The John Carter Trilogy of Edgar Rice Burroughs

A Princess of Mars; The Gods of Mars; A Warlord of Mars

By: Finn J.D. John, Edgar Rice Burroughs

Narrated by: Finn J.D. John

This Annotated Omnibus Edition contains the first three novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian tales (the Barsoom series).

The first of these novels, A Princess of Mars, was Burroughs' first book, and he wrote the next two novels in quick succession. Together they tell the story of John Carter of Mars - how he came to Mars, met the love of his life, and quickly found himself occupied full-time defending her and saving his adopted planet from interplanetary evildoers.

This trilogy opened the doors of popular science fiction to an entire nation and world. It launched the original pulp science fiction storyworld and series, often imitated but never duplicated, and has inspired four generations of young sci-fi and fantasy writers, artists, moviemakers and videogame designers.

And, of course, it's a ripping great story.

This Pulp-Lit Press Annotated Omnibus Edition takes those three novels together as a coherent story. Each is gracefully and unobtrusively annotated, to help the modern reader put it in the proper literary and historical context for maximum reading enjoyment. All annotations are presented together in a single chapter, easily skipped by readers who prefer to get on with the story.

©2014 Finn J.D. John (P)2014 Finn J.D. John

I Love the annotations.

the annotations are great, well worth the Credit. You can tell the Narrator has a love for the series and does an excellent job.

Visionary Pulp Fiction at its best!

What can anyone really say about ERB? He was the pulp fiction master and writing serials like these for publication in the early 1900’s. Listening to them in this context is a window into the mindset of that era. I also found the “notes” on each book to be interesting and insightful.

Moreover, it is fun to consider just how many of the images of his creations are currently reflected in reality and the differences between the two. One really has to give the man credit for creative thinking.

That said, this reading perhaps would have been more satisfying if the reader would have familiarized himself with the common pronunciations of common words that appear throughout the store such as “sword,” “craven,” “succor,” “tumult,” “genera,” and “accoutrement” to name but a few. The way they were pronounced stopped the story in my head like a truck hitting a brick wall every time it happened.

Trilogy

I loved the series. Good reader. I can visualize the story as it is being read.

Great Series, bad narration

The narrator really struggles with long sentences, which are quite common in Edgar Rice Borroughs' wordy writing style.

Very entertaining but don't like the narrator

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I'd recommend someone to buy this and read it, but not buy this book on audible. This trilogy is so full of detail and feeling that I don't feel the narrator does a sufficient job portraying the story in a way that would keep most readers further interested.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The John Carter Trilogy of Edgar Rice Burroughs?

I love the conversation that Carter has with Deja, when in captivity, about love amongst the inhabitants on Mars.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Finn J.D. John?

He talks too fast and sometimes blends critical thoughts in the story with those that are less impactful to the detailing of the storyline. I feel like he tries too hard to carry out his own takes from these stories and emphasize there impact to the reader. Each reader should determine which elements are most important to them in a book, not have a narrator predetermine and point it out.

Good story, bad production

The author’s tone does not match that of an otherworldly action adventure. He sounds like he’s talking about the mundane facts of life on a podcast.

Beyond that, the technical issues are present. He misread the story and they leave it in as he restarted the sentence. There’s long pauses after each chapter. I would seek out a different recording

Very enjoyable

I ended up really liking the John Carter Barsoom series. In fact, I bought the stand alone first book, and picked up this trilogy to fill out the remainder of the series. The world that Edgar Rice Burroughs sets up in really fantastic and different from what is currently being imagined. A very fun listen/read.

Another nice feature of this edition is the commentary about the book. It covers both Literary criticism of the way the book is written, and commentary about what the book is saying, and whether E.R.B is racist or not. As with most science fiction, the story reflects issues of modern society, by way of fantasy. A very nice addition to the book.

The reading is good, but not especially dramatic. I had already gotten used to the other book's reader, but the performance is not a hindrance to listening.

Great trilogy .Love the reader.

Very good reading. Felt like I was there. TarsTarkus was sounds like an awesome warrior. Books much better than movie. But I did like the movie.

I thoroughly enjoyed this trilogy

I had been recommended to the Original book a while back and was surprised that this trilogy was available on Audible for a credit. I think when I looked at the reviews it wasn’t glowing, however I have to say that I personally was surprised just how much I enjoyed the books. The narration in the same voice throughout all three books made it seamless and I never felt bored at any part of it.

The author surprisingly was very clever on shattering social norms with race, and religion.. even social classes. It’s very evident in the second book and I find it wild how this was possible to publish in the early 1900’s. All in all, it’s a story of a man who is gifted with strength and agility that carries himself noble, in the face of any obstacle to follow his heart. It’s the typical hero story of love and strife that is written in an speech of older time which if your not used to, can be a lil jarring at first.. you’ll get used to it.

John Carter drinking game, every time you hear that name you take a sip.

Much more modern than expected

The first book was very entertaining. The second book was near brilliant, chock full of ideas and machines that I would have expected from Star Trek or Phillip K. Dick, not from one hundred years ago. The third book was disappointing--Our hero seemed particularly and continuously dense all of a sudden, but gets through to the end due to continuous coincidences and his fighting skill.

The commentary was interesting, and was in chapters between the books. You can easily skip these by going to the next chapter (that is, next book) if you are not interested in listening to it.

I intend to read the first and second books again in the future. I will skip the third (although you will want to read the third book in order to finish the story). :-)

Note: I found the narration quite satisfactory. The narrator's voice seemed appropriate to the nature of the book and the characters. Seeing so many versions of The Princess of Mars on audible, I am sure that there may be a more dramatic reading among them. ;-)