A Princely Book

 

I am an Edgar Rice Burroughs historian and have published over 1600 articles about the writings and history of Edgar Rice Burroughs.

In spite of my expectations to the contrary, Rob Dorsey’s “A Prince of Mars” is a very very good book. I readily admit that I was pre-disposed not to like it. I’ve read dozens of books and stories based on the Barsoom novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, most with high anticipation followed by inevitable disappointment. I’ve even written a few that mercifully will never be published.

I expected no better from this one and read the first hundred pages looking for things to nitpick and complain about, but before long I realized that I wasn’t doing that anymore, I was reading and enjoying the story. Instead of trying to find fault, I cared about the characters. Captured by the narrative, I willingly accompanied and cheered for the characters as they battled the Zodangan forces.

Rob used a disclaimer on the copyright page. “The author is not an employee of or related to the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs and these works are not intended to represent any work by Burroughs or any other author, living or dead.” Be that as it may, the story is worthy sequel to the Barsoom books. It is the first of five novels, THE BARSOOM PENTALOGY and I look forward to reading the next four. His treatment of John Carter, Dejah Thoris, Kantos Kan, and Tars Tarkas does homage to those characters. He expands their personalities while remaining true to Burroughs’s vision for them. That’s a hard task, but write reviews that contain spoilers and so I won’t write about the storyline. I will say that Dorsey’s background as a pilot makes his descriptions of how the Barsoomian lighter-than-air ships function and maneuver absolutely spot on.