John Carter of Mars: The Collection - A Princess of Mars; The Gods of Mars; The Warlord of Mars; Thuvia, Maid of Mars; The Chessmen of Mars Kindle Edition

After seeing the movie I felt compelled to read the books again. I'd read them as a small boy centuries ago and had largely forgotten about them until the movie was released and the memories returned but were mostly blurry. I mean, I could recall how amazing they were, but most of the details had long since faded away. I remembered Sola and Tars Tarkas and Dejah Thoris but that was about it. But the original excitement of the books was still vital and strong. I had thought of them occasionally over the years when George Lucas and James Cameron and many others thoroughly plundered the entire John Carter catalogue. I mean, I loved "Avatar" but the Na'vi are so obviously descendants of the Tharks, for just one example. Mr. Cameron had to make Neytiri beautiful in an alien way, so there were some changes made but the Thark spirit is still there, alive and well. As for George Lucas, forget it. He basically just changed the names and a few other details and called it all his own. I greatly anticipated "John Carter" and was crazy about it when I saw it and I felt inspired to try the books again. Unfortunately, Edgar Rice Burroughs is long, long, long gone from my local library and mall bookstores. So I got this book and it's perfect. The 1st 5 JC of Mars books in one 7.5" x 9.75" x .625" paperback. The complete books with tables of content, original color covers and B&W illustrations, rules of Martian chess (!!!) and a glossary. WOW! Now I'm just an old nerd, but these books make me feel like a 5-yr-old nerd again. Another one I have to find is "Synthetic Men of Mars". I can still clearly remember one of the illustrations from that book to this very day: "There on a table before me, lay my body." WOW!Another issue is that Disney radically bungled the marketing of the film and it bombed as disastrously as if it had been deliberately sabotaged. So we won't see any sequels and ERB will never be credited with another movie again, although he will certainly continue to be robbed over and over, same as always. His books greatly deserved to stand on their own but the irony is that any ERB movies will be seen as imitations of those who in fact extensively copied him, just like "JC" was. So we have to settle for the books themselves and the one movie. But it was fantastic to see Sola and Tars and Dejah and good old noble John himself on the screen even if only for one time.So anyway, this edition is ingeniously packaged and will bring back many memories and much delight for ERB fans everywhere. He clearly had his limtations as a writer but his imagination was second to none. His many original creations were incredible and deserve to be remembered as the template for most of sci-fi and fantasy books and movies.

This is a collection of Edgar Rice Borroughs' (author of the "Tarzan" books) "John Carter Of Mars" series. Written in the early 20th century, some of the sci-fi aspects such as "radium engines" and "ray tanks" have not stood the passage of time well, but it makes great fantasy even in this 21st century.This large-format book (it is a big book, see dimensions) contains five John Carter books: A Princess Of Mars, The Gods Of Mars, The Warlord Of Mars, Thuvia Maid Of Mars and The Chessmen Of Mars. The story begins with the Earth-man John Carter mysteriously transported to Mars where he finds himself lost in an alien world of constant warfare and alien peoples, races and species. John Carter's body, used to the gravity of Earth, seems to have super-human strength and leaping ability on Mars which he uses to his advantage. I don't want to have any "spoilers" for those who haven't read any of Burroughs' works, but suffice to say there's an entire new world of adventure and derring-do in these books!I want to point out that Burroughs is a product of his time and there is no sex, cursing or the arrogant anti-heroes of today in his books. Those who choose to read these books will not be disappointed though for the author is a fine writer and uses language that is both more sophisticated than the slang-filled writing all too common today and often very beautiful in it's descriptions. The hero is brave, honorable, noble and merciful even to defeated enemies - the ideal hero of Burroughs' time which, I think, will still resonate for many today.I think Edgar Rice Burroughs was an excelent popular writer of his day and if the sci-fi devices don't work well, the fantasy aspects are still very enjoyable and will keep you turning pages! Five stars!

My Dad introduced my brothers and I to this series of books when we were children, dimestore novels that he'd purchased when he himself was younger. I thoroughly enjoyed reading them then, and reading them again now is an equally enjoyable experience. Obviously technology since these stories were written has proven that there are no tribes of martian warriors or red men wandering the barren deserts of Mars, but all it takes is a little imagination and suspension of disbelief to still enjoy these books. I'm sure they won't appeal to everyone, but if you are a fan of action and adventure stories in a science fiction setting, I highly recommend this collection.

I read so many of Burroughs books as a teenage boy ; it's easy to get lost in the worlds he creates and caught up in the heroes and characters he fills these worlds with. Now , finally , I see that Disney is going to release "John Carter of Mars " as a movie in 2012.Totally Awesome!!!! That's something I've wanted to hear for years! These books really are worthy of being brought to the big screen. So, of course,after hearing that the movie will be out in March of 2012, I decided to refresh my memory with Captain Carter's exploits. This book really fills the bill: it includes the first five of the books in one volume . You'll be up reading late into the night..... The price is very reasonable, and the original cover art is a real bonus. Now , let's hope that Purple Rose Publishing will release the remaining seven books as a companion volume. Let's also hope that Disney does justice to the books when they make the movie; I am especially interested in seeing the giant, green, four-armed Tars Tarkas, Jed of the Tharks. Thank you for making it easy to collect these books again.

The second book is like pulling teeth, but all of the other books were interesting to read in their own right. I can see that most folks would probably drop off easily unless they are like me and want to know more about Barsoom as a universe. I was actually surprised at the topics and ideas presented for its time. I liked it, but perhaps not for everyone.