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The Master Mind of Mars (Barsoom #6)

3.8 of 5 stars 3.80 · rating details · 2,158 ratings · 50 reviews

Former Earthman Ulysses Paxton served Barsoom's greatest scientist, until his master's ghoulish trade in living bodies drove him to rebellion. Then, to save the body of the woman he loved, he had to attack mighty Phundahl, and its evil, beautiful ruler.

Mass Market Paperback, 160 pages

Published April 12th 1979 by Ballantine Books (first published 1927)

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Aug 29, 2012 Stephen Brooke rated it 3 of 5 stars

Although Burroughs’s earlier Barsoom novels are nominally science fiction thanks to their setting, ‘The Mastermind of Mars’ moves closer to true SF and away from the fantastical romances of its predecessors. They still, however, have a lot in common including many of the same basic plot elements ERB recycled throughout his writing career.

All in all, I find it a lesser effort. The sense of wonder and adventure we enjoyed in the previous novels is downplayed in favor of a slower pace and a smaller...more

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Sep 13, 2011 Ailish rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: edgar-rice-burroughs, pulp

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 22, 2011 Sandy rated it 4 of 5 stars

"The Master Mind of Mars" is book #6 of 11 John Carter adventures that Edgar Rice Burroughs gave to the world. It first appeared in the magazine "Amazing Stories Annual" in July 1927, and John Carter himself only puts in a cameo appearance near the book's end. Instead, our hero is another Earthman, Ulysses Paxton, who mysteriously gets transported to Barsoom (Mars) after being critically wounded on the battlefields of WW1. Paxton becomes an apprentice of the eponymous mastermind Ras Thavas, and...more "The Master Mind of Mars" is book #6 of 11 John Carter adventures that Edgar Rice Burroughs gave to the world. It first appeared in the magazine "Amazing Stories Annual" in July 1927, and John Carter himself only puts in a cameo appearance near the book's end. Instead, our hero is another Earthman, Ulysses Paxton, who mysteriously gets transported to Barsoom (Mars) after being critically wounded on the battlefields of WW1. Paxton becomes an apprentice of the eponymous mastermind Ras Thavas, and from him learns all manner of surgical miracles, including brain transplantation. Paxton falls in love with a young woman, Valla Dia, whose body has been sold to an old empress, so that that empress can now live on in her new hotty body. Paxton vows to travel across Mars, kidnap the empress, and restore his beloved's body to her. He enlists the aid of some of Ras Thavas' medical subjects: a Barsoomian white ape with a half-human mind; a professional assassin; and another Martian who has had his body bought/stolen by another.

This is a short but extremely entertaining and fast-moving fantasy novel. In it, Burroughs gives us some interesting philosophy on the correlation of mind and body (as he did with the kaldanes in "Chessmen of Mars"), as well as some interesting speculations on the necessity of war in any culture. He also pokes fun at the mumbo-jumbo aspects of organized religion. So there is some actual food for thought, in addition to the fun. And that equilibrimotor chase and scene in the Temple of Tur ARE very much fun! The heart, lung and other assorted transplants that Ras Thavas is engaged in must have seemed like real sci-fi improbabilities back in 1927, although these things are fairly commonplace today. The brain transplants are another matter, of course. (Perhaps one day...)

"Master Mind" seems to be slightly better written than some of the earlier Barsoomian novels; Burroughs DID improve with age, at least as far as technique is concerned. Still, there are the usual inconsistencies that crop up. For example, in one scene Thavas complains of the new young blood in his new young body, when it has been established that recipients of new bodies receive their old blood back. I was confused by this. In another scene, the 15-foot-tall ape/man puts on the leather harness of a regular-sized man. Does this seem possible? Clouds are said to obscure the moon in another scene, yet in earlier books, Burroughs has told us that clouds exist on Barsoom only at the poles. A body of a dozen Toonolian soldiers at one point mysteriously turns into 20, and the great scarlet tower of Lesser Helium, which was destroyed in "Chessmen," is inexplicably back again in this book. (I grant that it may have been rebuilt, but Burroughs might have said something to this effect.) The surprise regarding Valla Dia at the book's conclusion was one that was so obvious to me that I don't even think it was really meant to be a surprise after all. And here's another quibble: Paxton falls in love with Valla Dia only after he has seen what her actual body looks like. It might have been more effective had he fallen in love with her only AFTER she was trapped in the haggish body of the empress. A young, strapping American male falling in love with an old ugly woman, based solely on her gracious personality. Now THAT would have been a REAL fantasy!(less)

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Mar 11, 2012 Christopher rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Although this struck me as the most focused story in the series up to this point and one that presaged any number of brain-transplant / body-swapping SF stories that would come later, I could barely get through it. What I enjoy about Burroughs isn't his ability to write moden, coherent novels, but rather how he packs so much imagery and energy into the earlier parts of this series. When he slows down, pins his story to just one or two places and problems, and tries to work out complications of m...more

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Jul 07, 2009 Dave rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, speculative-fiction

“The Master Mind of Mars” by Edgar Rice Burroughs is the sixth book in the Barsoom series. Burroughs moves further away from John Carter by introducing a new hero, Ulysses Paxton, who uses his Martian name Vad Varo for most of the book. Ulysses is a much different hero than John Carter, or for that matter Cathoris or Thuvia from “Thuvia Maid of Mars” or Gahan of Gathol or Tara of Helium from “The Chessmen of Mars”. Ulysses’s connection with John Carter is that when on Earth he read the stories o...more “The Master Mind of Mars” by Edgar Rice Burroughs is the sixth book in the Barsoom series. Burroughs moves further away from John Carter by introducing a new hero, Ulysses Paxton, who uses his Martian name Vad Varo for most of the book. Ulysses is a much different hero than John Carter, or for that matter Cathoris or Thuvia from “Thuvia Maid of Mars” or Gahan of Gathol or Tara of Helium from “The Chessmen of Mars”. Ulysses’s connection with John Carter is that when on Earth he read the stories of John Carter and believed them to be real. The difference is that unlike those who came before, Ulysses/Vlad does not have the skill in hand-to-hand combat that they possessed. This was a very smart move by Burroughs, for what would be the point of making yet another great warrior to repeat the epic adventures which already exist in the series? Instead, the story has a much different feel, smaller in scope, and yet just as absorbing.

Ulysses is a soldier in World War I, and when he becomes wounded and stranded on the battlefield, he uses the force of his mind to transport himself to Mars. Not surprisingly, though severely wounded as Ulysses on Earth, Vad finds his body whole and healthy on Mars. The first person Vad meets on Mars is Ras Thavas, a.k.a “The Master Mind”. When circumstances result in Vad’s saving Ras, he is taken on as a trusted servant and bodyguard. Ras shows Vad medical techniques far in advanced of those which exist on Earth, and Vad learns quickly. One key difference though is that Ras has no moral conscience, though he often does very good things, he is just as willing to do horrible things, and when one of the horrible things is to give the body of Valla Dia to the evil Xaxa, Vad realizes that he needs to do something.

Through the course of the adventure, Vad gains allies to work with, and he is resolved to capture Xaxa and force the return of Valla Dia’s body. Because of the help he has provided them in escaping from the sleeping storage of Ras’ lab, his allies are willing to help, and of course Vad is keen to help them achieve their goals as well. Unlike the previous adventures, there is no great evil in this story, though Xaxa is fairly close to it. Vad is not trying to kill those who oppose him, but rather set things right with the woman he has fallen in love with, as well as help his allies regain their lives. John Carter is referred to in the letter which opens the story, and he shows up in the last chapter, so Burroughs maintains the connection to the rest of the series well.

This book ranks fairly high in the series for me. I would consider “The Chessmen of Mars” which comes right before it to be superior, but this one would rank very close to “A Princess of Mars” which opens the series. Because of the key role “A Princess of Mars” plays in the series I would rank that one above “The Master Mind of Mars” as well, but only slightly, and I feel that this story is better than the rest. While “The Gods of Mars” and “The Warlord of Mars” are good, they do become a bit repetitious and neither one of them are complete in and of themselves. “The Master Mind of Mars” does not have that problem as it can stand on its own, as long as you are familiar with the setting of the series as a whole.
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May 28, 2012 Phil rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf

Despite being the 6th novel in the series, in this story Burroughs proves that there are plenty of stories left to tell on Barsoom, and that John Carter or Carthoris don't need to be present to have a compelling story.

Our protagonist is a World War I soldier with the incredibly badass name Ulysses Paxton. When he gets blown in half by an artillery shell, he finds himself on Barsoom, a planet he knows well from Edgar Rice Burrough's stories. I like that--as with John Carter's original teleportati...more

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Sep 24, 2010 Angela Alcorn marked it as to-read

Shelves: we-own, sci-fi, fiction, 1920-1929, 20th-century, classics

We own this as part of an omnibus: Edgar Rice Burroughs Science Fiction Classics: Pellucidar, Thuvia Maid of Mars, Tanar of Pellucidar, the Chessman of Mars, the Master Mind of Mars

Edgar Rice Burroughs Science Fiction Classics Pellucidar, Thuvia Maid of Mars, Tanar of Pellucidar, the Chessman of Mars, the Master Mind of Mars

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Jul 23, 2012 Kathryn rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reads, adventure, american, fantasy, on-my-nook, space-opera

The Master Mind of Mars completes the little mini-arc of philosophy I've described. In Thuvia, Maid of Mars, we meet a city of realists and etherealists, the latter of whom believe that none of us exist but both of whom are so focused on the creations of their minds as to ignore reality; in The Chessmen of Mars, we meet a race of Martians who have developed into all brain (the kaldanes) and all body (the rykors), neither of whom enjoys the fullest pleasures of life; and in The Master Mind of Mar...more The Master Mind of Mars completes the little mini-arc of philosophy I've described. In Thuvia, Maid of Mars, we meet a city of realists and etherealists, the latter of whom believe that none of us exist but both of whom are so focused on the creations of their minds as to ignore reality; in The Chessmen of Mars, we meet a race of Martians who have developed into all brain (the kaldanes) and all body (the rykors), neither of whom enjoys the fullest pleasures of life; and in The Master Mind of Mars, we meet two cities, one that is wholly rational and one that is wholly spiritual.

The Master Mind of Mars opens with Ulysses Paxton, a soldier in WWI, sustaining severe injuries and, through the same tremendous effort of will that transported John Carter in A Princess of Mars, transporting himself to Barsoom. (Ulysses Paxton has read A Princess of Mars and therefore knows all about John Carter; this sort of metahumor is a literary tradition going back to the second half of Don Quixote.)

Paxton finds himself in a new, unexplored part of Mars (OF COURSE...did you expect anything different?) and promptly proceeds to find employment and friendship...and love (again, OF COURSE). He is working for the titular mastermind, Ras Thavas. The interesting thing about Paxton is that even though he's a warrior, he doesn't accomplish everything through feats of arms like the preceding heroes in this series. Instead, he is clever and works obliquely, forming a talented team and using them well. (John Carter, in contrast, is a lone wolf rather than a true team player despite his loyalty and love.)

Back to the rationalist/spiritualist thing. Paxton starts out up against the rationalists, like Ras Thavas. They are, of course, an extreme; Ras Thavas does not trust Paxton, but he does believe that Paxton will always act in his own self-interest and that he is therefore predictable. Paxton tries to explain the value of friendship, but is unsuccessful. Later in the book, Paxton travels to the city of spiritualists, the opposite extreme. He finds their religious rites to be silly, and he discovers (through a convenient coincidence, OF COURSE) that a large statue of their god can be opened and that its eyes and mouth can be controlled, allowing him to make religious pronouncements to the people.

(Sadly, Burroughs misses an opportunity here; one of the members of Paxton's party is a devout follower of the religion, and we never hear how he reacts to learning that the high priests have been controlling the statue. In fact, at the end of the book, that guy ends up becoming the new high priest and making his own pronouncements from the statue. So I guess he dealt with his disillusionment "off camera".) (Really, did no one ever notice that the high priest is always conveniently absent when the statue is talking?)

At the end of the book, Ulysses Paxton has fixed everything, demonstrated the importance of balancing rationalism and spiritualism, won his lady's love, won some new friends, and met John Carter in a brief cameo. Everyone lives happily ever after (and I do mean ever, because Barsoomians are effectively immortal. Speaking of Burroughs's missed opportunities).

If I were to rank the Barsoom books I've read (#1-7), this one would probably come in around the middle. It's not bad and has some nice changes from the others, but it's not quite as good as the two immediately preceding.(less)

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Sep 05, 2010 Kathryn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Burroughs fans

Shelves: space-opera, on-my-nook

The Mastermind of Mars is the sixth book in Edgar Rice Burroughs's Mars series. (The first is A Princess of Mars. If you like ridiculous space opera, I recommend this series. The first five are available on Project Gutenberg; I got this one and the seventh in e-book form from B&N, as The Third Martian Omnibus.)

This is one of the better of the seven Mars books I have read. The hero, Ulysses Paxton, is another Earthling who, like John Carter, has traveled to Barsoom to find a new life among t...more

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Jun 16, 2012 Joseph rated it 4 of 5 stars

Probably more like a 4.5 or 4.75 . . .

For this volume we're back to first-person narration, but it's not John Carter -- it's Ulysses Paxton, another Earth man who makes his way to Barsoom from the trenches of WWI-era Europe. Paxton already has a basic familiarity with Barsoom because he's read ERB's previous books, although he thought they were fiction. (Burroughs was meta before meta was a thing.)

This is an interesting installment -- it has much more of a science fictional feel to it than other...more

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Jun 11, 2012 Robert Appleton rated it 3 of 5 stars

A macabre entry in the Barsoom series, The Master Mind of Mars borrows from Frankenstein and The Island of Dr Moreau, but is still replete with E.R. Burroughs' trademark imaginative flourishes. The ghoulish first half gives way to his more formulaic--but always fun--action adventure heroics, while the central romantic contrivance is his least developed in the series (certainly original, though). The misguided scientist who performs horrific/ingenious transplant operations is a fascinating creati...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Jeff Stockett rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

This book had an interesting premise. If medical procedures could progress to a point where we could swap out any body part, including the brain, how would that affect society? People could live forever by swapping out parts or even entire bodies.

If this had been a stand alone novel, I think it would have worked better. As a Barsoom novel, there are certain things you come to expect. My two favorite things about Barsoom are the fantastic world filled with fantastic creatures and the larger than...more

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Feb 07, 2008 Robert Saunders rated it 3 of 5 stars

These were considered "planetary romances" according to one source back when this series from the creator of Tarzan, Edgar Rice Burroughs, was written. This series of about 10 books started in 1912 and culminated around 1948. There's an odd mention of a book in 1964, but the other had been dead for 14 years by then. Plus there are a few shorts published in some pulp periodicals of the 1940s (where many of these stories appeared in years prior).

Today we call this stuff sci-fi, but it's quite diff...more

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Dec 23, 2012 Kent rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a pretty good read in the Mars series, though so far it is my least favorite. It's an interesting adventure story dealing with a new character from Earth who finds himself on the red planet and into an apprenticeship for the Mastermind who transfers the mind of one person to another. This is the third book in a row that doesn't feature John Carter, though he does make an appearance at the end. But I guess it is not the John Carter of Mars series, rather just the Mars series. It's a good...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Eero rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is interestingly as topical as ever, as the adherents of the religion of Tur described here are quite reminiscent of the Christian fundamentalists and creationists that still get lots of media coverage. As the other extreme ERB gives us the Spock-like logic and calculating amorality of Ras Thavas and the other Toonolians, who are described as science-worshipping atheists. How similar to the debates of today!

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Feb 01, 2012 Rene rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebooks

This is book #6 of the Barsoom series, and I think it is - so far - one of the best. There is a good sf-story in this book with good content and no excessive figting. John Carter only plays a tiny part in he last chapter, and in fact all the characters are new after the first five books.
It is the story of Ulyssus Paxton, an American soldier, who is transposed to Mars and arrives there near a laboratory where dubious experiments take place. This is worked out in an inventive way into a story wit...more

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Feb 07, 2012 Curtiss rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, science-fiction, recorded-on-audio-cd

This story follows the adventures of an unrelated hero, Ulysses Paxton, an Earthman. Like John Carter, Paxton arrives on Mars via astral projection and ends up being trained by mad scientist Ras Thavas, the titular Mastermind of Mars, in the techniques of mind-body transfer. Paxton uses these techniques to restore his beloved Valla Dia's brain into her own beautiful body after her brain had been swapped with that of the hideous Xaxa of Phundahl.

These stories are not high art, or even good sci-fi...more

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Jan 17, 2009 Robb rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Kids 13 and under

It's been so long since I've read these books that the details are lost in the mist of time. That said, I'm sure there are variations in the quality of story and prose throughout this series (it's Burroughs, after all), but I choose to remember the series as a whole, and rate it as I remember it through the eyes and mind of the child that read it for the first time...

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Mar 06, 2013 Edward Antrobus rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: scifi

Something a little different finally. Burroughs branched out and found another hapless soldier of Earth to be mysteriously transported to Mars at the point of death. He was a true romantic, since every single one of his books has been about a brave warrior risking all odds to save the woman he loves, even if, in this case, the woman herself is safe but her body is not.

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Jul 10, 2011 Nicholas Hansen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ha! One day I'll tire of this same story told through different characters, over and over and over again. But that day wasn't today. This book is another one of Ed's hero saves damsel in distress tails, which I'm pretty sure is all he knew how to write. Not the best in the martian series, but really after the first book they all kind of run together.

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Mar 06, 2010 Bill Zodanga rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, want-to-read-again

Please note, this 5 star rating is based on my long ago memories of this book - I may have read it greater than 20 years ago. I recall reading and really liking it, and even kept the book to read again in the future (something I only do with good, or otherwise significant books). The memories of an old man are sometimes faulty so this could really only warrant 3.5 to 4.5 stars, instead of the 5 I gave it. Once I re-read the book I will update this rating/review to more accurately reflect my thou...more

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Jan 21, 2009 Nathaniel rated it 3 of 5 stars

I loved all of Burroughs' Mars books. Of course, I read the entire series when I was twelve, so my opinion might be different if I tried to read them now. That said, I do think Burroughs has a real gift for writing intense action and battles.

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Jul 07, 2012 Jet rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My first Barsoom books in many years. I've read the first 3 I think, but it's only recently that I've gone back to reading Burroughs. Obviously, the writing and some of the concepts were a bit dated, but it was straightforward fun.

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Nov 01, 2008 Kristy rated it 4 of 5 stars

I like Burroughs so much that I even like bad Burroughs, but this book (the 6th in the Mars series) is one of his best. Our hero, Ulysses Paxton, a dying soldier on a World War I battlefield, is mysteriously beamed up to Mars where he ends up serving as a laboratory assistant to a weird scientist who has discovered the secret of switching people from one body to another. Paxton falls in love with a beautiful young woman who is unfairly trapped in the old body of a mean empress, and vows to resto...more

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Aug 29, 2011 Derrick rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2008, scifi, owned-in-hc

Apparently, when one goes to Mars, one no longer needs to go to the bathroom. I mean, 4 beings, one a 15ft tall ape, stay hidden in a little closet all day, without leaving? clench those buttocks Bobby!

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Apr 16, 2012 Donna Montgomery added it

Shelves: reviewed

The mad scientist angle makes this one stand out, and Burroughs plays Martian tech against superstition in an interesting way. Ulysses Paxton is also the best-named Barsoomian protagonist.

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Oct 18, 2010 Mike rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 30, 2012 Alan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Unlike most of the Barsoom series, this story features a vivisectionist reminiscent of the Island of Dr. Moreau. Not much swashbuckling but plenty of amusing palace intrigue.

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Apr 08, 2013 Paul Richardson rated it 5 of 5 stars

I like this one better than some of the recent Barsoom series I've been reading.

The hero is another earthman, Ulysses Paxton. He is in the service of an old scientist who makes his living moving people's brains into younger bodies.

Ulysses sees a beautiful woman, and her brain is put into an old body. I like this one because they carry on a relationship, even though she is not beautiful through most of the book. He loves her anyway despite her looks (or lack thereof).

He enlists the help of a whit...more

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Oct 10, 2012 Flosi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Another Earth member makes his way to Mars and finds himself in the presence of a Martian scientist. Ulysses Paxton learns how to reanimate bodies and falls in love with one of them. The interesting part of it is that the body is being used by an evil leader whose old wrinkled body was given to the love of his life. I know it sounds weird, but just read it.

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