Barsoom.
A dying world with bizarre life forms,
advanced technologies, and people eking out a living as savage
tribes.
Into this crazy vision of Mars steps
one John Carter; Virginian, Fortune Seeker, Civil War Veteran. After
things go bad in Arizona, the method by which he arrives on Mars is
vague, but once there, he learns that coming from Earth's higher
gravity gives him greater physical strength and agility, putting him
on even footing with the native giant Tharks. Earning an uneasy place
among the tribe of four-armed giant Green Martians, he soon meets
Dejah Thoris, the headstrong princess of Helium, strongest city-state
of the dominant Red Martians.
What follows is a love story that
conquers worlds.
Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote this in 1912
(under the pen name “Norman Bean”) and first serialized it as
Under the Moons of Mars in
The All-Story (one of
Argosy's many name
changes over its lifetime). It was an immediate success and that same
year he wrote the first Tarzan story.
In 1917, the story was published in hardcover as A Princess
of Mars.
That
this is a debut novel/story is staggering. While the prose may be
frequently utilitarian and more than a few plot moments happen
because Carter is in the right place at the right time (and the means
by which he travels to Mars is flimsy as hell), Burroughs' world
building is some of the best I've ever read. Barsoom is lovingly
described as a beautiful and deadly world. Every chapter has some
kind of action or tension or discovery. Martian blood flows freely,
whether its Carter beating a white ape to death with a rock or one
Green Warhoon gutting another with his tusks.
And
yet despite all this savagery, Carter is able to bring the best out
of people by helping them and holding true to his own personal code
of honor. Thanks to the compassionate Sola and the noble Tars Tarkas,
he teaches the Tharks the value of friendship. He throws an arena
fight to help a Red Martian named Kantos Kan earn his freedom, who
repays that kindness later on. Even Woola, a big ugly dog-like calot,
becomes his first and most loyal companion. Yes, I suppose if you
step back a bit it seems a little silly, but its so earnest and
heartfelt that you can't help but root for Carter to succeed.
Because
John Carter is a Hero, and wherever he goes, he makes the world a
better place, because that's what Heroes do.
Reading
it now, I can't help but notice that this is essentially ground zero
for 20th
Century Science Fiction/Fantasy. 26 years before Superman, John
Carter was jumping over tall buildings. D&D's Dark Sun setting is
a love letter to Barsoom, right down to every living thing being
telepathic at some level. Robert E. Howard's tough heroes with rigid
codes of honor and loyalty have kinship with Burroughs. A. Merrit's epic love stories and wild
world building seek the same lofty heights. Even Carl Sagan loved the series so much growing up
that he apparently had a map of Barsoom hanging outside his office at
Cornell.
This
is a book of wild imagination, larger-than-life heroism, and
unbridled adventure.
This
isn't simply recommended reading for understanding the history of
Science Fiction and Fantasy. It is essential,
and a damn fun read.
3 comments:
I think the method of transport was *deliberately* weak. He didn't much care how Carter got there, and saw no need to distract the reader with fiddling details that would never come up again.
Like Andre Norton many years later, who kicked off her Witch World novels with a man on the run fom the law, "escaping" the cops forever with the help of the stone that was once the Siege Perilous. Do you *really* care about the transdimensional physics?
Ultimately its unimportant to the story, except for setting up a sequel hook at the end leaving the audience wanting more. It was wise to gloss over it.
My father gave me the first three Barsoom books when I was five, and I have yet to recover from their spell. Friendship, Heroism, Love as I know them have been colored by these books.
What Heroes Do, indeed.
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