Book Review: Thuvia Maid of Mars and The Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

If you have read my other reviews of the notorious ERB’s Martian novels, you’ll know that I have a soft spot for the series. The original trilogy centering on John Carter, a Civil War vet transported to the fantastical red planet, remains a personal favorite of mine in the “weird fiction” old school sci-fi genre. However by the end of the third book, the formula of gorgeous naked damsels in distress and brave swordsmen slicing up huge monsters, began to wear thin. Still I was determined to read the next two books centering on John Carter’s two children if only out of curiosity.

The first is Thuvia Maid of Mars, the tale of the eponymous Martian princess and love interest of John Carter’s son Carthoris. The second is The Chessmen of Mars, an adventure focused on John Carter’s daughter princess Tara and the quest by her would-be suitor Gahan who seeks to find her after she is lost in a storm. The structure of both stories is the same as it ever was; the heroines are repeatedly lost, kidnapped, stolen, or imprisoned in some way, and the heroes have to constantly search and fight for their lovers against all odds.

The differences between the two books is really just one of different obstacles for the heroes spawned from Burroughs’ great imagination. In Thuvia we get a mysterious city of pale-skinned mentalists who can create armies purely from their thoughts. In Chessmen we get giant spiders that ride around in human-shaped headless automatons.

Unfortunately that’s really where the differences end. Gahan and Carthoris as male leads don’t really feel that different from John Carter, and neither do Thuvia or Tara seem distinct from Dejah Thoris. Both of these books feel like retellings of the original A Princess of Mars just with a few tweaks. To a large extent this isn’t a bad thing since they’re still fun adventure stories. Burroughs knows his audience and is more than competent at riffing on his well-worn tropes. However it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Some surprises in characterization or narrative would have been nice. With Thuvia and Chessmen now completed, I am very much done with this series.

Grade: C+