Product Description

Far to the north, in the frozen wastes of Polar Mars, lay the home of the Holy Therns, sacred and inviolate. Only John Carter dared to go there to find his lost Dejah Thoris. But between him and his goal lay the bones of all who had gone before.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #121489 in Books
• Published on: 1985-04-12
• Released on: 1985-04-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 160 pages

From AudioFile
In the third of Burroughs's "John Carter of Mars" series, the man from Earth unites warring races and is reunited with his love, Dejah Thoris. John Bolen unnecessarily reads the story with a Virginia accent, but he does so effectively and consistently in a way that does not take away from the performance. The MP3 CD is divided into 115 short (3-minute) files. Playback is clear and clean sounding, unadorned by music or other effects. The story is a fitting and exciting conclusion to the first three books, and provides a satisfying surprise ending. S.E.S. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Review
For six long Martian months, John Carter has haunted the terrifying Temple of the Sun. Inside the walls of this mysterious revolving tower is his beloved wife, Dejah Thoris, the beautiful princess of Barsoom. Worse yet, his wife is trapped there with the lovely but wicked Phaidor, who has sworn to make John Carter her own--even if it means murder. How can Carter gain access to the Temple, whose doors swing open only once a year? And when he does find his way inside, will he find Dejah Thoris welcoming embrace--or her corpse? --From the Publisher

From the Publisher
The first time I ever went to Tarzana, California, I walked down Ventura Boulevard, noticing that all of the buildings were really ugly. Then I arrive at my destination: a small house, set back from the street, with a beautiful tree shading the entire front yard. Inside, the air was cool and everything was polished wood, especially the incredible, gigantic desk. That's where he worked. It was awesome.

Edgar Rice Burroughs had a huge California ranch, and the land eventually became a town, named for Burroughs's most famous character. Burroughs created one of the few heroes everyone knows, and at that desk, he took Tarzan to exotic lands, had him face bizarre creatures and endless, exotic challenges. Those adventures spirit the reader away to a timeless time of action and heroism. And sitting in that office, I was a permanent convert. For me, and for countless others, the legend will never cease. And that's as it should be.
                        --Steve Saffel, Senior Editor

Customer Reviews

Triumphant Trilogy
I loved this book. I loved the first three books. Yeah you wonder why they don't just shoot each other instead of swordfights to the death and the whole backdrop of how he gets to mars is odd today but the sense of wonder and the audacity of the ideas he keeps throwing at you page to page is just fantastic. The tech is odd but must have seemed astounding at the time. Kept in context this book is truly amazing. Compared to today the descriptive tech and the swordfights are odd but the rush of ideas, cliffhangers and all make this the King of cliffhangers.
I AM SURPRISED HOW MUCH I REALLY RECCOMMEND THIS BOOK TO OTHERS. THANKS TO DAD FOR RECOMMENDING IT TO ME.

mostly satisfying, but...
Burroughs' creative peak was clearly in the timeframe when he wrote this. He had begun three of his four primary series and was rapidly gaining fame and fortune because of his breathtaking tales of adventure and romance. This displays no flagging of his creative juices. Burroughs takes Carter from one end of Mars to the other with some amazing creations on display in the interim. Here Carter has matured and but for two slips, betrays none of the stupidity usually associated with pulp heroes. (Unfortunately Burroughs made up for Carter's intelligence in later books by having Gahan of Gathol and Tan Hadron of Hastor become just shy of braindead.) With all the wonders on display in the book, though, one major flaw shines through: the ending. For those who have not read the book, you may want to look away at this point. Right after a spectacular extended fight scene which must leave the reader breathless, Burroughs has Carter face Thurid and Matai Shang in what one would expect to be the tour de force finale when good conquers evil and makes all well in the world. Only--well, it doesn't quite happen. Thurid and Matai Shang are running like scared rabbits when Carter catches them just as they turn against each other. Then someone else saves the day. Why Burroughs ended the book this way will always mystify me unless he really felt the butchery Carter would wreak on these two villains would offend sensibilities. The bloody deaths of both Thurid and Matai Shang at Carter's hands would have made for a great passage in the book. Instead, a literal deus ex machina appears to rescue our superman hero. If not for this anticlimactic scene, the book would deserve five stars. Ah, well...

The Fate Worse than Death
"Do you know where we are going?" she said.
"To solve the mystery of the eternal hereafter, I imagine," I replied.
"I am going to a fate worse than that," she said, with a little shudder.
"What do you mean?"
-- _The Gods of Mars_

In a delightful article, "Edgar Rice Burroughs and the Fate Worse than Death," Richard D. Mullen (1969-70) gives a detailed table of Edgar Rice Burroughs novels from 1911 through 1915. In them, he lists the times and circumstances in which a heroine is threatened with rape (the "fate worse than death") and how she is saved in the proverbial nick of time. (As you may know, an Edgar Rice Burroughs heroine is frequently unclothed but always pure and virtuous.) For those readers interested in such statistics, there are 76 cases recorded by Mullen.

In _The Warlord of Mars_ (_Argosy_, 1913-14), there are at least three such incidents recorded for our moral edification. In each case, Dejah Thoris is the threatened heroine. In the first case, she is threatened by the yellow Martian king Salensus Oll (even his name is oily). In the second instance, she is kidnapped by the white Martian Matai Shang, his brave but ruthless daughter Phaidor, and the black Martian Thurid. And in the third case, she is menaced by a band of yellow Martians, who plan to preserve her "as a plaything for [the] nobles" (151).

Mullen states that in each case, Dejah Thoris is rescued by the stalwart John Carter. This is certainly true of the first and third cases. But it is not strictly true in the second case. Carter certainly _attempts_ to save her, but he is not really very effective. It is disagreement and double-crossing among the villains that really preserves the honor of the Princess. (Burroughs heroines are frequently rescued by the hero, or they may save themselves. On rare occasions, the menacer may have a change of heart. Sometimes Providence-- in the form of lions, earthquakes, or passing pterodactyls-- may lend a hand.)

All of the previous incidents occur in the latter chapters of the novel. But the sharp-eyed reader may have noted that I said that there were "at least three" fate-worse-than death scenarios in _Warlord_. There is in fact a fourth one as well, and it is truly remarkable. Near the end of chapter one, Matai Shang and Thurid, on friendier terms than they are at the close of the novel, are in a boat plotting how to make John Carter's life more miserable. Unbeknownst to them, Carter is following in another boat and listening to them. They have Dejah Thoris prisoner. Thurid generously allows Matai Shang first turn: "You shall have your way with her before another day has passed" (15). Carter refrains from slaying "the vile plotters" (16) only because they are the only ones who can lead him to Dejah Thoris. And then... _Matai Shang never gets around to having his way with the princess for the next twelve chapters_! This is not quite a record in Burroughs's novels. In _The Gods of Mars_, we learn that Thuvia has been a slave to the white Martians for 15 years without being molested. Still Dejah Thoris's good fortune is certainly worthy of comment.

One final note. The female speaking in the quote above is _not_ a virtuous heroine. It is the imperious, willful, sometimes villainous Phaidor who will attempt to kill Dejah Thoris on several occasions. Perhaps some future Burroughs scholar will compile a list of Not So Nice Girls who are menaced by the fate worse than death.