The Chessmen of Mars (Barsoom #5)
John Carter's daughter rejects her suitor Gahan, who pursues her to the land of the Manatorians, experts in Martian chess. There Gahan plays the game to fight for the woman he loves.
Paperback, 260 pages
Published
August 17th 2006
by Waking Lion Press
(first published 1922)
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Depending on my mood, this is either my favorite or second favorite of the Barsoom books. As with my other favorite, 'A Fighting Man of Mars', the hero of the story isn't that veritable demigod Virginian, John Carter, but a native Martian - in this case Gahan the Jed (or King) of Gathol - a small but very prosperous city state. The story concerns Gahan's attempts to woo the young daughter of John Carter, Tara, who rebuffs Gahan because he does not seem to her to be modest, rugged, and martial ...more
This volume in the Mars series follows the adventures of Tara of Helium, daughter of John Carter aka the Warlord of Mars. She gets lost in a single-person flier during a storm and ends up in captivity in a faraway city. Gahan of Gathol, who admired her back in her home town of Helium but was rebuffed, gets another chance. He disguises himself as a lowly mercenary or Panthan called Turan and fights to save Tara in the deadly games held in the city of Manator. (She doesn't recognise him as Gahan...more
"The Chessmen of Mars," Edgar Rice Burroughs' 5th John Carter novel out of 11, first appeared in serial form in the magazine "Argosy All Story Weekly" from February to April 1922. It is easily the best of the Carter lot to this point; the most detailed, the most imaginative, and the best written. Carter himself only appears at the beginning and end of the tale. Instead, our action heroes are his daughter, Tara, who gets lost in a rare Barsoomian storm while joyriding in her f...more
On one hand, I'm relieved that Burroughs was willing to at least advance the story by focusing on the slightly more interesting next generation. On the other, the plot falls squarely into the well-grooved tire tracks of the previous books: the protagonists are lost far from home and fall into various perilous lost cities and civilizations.
I did like that Tara of Helium was at some level the main character, which puts her in a more dynamic position than Dejah Thoris had been, and at ...more
I did like that Tara of Helium was at some level the main character, which puts her in a more dynamic position than Dejah Thoris had been, and at ...more
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“The Chessmen of Mars” by Edgar Rice Burroughs is the fifth book in the Barsoom series. After “Thuvia, Maid of Mars” was something of a disappointment, this installment may be the best of the series. As with the prior book, this one focuses on different characters than any of the earlier books in the series, this time the focus is John Carter’s daughter Tara, and Gahan, the Jed of Gathol. The story was originally published as a serial in “Argosy All-Story Weekly” in the February 18th, 25th, M...more
I spent my childhood devouring ERB's books and had recalled the Martian series as particular favorites. My cousin and I even made a martian chess set to play with but that was over a half century ago. Listened to the Tantor audiobook of this title - oh, my! The reader was truly abysmal so maybe that lessened my enjoyment. Usually I 'settle' to a reader after a while but this guy had me cringing to the end. ERB was not a particularly gifted writer from an adult perspective. Still, the story wa...more
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 sc...more
Today we call this stuff sc...more
This story relates the adventures of Princess Tara of helium, impetuous daughter of John Carter and his beloved, 'the incomparable' Deja Thoris, as she is rescued from the Crab-like Kaldanes who breed headless Rykors to serve as their interchangeable bodies and then from the Martian Chessmasters who play barsoomian chess (an unworkable variant of conventional chess) with living chesspieces. Her rescuer, a nameless Martian soldier-of-fortune, who is in reality Gahan of Gathol, whom she had previo...more
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...
follows the adventures of John Carters daughter. A spoiled brat who should have been spanked, imo. Anyway, a Jed from another kingdom falls in love with her, rescues her and everyone is happy. Meet the kaldanes, heads without bodies and another nation that lives on slavery. Burroughs seems to be running out of people to have adventures. Needs to get back to John Carter.
I liked this book, but not as much as the previous 4. I felt like the plot really dragged in this one, and the story seemed very disjointed; even taking into account that the chapters were written as monthly magazine issues. The other Barsoom books were written the same way, but they seemed to cohere, for the most part, just fine.
My favorite parts were the introduction of the Kaldanes and the, of course, the live action 'chess' game. That was really cool!
My favorite parts were the introduction of the Kaldanes and the, of course, the live action 'chess' game. That was really cool!
Cheesy fun, I love how the characters often talk to each other using full name and title. I listened to a Librivox version, but I may pick up other of Burroughs work if I'm in the mood. This is what good B or C movies replaced, then inexplicably became summer blockbusters like the Mummy series and Van Helsing!!! (you must always shout the later).
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
These books were written in the early years of the 20th century, before the term "science fiction" came into usage. You could just as easily categorize them as fantasy. I'm putting them on my science fiction shelf because I think of them as proto-science fiction. It's an arbitrary coin-toss.
Another wildly imaginative story from Edgar Rice Burroughs. I'm amazed at the fanastical ideas he comes up with each story. Although sometimes contrived the events in the story are fun to read. What impresses me most is the creativity behind each book in this series. Each story is usually about some kine of near war with another nation on Mars, it's the journey and the details of the outcome for those events that make the books entertaining and enjoyable stories.
This fifth volume of the Barsoom series is very entertaining. Again some very original populations of Barsoom are introduced, and in this volume the fighting and killing is not so dominant as in some previous volumes. The story has Tara, daughter of John Carter and Dejah Thoris as the main character. There is enough tension and - as I said - the new peoples that are introduced are quite original. A good read!
This book was as good as the ones before in this series, if not a little better even. I greatly enjoyed it and am very glad I finally got around to reading these classics of the sci-fi world.
2nd time I've read the Mars series. the first time I was a teen. Still good stories, though dated, which gives them an added charm.
Yet another entertaining Martian adventure. It's all more of the same for the Barsoom series, with swashbuckling action, creepy creatures, peril behind enemy lines and a beautiful damsel-in-distress to save, but that's been entertaining for four books previously, and it still delivers.
Boring, derived and more of the same. And Burroughs still can't craft a truly compelling female character.
I loved this whole series. It's pretty sexual and macho and they're all massive page-turners.
Same review for each.
Same review for each.
Again and again, i can not image how imaginative an author can be to write such scifi, and back in the 1910s?!? A great adventure in the settings of Mars, this great read is number 5 in the series.
A good literary read in a scifi setting .......
A good literary read in a scifi setting .......
Uneven - some parts of this book are quite entertaining despite the spoilt heroine. Best of all is Ghek the walking head.
A guilty pleasure. At this point in the series, it a formula of writing.
For out of this world adventure the Barsoom series is great.
In my opinion the best sci-fi/fantasy series of all time.
Followed the same formula as the other Barsoom books, but I liked the underlying theme around the game of Jetan.
Better than the previous volume. I really like the idea of the Bantoomians. After reading this, my wife and I made the chessboard and tried to play according to the given rules. It is incredibly different than regular chess of course (and, I suspect, has some serious flaw) but it is playable.
The first, but by no means last, Sword & Planet novel to feature a living chess game, or the Martian equivalent. I just loved the fight scenes that take place on the Martian chess board. Some day I'll do this with the Taleran series.
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Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.
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“Fortunate indeed are those in which there is combined a little good and a little bad, a little knowledge of many things outside their own callings, a capacity for love and a capacity for hate, for such as these can look with tolerance upon all, unbiased by the egotism of him whose head is so heavy on one side that all his brains run to that point.”
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