 dust-jacket forA Fighting Man of Mars | |
| Author | Edgar Rice Burroughs |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | Barsoom |
| Genre | Science fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Metropolitan Books |
Publication date | 1930 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 319 |
| Preceded by | The Master Mind of Mars |
| Followed by | Swords of Mars |
A Fighting Man of Mars is ascience fantasy novel by American writerEdgar Rice Burroughs, the seventh of hisBarsoom series. Burroughs began writing it on February 28, 1929, and the finished story was first published inThe Blue Book Magazine as a six-part serial in the issues for April to September 1930. It was later published as a complete novel by Metropolitan in May 1931.
Like many other Burroughs stories,A Fighting Man of Mars resemblesThe Arabian Nights.[1] The story is purportedly relayed back to earth via the Gridley Wave, a sort of super radio frequency previously introduced inTanar of Pellucidar, the third of Burrough'sPellucidar novels, which thus provides a link between the two series. The story-teller isUlysses Paxton, protagonist of the previous novel,The Master Mind of Mars, but this story is not about him; rather, it is the tale of Tan Hadron of Hastor, a lowly, poor padwar (a low-ranking officer) who is in love with the beautiful, haughty Sanoma Tora, daughter of Tor Hatan, a minor but rich noble. As he is only a padwar, Sanoma spurns him. Then Sanoma Tora is kidnapped, and the novel moves into high gear.
As Tan Hadron crossesMars ("Barsoom", as Burroughs calls it) searching for Sanoma Tora, he encounters some of Barsoom's most ferocious beasts: huge, many-armed, flesh-eating white apes, gigantic spiders, and the insane cannibals of U-Gor. He also meets themad scientist Phor Tak, who cackles "Heigh-oo!" and is crazed with the desire for revenge.
The initial simplicity of Burroughs' well-worn pursuit plot is elaborated by Hadron's rescue of an escaped slave, Tavia, from a band of six-limbed Green Martians of Torquas, en route to the city of Jahar where Hadron believes Sanoma Tora has been taken. Tavia is an atypical Burroughs heroine; depicted as self-reliant and competent with weapons, witty and intelligent, she compares favorably for both reader and Hadron with beautiful but shallow Sanoma Tora, who ultimately shows herself unworthy of the virtuous hero. With the addition of Nur An, a disaffected Jaharian warrior, and another escaped woman slave, Phao, Hadron's quest becomes more collaborative than Burroughs' usual, although Tavia, in an unsurprising plot development, is revealed to be a princess at the end.
Thecopyright for this story was not renewed by December 31, 1955, in the United States and therefore is in the public domain. Nevertheless, LibriVox.org does not recognize this status.
Thecopyright for this story has expired in Australia, and thus now resides in thepublic domain there. The text is available viaProject Gutenberg Australia.
Floyd C. Gale ofGalaxy Science Fiction said that "Burroughs's choice of a model was a wise one. The Arabian Nights are corking good adventure stories in their own right".[1]
In 1973,George Lucas used the first chapter of this novel as the basis for an unfinished, two-page draft titledJournal of the Whills, the direct predecessor toStar Wars.[2]
The Fighting Man of Mars public domain audiobook atLibriVox