly war. Of course, by the time he catches up with his beloved, Cathoris finds the situation is slightly more complicated than he thought, mainly because ERB never provides a smooth ending for his couples. In many ways this is like the previous novel, "The Warlord of Mars," where the hero chases his beloved across the landscape of Barsoom and has to deal with green men and white apes. Fortunately, unlike ERB's Tarzan series, "Thuvia, Maid of Mars" is really the only time that repeats himself like this in the Martian series, which stands out as his best as he proves in the next and most inventive volume in the series.

"The Chessmen of Mars" is arguably one of ERB's most imaginative stories. This reputation rests on two things. The first is the relationship between the Kaldanes "heads" and the headless Rykors who are the "descendants of exceedingly stupid humanoid creatures bred by the Kaladane over eons for strength, health, beauty and microcephaly." True, this makes no sense from an evolutionary standpoint, but it is one of the more imaginative parasitic relationships in science fiction history. The second is jetan, the Martian version of chess, which is usually played on a 10 x 10 game board of alternating black and orange squares in the cities of Barsoom, but in the city of Manator is played with living pieces in a giant arena. Of course in the living version of the game a moving piece is not guaranteed a square but has to fight for it.

The framing device for "The Chessmen of Mars" is told by John Carter on a visit home to Earth to see his nephew. Over a game of chess Carter tells of jetan and the adventures of his daughter, Tara of Helium, in Manator. As was the case with the "Thuvia, Maid of Mars," ERB introduces a new hero for this adventure in Gahan, Jed of Gathol. Dancing at a royal function in Helium she has her eyes set on Djor Kantos, son of her friend's best friend, but he is interested in somebody else. When Gahan declares his love for her, Tara throws a fit and we know these two are meant for each other. Taking her flier on an unadvised flight during a Gale, the princess ends up blown across Barsoom and as happened with both her mother and her sister-in-law, her hero has to track her down and effect a rescue. The combination of the Kaladanes jumping from one Rykor to the next with the jetan game to the death is quite captivating. For many readers of ERB's pulp fiction yarns "The Chessmen of Mars" is a favorite and while it has the standard hero rescues beloved plot that is a Burroughs staple it is layered with all this interesting stuff.

For "The Mastermind of Mars" Burroughs introduces another new hero as American Ulysses Paxton crosses the void between Earth and Barsoom to become the chief assistant to the red planet's greatest scientist. Paxton, a Captain in the U.S. Army, is fatally injured on a World War I battlefield and then transported to Barsoom, in the same way John Carter made his first trip to Mars. In what strikes me as an attempt to further explore the brain switching from previous novel with the Kaldanes and Rykors, ERB's pulp fiction story has to do with human brain transfers performed by the title character, Ras Thavas.

Early in the novel Paxton witnesses the scientist transferring the brain of Xara, Jeddara of Phundahl, in the body of a young girl. Now called Vad Varo, Paxton becomes the bodyguard and assistant to Ras Thavas in the city of Toonol, and falls in love with Valla Dia, the young girl whose mind is now in the ancient body of Xara. Our hero helps Ras Thavas transfer his brain to a younger body as well, but extracts a promise from the scientist to help restore Valla's body. Of course, just to make things interesting, Valla is the daughter of Kor San, Jeddak of Duhor, so once again ERB's damsel in distress is Barsoomian royalty . The remainder of the novel follows Vad Varo's attempt to restore his beloved to her own body, which is complicated by a series of brain transplants that alternately help and hinder his effort.

The brain switching angle is rather interesting, and actually makes more sense than your standard "strange alien device transfers consciousness between bodies" that we usually find in such science fiction stories, but "Mastermind" is pretty much an ERB potboiler where everything is resolved in the final chapter. This second Martian trilogy is not as great as the original one, but "Chessman" makes it worthwhile.

Thuvia, Maid of Mars (Barsoom Series #4) (Ace SF Classics, F-168)

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Thuvia, Maid of Mars (Barsoom Series #4) (Ace SF Classics, F-168)
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

Gods of Mars (Mars (del Rey Books Numbered))
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ASIN: 0441061680

Product Description

Carthoris, Prince of Helium, sets out in his flyer to rescue the kidnapped Princess of Ptarth, having no knowledge of the evil he is up against. The villain Astok had been shrewd in his schemings, making it seem as though Carthoris himself had been Thuvia's abductor. Thus, even if Carthoris, half-Earthling, half-Martian, managed to find Thuvia and successfully fight off the murderous banths, deadly invisible bowmen, and the green giants, who would belive that he had not been the perpetrator of the crime? Wonderful Stuff!

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Carthoris and Thuvia
Like father, like son, Cathoris chases his beloved Thuvia

Thuvia, Maid of Mars

Manufacturer: BookSurge Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1594568537
Release Date: 2004-02-02

Customer Reviews:

Carthoris and Thuvia.......2005-09-21

This is the fourth book in Edgar Rice Burroughs "Mars" series. John Carter only has a cameo in this book. The real star of the book is Carter's son, Carthoris, along with his lady love, Thuvia. It's a typical example of early 20th Century science fiction, although better written than the average sci-fi story. Thuvia gets kidnapped, Carthoris goes off to rescue her. Along the way, they discover another lost city of Mars (things like that happen a lot in these books). If you are interested in early science fiction, this is an entertaining example of the genre.

Like father, like son, Cathoris chases his beloved Thuvia.......2004-06-05

It took the first three volumes of his Martian series for Edgar Rice Burroughs to get his hero John Carter, former cavalier of Virginia, and Dejah Thoris, princess of Helium to the point where they could live happily ever after. Satisfied with the combination of romance and pulp adventure, this fourth Martian novel turns to the next generation of Barsoomians. Cathoris, son of the Warlord of Mars and his beloved princess, is but one of two princes and a Jeddak who are seeking the hand of the Thuvia of Ptarth. When she is kidnapped by the sinister Prince Astok of Dusar, the entire planet is about to be thrown into a bloody war and Cathoris has to follow in his father's footstep and deal with savage beasts and phantom armies as he rescues Thuvia and saves Barsoom from a costly war. Of course, by the time he catches up with his beloved, Cathoris finds the situation is slightly more complicated than he thought, mainly because ERB never provides a smooth ending for his couples when he can avoid it.

"Thuvia, Maid of Mars" was originally serialized in "All-Story Weekly" in April 1916, which explains the novel's subtext about world war, since one was going on in Europe at that point in time. The original title was "Cathoris," but apparently when it was published as a novel in 1920 somebody wised up and changed it. Thuvia is not as great a name as Deja Thoris, but it is not bad. In many ways this is like the previous novel, "The Warlord of Mars," where the hero chases his beloved across the landscape of Barsoom and has to deal with green men and white apes. Fortunately, unlike ERB's Tarzan series, "Thuvia, Maid of Mars" is really the only time that repeats himself like this in the Martian series, which stands out as his best as he proves in the next and most inventive volume in the series, "Chessmen of Mars."

The Martian Tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs: a Princess of Mars; The Gods of Mars; The Warlord of Mars; Thuvia, Maid of Mars (1-4, Boxed set)
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The Martian Tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs: a Princess of Mars; The Gods of Mars; The Warlord of Mars; Thuvia, Maid of Mars (1-4, Boxed set)
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000IVVM4Y

A Princess of Mars + The Gods of Mars + The Chessmen of Mars + Thuvia Maid of Mars + The Warlord of Mars (MARTIAN TALES, 5 Volume Matched Set)
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A Princess of Mars + The Gods of Mars + The Chessmen of Mars + Thuvia Maid of Mars + The Warlord of Mars (MARTIAN TALES, 5 Volume Matched Set)

Manufacturer: Easton Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Leather Bound
ASIN: B000DZRDMA

Product Description

Here are the first five spellbinding adventures from Burroughs's classic science-fiction series. Each volume features a meticulously restored full-color frontispiece taken from the dust jacket of the original first editions.

Science Fiction Classics : 5 Complete Novels : Pellucidar, Thuvia - Maid of Mars, Tanar of Pellucidar, The Chessmen of Mars & The Master Mind of Mars

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Science Fiction Classics : 5 Complete Novels : Pellucidar, Thuvia - Maid of Mars, Tanar of Pellucidar, The Chessmen of Mars & The Master Mind of Mars
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Manufacturer: Castle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Mars | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000NRC904

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