![]() And I've enjoyed the vast majority of them. I've only read one of them since getting this omnibus, and recently started a second. To be clear: I've read all of these five Barsoom novels several times previously in other editions, both printed and digital. Given that I feel there was a definite decline in the series as it went along, I don't see myself seeking out and reading any of the other works that take place in this setting at any time in the near future. When something happened, the character's response was often to have a positive outlook based on the fact that they were still alive and to do nothing that would actually improve the situation. ![]() In the fifth book, the main character was very passive. The main characters of the first four books were active they looked to do things when put in the situations they encountered. Of the five books, the fifth is I think the weakest of the set, in that it contained alot of the problems as the fourth book, and gave us a main character that was such a departure from the ones in what came before hand. It's like the author hit a word count and then wrapped up the rest as quickly as possible in the last two pages. Also the fourth and fifth books just end. We go from a character that has a view point closer to that of the reader, in that they're both new to the setting of the story, to two different characters that have been raised in the setting. I think the series lost something when the main character changed for the last two books in this five book collection. (Well, OK, so I only added that sentence to qualify for a super review!) On Barsoom, men are real men, women are real women, and giant green four-armed people with antennae and eyes on the sides of their heads are real giant green four-armed people with antennae and eyes on the sides of their heads. These stories straddle the boundaries between science, fantasy and weird fiction in their flavour, but never lack a healthy dose (some might say an overdose!) of good old-fashioned swashbuckling romance. But the thing that keeps you reading is Burrough's raw, unrestrained creativity, and the passion and excitement that comes through in his writing. The plots get a bit samey after a while - let's face it there's only so far you can stretch the 'impossibly muscular, combat-worthy rough-diamond hero chases across half the world to rescue his impossibly-beautiful-but-feisty princess' theme before it gets a bit tired. It's astonishing to think that Burroughs wrote the first of these highly imaginative tales in 1911. A series of rip-roaring, thigh-slapping, red-blooded (and sometimes green-blooded) pulp adventure yarns within Burrough's vividly imagined Martian setting of Barsoom.
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