A Princess of Mars

Another one of those classics of the genre that I've never read - I'd heard the name John Carter before, but going in that was around all that I knew.

This was a fun read! Carter appears at times to be a bit superhuman, and as a result there doesn't seem to be in serious danger at any time, and the story as a result feels like a swashbuckling travelogue as much as anything else. Perhaps that shouldn't be too surprising, given the era that the novel came out of, and it makes for a refreshing read.

It's not really a science fiction novel, though, at least not in the way that I usually think of the term. Aside from the extraterrestrial setting of the novel, any science in the novel is incidental - how Carter gets to Mars isn't really explained, and there are no real difficulties raised regarding living on Mars - it has atmosphere, and plants and animals that provide food, and aliens that are very similar to humans, aside from their ubiquitous telepathic ability (which don't work on Carter, so are a bit of a moot point). A Princess of Mars has more in common with stories like those of Gulliver or Sinbad than those written by the likes of Wells, Clarke, or Asimov. And yet, reading about it it's incredibly influential, not only to science fiction authors but to actual scientists instead. Anything that could inspire a range of people as wise as Carl Sagan and George Lucas must have something special to it.

One of the things about A Princess of Mars that I found interesting, but which a lot of people might find off-putting, is that it's a novel dripping in Manifest Destiny. Before going to Mars, Carter was a soldier in the Confederate army and is in conflict with a group of Apaches, who are portrayed as ‘savages'; after he goes to Mars, he quickly learns their language and rises to a leadership position among both the green and red Martians as a result of his inherent superiority as a Southern Gentleman. It's a little grating at times, but if you're able to keep perspective of when and where the novel was published, it shouldn't hamper one's enjoyment of the story too much.