Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
ERB's pulp fiction adventure of brain transplants on Barsoom, 18 Sep 2003
For "The Master Mind of Mars," the sixth volume in his Martian series, Edgar Rice Burroughs introduces another new hero as American Ulysses Paxton crosses the void between Earth and Barsoom to become the chief assistant to the red planet's greatest scientist. Original published in the first "Amazing Stories Annual" in 1927, the story again begins with a letter, from Paxton, a Captain in the U.S. Army, to ERB in which he tells how he was fatally injured on a World War I battlefield and was transported to Barsoom, in the same way John Carter made the trip in "A Princess of Mars." Paxton has sent the author the manuscript, which allows Earthmen to "become better acquainted with the manners and customs of Barsoom." In what strikes me as an attempt to further explore the brain switching from previous novel, "The Chessmen of Mars," with the Kaldanes and Rykors, ERB's pulp fiction story has to do with human brain transfers performed by the title character, Ras Thavas. Early in the novel Paxton witnesses the scientist transferring the brain of Xara, Jeddara of Phundahl, in the body of a young girl. Now called Vad Varo, Paxton becomes the bodyguard and assistant to Ras Thavas in the city of Toonol, and falls in love with Valla Dia, the young girl whose mind is now in the ancient body of Xara. Our hero helps Ras Thavas transfer his brain to a younger body as well, but extracts a promise from the scientist to help restore Valla's body. Of course, just to make things interesting, Valla is the daughter of Kor San, Jeddak of Duhor, so once again ERB's damsel in distress is Barsoomian royalty (that is to say, yet another princess of Mars). The remainder of the novel follows Vad Varo's attempt to restore his beloved to her own body, which is complicated by a series of brain transplants that alternately help and hinder his effort. The brain switching angle is rather interesting, and actually makes more sense than your standard "strange alien device transfers consciousness between bodies" that we usually find in such science fiction stories (I just saw that on an old "Farscape" episode), but "The Master Mind of Mars" is pretty much an ERB potboiler where everything is resolved in the final chapter. The novel also has his standard indictment of the futility of war and a rather humorous little attack on false religions, as well as a rather confusing roster of characters. After the classic "Chessman" this next Martian yarn is a bit of a disappointment, but it is still at least an average offering in what is ERB's best series.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another Strong Story In The Series, 7 Jul 2009
"The Master Mind of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burroughs is the sixth book in the Barsoom series. Burroughs moves further away from John Carter by introducing a new hero, Ulysses Paxton, who uses his Martian name Vad Varo for most of the book. Ulysses is a much different hero than John Carter, or for that matter Cathoris or Thuvia from "Thuvia Maid of Mars" or Gahan of Gathol or Tara of Helium from "The Chessmen of Mars". Ulysses's connection with John Carter is that when on Earth he read the stories of John Carter and believed them to be real. The difference is that unlike those who came before, Ulysses/Vlad does not have the skill in hand-to-hand combat that they possessed. This was a very smart move by Burroughs, for what would be the point of making yet another great warrior to repeat the epic adventures which already exist in the series? Instead, the story has a much different feel, smaller in scope, and yet just as absorbing.
Ulysses is a soldier in World War I, and when he becomes wounded and stranded on the battlefield, he uses the force of his mind to transport himself to Mars. Not surprisingly, though severely wounded as Ulysses on Earth, Vad finds his body whole and healthy on Mars. The first person Vad meets on Mars is Ras Thavas, a.k.a "The Master Mind". When circumstances result in Vad's saving Ras, he is taken on as a trusted servant and bodyguard. Ras shows Vad medical techniques far in advanced of those which exist on Earth, and Vad learns quickly. One key difference though is that Ras has no moral conscience, though he often does very good things, he is just as willing to do horrible things, and when one of the horrible things is to give the body of Valla Dia to the evil Xaxa, Vad realizes that he needs to do something.
Through the course of the adventure, Vad gains allies to work with, and he is resolved to capture Xaxa and force the return of Valla Dia's body. Because of the help he has provided them in escaping from the sleeping storage of Ras' lab, his allies are willing to help, and of course Vad is keen to help them achieve their goals as well. Unlike the previous adventures, there is no great evil in this story, though Xaxa is fairly close to it. Vad is not trying to kill those who oppose him, but rather set things right with the woman he has fallen in love with, as well as help his allies regain their lives. John Carter is referred to in the letter which opens the story, and he shows up in the last chapter, so Burroughs maintains the connection to the rest of the series well.
This book ranks fairly high in the series for me. I would consider "The Chessmen of Mars" which comes right before it to be superior, but this one would rank very close to "A Princess of Mars" which opens the series. Because of the key role "A Princess of Mars" plays in the series I would rank that one above "The Master Mind of Mars" as well, but only slightly, and I feel that this story is better than the rest. While "The Gods of Mars" and "The Warlord of Mars" are good, they do become a bit repetitious and neither one of them are complete in and of themselves. "The Master Mind of Mars" does not have that problem as it can stand on its own, as long as you are familiar with the setting of the series as a whole.
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by Edgar Rice Burroughs
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
