All Comments

Hey, me here again :D No, not bad at all! You just might want to depart from simple summary a bit more. Interesting that Dejah is an alien and yet she's apparently so beautiful to Carter's eyes (this guy Kirk with an eye for space babes? LOL.). Not to mention red skinned... Native American allegory mayhaps?

Thanks! Maybe I'll think of more clever commentary in the morning; feels like I'm starting to get the hang of it, I hope.

Definitely a case of Damsel In Distress meets Knight In Shining Armor, at least. I'd say he's building up a harem, but Sola is Just Friends. And green. Though an Interspecies Romance Mixed Marriage would have been way ahead of its time. Guess Who's Coming To Barsoom?

It's weird, red skinned, despite being a captive of the injun analogue...speaking of, I never understood 'red skinned' as a description for Native Americans.

My mind sometimes moves in extremely odd tangents. Oh god, I can't stop picturing John Carter sounding.like Foghorn Leghorn.

Something!

I've been enjoying this well enough.

Redskin: A native of the Americas, whose skin is not red...on the outside. — Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

And the Red Martians are mostly city-dwellers, IIRC. The Green Martians are more like the Mongolian Horde or something.

Wow, I don't know what about this to attribute to Burroughs' particular attitudes and what to attribute to it being a product of its time. The whole 'White man leads noble (in their own way) savages' thing... I do realize what you guys meant in the last comments about Dejah not being the Indian stereotype but the other Martians, oh, so much, it looks like. I'll look forward to hearing about how this trial will turn out. I'm interested in these 'Plgrimage Lands' too...

A chapter entitled 'Love-Making on Mars'? -giggles like a schoolgirl- Yeah, okay, this should be interesting. Probably hilarious. Such a Narm-ful title.

You think he's going to end up the King? I hadn't thought of that. I was guessing he'd escape before or during the trial and games.

• Hmm...the similarity to Dune would be interesting.

Edit; And Dune was inspired by Lawrence Of Arabia, who...hadn't had his adventures for a couple years yet...again, creepy.

...and of course the idea for peace/love has to come from the Point-of-view hero American Earthling. :p But yeah, not a bad Aesop as it goes, if that's what it is. :p

In fact, 'Protagonist finds a way to get along and even get to an honored place in an alien culture with no concept of friendship but plenty of allowed violence' sounds a lot like one of my favorite series, the Foreigner series by CJ Cherryh. Of course, in that series, the protagonist doesn't open their eyes to friendship (they biologically haven't the same concept), he has to adapt to it and tailor his approach to concepts the aliens can understand - he's really a diplomat. And he definitely doesn't have a physical advantage.

I never read that one. I keep meaning to read CJ Cherryh, but I keep getting bogged down. I was trying the Chanur series, though.

• That one was probably...teaching concepts we don't have though. Seems like a common theme.

Blargh, I can't seem to submit my new installment. Guess it is a Cliffhanger indeed.

Wow, I go away a couple of days, and suddenly we have a whole new area for liveblogs!

Yep, this is the good cliffhanger Planetary Romance stuff.

Tar Tarkas is the main character of his own story, an epic of love, loss, and revenge; is there a trope for that?

Hero Of Another Story perhaps? Anyway, it is a bit of a Luke You Are My Father twist, isn't it? Interesting. Definitely fleshes out Dejah's character, and Tarkas'... :)

Definitely Hero Of Another Story. (Sorry, know I'm late to the party, but I didn't hear about it until it already got started! :) Keep liveblogging, Burroughs is one of my favorites!

Warhoons? Wow, talk about Meaningful Name. :p

I'd have thought there would be enough Martians around to prevent an escape even at night, but, anyway. Sounds exciting.

Took me a while to notice that one. Weren't the hoons in Dr Suess?

Well, he still needs to escape. Maybe they'll be drunk? Do they drink? Drunk with victory?

Yep, the Warhoons are basically there to make the Tharks look like the Noble Savage bunch by comparison.

There's the Fridge Logic of how anything evolved on Mars that needed oxygen in the first place if they have to go to the trouble of making it... unless they're originally, say, from Earth and are terraforming it. I won't examine this too closely :p

I like the Red Martians, though. Very hospitable :)

I believe the idea was that it's a Gotterdammerung Mars; Barsoom used to be lush and green, but by now it's a mostly barren wasteland where air and water have to be manufactured.

Dejah made mention, in explaining a mural, that there used to be an great Crystal Spires And Togas empire of Irish White Men with Red Heads. Among other things, they're ancestors of the Red Men (having interbred with the Black Men and the Yellow Men, and not forming the Beige Men), and for having there Empire collapse, as is the tendency. In retrospect, That Came Out Wrong, but one assumes the end of the Empire coincided with the ecological disaster.

• Interestingly enough, the current Red Men claim to have matched or even exceeded the technology of the ancients (oxygen plants), if being lacking in their luxriant culture.
• No one's brought up John looking like a White Martian, so I guess they still look different?
  • Earth is a Lost Colony of White Martians and John was a throwback?
    • There was a Sci Fi novel with a similar theme, totally can't remember the name, just that there was weird lightsaber dueling and that the empire were kinda racist pale giants.

Also, White Martian sounds like a cocktail.

Yes, it kinda does :p

Ah, one of those 'Mars was once lush and green, but no more' explanations. That makes more sense, thanks :)

Dr Rockopolis: IIRC, White Martians are all blond, John's got black hair. (Going by memory here, pardon me if I got it wrong.)

Ah, "The decoration of the walls was most elaborate, and, unlike the frescoes in the other buildings I had examined, portrayed many human figures in the compositions. These were of people like myself, and of a much lighter color than Dejah Thoris. They were clad in graceful, flowing robes, highly ornamented with metal and jewels, and their luxuriant hair was of a beautiful golden and reddish bronze. The men were beardless and only a few wore arms. The scenes depicted for the most part, a fair-skinned, fair-haired people at play."

• Strange, I forgot the part about "Like myself".

I see what you mean, Utopian and Dystopian almost at the same time. Interesting. :)

I guess it's the dichotomy of high tech and the horrifying necessity of it.

• Again, like Dune.
  • I think Dune comparisons are inevitable in any vaguely desert or scarcity setting.

John is a rather popular fellow on Mars, isn't he? :p Good for him.

And I hope you enjoy your new bike, when it comes in!

Trainer, actually. Got my bike already...still haven't unpacked it from my trip, actually. Hope it's in one piece.

Bike trainer as in, stationary bike? That's what I was getting at. Or something else? I wasn't sure what you meant by trainer. :p

Actually, it's a machine to prop up a bike you already have. Like a treadmill for bikes, I guess.

• Wikipedia
• I got a fluid trainer, I'm a sucker for sales. I was thinking about getting rollers, but those were more expensive, and they require lots of concentration to use.
  • I might not need the audiobooks with the one I'm getting...probably still be easier, though.

...I should save this for when I actually get it, shouldn't I? And maybe a separate cycling liveblog.

Ah, thanks - I wasn't aware of trainers! :)

By all means, do a cycling blog when you get one, if you feel like it )

Enjoying your commentary :) So John is just a tad love-crazy, eh? Ah, well, wouldn't be this kind of book if the hero didn't get the girl, would it? :p

Glad to hear it you enjoy it. Always seems kinda hit or miss.

• Wonder how different doing a voice commentary on something else might be?
  • Soon I'll have delusions of grandeur, thinking I can be That Guy With The Glasses. XP

Huzzah for the Power Of Friendship!

It's friendship! Hooray friendship!

Sounds exciting! Interesting aside about the parachute, btw - always interesting to note things in early books you might not have thought would have been invented. :p

I can just imagine that ending, John and Dejah finally getting a quiet moment to themselves after all the hubub... and the Power of Love, aww. :3 Okay, it may be cliche but I'll buy that it works :p

Sorry to hear about your being so under the weather, hope you feel better soon. And about your trainer. :(

Nice commentary on the battle, though! I especially enjoyed the idea that while there were heavier weapons on the captured ships, the Heliumites didn't know how to work them but used hand weapons rather effectively instead. Oh, and the point about rape being one of those things that doesn't happen, given different species and all. :p

Good for John, though! And now there's nothing stopping him and Dejah from marrying. :)

Thank you.

• And hey, ground shipping should only take two business days or so...I want it now. XP

Yeah, I thought it was interesting, that the Tharks having no navy came into play.

And, uh, knock on wood. I doubt the rest of the series is about picking out curtains or whatever it is married people do, or raising a child and planning their future...though that could be an interesting book.

Well, it was too good to last (unless it was a Happily Ever After ending :p )... but they did get nine peaceful years. :) And go go John again, you're absolutely right that's some memory! Heh. I'm assuming everything won't have gone entirely perfectly when he wakes up after this cliffhanger...

Well, he ended up back on Earth (I was going to say home, but really, home is where you hang your hat harness and metal) to deliver his memoirs. I wonder if he does go back, or if the rest of the tales are from the nine years, with a...Foregone Conclusion?

Aha! So he does wake up back on Earth. What an ending, not knowing if he saved his wife, unborn kid, and entire adopted civilization or not! Yeesh.

As I've said, I've definitely enjoyed this! I'll definitely anticipate the next book/installment eagerly. :)

Burroughs became known for a particular method of keeping relationships romantic with long separations and joyful reunions.

Didn't know that, this is the first Burroughs story I've read.

And yeah, I'm looking forward to the next one; hopefully it won't be a year, like the people back in 1913. XP

Merry Christmas.

Doesn't age? That's... interesting. I could make a Wild Mass Guessing that he's somehow acquired the One Ring, but I wouldn't expect it to be true. :p

Also intrigued by the You Are Not Ready. :)

Hope you had a good New Years!

Maybe there's a better trope; he was saying that wouldn't believe it, or laugh at him, or assume it should be published in Amazing Tales....

Well, he hasn't ended up like Gollum yet....Got Me Doing It.

• An immortal from Highlander? It explain the sword skills, and going to Mars is like Highlander II, I think...

Not bad. Same to you.

That would be an anti-green Aesop indeed! LOL.

Seems like being a lot stronger than your average Martian really has its advantages. Not to mention he's graced with luck... he could have been flung to a part of Mars that wasn't terraformed, I suppose! And finding Tars Tarkas. Well, now that battle is over I suppose it's time to find out what's been brewing on Mars in John's absence. The part about different tribes being together is intriguing.

:)

Last chapter: Good for Tars Tarkas! I like those quotes too. I'll agree, as well, that strange laughter from somewhere unknown does sound ominous...

And good that you got your trainer and the audiobook is pleasant! Stick in there with the trainer :) I've listened to audiobooks myself sometimes while running or taking the train, and yeah, it is sometimes hard to hear if there's a lot of ambient noise :(

Yeah, I've never actually listened to an audiobook before. It's actually pretty cool, I should look for other items on audio.

And radio! I started listening to it during my rides last year. Man, this modern technology is awesome! XP

• Though whenever I ride I get this strange urge for powdermilk biscuits.
• Too bad there's no Bike Talk.

:D Bike Talk? Nice. I don't have XM, but I do tend to listen to NPR (I love Wait Wait Don't Tell Me) and BBC on my computer (I love their radio dramas... great for getting me just distracted enough that I don't have insomnia.)

Cold out where you are too, huh?

Yep. College closed today, actually.

If you do Pellucidar, then yes, separate liveblog just to reduce confusion.

Hey, good to see you back!

Well, this is starting with a bang, ain't it? I know he's stronger than your average Martian but slaying dozens of (Martian) lions (in company with Tars), well, quite the image there. :p

This new fellow is intriguing... rather violent, but intriguing :p

True. He does treat it like it's nothing special. Just a lion, after Teri and plant men? Then again, after Teri and plant men, it should be a big deal.

Hey, sorry for being so late to respond here. I'm back.

Yet another breakout and action sequence... no wonder John and Tars are tired! :p But all in a good cause. :) Also... Go Thuvia! :p