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    The Chessmen of Mars
    The Chessmen of Mars
    The Chessmen of Mars
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Chessmen of Mars

    Written by Edgar Rice Burroughs

    Narrated by Gene Engene

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    There is a game on Mars similar to chess-very similar, save that it is played on a board of a hundred squares, and with ornate pieces. The Martians call it jetan, and it is as old as the civilization of Barsoom. But in the Martian city of Manator, jetan is no game. The chiefs of Manator play with living pieces--criminals, slaves, or warriors eager for fame. The opposing chessmen duel to the death for possession of their squares. The chiefs of Mantor play for great stakes, but the most closely fought contest in the huge arena was that in which the prize was Tara, Princess of Helium and daughter of the Warlord of Mars--a prisoner and slave in Manator.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBooks in Motion
    Release dateApr 15, 2005
    ISBN9781596072435
    Author

    Edgar Rice Burroughs

    American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875 - 1950) worked many odd jobs before professionally writing. Burroughs did not start writing until he was in his late 30s while working at a pencil-sharpener wholesaler. But after following his call to writing, Burroughs created one of America's most enduring adventure heroes: Tarzan. Along with his novels about Tarzan, Burroughs wrote the notable Barsoom series, which follows the Mars adventurer John Carter.

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    Reviews for The Chessmen of Mars

    3.5/5

    272 ratings8 reviews

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    • 2/5
      In this standard frame narrative, John Carter pays another visit to Earth to impart the story of how his headstrong daughter found herself a husband. Tara is the second most beautiful woman on Mars. (It should be noted that this complement doesn't comprehend very much as she is very nearly the only woman on Mars.) She has very few other characteristics besides being the daughter of John Carter and extremely concerned with maintaining family honor. When a freak windstorm sends her far from home, her newest admirer will go to any lengths in order to rescue her and win her affection.This book is formulaic in the extreme. Cannot recommend.
    • 5/5
      truly outstanding interpretation of the book. very enjoyable dramatic reading
    • 3/5
      I'm pretty sure this is the longest Barsoom book. It definitely felt like it. I started skim-reading about 100 pages in and only regained complete interest in the last couple of chapters. Princess Tara of Helium is great, like all princesses in this universe she has a tendency to get lost and kidnapped a lot. But she holds her own. My issue was actually the plot, it's broken up into Tara being held prisoner in two different Barsoomian societies. It could have been two books. The first society is one in which Barsoomians prioritize thought to the exclusion of all else and their bodies have physically adapted to that. This is written like it's a commentary on the dangers of intellectualism but its so absurd and extreme that I don't think a valid point ever coalesces. Tara's time in this society drags on for too long in my opinion and then she's off to a city that neighbors the city of a family friend. This section has more of the fast-paced storytelling I'm used to from Barsoom books. There's not much of a message, but there's a lot of political intrigue. I was already tired out by the first half of the novel though.If I weren't committed to finishing this series and hopeful that the next books would be more enjoyable, I definitely would not have finished this. It was a low 2-star read for me, but the way things wrapped up in the end pushed it up to a 3-star for me. Tons of fun in those final chapters.
    • 2/5
      John Carter's daughter gets kidnapped, a lot.Indifferent. There are some interesting weird creatures early in the book. But most of it's garbage, with only Burroughs' ridiculous prose style to give it any entertainment value.
    • 5/5
      This story focuses on Tara, daughter of John Carter and Dehah Thoris, who is captured by the warriors of the city of Manatol, where they play living games of jetan or Martian chess, in which the living pieces fight to the death. These games are used as a form of social control --criminals may fight in the games, slaves, in theory, may win their freedom in them, nobles may command teams as a form of group duel.Tara is supposed to be a prize in one if these games, to be enjoyed by the entire team f criminals who wins her, but naturally this does not happen.The story includes an appendix with the rules for Martian chess, and I can recall making a set of pieces and playing it when young. To me, this is one of the more clever concepts in the Barsoom series.
    • 2/5
      Ok, so I said in my last review (Thuvia, Maid of Mars) That I thought either book 3 or 4 was about rescuing a slave, but I think I was wrong and it was actually this one.
      It starts out promising, (sort of) with Tara (John Carter's daughter) standing up for herself and saying that she does not want to be forced to marry someone she has not chosen, and before she wants to get married. However, instead of coming off like that, she came off spoiled and pouty, like she was being a silly girl throwing a temper tantrum and ruining off because she didn't get her own way. (Which of course means, since a woman has gone off on her own, she will inevitably need rescued /sigh) Needless to say we find and declare evil a new race, (who, actually I found interesting, despite a touch of their own slavery of kind, or perhaps not?) our main man lies about who is is, and WAM! That silly girl realizes she really does love him (and is written in a nice excuse to marry him and not her betrothed).
    • 4/5
      This fifth volume of the Barsoom series is very entertaining. Again some very original populations of Barsoom are introduced, and in this volume the fighting and killing is not so dominant as in some previous volumes. The story has Tara, daughter of John Carter and Dejah Thoris as the main character. There is enough tension and - as I said - the new peoples that are introduced are quite original. A good read!
    • 5/5
      Out of all the John Carter books I think I enjoyed this one the best.Burroughs introduced a couple pretty strange Barsoom creatures in this story, the Kaldanes, and the Rykors. Two separate creatures but dependent on one another.The story was kind of halloweenish in one regard with the horrible looking Kaldanes and other events that involve superstitious fear of the Manatarians.The story also has a philosophical aspect of maintaining a healthy balance between mind and body.