Surprisingly disappointing conclusion to the initial "John Carter " series.* Less a third book in a trilogy than a literal continuation of the second Surprisingly disappointing conclusion to the initial "John Carter " series.* Less a third book in a trilogy than a literal continuation of the second book, picking up immediately where that one left off. What follows is basically one endless chase with none of the complex and creative world-building of the first two books; so that instead of inventive new races like the tharks and plant men, all we get here is yet another different-colored human race, (bringing us now up to white, black, red and yellow - so basically the "real" human spectrum as viewed at the time; I wonder if this was an ERB attempt at social commentary?).
And I do mean an endless chase. The whole point of the story is to reunite an even more violent and self-aggrandizing Carter with an even more beautiful but vacuous Deja Thoris. In fact, he rescues her at least three (or is it four?) times in the story, but then basically just "misplaces" her again through either his too-trusting nature or overall general dimness, because make no mistake - invincible warrior that he is, John Carter is not the sharpest crayon in the box. Our hair-trigger hero keeps walking straight into trap after trap, getting captured more easily and often than even James Bond, and only then escapes through the help of others or by suddenly remembering conveniently overheard conversations, (something which happens, like, constantly, as he regularly finds himself stumbling upon his various foes just in time to secretly hear them describe in copious detail their long-term plans, layouts of their lairs, how to use the secret equipment, etc.).
I have NO idea why the story's various villains just never killed Carter or Deja when they had endless opportunities to do so, (well, okay - apparently everyone immediately falls in love with Deja Thoris, so there's that; but still, she certainly seems more trouble than she's worth**).
I will give Burroughs extra points for basically predicting the internet with the following:
"The aid took us to his own office first, where he measured and…photographed us with a machine ingeniously designed for that purpose, five copies being instantly reproduced in five different offices of the government, two of which were located in other cities miles distant."
…but other than that, Warlord was a regrettable but thankfully short conclusion to a story that got off to such a strong start with Princess. Meanwhile, I was also not impressed with Burroughs' Caspak series - much preferred Conan Doyle's The Lost World - and have no real interest in Tarzan; so I'm guessing this is gonna be it for me and ERB. __________________________________
* Burroughs continued writing Carter and Barsoom books almost until his death in 1950. But while the next few books were Frank Herbert Children of Dune-like offspring sequels, he then branched out with totally unrelated Barsoom-based characters, with Carter himself only making the rare cameo appearance.
** Not really a spoiler, but if I were John Carter I would have dumped Deja Thoris for Phaidor in a heartbeat, as that girl really had some spunk. But then, Aragorn stuck with Arwen when he obviously coulda/shoulda gone with Éowyn, who was a total badass - so what do I know?...more
Dammit!! It's a cliffhanger! But as the third book in what is basically the "John Carter trilogy" - The Warlord of Mars - is considerably shorter, gueDammit!! It's a cliffhanger! But as the third book in what is basically the "John Carter trilogy" - The Warlord of Mars - is considerably shorter, guess I'll dive right into that. Anyway…
Before "Star Wars," before "Avatar," before "The Lord of the Rings" and well before "science fiction" even existed as a genre (such stories weren't even called "scientifiction" until 1926), there was…John Carter of Mars.
Dumb as they are, these stories are also just plain - if totally sexist and generally un-PC - fun, dopey language and all, (and narrator Scott Brick does a great job reading these stories with just the right wink in his voice). As described elsewhere, such books are "long on story and short on plot" - which is a perfect description for these silly tales of a beautiful Martian princesses and her sword-swinging Superman. And I'll say it here too - the much-maligned 2012 Disney film version was a lot of fun too, suffering more from abysmal studio marketing than from being an actual cinematic stinker. The arena fight against the white apes is far better than the similar scene in "Attack of the Clones," and the nicely edited and scored scene that intercuts Carter throwing himself into a hopeless one-man fight against about a million Warhoons and the burial of his earthly wife and child is truly touching.
COUPLA POINT ON THE STORY ITSELF: A self-professed atheist, Burroughs in this book tears a pretty big chunk out of organized religion, at least the extremist end of the spectrum. And looking at both the modern Christian Right and Muslim fundamentalists, I have to say he's not all that wrong. And while I'm tempted to wonder if his writing here was in any way influenced by "The Great War," this book was in fact published a year before the war began - so unless this was a really convoluted look at the various alliances that would lead to "world war," it was more likely just a synchronistic coincidence, because frankly, Burroughs just isn't that subtle. Case in point: for nearly 100 pages, Carter keeps staring at this young kid who kind of looks like him, is awfully light-skinned for a "red Martian," and both jumps and fights like the superhuman Earthling - and yet he is totally gobsmacked when he finally learns that the kid is his son.
BUT BACK TO THE MOVIE… Obviously had to watch it again after finishing the book, and a few thoughts here as well. The movie actually takes things from both Princess and Gods, in particular the Therns and a bit of the Issus/River Iss mythology, (I think the arena battle with the apes also comes more from the second book.) Disney also made a wise choice in having Deja Thoris be a sword-wielding badass in her own right, as opposed to the "help, save me!" bimbo of the books. And finally, from seeing the film version where it is the Thern's medallion and superior technology that transports Carter to Mars and back, I had forgotten about Burrough's totally unexplained and unsatisfying “mysterious astral projection" which in both books comes off as pretty WTF??
But yeah - fun books and even a descent movie if you're in the right mood. The "making of" extras on the DVD area also pretty interesting; especially for a former graphic designer, I was impressed to see that someone had actually designed individual and unique tattoos for each of the several hundred "red Martian" main characters and extras - yikes!...more
Just finished the second "John Carter" book (which I will review separately), but while I'm mainly listening to those during my too-short daily commutJust finished the second "John Carter" book (which I will review separately), but while I'm mainly listening to those during my too-short daily commute, I then come home and continue by reading along in this volume as well - the most recent (and probably last) addition to my thankfully small "ridiculously thick book bookshelf" (see below) - because seriously, who really reads those things? They're unwieldy and probably too heavy for their binding, and while it's nice to have "seven H.G. Wells novels in one 'convenient' book," if I actually want to read one of them, I'll probably just borrow a much more handy paper or audio version from the library.
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But…in this case I'm actually using and enjoying this, as it not only has a very nice introduction to both Burroughs and Barsoom, but also a handy glossary of all the Martian names and titles from the first five books…and THAT is indispensable....more
5 star concept, but ultimately only a 3+ execution, so an overall 4 and change.
The book is subtitled "the Martian Invasion of Earth as if witnessed b5 star concept, but ultimately only a 3+ execution, so an overall 4 and change.
The book is subtitled "the Martian Invasion of Earth as if witnessed by…," and as such sounded like a World War Z-type oral history expanding on H.G. Wells' original, as reported by various contemporary real-life writers and reporters around the world.
So sounds cool, right? And for a good while it was…but then the stories starting getting repetitive, and - since they were written separately by different authors and apparently without much coordination - sometimes contradictory, (for example, a young Picasso's experience of the Martians invading Paris is totally incompatible with an aged Jules Verne's version of the same attack). Also, by trying to write in (what I assume) are the original characters style, the overall writing of the book tends to lean towards a generic "old timey" tone rather than truly unique voices as in Brooks' WWZ masterpiece, (with a few exceptions, as noted below).
But in general these are minor complaints. I've always loved those timelines that show what was happening in China during Europe's Middle Ages, or what the Mayans were up to during the time of Christ. So in itself it was great fun to see just who was active where during these few weeks (or months, depending on the story) in 1900: Teddy Roosevelt in Cuba, Winston Churchill in South Africa. China's Dowager Empress staving off rival warlords, Tolstoy in Russia, etc., etc.
Despite the unavoidable repetition over time - Martians land in A, B, or C and either triumph or are defeated - there are some clever (occasionally too clever) touches in some of the stories: Jack London's extended war in the Yukon, where the Martians thrive in the cold and lack of bacteria; a young Einstein glimpsing the relativity of time when inadvertently trapped in a Martian fighting machine; Kipling fighting alongside real-life Kim and Mowgli. And there are several standout stories that are both particularly entertaining and accurately (as far as I can tell) capture the original authors' styles - Mark Twain trying to wrangle Martians on the Mississippi; a mystical Joseph Conrad in "the Kongo;" a suitably bizarro H.P. Lovecraft astrally travelling to the home planet via the Martian's extrasensory "color out of space" (which later became the title of both a Lovecraft short story and more recent Nic Cage movie), to discover Mars' own version of "the Elder Ones."
The book also ends on two nice, short pieces - a humorous, faux-scholarly paper on some "recently discovered" Dickinson poems describing the invasion, troubled only by the fact that Emily was 14 years dead at the time; and a short conclusion by Verne in which he paints a 1928 world surprisingly improved by the Martian attack, as despite the destruction it united Earth into a more humane and humanitarian place, free of at least one world war and seeking to perhaps even work with the surviving Martians to develop interplanetary peace and understanding.
In fact, the only story that really feels out of place is an Edgar Rice Burroughs tale set on Mars itself, where John Carter has to rescue his princess bride from the "bad" (i.e, Wells') Martians. But placing human - and human-like - races together on Mars just pulls you out of the overall tone and message of the greater and truly "alien" invasion, and so at least IMHO, the book would have really been better without it.
I picked this up at our local library's first post-COVID book sale - so $2 well spent, and a fun anthology for any fans of the original, as well as thematic sci-fi anthologies.
UPDATE: Wow...so just finished Season 5 of "The Expanse," and they did their usual oustanding job (with a few MAJOR changes from the book). HOWEVER - UPDATE: Wow...so just finished Season 5 of "The Expanse," and they did their usual oustanding job (with a few MAJOR changes from the book). HOWEVER - and I cannot stress this enough - if you go into the show without first reading the book, you will probably be way confused...
ORIGINAL REVIEW: Know I've gotten in trouble for saying this elsewhere,* but if I have the time to read 500 pages, it ain't going to be some "wait, I can explain…" political BS from the likes of Bill Barr or Kellyanne Conway - no sir, I'm heading straight back to "The Expanse"!
On top of which, I've also finally gotten Amazon Prime, so wanted to read this before I got into Season 5 of what is one of the best shows on TV, (are these things still called "TV shows"?). Anyway - can't really say anything about the story that's not said better in other reviews, but this was an excellent follow-up to Cibola Burns, bringing the action firmly back into our own solar system after a first trippy adventure beyond the rings. I will add that this is (I think) the first book where the four narrators are the four leads and crew of the Roci, Holden, Naomi, Alex and Amos; as well as the first without Miller, (not that he couldn't reappear in later books).
Probably won't revisit this until I'm ready to watch Season 6 - and have no idea how they're going to wrap up the final four books in just six final episodes - but they'll done well by Corey so far, so doubt they will disappoint.
* Feel free to read my review of Barr's One Damn Thing After Another and the following mixed bag of comments https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... - apparently (and among so many other things) I'm a trash person! :)...more
I have fond memories of collecting these cards when they came out in the very early 60's, and even moreso that Tim Burton'sHahaha...SURPRISINGLY GOOD.
I have fond memories of collecting these cards when they came out in the very early 60's, and even moreso that Tim Burton's 1996 film, this book really took me back. Part of it was the way Starks and Schweizer slyly incorporated some of the original cards in their "TV news coverage" of the attack:
[image] (original card - above - and as used in the book - below) [image]
...but also because this is also a much better (and more serious) story than that in the movie. It centers on a touching story about a young man and his estranged father, and in many ways is quite similar to the early Walking Dead graphic novels - basically just substitute martians for zombies.
On the artwork, illustrator Schweizer has a unique style that works surprisingly well here. He never varies his line weight - basically drawing everything with a single Sharpie - and then uses only unshaded solid colors:
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But within those limitations, he comes up with surprising levels of detail, atmosphere and subtlety. Combined with a panel layout that is often almost "cinematic," the end result is an unexpected pleasure - this version would make a good movie!
Below random pages highlight both Schweizers' subtle and bold use of color, as well as the "script storyboard"-like nature of certain pages:
Can't believe I never read this before, because I am (or at least thought I was) so familiar with the story. I mean, who isn't? One literally can't noCan't believe I never read this before, because I am (or at least thought I was) so familiar with the story. I mean, who isn't? One literally can't not know this story, at least it's basic structure; and along the way I've also thoroughly enjoyed the Spielberg/Cruise update a few years back as well as the excellent Jeff Wayne musical version released way back in...wow, 1978?
So okay...not really a 5-star book, but certainly a 5-star experience in terms of enjoyment, especially the audio version with Sean Barrett's outstanding, Burton-esque narration. And despite my familiarity with the story, there were still a few surprises along the way. For one thing, several critical chapters about the panicked exodus from London and the classic battle against the ironclad Thunderchild are told not from the narrator's POV, but from that of his brother - a minor point, but one that adds to the story's overall believability by reducing what would otherwise be the narrator's Zelig-like omnipresence.
Wells' writing holds up surprisingly well for being 120 years old - or at least when someone reads it aloud. His description about the crowds fleeing London are truly horrific; and sadly, humanity would probably react just the same way today.
My GF friend David has a nice review of the book here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..., in which he does a good job comparing Wells' fictional reaction to the Martians' arrival to how the natives in Africa or America must have felt when the British first "invaded" their shores - I have to confess I was so engrossed in the story (at least that's my excuse) that I totally missed that obvious analogy until he pointed it out.
Still, a little old-timey writing goes a long way, so despite having one of those Barnes & Noble "seven H.G. Wells stories in one volume" books, I'm probably good for a while. However, I recently ordered the double-CD "War of the Worlds - The New Generation" (only $5 new at Amazon), which is a 2012 "reimagining" of Jeff Wayne's original concept album; and I look forward to cranking it up during my morning commute - "ULL-laa" indeed!...more
Huh. Surprisingly good, although maybe because of the movie and my only other experience with Burroughs, (Land That Time Forgot and Out of Time's AbysHuh. Surprisingly good, although maybe because of the movie and my only other experience with Burroughs, (Land That Time Forgot and Out of Time's Abyss), I was going in with low expectations. But I really enjoyed this, to the point that I went out and bought one of those bargain Barnes & Noble "five books in one" compilations so I can (at some point) find out what happens next.
The language is what it is - it's still a book written over a hundred years ago. But where his imagination ran away with him in the totally implausible Abyss, here it lends itself to some very creative world building. This was published just 35 years after Schiaparelli's discovery of Mars' supposed "canals," and so was one of a spate of similar stories imaging what life on the Red Planet might be like, (you can see a list here; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_in...), a genre that extended well into the 1950's. That said, unlike, say, Wells' War of the Worlds (written six years before Princess) or Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, this falls firmly on the side of fantasy rather than science fiction, since there is zero attempt at any scientific accuracy here - Burroughs doesn't even try to explain how Carter gets to Mars and back (at least not in this first book); he just wakes up there.
Still, much of what passes for "science fiction" today owes a heavy debt to Burroughs' Martian saga. It can be easily argued that without Barsoom there would be no "Star Wars" (both Jabba the Hutt's barge and Leia's gold bikini are direct ripoffs, as is the Geonosis arena battle in "Attack of the Clones"); no "Flash Gordon;" no "Avatar," (and Burroughs does a far more subtle job of basing his green Tharks on Native Americans than James Cameron did with his blue Na'vi).
Anyway - very enjoyable and a good narration...so now time to rewatch the Disney movie and see if it's any better now that I know the source material!...more
Surprisingly good; if you can get past the lack of any scientific credibility, Winning Mars reminded me a lot of Ready Player One, in that it imaginedSurprisingly good; if you can get past the lack of any scientific credibility, Winning Mars reminded me a lot of Ready Player One, in that it imagined a near-future spin on reality TV similar to RPO's take on video games.
I'm assuming this was self-published, mainly based on the unfortunate number of proofreading errors. But if so, it otherwise had higher production values than most - a good and creative cover, clean design, etc. With the success of RPO and The Martian (which was also originally self-published), I would hope that Winning Mars gets picked up by a major publisher for its next printing, as it's certainly as good as - or better than - a lot of what's out there today....more
“Ender, Katniss, and now Darrow;” and “…reminiscent of The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones” says the “advance praise for Red Rising” on the dust jack“Ender, Katniss, and now Darrow;” and “…reminiscent of The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones” says the “advance praise for Red Rising” on the dust jacket, and that’s exactly the problem. Red Rising is reminiscent of – i.e., rips off – nearly everything: Braveheart, the Matrix, Hogwarts, Lord of the Rings, Wrath of the Titans, Gladiator and so much more. There’s hardly an original idea anywhere beyond the initial concept (the color-coded social structure) and setting (an underground Martian mining colony), but after only 60 pages of this, the story sinks quickly into full HG/GOT/LOTR mode. What a missed opportunity! With his Mars setting, Brown could have created a unique environment, technology and even style of warfare; but instead of giving us any kind of alien world or any alien characters, he merely gives us Westeros or Middle Earth – huge forests; mountain top fortresses; roaming wolf packs; armored cavalry; swords and arrows (sorry – that’s ionSwords and ionArrows); leadership squabbles solved by hand-to-hand duels. I never thought I’d say this, but Red Rising actually made me want to go back and rewatch Disney’s disappointing “John Carter.”
Admittedly, it increasingly looks like I’m just not a huge fan of this genre. I love good scifi and read a lot of YA - but I guess it's the combination that results in "young teens finding out that they're 'The One' and literally saving the world" that doesn't do it for me. But at least Hunger Games and The Maze Runner had interesting and semi-original premises, as well as some interesting characters. Darrow himself is a disappointment – he begins the story as the perfect Helldiver, and is then turned into an even more perfect “Gold” – he’s faster, smarter and overall better at everything than everybody else.
I previously gave up on this about 100 pages in; but I ran out of other things to read in the middle of a business trip, and so went back and finished it. But unless you find yourself in a similar situation, there is much better out there to read....more
Not a great book, not a bad book. A compelling story, but with a couple of obvious problems - best described in Davy-Gravy's negative review of the ulNot a great book, not a bad book. A compelling story, but with a couple of obvious problems - best described in Davy-Gravy's negative review of the ultra-annoying personality and diary-style of the hero, (brilliantly summed up by D-G as "a wacky douche"). This is the book that Shaggy would write if the Mystery Machine had crashed on Mars.
There's also way too much clever problem-solving. It's like sitting in a bar with a slightly drunk MacGyver telling you in excrutiating detail how he pulled off one of his missions: "As I mentioned, the Big Three (atmospheric regulator, oxygenator, and water reclaimer) are critical components. I worked around them for my trip to Pathfinder. I used CO2 filters to regulate the atmosphere, and brought enough oxygen and water for the whole trip...Problem is, they soak up a lot of power, and they have to run all day long. The rover batteries have 18 kilowatt-hours of juice. But the oxygenator alone uses 44.1 kilowatt-hours per sol. See my problem?"
Yes - and I still bet you're going to spend the next ten pages telling me how you solved it. And so by around page 230, the whole thing started reminding me of the Big Bang Theory episode where Sheldon finally meets James Earl Jones, (last TV reference, I promise - but you'll also understand where these are coming from when you read the book). Darth Vader turns out to be such a nerd himself, that Sheldon ends up constantly looking at his watch and wondering when the evening will ever end. And Mark Whatney is no Darth Vader.
But that said, the story itself was pretty good, and much of the science was outright fascinating, if overly textbooky, ("Sugar has 4000 food-calories per kilogram. One food-calorie is 4184 Joules. Sugar in zero-g will float and the grains will separate, maximizing surface area. In a pure-oxygen atmosphere...")
2018 UPDATE: Not sure why I tackled this again, other than it was staring out at me from the library's audiobook shelf. Still holds up as fiction - Br2018 UPDATE: Not sure why I tackled this again, other than it was staring out at me from the library's audiobook shelf. Still holds up as fiction - Bradbury's a great writer - but never really worked as science fiction, as there really isn't a trace of science anywhere to be found. Rocket travel to Mars is just a given, much as wagon travel is in a Western, and then it's really more "How the West Was Won" than "The Expanse." And 1940s-50s Bradbury (the stories were written between 1946 and 1958 before being assembled in the Chronicles) still envisioned a Year 2030 full of jukeboxes and phonographs, telephone lines and soda fountains, liverwurst sandwiches and orange soda, etc. - but then so much of his writing has always been a celebration of the post-WWII "golden age" of the American midwest.
There was one nice moment at the very end, where Bradbury comes closest to actual prescience:
Science ran too far ahead of us too quickly, and the people got lost in a mechanical wilderness, like children making over pretty things, gadgets, helicopters, rockets; emphasizinng the wrong items, emphasizing machines instead of how to run the machines…
Nice. Sad, scary, way too true...but nicely put. ____________________________________
ORIGINAL REVIEW: Visionary, speculative, wildly creative and just amazingly wrong - talking about Bradbury as much as the book itself. Can't imagine anyone reading it today, but man I loved this guy when I was a kid. I can still remember the 1980 mini-series on TV with Rock Hudson and Darren McGavin.
(Anyone else remember when Darren McGavin totally kicked Mako's ass in "The Challenge," fighting on some tropical island to decide the fate of the world - basically "Rambo" fifteen years before "Rambo"? Man, Darren McGavin...)...more
