I loved the ending. But I found the sane dullness in the first edition. I'm not sure if it's the authors fault or mine for not liking science fiction. But the ending is worth it. The suspense leaves you on your toes. And although I promised I'd pick a book by the same author if I happened to like another book. Which I did. I loved Tarzan of the apes. So I gave this a chance and to my surprise. It wasn't so bad at all. I like it. I might read the third chapter of this story.

Is Edgar Rice Burroughs the master of the cliffhanger?!

Love how wacky this story is and I really really dig the crazy way Burroughs describes Barsoom and all of its inhabitants. Issus in particular is INSANE!

John Carter = boring. Dejah Thoris = not worth the fuss. Kantos Kan and Tars Tarkas = awesome.

Continuing the story from [b:A Princess of Mars|40395|A Princess of Mars (Barsoom, #1)|Edgar Rice Burroughs|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1332272118l/40395._SY75_.jpg|1129624] in more or less the same style.

After dying on earth John Carter finds himself back on mars where he has to overcome one incredible obstacle after the other, leaving him in a cliffhanger every second chapter (and at the and of the novel).

Even though the style is the same, the narrative feels more chunky and some of descriptions of the various races dwellings and hideouts was hard to follow.

I might give the next novel a go at some time but for now i'm giving John Carter a well deserved break.

As much as I loved A Princess of Mars, its sequel is an even better adventure. It seems less segmented than its predecessor and follows an exciting trajectory that includes everything you'd expect from the originator of the sword & planet genre. As a player of Pathfinder, Dungeons & Dragons, and other RPGs, I loved seeing the dark-skinned, subterranean matriarchal society, as it seemed an obvious inspiration for the now iconic drow. The only down-side to this book is that it ends on an annoying cliffhanger that doesn't adequately pay off the building tension as the plot draws to its climax. Clearly, Burroughs wanted to make people buy his subsequent book (which, of course, I have already done and will read soon), but it makes what would otherwise be a near perfect adventure lack the ability to stand on its own as a standalone book.

Except for the racism this is an excellent adventure story. A mad god, false religions, armies of millions, giant air battles, ravenous plant-men and much, much more.

After ten years of inexplicable exile on Earth, John Carter is returned to Mars. He finds what looks like a paradise, but it is actually hellish place ruled by the therns who act like gods. But even the gods have enemies, namely the race of black men called the First Born who terrorize the therns in turn at the behest of their death-goddess Issus. There's a lot of swordplay, narrow escapes, and the introduction of some new characters like the slave-girl Thuvia and the thern princess Phaidor, who of course fall in love with John Carter, but to his credit he remains loyal to his wife Dejah Thoris. We don't get to see much of Tars Tarkas or Sola in this story, but we do meet Carter's son, Carthoris (although it isn't clear exactly how old the kid is. Sometimes he's called "boy" and sometimes "young man" and he seems to know be an excellent warrior, but Carter has only been gone ten years, so do Martians just grow up faster or is Cathoris a really precocious ten-year-old? I have no idea.) Burroughs manages to keep Mars fresh by introducing us to new people and places on the dying planet, and leaves us on a cliff-hanger.

I liked this one much better than the first, I found the action much more interesting and much better flow.