so.
It's not really sci-fi.
It's really not. It's an adventure story set on Mars. It's a really fun, really readable adventure story, but it's still just an adventure story. This series strongly reminds me of King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard which really has as much to do with Africa as Burroughs's book has to do with Mars. I guess it doesn't really matter. It's just a backdrop, but don't go in expecting sci-fi.
Read as a classic adventure story, Gods of Mars is a fun book. In this second novel in the Barsoom Series, John Carter finds himself back on Mars but in the fabled land of the dead, the valley of Dor, leagues away from his beloved princess and son. He quickly learns that the cherished beliefs of the various races of Mars are a load of hokum and that their superstitions cover a more sinister truth.
Hilarity ensues. Hilarity and fighting. Actually a lot of fighting. Quite a lot.
It's a formula, of course. Now that I've read two of the books, the pattern seems pretty consistent. The formula goes like this:
- Carter finds himself somewhere lost
- He gets in a fight
- He makes a friend
- He and his friend are captured
- He escapes
- He and his friend run and are separated
- He is captured. Friend possibly dead.
- He escapes.
- Seeks revenge for friend.
- He is captured
- He escapes
- Joyus day, friend is alive, but captured
- He rescues friend
- They run
- they are captured.
Blenderize and repeat as needed until book length, then find a way to end on a cliff hanger.
It's still fun, but I can't read more than one in a row.
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