Edgar Rice Burroughs / Barsoom Series Part 1

A Princess of Mars

Here is another one my father suggested as a sort of “back to the roots of Sci-Fi” adventure. I’m breaking this three book series up into parts because I was unable to read straight through them without taking breaks to recapture a neutral state of mind--and a bit of sanity.

The first book, A Princess of Mars, was published back in 1912 so we are talking very early in the beginnings of science fiction as we know it today. But there isn’t all that much science in it when compared with more contemporary authors. I would, in fact, be perfectly alright reclassifying these as fantasy. I believe it is often called “Science Fantasy” and I think that is a better descriptor.

I did like the framing of the story where Burroughs claims to have received the manuscripts from a deceased uncle, John Carter, as a true account of his life; a sort of travel log of his adventures on Mars. It makes me think of the travel logs of Hiram Bingham traveling through South America right around this same time as Burroughs was writing his Barsoom stories.

I was perhaps a little more acquainted with Burroughs turn of the century writing style but some people might find it ponderous and needlessly wordy. Trust me when I say Burroughs is positively brief when compared to some other early 20th century writers. Oddly enough it was Burroughs briefness that most irritated me. I almost felt like he was in a hurry to get the story out or perhaps under some kind of constraints concerning length.

For example in A Princess of Mars, he practically glosses over what seems to be great opportunities for character growth and storytelling. For example the entire episode where John Carter is fighting for his life in “the games”, which are pretty much ancient Roman gladiatorial events, only takes up a couple pages. Its like a throw away event that was only meant to introduce Kantos Kan, who plays a greater role in later books, and to provide a basis for the great friendship between him and John Carter. I’m sorry but I just didn’t buy it. Also the entire march on Zodanga was a perfect opportunity to show Tars Tarkis’s charisma with his men but instead Burroughs just tells us--instead of showing us. In this first book Burroughs spends entirely too much time building on the romance between Carter and Dejah Thoris and not enough time building other characters or Carter’s relationships with other characters.

And what was with that whole section in the atmosphere factory? It was poorly handled. It’s obvious Burroughs inserted it so the ending of the book would make more sense but it still felt like a throw away event. Also the sudden psychic abilities of John Carter are just too much of a sudden stretch. It seemed like just another way for Burroughs to write his main character out of the situation quickly, with minimal plot development, and to make him the only person able to open the factory doors at the end. Altogether this was an unsatisfying part of the story. It could be argued that the reason Burroughs was so brief in his storytelling was because of the newness of the genre and I might be able to agree with that if someone can come up with other authors of the same time period, who were writing in the same genre, that did the same thing. Perhaps readers from the turn of the last century were just not ready for interesting character development? Unfortunately this doesn't hold much water with me when I remember that Victor Hugo first published Les Miserables in 1860--if that's not character development than I don't know what is. I'm not saying Burroughs should be as verbose as Hugo was but I do think he could have gotten away with a little more content.

I listened to the first book, A Princess of Mars, courtesy of Audible. It was only 99 cents and I had already gotten the book for free so it was well worth it. But while I’m not terribly fond of Burroughs writing style, it was almost mind numbing to listen to--except when my husband heard it and started imitating the style. That was hilarious. The guy they got to read did his best and I’ve got to give him props for slugging through Burroughs complicated sentence structure. The old west cowboy tone fit well with the character of John Carter but it still sounded a bit ridiculous to me. That might be because I don’t have a lot of experience with this type of “Old West/Virginia gentleman” character.

If you’re interested in the roots of the sci-fi genre then you almost have to read at least Burrough’s A Princess of Mars. The ending is enough of a cliff hanger that you might then be persuaded to read the next book as well. But if you could really care less then I suggest you pick up something with a nice exciting looking cover instead. 

David Weber's Honor Harrington Series Part 1

On Basilisk Station

The Honor of the Queen

The Short Victorious War

Field of Dishonor

Flag in Exile

This was the Sci-Fi series my father first suggested I read. My dad has been a big Sci-Fi fan for as long as I can remember. I credit him with igniting my love of reading by introducing me to Piers Anthony at a young age. But my dad devours books faster than anyone I know. He is a speed reader and he once told me he only reads the important words and skims over all the others. I thought this was ludicrous at the time but now I completely understand it. Reading all these science fiction books forced him to adapt by learning to “skim”.

Fifty percent of the way through On Basilisk Station by David Weber, I had only actually read (word-for-word) one fourth of it.  After finishing the book I had only actually read maybe two thirds. Why? I kept skimming over the pages of exposition on science and technical stuff that didn’t really help me understand what was going on. I’m not an astrophysicist or a military strategist and I kept thinking, “GIVE ME MORE DIALOG!” Seriously, I live for dialog and I was drowning in scientific thesis papers.  

The second book, The Honor Of The Queen, made me eat my words because suddenly the dialog was the tedious part. Several scenes were exactly like sitting in a board room listening to bunch of people you don’t know give speeches about things you probably don’t really need to know either. Did we really need to hear ALL the different strategies the Peeps could have taken against Manticor? Not really. Did we need to brainstorm with the Manticor Navy about what they THINK the Peeps might do? Well, that could be argued for since they are “Team Protagonist.” But it was still a tedious scene. Books three through five became less tedious (except for that sermon in book 5) but perhaps that was just because I had already become hooked enough not to care and I skimmed over the boring bits.

All in all my dad was right. He suggested these books because he knew I would enjoy them and I have. The characters are complex and believable with wonderful grey areas that make them so delicious. Even minor characters are given complexities that make them appear as individuals in their own right. At first I didn’t understand why so many seemingly minor characters were getting so much attention but as I kept reading, and more plots developed, some of those minor characters became more important. I can’t wait to see where some of my favorites, like McKeon and Foraker, will turn up next.

The plot lines are equally complex. I like the clash of cultures between Grayson and Manticor. I also enjoy reading about the struggles of the People’s Republic which seems too big and unproductive to survive. Although the political and economic struggles of such large governments doesn’t usually intrigue me but I understand why the author includes them since they have direct consequences for his characters. It was the people that drew me in however. Even the politicians are real people with all sorts of faults and virtues. In book 5, Flag in Exile, it is noted that “Wars are fought by people,” and I can’t help but notice that the same can be said for governments. Weber reminds us never to underestimate the power of an individual to change the course of events. Honor Herrington is an obvious catalyst but Weber never forgets that she isn’t the only person who can win or lose a “battle” and this is what makes this series so delightful for me to read.  

OK Mr. Weber, I’m hooked. Now don’t screw it up. I’ve read through the first five books (On Basilisk Station, The Honor of the Queen, The Short Victorious War, Field of Dishonor, and Flag in Exile) and I think it is about time people stopped trying to kill Honor. Somehow I don’t think they will though. I also can’t wait to see how the Peep characters will develop. No doubt I will be reviewing the next several books later on so stay tuned. This series has 14 books so far with another 6 anthologies and 9 spin offs.

And now for a word of caution: I got the first book free on my Kindle from Amazon but the formatting was painfully confusing. The print copies have extra spaces between sections of text where the POV switches and most readers know and recognize this technique immediately. In the free Kindle version there were no line breaks at all. The worst came near the end where the space battle (!) gets fast and heavy and the author switches between ships to show various character reactions. My copy made these action packed moments painful to read because I had no idea whose head I was in from one line to the next. My advice? Go get the print copy of On Basilisk Station. Amazon has a copy on sale for $7.99. Or go out and support your local bookstore.

“OMG you want me to go outside!?”

“Yes, now go put some pants on.”

Thankfully I haven’t run into this issue with any of the later books so far.

Also these are published by Baen so sometimes you can buy a hardcover of a series and they include a nifty CD containing ALL of the books in the series up to that point. My dad showed me one labeled Vol. 22 and it even has other David Weber books on it that are not in the Harrington series. Bonus.