A Princess of Mars is an Edgar Rice Burroughs science fiction novel, the first of his famous Barsoom series. It is also Burroughs first novel, predating any of his famous Tarzan novels.
Though later published in book form, the story was first published in serial form as "Under the Moons of Mars" in All-Story in 1912.
The story
John Carter, an American Civil War veteran, goes prospecting in Arizona and, when set upon by Indians, is mysteriously transported to Mars. Called "Barsoom" by its inhabitants, Carter finds that he has demigod-like strength on this planet, due to its lesser gravity. Carter is soon captured by "Tharks ", the planet's warlike, four-armed, green inhabitants.
Eventually Carter escapes from the Tharks and rescues the princess Dejah Thoris , one of the humanoid red martian race.
Except for some jewelry, all of the planet's races seem to eschew clothing and look down upon Earth's inhabitants because they do wear clothing. Burroughs describes Dejah Thoris, more or less representative of the red Martian race, thus:
- And the sight which met my eyes was that of a slender, girlish figure, similar in every detail to the earthly women of my past life... Her face was oval and beautiful in the extreme, her every feature was finely chiseled and exquisite, her eyes large and lustrous and her head surmounted by a mass of coal black, waving hair, caught loosely into a strange yet becoming coiffure. Her skin was of a light reddish copper color, against which the crimson glow of her cheeks and the ruby of her beautifully molded lips shone with a strangely enhancing effect.
- She was as destitute of clothes as the green Martians who accompanied her; indeed, save for her highly wrought ornaments she was entirely naked, nor could any apparel have enhanced the beauty of her perfect and symmetrical figure.
Full of swordplay and daring feats, the story is a classic example of the 20th centuries pulp fiction. Though considered science fiction at the time of its publication, A Princess of Mars, due to its inaccuracies in astronomical information (such as, the atmosphere of Mars actually being able to sustain human life), is today regarded more as pure fantasy.
Legacy
This book and its series are noted as inspiration of many later science fiction authors and scientists. Ray Bradbury and Carl Sagan note these stories as early inspiration for their work.
Alexei Tolstoy 's novel Aelita (1922) also presents a princess of Mars, but has a Leninist point of view.
The copyright for this story has expired and, thus, now resides in the public domain. The text is available via Project Gutenberg.
Feature film
A full-length feature film of this story has been attempted and aborted many times. Finally, a project is underway that may actually come to fruition. The feature film version of A Princess of Mars is due to be released in 2006. Kerry Conran of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow fame is scheduled to direct the feature.
See also
External links
Last updated: 08-07-2005 08:41:15
