A Princess of Mars
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4.5 • 339 Ratings
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Publisher Description
A Princess of Mars (1917) is a science fantasy novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first of his Barsoom series. Full of swordplay and daring feats, the novel is considered a classic example of 20th century pulp fiction. It is also a seminal instance of the planetary romance, a sub-genre of science fantasy that became highly popular in the decades following its publication. Its early chapters also contain elements of the Western. The story is set on Mars, imagined as a dying planet with a harsh desert environment. This vision of Mars was based on the work of the astronomer Percival Lowell, whose ideas were widely popularized in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Barsoom series inspired a number of well-known 20th century science fiction writers, including Jack Vance, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein, and John Norman. The series was also inspirational for many scientists in the fields of space exploration and the search for extraterrestrial life, including Carl Sagan, who read A Princess of Mars when he was a child.
Customer Reviews
Good old time sci fi
This is fun reading, not fancy reading.
John Carter
This book is very good really the idea book.
Came for the Classic, Stayed for the Adventure
I started this book almost entirely as a sort of research, so that I could get to the roots of science fiction and the planetary romance genre. I fully expected this story to be dull, dry and unimaginative compared to the fiction of today, and brimming with the bigotry that was common for its time. But I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it more than holds up after all these years. The world is wondrous, imaginative and full of adventure, the characters are surprisingly compelling, and most of all, the action is gripping and makes you eager to find out what happens next. I can definitely see why this is considered a space opera classic.