John Carter of Mars - What am I missing?

So I checked out "Princess of Mars" a couple of weeks ago from the library, and even though it's a really, really short books, I'm still only about 3/4 through the book. And I think it's just OK.

I was expecting to really like it, I love Howard, I love Lovecraft, but so far Burroughs isn't doing much for me. Granted I haven't read any of the Tarzans or his other series, but John Carter of Mars doesn't have the wordiness of Lovecraft or the sheer energy of Conan.

So, what am I missing that inspires such devoted Carter fans?

I haven't read the Mars series, although I have meant to do it for a long time... I did read The Land That Time Forgot and the other two books in the series and really enjoyed them. It's got a big mystery that's revealed through the three books, with small hints here and there that leave you wondering with suspense, but also great adventures and action. I really recommend those...

I strongly agree with your assessment. I also love the work of Howard, Lovecraft and other older "speculative fiction" authors such as Verne and Wells. I was surprised at how plodding and unengaging the "princess" novel was, and I barely made it through the book, much less have any interest in the rest of the Mars series. I did fly through the first few books of the "Tarzan" series which were a bunch of blood filled aggressive fun!

Sounds like my opinion of "Dune".

Mine too, actually. I really like the first book, but there really is a lot of plodding, pseudo-philosophical crapola you have to ignore. The world and the adventure/intrigue aspects of it are entertaining though. Everything after the first book is just garbage.

Certain books are best enjoyed at a certain age, like Hardy Boys books in grade school. I believe that John Carter's adventures should be read no later than early teens, a time when the prospect of a nekkid Dejah Thoris is still exciting to a young imagination.

Well, it is a very, very dated book even though there were some SF concepts in it that were way ahead of their time. I like the book more for its concepts and ideas than for the actual writing, which is in fact pretty turgid and sluggish.

I'd say drop it at PRINCESS OF MARS if you're not digging it. The rest of them follow along the same style/tone/template. I've read three or four of them, and I love the character and all but it's one where I'm actually kind of looking forward to the movie so I can get the story without plowing through a barely OK book.

Pixar is doing the movie. I doubt everybody will be naked in it, though.

Michael Barnes wrote:

Pixar is doing the movie. I doubt everybody will be naked in it, though.

I don't think Pixar studios is doing it (though I may be wrong) just one of the guys at the head of Pixar is running this show. It will be live-action. Willem Dafoe has been signed for the movie.

Maybe he'll reprise his role as Bobby Peru...

Yeah, I guess I missed the boat on it. When I was 14 I was reading The Simarillion, Dune, and The Foundation series. Guess I skipped the simpler stuff.

I really do like the concept: former Confederate soldier winds up on mars, fights aliens, rescues a princess, but the pacing is kind of slow and the action not very adventurous. Bit of a let down.

Yeah I heard Pixar was doing a live action John Carter, which is part of why I started reading the book. That and I forget who around here is making a Carter prototype.

I wish the library had some Solomon Kane stuff though, I'm itching to read some of that.

I think you'll be a lot more impressed with Solomon Kane...it's a lot darker for one thing, and for another it's Howard. At his best, Howard was far and away the best _writer_ of that generation...which is really kind of post-Burroughs as it stands.

Supposedly the unreleased SOLOMON KANE film is really good.

Well... this thread finally gave me the push to read this book and so far I think it's pretty much ok too. Nothing fantastic, but enjoyable enough... I didn't find the pace to be too slow, and it has lots of action with a few nice twists, but it does feel dated. I can't see it as science fiction even though the story happens on mars, because it feels more like a fantasy story (mixed with a super-hero one).

Anyway, to people that didn't enjoy this one, do give The Land that Time Forgot a chance. I think it's a better read (although also basically an adventure book)

BTW, (just in case) most of these old books are now on under public domain and can be downloaded from the Gutenberg project...

In terms of R.E. Howard, no one want's to say it, but forget about ARNOLD and read the CONAN stuff. It's amazing. That and his Western stories are my favorites. Everything he wrote is great, but read CONAN. Really.

I really enjoy them.

Sure some of it is eye-rolling stuff, but the world is great and when there is action, it is quite fun. The first 70 pages of the second book is one giant protracted sword fight. I'm a sucker for pulpy adventure (I love King Solomon's Mine as well) so perhaps I'm can't give an unbiased opinion.

For me, I found these book to be fun, and good or not, that was enough for me.

I love Howard and Lovecraft as well, but despite the fact that all three of these authors are in the same genre, none of them had a writing style similar to each other, so it seems strange to compare him to them as a pair. I will give him credit for being the least racist of the three despite having Red and Black men in the books.