John Carter of Mars: A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars, The Warlord of Mars (Library of Wonder)

B & N you have done it right.

I picked up my copy of John Carter of Mars at my local B & N store. I was blown away. The quality of the book was fantastic. The stories may be old, but with the endless illustrations by Thomas Yeates, the book seemed as new as today. His work is spectacular. I believe that I would have purchased this volume just for the illustration, even if I didn't like the stories.
I hope you will do other Edgar Rice Burroughs books in the near future, an please have Thomas Yeates do the illustrations.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

ERB'S CLASSIC TRILOGY GETS FIRST CLASS TREATMENT

Many readers might be familiar with the basic story line of Edgar Rice Burroughs' classic Martian tales. Familiar with John Carter of Mars, his Martian Princess Dejah Thoris and his fierce six limbed green Martian warrior ally Tars Tarkas. What might not be as familiar is the complex story arc that sweeps through these first three volumes--with concepts and conflicts of war, peace and the survival of a people. Of the inventiveness of Burroughs' Barsoom with its many racial, multi species population, and the ever changing political and religious interests that ultimately lead to a great war and the salvation of an entire planet from the tyranny of a false god.

The first three novels in one volume provide a chance to read and absorb the story as one continuous tale.

This volume is very handsome, well crafted and put together, with amazing illustrations by Thomas Yeates. The colorful endpapers and volume breaks, page decorations, lists of illustration and other features make this a book of high quality, and at an amazingly low price.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

IT'S ABOUT TIME!...maybe

Ever since Del Rey began their excellent series of Robert E. Howard collections, I've been waiting and hoping that they or someone similar would do the same for Burroughs' classic, hugely influential works. (How influential? Well, for example, Star Wars fans might be surprised to learn that the "Martian" words "Jed" and "Sith" are used throughout the Mars series of novels.) The problem with collecting Burroughs in this day and age, however, is that many of his novels have fallen into public domain, which basically means that anyone with access to a high speed copier can print their own editions. Still, I have always felt that a well-designed edition of public domain works is still infinitely more marketable than a cheap knockoff from an on-demand printer, and this volume, with its magnificent (and exclusive) illustrations by Thomas Yeates, proves my point (at least insofar as they were able to sell it to ME immediately).

The question now, though, is whether Fall River will continue with the rest of the series. As I alluded above, there are a number of publishers who have printed A PRINCESS OF MARS or the trilogy that this edition collects, only to let the rest of the series fall by the wayside. Just as I felt that these books merited a quality package, I also feel that the series as a whole will be much more marketable, both to its oldest fans and to new readers, if the ENTIRE series is made available. Apart from the short-lived Leonaur publications from a couple of years ago (which apparently suffered from numerous character-recognition-derived glitches), I don't believe this has yet been tried. Given the quality of this book, I believe it's crucial for Burroughs fans to pester the living daylights out of Fall River until they agree to complete the series. (And a companion edition reprinting the entire Pellucidar series wouldn't be too shabby an idea either!)

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great Stories, Great Art

When ever you read Edgar Rice Burroughs you are reading the best and the art work in this book is as good as it gets.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Burroughs Done Right!

This is how EVERY Edgar Rice Burroughs novel should be reprinted -- lavishly illustrated by an artist who draws evocative, detailed pictures that reflect not only the story but the imagination of the artist. Thomas Yeates is the perfect illustrator for Burroughs, and we can only hope that B&N retains his talents for future ERB reprints. With Pixar's John Carter of Mars film slated for 2012, the rest of the Barsoom canon needs to be reprinted in this format ASAP! My only further request would be a dustjacket to protect the illustrated covers.
This is the perfect edition to introduce new readers to Burroughs, the Grandfather of American Science Fiction, or for longtime Burroughs fans to get reacquainted with his stories.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

What a great reprint of these books!

The first three John Carter novels were some of the best planetary romance novels ever written. So good that movies are now in the works for these books. What makes these first three novels better than what has been done in the past is the accompanying artwork of Thomas Yeates. His 60 illustrations are just incredible and makes this book worthy of the price alone. This is a book for anyone who has ever admired Edgar Rice Burroughs or would like to read some of his best novels. Get this book. Hopefully, if this book is successful, we will get to see Yeates illustrate the reprinting of the next three books in the Mars series. And even beyond that, how about Barnes and Nobles repinting the Tarzan books starting withe the first with Yeates doing the interior artwork as well.

Dennis

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

John Carter of Mars (Library of Wonder) - great stories and terrific art!

I saw a friend's copy of this magnificent trilogy and was so impressed by the Thomas Yeates art which reinvents the characters, creatures, and exotic places from the classic science fiction romances from Edgar Rice Burroughs, the "Master of Adventure," that I ordered multiple copies in order to send them to some of my overseas pen pals who are Burroughs fans. The book is more than worth the price just for the art, but don't forget that these are timeless tales of adventure. Introduce your friends to the exotic world of Barsoom with this excellent book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great books, abominable cover

The three best books Edgar Rice Burroughs ever wrote! But if the illustration here is the cover for the book I've been waiting for for six months, then the editors should be not only ashamed, but fired. The cover doesn't capture a single iota of the sense of wonder in these novels. In short, it's awful. Is that the immortal hero over there, hidden in shadow??? What's that in the foreground -- a bumblebee with a spear? These look like illos from the interior, colored (badly) and placed out of context on the cover, thus losing their impact. Seriously -- were the book designers both blind and drugged when they came up with this?

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Any friend of Tarzan is a friend of mine

Great selection for the young to read, something that will challenge their reading skills and provide escapism and adventure. Written as a novel but obviously in a serial type fashion, the action and suspense is nonstop. John Carter does on Mars what Tarzan could only do in the jungle. Amazing characters abound thoughout this three part story. Good always triumphs although there are some scary moments.

Entertaining & Escapist

This is a great book to introduce young readers to science fiction. I loved the original illustrations. Kids will love these books(three books bound as one) especially if they are at that time in life where scantily clad, large breasted women are beginning to pique their curiosity and exotic landscapes and creatures appeal to their imagination.

Like Burrough's Tarzan character, John Carter is larger than life and a heroic action figure.

John Carter of Mars

The novels are swords-and-sorcery fantasy, with an overlay of science fiction as understood a hundred years ago. The writing style is also dated. Having said that, the three novels in this book are well crafted light escapist fiction. The book is lavishly illustrated, handsomely bound and reasonably priced. The same novels are available as separate volumes in paperback, without illustrations, for almost as much a piece as in this volume.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.