Barsoom Series Collection: 7 John Carter Stories

The books are not the same as the Disney produced movie titled "John Carter". They are very similar, but it's clear that Disney took some liberties with the telling of the story within the movie. The first 4-5 stories in the Barsoom series are very engaging, but it's clear that the last two stories were not fully developed, and the last story does not appear to have been finished. If the movie caught your eye and imagination, then take the time to read this series. The writing style is a little convoluted in some sentences, and there are some noticeable grammatical errors, but all things considered this is still a great series to read.

Used these books for relaxing and entertaining reading. Science Fiction is not usually my choice but I was curious about Edgar Rice Burroughs books other than Tarzan. Found the details of Mars people very well done. I am a sucker for strong heros and John Carter certainly was that. I found the books well worth the price and have read them more than once. There is never a boring moment.

Let me begin by saying I am not an avid Sci-Fi reader. In fact, I normally don't read this genre. So why did I download THE ADVENTURES of "John Carter on Mars" - THE ORIGINAL FIVE STORIES? I'm not sure. Maybe because I had been reading H. Rider Haggard's "Allan Quatermain" series and saw a similarity between the stories about AQ and JC. Both are chock-full of adventure and nonstop action; take place in exotic locations: Africa and Mars; and both are easy to read while I jog on my treadmill. There are probably other reasons, but maybe they're of a subconscious nature.The storyline of "A Princess of Mars" (The first book in the series.) has already been mentioned, so I won't say too much more about it. Generally, though, it's a story about creatures who are always at war, the green Martians (ugly, very tall and unemotional) vs the red Martians (attractive, human-like and full of emotion).There is a lot of warring going on on the planet Barsoom/Mars with green Martians against red Martians and greens against other greens and reds battling other reds. Who, then, comes between them all and is captured at one time or another by both sides, wins some of their green and red hearts, is betrayed by green and red, imprisoned here and there, and ultimately...? None other than earth man John Carter, ex-captain in the CSA during the American Civil War, and unwitting traveler to this strange world. There is also a love story sandwiched in between the action and adventure segments. John Carter falls in love with the beautiful princess Dejah Thoris (red Martian) who is the reason for all of the above mentioned conflict.If you can really suspend disbelief and remember that this was written in 1911, then you will thoroughly enjoy reading this series. 4 Stars

I managed to slog my way through this set of five stories, which contain an endless see-saw of semi-interesting action/adventure and dull, repetitive language and plot devices. Ultimately it held my interest just enough, with the first three books holding up much better than the final two. The John Carter series is somewhat refreshing due to Burroughs' writing style, which differs so much from today's literature. It's rather simplified, no nonsense narration. This works well enough throughout, except that it leads to monotonous language and overused phrases that get a bit tiresome, especially when the plot happens to be lagging ("Stygian darkness," anyone?).Perhaps it's another byproduct of Burroughs' era, but the female characters in these stories are somewhat neglected and poorly developed. While I don't begrudge Deja Thoris' role as a minor character in the first three novels since John Carter is the hero, she seems like a character deserving of more attention and respect than the "damsel in distress" role she's been relegated to. The fourth and fifth stories focus on female heroines, but unfortunately they are also fairly weak characters (the major reason these two books suffer compared to the first three). Why John Carter's daughter hasn't inherited the same physical prowess as his son--which would help her out of several difficult situations--is a mystery to me, except that she wouldn't fit the damsel role Burroughs insists on assigning to all of his females.In some cases, the ignorance of logic by major characters or decisions by the author to send the plot in a particular direction are a bit absurd. People of Barsoom apparently possess poor eyesight or suffer a lot of memory loss, since supposedly familiar faces go unrecognized over and over and over throughout the books, often with little in the way of disguise. An entire war is started over a woman in Book 4, yet the story ends abruptly without the conflict ever being resolved. There were a few too many head-scratching moments forced into the stories simply as a cheap way to increase conflict or heighten tension.The series has its strengths, particularly when it focuses on John Carter as a mysterious superhero in a strange land. There's no question that the guy can kick butt and take names. It never gets old when he surprises a new foe who isn't familiar with his fighting and physical prowess. The introduction and descriptions of the various races and cultures is also quite thorough, which gives the whole setting of Barsoom a stronger, more believable backbone. But ultimately, you can't ever ignore the fact that this was all written nearly a century ago. The antiquated writing style differs from what we're used to, and not in an entirely bad way, but the character treatment and plot devices do seem a bit dusty.Is it worth the 99 cents? Yes. But this is a collection that is more likely to be backup reading on a long flight than an engrossing story you'll expect to plow through voraciously.

I haven't read these books since the 1970s, but I found them just as enthralling as they were 40 years ago. The writing style is rather primitive, with characters launching into long monologues which are a bit artificial, but the stories are very readable and very imaginative - especially when you realise when these were written i.e. just over 100 years ago, when little was known about Mars at all. The language and morals are obviously very dated, but that's part of the charm of older books - it gives you an insight into how people thought at that time. What is interesting, though, is Burroughs' equal treatment of all races, with no trace of discrimination at all - quite unusual for his time, and refreshing to see. It's also good to see the original book covers, even if the illustrations are a bit small (apart from the main cover pic).It's worth comparing the original Princess of Mars story with the  John Carter (Blu-ray 3D / Blu Ray 2D) [Region Free ] film as it makes you realise how good Burroughs' story-telling is - there's a lot to like about the film, but it didn't have the same sort of charm (for me, anyway) that the original story had. But I did love the on-screen version of the (big) Green Men, the Tharks - just how I imagined them to be!I would have given this edition 5-stars as I loved the stories, but I docked one star as this e-book implementation isn't brilliant i.e. line flow of the first book is all over the place, with line breaks mid-way through sentences; not sure whether this is because it was targeted as a different e-reader (I have a Kindle Paperwhite), but it does look like this was was rushed out without proper checking. Subsequent books were fine, though. Anyway, at £1.52 it's a bargain - you soon learn to ignore the odd line-breaks and just enjoy the stories. John Carter (Blu-ray 3D / Blu Ray 2D) [Region Free

I downloaded the Amazon Kindle & some of the free books. I now have it on my laptop, my Android Tablet & my new Sony Z2 mobile. I saw the John Carter books advertised which I first read when I was around 12 - 13 years old (55 years ago). I'd read Tarzan Of The Apes, enjoyed it & decided to read some more of ERB's offerings & found the Mars series. I've also watched the recent John Carter film & thought "Yeah, why not" & decided to relive my early teenage years. The books are just as good as I remember although probably a bit dated in the writing now compared to the modern style of writing. Thoroughly enjoyed them (again). However, trust the damned film people to add their own slant to it by allowing the hero to jump impossible distances (that would kill him when he landed) rather than sticking to ERB's restrictions to his hero which had been obviously well researched prior to writing the books. Far more believable. Having said that, I did enjoy the film & would watch any sequel. Childhood memories - oh so good!!

Very much enjoyed the John Carter film and I used to be very fond of the 'Tarzan' series when I was younger so I thought that I'd give this a go. Obviously 'books of their time' but it is fairly easy to ignore the masculine 'women are there to be rescued' motif as at least he puts in 'respect' and 'love' (often, sadly, missing these days [says old fogey] ) They are non stop breakneck action / adventure. Do not bother if you wish to get involved with the author's philosophical view of the world - Edgar Rice Burroughs doesn't do 'grey areas' / moral conflict and murky politics. He is all about 'courage', 'honour' and 'duty' - and maybe non the worse for that.Extraordinarily advanced for their time (the first book was written over 100 years ago) these books, about a Southern Cavalry Captain (American Civil War era) finding his way to the planet Mars and his adventures thereon, were the blueprint for all modern science fantasy. (AS you read 'Princess of Mars' think about the plot for 'A New Hope' the first filmed Star Wars (but actually 4th in series) - pretty derivative huh!I was also impressed by the understated anti-racism message. People on Mars are Blue, Red (while the repression of native Americans was happening) Yellow and Black and there are some bad, some good in each bracket - but each group, just people.Didn't give it full stars 'cos they do get a bit 'samey' after a while - don't read them all at once!Ali X

Whilst enjoyable to have the whole John Carter saga in one ebook.....in comparison with more recent Science Fiction.....this does seem rather 'old-fashioned'. I much preferred the 'Journey into Space' saga, which is now 50 years old! Nevertheless, E.Rice Burroughs is well worth revisiting.

I read the paperback books many,many years ago,and now find I had forgotten most of the stories,and caractersso it was a nice suprise to reaquaint myself with them. looking forward to the 5 books I have just bought.Would recommend anyone interested to give them a read