James Nicoll Reviews

1913’s The Gods of Mars is the second volume in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom series.

Tragically separated from his beloved Martian Princess Dejah Thoris when he was transported back to Earth, John Carter has worked out how to deliberately work the trick of interplanetary displacement he inadvertently experienced in A Princess of Mars. It’s back to Mars — or as its inhabitants call it, Barsoom — for Virginian¹ John Carter.

When one considers how small Mars is compared to the whole of the universe, manifesting in the wrong region isn’t such a huge error. Unfortunately for Carter, he has landed in the Valley Dor, from which escape is surely impossible.

But who would want to escape Heaven?

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1912’s A Princess of Mars is the first book in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ interminable Barsoom series. 

Having fought on the losing side of the Slavers’ Uprising, Captain John Carter heads west to see what he can steal from North America’s indigenous population. Cornered by a Native American warband, death seems inevitable … but as is the way of portal series, Carter finds himself transported to an entirely unfamiliar world. 

Carter is on dying Mars, or as its inhabitants call it, Barsoom. 

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