Audiobook · read by volunteers
Gods of Mars
Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875–1950)
Read by JD Weber · 22 chapters · 7 h 41
About the book
John Carter returns to Mars and is soon swept into danger. Caught up in the mystery of the River Iss and the paradise said to lie at its end, the hero finds himself in a world of strange plants, hostile peoples and a religion that is not what it seems. Along the way he meets terrifying creatures, enemies who become allies, and the false gods who rule the planet's most sacred places. Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote this sequel with the pace and daring of a pulp serial: sword fights, rescues, sudden reversals, and a hero who does not give up. JD Weber reads the twenty-two chapters in about seven and three-quarter hours, beginning with a chilling encounter with the Plant Men, and carries listeners through a fast-moving tale of planetary romance.
Introduction
Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) was an American writer, best known for creating Tarzan and for the Barsoom novels set on Mars. The Gods of Mars is the second of his Barsoom series, published as a book in 1918. Its pace and its sense of adventure set a pattern that later science fiction and fantasy would follow.
Burroughs borrowed liberally from the pulp fiction of his day, particularly westerns and swashbuckling tales, and the pacing and themes set the tone for what is sometimes called soft science fiction. The protagonist, John Carter, with his skill in hand-to-hand combat and his devotion to the Martian princess Dejah Thoris, could be said to have set the mould for later popular heroes. The book is the middle section of a story that runs across the early Barsoom novels, and it ends with a cliffhanger.
The audio edition has 22 chapters, with titles beginning The Plant Men, A Forest Battle and The Chamber of Mystery, and lasts about 7.7 hours. It is read by a single LibriVox volunteer, JD Weber.
Why listen now? For anyone interested in the roots of science fiction and space adventure, this novel is a lively place to start. It is escapist, energetic and unashamedly romantic, and its influence on later storytelling can be heard throughout. The novel's pace never drops, and each chapter ends with a new threat or revelation, which suits listening in short sessions. Readers who have enjoyed old-fashioned adventure serials will feel at home, and anyone curious about how modern space stories began will see many familiar ideas in their earliest popular form.
Public domain
Edgar Rice Burroughs died in 1950: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text