Reader discussion: A Princess of Mars

Public reader discussion about A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Overlooked Icons: Leigh Brackett

By pencil_cliff60

Leigh Douglass Brackett was born in Los Angeles in 1915, and I guess she only really got going after reading Edgar Rice Burroughs’ A Princess of Mars. Her first thing showed up in 1940 (“Martian Quest” in Astounding Science Fiction), and after that she basically kept writing sci-fi nonstop—over twenty stories, with titles in all those pulp mags. I did notice her early Mars-y stuff leaned pretty hard on Burroughs (ruins, ray guns, sword fights, all that), but then she found her own lane. “Shadow Over Mars” in 1944 is where she really got the reputation, and then she kept stacking up more classics like The Starmen, The Sword of Rhiannon, The Long Tomorrow, and a bunch others. By the time she died in 1978, she was basically celebrated as a top genre writer. Okay, but why does this feel like it turned into Westerns at some point? Because it does. Before Shadow Over Mars she tried crime with No Good from a Corpse, and then Hawks called her about working on The Big Sleep. Later Hawks brought her back for Westerns with John Wayne—Rio Bravo, Hatari!, El Dorado, and Rio Lobo. She also did Follow the Free Wind about Jim Beckwourth and even won a Spur Award for it. And then she wrote the screenplay for Altman’s The Long Goodbye too, which is wild because it’s not even the same vibe as her sci-fi. But I’m still not fully sure where her “most remembered” spot is supposed to be—because the note about her doing the first draft of The Empire Strikes Back feels like the kind of thing you only remember because of the trivia, not because you actually know the details. Also, John Carpenter somehow named a Halloween character after her, so… yeah, she’s got a footprint in places.

What classic books have never been made into a film or tv show?

By Stone_Brown1977

If it’s supposed to be a classic, you’d expect there’d already be a movie or at least a TV adaptation. But weirdly, sometimes nothing ever gets made. Like, I’d call Neuromancer a sci-fi classic, but as far as I know nobody’s filmed it yet. And The Warlock in Spite of Himself seems like it should have an adaptation too, but I don’t think there is one. Meanwhile, there are adaptations that are just… not great. Dragons of Autumn Twilight had a pretty bad version, and Disney’s take on A Princess of Mars was only kind of okay. So yeah, some of these books get screen time, but other ones that really should get attention don’t.

Tim Stebbing - Princess Of Mars [UK, Berlin School / Space Ambient / Minimal] (1986)

By plain_window7900

This is a concept album tied to *A Princess of Mars* (Edgar Rice Burroughs’ 1912 novel). It mixes old-school analogue vibes with digital stuff, and I think the original release was just on cassette through John Palmer’s Mix Music label. It’s been digitally remastered now, and it looks like it’s finally getting a legit digital download. Also, that label’s got some really cool hand-drawn tape covers—like the one in the link—which kinda feels like it could’ve been a 2022 DS album cover or something. Not totally sure, but the vibe’s there.

Just finished ERB's A PRINCESS OF MARS AND....

By putty_sky

Just wanted to say I’m really enjoying these and had to share. I finished up Edgar Rice Burroughs’ *A Princess of Mars* last night and jumped into *The Gods of Mars*. I can’t get over that these were written back in 1917 and 1918—seriously. The pacing feels on point and the writing holds up. To me it’s like those classic, old-school adventure/sword-and-sorcery stories that somehow just hit perfectly. Super fun, no joke. Definitely recommend. If you’re doing one of those “check out the classics” reads, these feel worth adding to your TBR pile.