Edgar Rice Burroughs
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Subjects -> Science Fiction & Fantasy -> Authors, A-Z -> ( B ) -> Burroughs, Edgar Rice -> General
Subjects -> Science Fiction & Fantasy -> Authors, A-Z -> ( B ) -> Burroughs, Edgar Rice -> Paperback
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17
Average rating: 4.5 of 5
WONDERFUL STUFF HERE 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
I must admit to having sort of cut my teeth on the stories of John Carter and this author. Here the tale continues. I enjoy SiFi and enjoy pulp fiction. Here we have some of the best of both. The author's imagination is without match and his characters truely jump off the page. I first started reading the John Carter series well over fifty years ago, and must admit to going back ever few years and rereading the entire group. This is one of my favories. Recommend this one highly.
The Fate Worse than Death 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 4 people found this review helpful.
"Do you know where we are going?" she said.
"To solve the mystery of the eternal hereafter, I imagine," I replied.
"I am going to a fate worse than that," she said, with a little shudder.
"What do you mean?"
-- _The Gods of Mars_
In a delightful article, "Edgar Rice Burroughs and the Fate Worse than Death," Richard D. Mullen (1969-70) gives a detailed table of Edgar Rice Burroughs novels from 1911 through 1915. In them, he lists the times and circumstances in which a heroine is threatened with rape (the "fate worse than death") and how she is saved in the proverbial nick of time. (As you may know, an Edgar Rice Burroughs heroine is frequently unclothed but always pure and virtuous.) For those readers interested in such statistics, there are 76 cases recorded by Mullen.
In _The Warlord of Mars_ (_Argosy_, 1913-14), there are at least three such incidents recorded for our moral edification. In each case, Dejah Thoris is the threatened heroine. In the first case, she is threatened by the yellow Martian king Salensus Oll (even his name is oily). In the second instance, she is kidnapped by the white Martian Matai Shang, his brave but ruthless daughter Phaidor, and the black Martian Thurid. And in the third case, she is menaced by a band of yellow Martians, who plan to preserve her "as a plaything for [the] nobles" (151).
Mullen states that in each case, Dejah Thoris is rescued by the stalwart John Carter. This is certainly true of the first and third cases. But it is not strictly true in the second case. Carter certainly _attempts_ to save her, but he is not really very effective. It is disagreement and double-crossing among the villains that really preserves the honor of the Princess. (Burroughs heroines are frequently rescued by the hero, or they may save themselves. On rare occasions, the menacer may have a change of heart. Sometimes Providence-- in the form of lions, earthquakes, or passing pterodactyls-- may lend a hand.)
All of the previous incidents occur in the latter chapters of the novel. But the sharp-eyed reader may have noted that I said that there were "at least three" fate-worse-than death scenarios in _Warlord_. There is in fact a fourth one as well, and it is truly remarkable. Near the end of chapter one, Matai Shang and Thurid, on friendier terms than they are at the close of the novel, are in a boat plotting how to make John Carter's life more miserable. Unbeknownst to them, Carter is following in another boat and listening to them. They have Dejah Thoris prisoner. Thurid generously allows Matai Shang first turn: "You shall have your way with her before another day has passed" (15). Carter refrains from slaying "the vile plotters" (16) only because they are the only ones who can lead him to Dejah Thoris. And then... _Matai Shang never gets around to having his way with the princess for the next twelve chapters_! This is not quite a record in Burroughs's novels. In _The Gods of Mars_, we learn that Thuvia has been a slave to the white Martians for 15 years without being molested. Still Dejah Thoris's good fortune is certainly worthy of comment.
One final note. The female speaking in the quote above is _not_ a virtuous heroine. It is the imperious, willful, sometimes villainous Phaidor who will attempt to kill Dejah Thoris on several occasions. Perhaps some future Burroughs scholar will compile a list of Not So Nice Girls who are menaced by the fate worse than death.
Editorial Review:
Far to the north, in the frozen wastes of Polar Mars, lay the home of the Holy Therns, sacred and inviolate. Only John Carter dared to go there to find his lost Dejah Thoris. But between him and his goal lay the bones of all who had gone before.
