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''A Fighting Man of Mars'' is a
science fantasy Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction that simultaneously draws upon or combines tropes and elements from both science fiction and fantasy. In a conventional science fiction story, the world is presented as being scient ...
novel by American writer
Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, ...
, the seventh of his
Barsoom Barsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs. The first Barsoom tale was serialized as ''Under the Moons of Mars'' in 1912 and published as a novel as ''A Princess of Mars' ...
series. Burroughs began writing it on February 28, 1929, and the finished story was first published in '' The Blue Book Magazine'' as a six-part serial in the issues for April to September 1930. It was later published as a complete novel by Metropolitan in May 1931.


Plot summary

Like many other Burroughs stories, ''A Fighting Man of Mars'' resembles ''
The Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...
''. The story is purportedly relayed back to earth via the Gridley Wave, a sort of super radio frequency previously introduced in ''
Tanar of Pellucidar ''Tanar of Pellucidar'' is a novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the third in his series set in the interior world of Pellucidar. It first appeared as a six-part serial in '' The Blue Book Magazine'' from March–August 1929. It was fi ...
'', the third of Burrough's ''
Pellucidar Pellucidar is a fictional Hollow Earth invented by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs for a series of action adventure stories. In a crossover event, Tarzan, who was also created by Burroughs, visits Pellucidar. The stories initially involv ...
'' novels, which thus provides a link between the two series. The story-teller is Ulysses Paxton, protagonist of the previous novel, ''
The Master Mind of Mars ''The Master Mind of Mars'' is a science fantasy novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the sixth of his Barsoom series. Burroughs' working titles for the novel were ''A Weird Adventure on Mars'' and ''Vad Varo of Barsoom''. It was fir ...
'', but this story is not about him; rather, it is the tale of Tan Hadron of Hastor, a lowly, poor padwar (a low-ranking officer) who is in love with the beautiful, haughty Sanoma Tora, daughter of Tor Hatan, a minor but rich noble. As he is only a padwar, Sanoma spurns him. Then Sanoma Tora is kidnapped, and the novel moves into high gear. As Tan Hadron crosses
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...
("
Barsoom Barsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs. The first Barsoom tale was serialized as ''Under the Moons of Mars'' in 1912 and published as a novel as ''A Princess of Mars' ...
", as Burroughs calls it) searching for Sanoma Tora, he encounters some of Barsoom's most ferocious beasts: huge, many-armed, flesh-eating white apes, gigantic spiders, and the insane cannibals of U-Gor. He also meets the
mad scientist The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as " mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabashedly am ...
Phor Tak, who cackles "Heigh-oo!" and is crazed with the desire for revenge. The initial simplicity of Burroughs' well-worn pursuit plot is elaborated by Hadron's rescue of an escaped slave, Tavia, from a band of six-limbed Green Martians of Torquas, en route to the city of Jahar where Hadron believes Sanoma Tora has been taken. Tavia is an atypical Burroughs heroine; depicted as self-reliant and competent with weapons, witty and intelligent, she compares favorably for both reader and Hadron with beautiful but shallow Sanoma Tora, who ultimately shows herself unworthy of the virtuous hero. With the addition of Nur An, a disaffected Jaharian warrior, and another escaped woman slave, Phao, Hadron's quest becomes more collaborative than Burroughs' usual, although Tavia, in an unsurprising plot development, is revealed to be a princess at the end.


Copyright

The
copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
for this story was not renewed by December 31, 1955, in the United States and therefore is in the public domain. Nevertheless, LibriVox.org does not recognize this status. The
copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
for this story has expired in Australia, and thus now resides in the
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired ...
there. The text is available via
Project Gutenberg Australia Project Gutenberg Australia, abbreviated as PGA, is an Internet site which was founded in 2001 by Colin Choat. It is a sister site of Project Gutenberg, though there is no formal relationship between the two organizations. The site hosts free eboo ...
.


Reception

Floyd C. Gale ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Edit ...
of ''
Galaxy Science Fiction ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Edit ...
'' said that "Burroughs's choice of a model was a wise one. The Arabian Nights are corking good adventure stories in their own right".


References

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External links

*
ERBzine.com Illustrated Bibliography entry for ''A Fighting Man of Mars''Zip fileText file
at
Project Gutenberg Australia Project Gutenberg Australia, abbreviated as PGA, is an Internet site which was founded in 2001 by Colin Choat. It is a sister site of Project Gutenberg, though there is no formal relationship between the two organizations. The site hosts free eboo ...

Edgar Rice Burroughs Summary Project page for ''A Fighting Man of Mars''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fighting Man Of Mars, A 1931 American novels 1931 fantasy novels 1931 science fiction novels American fantasy novels American science fiction novels Martian novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs Metropolitan Books books Novels first published in serial form Works originally published in Blue Book (magazine)