Currently Reading: The Chessmen Of Mars

Book Art by Gino D'Achille

With the John Carter film being released by Disney on March 9, I'm slowly working my way through the Barsoom books by Edgar Rice Burroughs on my eReader.

I've loved the series so far, and I would really recommend anyone to pick up the first three books - 'A Princess Of Mars', 'The Gods Of Mars' and 'The Warlord Of Mars' - as an introduction to the world of Barsoom before they go to see the film, and as they kind of carry on after each other too.

I'm now up to book 5, 'The Chessmen Of Mars', and after what I thought was initially a slow start and not feeling much sympathy towards the main character, Tara of Helium, as the action gets going, I'm getting dragged into the story and start to enjoy it a lot more.

In this book, the focus this time switches from John Carter and Dejah Thoris, the main protagonists of the first three books, to their daughter Tara, princess of Helium, after a strange storm sweeps her far away from her native Helium. Over the course of her journey, she is repeatedly in danger, first in the strange land of Bantoom, where she is captured and studied by the Kaldanes, a highly intelligent but narrow focused race, and then in the city of Manator, where she is the prize in a giant game of jetan, a form of Martian chess.

For more information on 'The Chessmen Of Mars' check out the Wikipedia link
Or check out the book yourself from the Project Gutenberg