Book Review: Gods of Mars & Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

I read A Princess of Mars several months ago and enjoyed it so much I decided to continue with the John Carter saga. I am glad I did as the next two books Gods of Mars and Warlord of Mars are a lot of fun. However I wouldn’t classify them as must-reads. Burroughs justifiably gets a lot of flack for his tropes — his plucky yet invincible heroes, his damsels in distress, his goofy alien cultures — but if we take the stories for what they are I think there is much to appreciate. Gods of Mars finds our hero John Carter mysteriously transported back to Mars after ten years on Earth. He reunites with his big green muscular friend Tars and the two end up fighting their way through a hidden city connected to the planet’s mysterious religion.

The conspiracy of the white and black martians and their cult is an interesting concept that, frankly, Burroughs doesn’t care to explore too much. The essence of the book is just John Carter fighting all sorts of strange aliens and monsters to save his lost princess Dejah Thoris. The bittersweet ending sees her trapped in a strange prison. Warlord of Mars takes it from there and tells the story of John’s journey into Mars arctic and the land of the even more mysterious yellow martians. Following the same beats as A Princess of Mars, for me the narrative got a bit tired toward the end. Still it’s all good pulpy fun with lots of dramatic sword fights and a very cozy ending. It’s a fun universe worthy of comics, cartoons, and PG-13 movies. Not sure I’ll be going much deeper into the books though (there are seven more!).

Grade: B-