I discovered this book by Edgar Rice Burroughs after I found out that Andrew Staton (director of Wall-E) was directing a movie based off of it.

Here's a little plot summery.
"John Carter, a Confederate American Civil War veteran, goes prospecting in Arizona and, when set upon by Indians, is mysteriously transported to Mars, called "Barsoom" by its inhabitants. Carter finds that he has great strength on this planet, due to its lesser gravity. Carter soon falls in among the Tharks, a nomadic tribe of the planet's warlike, four-armed, green inhabitants. Thanks to his strength and combat abilities he rises in position in the tribe and earns the respect and eventually the friendship of Tars Tarkas, one of the Thark chiefs."

I found the book to my surprise much better than I could hope. It is extremely exciting and the best sci-fi story I've ever read. His first person writing of the book worked really well and the themes of love and hate were well done.
I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in sci-fi. I think this book really influenced all science fiction after it came out.

Content warnings.
It is mentioned early on in the book that everyone on Mars does not wear clothing. (I just imaged everyone wearing clothes anyway cause that's kind of weird. But it never really bothered me.)
Also there is a lot of violence. Not really detailed violence like describing which tendon was ripped off or that sort of thing but there many people who are shot, stabbed, and jump off of flying ships.

Cool, I'm glad you liked it. I got it free on my kindle, but haven't read it yet. The entire series was free actually because it is public domain. I'm more likely to read it now. The free and old aspects have made me unjustifiably disinterested.

I read it on the internet, free always makes a book better.
I think I was 10 when I realized that just because a book is old (and has worms) doesn't mean it's bad.

I really enjoyed this book, and the entire series, actually. It does appear to have had a huge influence on science fiction (including Star Wars), and perhaps to some extent, even fantasy. All the books are crammed full of action and originality.

Other than the violence and the clothing issue, there are some theological issues related to evolution and the like, but that's all the content issues I remember.

Interesting. Semi on-topic, do you have any information about the related movie? Seeing as I adore Wall-E, I'd be interested in Staton's other work. But, given the content issues of the book, it's hard to say what the movie will be rated.

There is very little info on the movie as of yet. It is being produced by Pixar and Disney.
(I imagine they will be clothed in the movie )

I'm impressed Disney is making this into a movie. It doesn't seem like one they'd make, but maybe they're trying to jump on the pulp/superhero renaissance.

It has real potential for a movie. The whole time I was reading it I was thinking this would look great!

(pss! Whackem! If you haven't read this you should. I think you would really like this one.)

HA ha yeah it didn't really bother me at all I didn't even realize it till half way through the book.

So did I that's why I wasn't paying as much attention since I was driving.

Going to read the sequel now.

The sequel is... quite wild.

Is it better the first one?

I don't know about better, but it's at least as good. And like I said, wilder. I think you'll see what I mean when you read it.

Can't wait!

Well, I will get this on my Kindle to read tonight! Thanks for recommending Joe.

Hope you like it! Tell us what you think when you're done.


I've started the second book and I must like it so far since I've read 8 chapters in one sitting. It is quite wild.

I read both the sequels comprising of the "trilogy" Both were fun but they were kind of rehashes of the first one.

I have bought it and have started reading it, will let you know when finished.

Pixar! Okay, I'm not worried about rating, then. And I am VERY intrigued!

They're going to release it as a Disney movie and give it a PG-13 rating like Pirates of the Caribbean and Prince of Persia.

Ah, that would be different than Pixar doing it...

*will be very distressed the day Pixar releases a movie with a PG-13 rating...*

Well Pixar is doing the special effects and most of the creative people in charge are from Pixar so I'm all for it. PG-13 is fine with me.

The main reason Disney is releasing it rather than Pixar is because of the rating.

Okay. Interesting. Thanks for the information.

I tried to find a copy at my library, but I couldn't.

I heard a theory that John Carter, Warlord of Mars is also several other characters from series written in the same period such as Phra the Phoenician and a medieval outlaw. But that was Wold Newton, and so not canon.

No need to get it from the library you can read it here for free. http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/ ... es=1441331

(Go Gutenberg!)

*eyes brighten * Joe, you are my new favorite person, at the moment *bookmarks *

Thank you! I can never find anything on their website.

I've read the first two books so far, and I'll get to the third fairly soon. The lack of clothing didn't bother me, because I just didn't think of it, and the original cover makes them look like they're wearing ancient Roman things.

Yes, the second book is quite wild. The cliffhanger was quite brutal, actually, and I made it a point to get the next one ASAP on Kindle.

I love these books. The hero is the classic definition of a hero, the action is awesome, and the story keeps going. The romance between John Carter and Dejah Thoris is real, I think. I wouldn't know. But he does start a war to rescue her. There is no profanity.

I can say that there is no way for the movie to be less than PG-13. Who's seen the trailer?

The trailers (To me.) Look great!

Glad you like the books, Varon.

Yeah, it looks great to me too.

Granted, the Tharks look a bit skinny. It does seem like there's going to be a lot of changing the plot in the movie, like Dejah Thoris being a scientist and John Carter having a wife and son who were killed by somebody. The Therns are in it too, supposedly. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

Thanks. I just hope I can find beyond Chessmen of Mars somewhere for Kindle.

Mod Note: Spoilers have been added for the slightly more mature subject.

Regarding the clothing (or lack thereof):

It is my considered opinion that the Red Men of Barsoom, though they certainly wear little, do not go about completely naked in the sense we understand the term.

My reasoning is as follows:

Although not unanimous, the general consensus among artists who depict Barsoom (both officially and unofficially) is that the Red Martians wear some manner of clothing. Almost every artistic depiction of Dejah Thoris has her wearing the bottom half of a bikini, and many show her with the top half as well. Of those few that depict her genuinely naked, some show her in her chambers or another private location; and so the artistic evidence seems to weigh against full public nudity among Barsoomians. When we examine only the cover art of the books themselves, and give greater weight to older (and thus more likely authorized) imagery, we find vanishing little full nudity, and less evidence that this was believed common practice in public among the Martians.

The question then becomes: Can this artistic trend, which seems to reflect a general opinion of both the fandom and the official artists, be squared with the canon? I believe the answer is yes.

From A Barsoom Glossary - Customs and Titles (http://www.erblist.com/abg/customstitles.html):

"[M]uch has been made by the unsophisticated reader that Barsoomians eschew clothing. In reality, the races of Mars are clothed, but in such a manner that a Victorian or Edwardian mentality would view them as "naked" meaning "without trousers." The term "trappings" as often used by John Carter to describe the apparel of Barsoomians indicates a form of clothing that leaves the arms, legs, and torso bare (naked, meaning "uncovered") while providing sufficient cover and utility to support weapons, pouches, leather harnesses, sandals, boots, various jewelry and armbands, helmets, cloaks and, in the far north, parka-like garments manufactured from orluk skins."

The book specifically says that Dejah has nothing on in a public setting.

Mod Note: Spoiler tags have been added for a slightly more mature subject.



Are you referring to the scene where she's just been captured from the wrecked airship and is being carried away by the Tharks?

If so, I don't think that's accurate. Here's the exact text, with reference (I love Kindle for that):

She was as destitute of clothes as the green Martians who accompanied her; indeed, save for her highly wrought ornaments she was entirely naked, nor could any apparel have enhanced the beauty of her perfect and symmetrical figure.

Burroughs, Edgar Rice (2009-10-04). A Princess of Mars (p. 35). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

So, the question is:

a. How naked are the Green Martians?

and

b. What do her "highly wrought ornaments" cover?

As for the first, from the text alone we know only that the Green Men are in Carter's view naked (but see above on Victorian/Edwardian uses of the term) and that they wear some manner of harness or equipment for carrying their weapons and other effects. The consensus of the artists again seems to be that this harness also covers roughly the same area as a loincloth.

As for the second, the book doesn't say, leaving us again with only the fan/artist consensus to go on. I don't say it's certain from the text alone that Martians are not entirely naked; indeed I imagined them that way in the beginning. But I seemed to be going against almost every depiction of Barsoom ever, so I revised my opinion. This isn't by any means my attempt to "soften" or "explain away" an "inappropriate" aspect of Barsoom, either. I had no problem, for instance, taking Lewis at his word regarding the nudity in Perelandra. But I'm not convinced I'm being faithful to Barsoom if I imagine full nudity here.

Mod Note: Added spoiler tags for a slightly more mature subject.

Honestly, the way an artist, completely unattached to the making of the book, depicts the Martians has little bearing, I think. Authors work hard to make sure, as I am sure we are all aware, that their meanings and descriptions are clear. If the author hadn't wanted the naked imagery portrayed, he could have very easily slipped in a word that made sure you knew they weren't really naked, just very scantily clothed. It doesn't really matter what the ornaments cover. An ornament is not clothing, even if it is placed in such a way to cover (very little). I think the implication is pretty clear, to be honest.

Not that it really matters.

I heard that the film was a total flop, and the production made an enormous loss. Anyone know if that's true?

I have no idea. I haven't watched it. I know Jonathan was interested in the commercials.

We have not seen it because we have teenage boys and we are waiting for someone to give us an honest assessment of the clothing issue.

Yes, the movie flopped. From reading reviews, it sounded a bit different from the books, not that that's surprising. I might skip it. It's been so long that I read the books I could just reread them instead...

Um, was that directed at me? If so then please spoil whatever I gave away.

I think it is because you're talking about clothing issues, Airi. I don't think you gave anything away.

This, I believe, is what E's talking about, Airi.

Oh! *realizes what E is talking about *

Yes, actually, now that I think about it, that quote is a bit... mature. So yes, I would say let's spoil it, E.

I went ahead and spoilered the mature parts of the posts. I'd appreciate it if you (Airi) and E (since she's the mod of this section) went over it and checked to see if you think more should be spoilered. Thanks.

Thank you, Elly.

Thoughts, E? This is your section, what do you think?

*chuckles * I do love your choice in wording, E.

Thanks for double-checking, E.