The Master Mind of Mars
Encyclopedia
The Master Mind of Mars is an Edgar Rice Burroughs
science fiction novel, the sixth of his famous Barsoom
series. It was first published in the magazine Amazing Stories Annual vol. 1, July 15, 1927. The first book edition was published by A. C. McClurg
in March, 1928.
Burroughs had been unable to place the novel in his standard, higher-paying markets like the Munsey
magazines and the Street & Smith
line. Some critics have speculated the publishers were put off by its satirical treatment of religious fundamentalists. He eventually sold it to publisher Hugo Gernsback
for $1,250 -- only a third of the rate paid by magazines like Argosy All-Story, where the previous book in the series had first appeared. Gernsback chose the novel's final title and made it the cover feature in his newest magazine.
to their children after the third book. Now he moves to a completely unrelated hero, Ulysses Paxton
, an Earthman like Carter who like him is sent to Mars by astral projection.
Ras Thavas, the "Master Mind" of the title, who educates him in the ways of Barsoom and bestows on him the Martian name Vad Varo. Ras has perfected techniques of transplanting brains, which he uses to provide rich elderly Martians with youthful new bodies for a profit. Distrustful of his fellow Martians, he trains Paxton as his assistant to perform the same operation on him. But Paxton has fallen in love with Valla Dia, one of Ras' young victims, whose body has been swapped for that of the hag Xaxa, Jeddara (empress) of the city-state of Phundahl. He refuses to operate on Ras until his mentor promises to restore her to her rightful body. A quest for that body ensues, in which Paxton is aided by others of Ras' experimental victims, and in the end he attains the hand of his Valla Dia, who in a happy plot twist turns out to be a princess.
speculation of the time, especially that of Percival Lowell
, who saw the planet as a formerly Earth
like world now becoming less hospitable to life due to its advanced age, whose inhabitants had built canals to bring water from the polar caps to irrigate the remaining arable land. Lowell was influenced by Italian astronomer, Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli, who in 1878, had observed features on Mars he called canali (Italian for "channels"). A misunderstanding that "canals" implied water, fueled belief that the planet was inhabited. The theory of an inhabited planet with flowing water was disproved by data provided by Russian and American probes such as the two Viking missions
which found a dead, frozen world where water could not exist in a fluid state.
have become hardened and warlike, fighting one another to survive. Barsoomians distribute scarce water supplies via a worldwide system of canals
, controlled by quarreling city-states. The thinning Martian atmosphere is artificially replenished from an "atmosphere plant".
It is a world with clear territorial divisions between White, Yellow, Black, Red and Green skinned races. Each has particular traits and qualities, which seem to define the characters of almost every individual within them. Burroughs concept of race in Barsoom
, is more similar to species than ethnicity.
.
L. Sprague de Camp
enlisted Ras Thavas as guide to Barsoom for his hero Harold Shea in his short story "Sir Harold of Zodanga
" (1995).
for this story was not renewed by December 31, 1955 and therefore is in the public domain.
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...
science fiction novel, the sixth of his famous Barsoom
Barsoom
Barsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs, who wrote close to 100 action adventure stories in various genres in the first half of the 20th century, and is now best known as the creator of the character Tarzan...
series. It was first published in the magazine Amazing Stories Annual vol. 1, July 15, 1927. The first book edition was published by A. C. McClurg
A. C. McClurg
A. C. McClurg was a Chicago based publisher made famous by their original publishing of the Tarzan of the Apes novels and other stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs....
in March, 1928.
Burroughs had been unable to place the novel in his standard, higher-paying markets like the Munsey
Frank Munsey
Frank Andrew Munsey was an American newspaper and magazine publisher and author. He was born in Mercer, Maine but spent most of his life in New York City...
magazines and the Street & Smith
Street & Smith
Street & Smith or Street & Smith Publications, Inc. was a New York City publisher specializing in inexpensive paperbacks and magazines referred to as pulp fiction and dime novels. They also published comic books and sporting yearbooks...
line. Some critics have speculated the publishers were put off by its satirical treatment of religious fundamentalists. He eventually sold it to publisher Hugo Gernsback
Hugo Gernsback
Hugo Gernsback , born Hugo Gernsbacher, was a Luxembourgian American inventor, writer, editor, and magazine publisher, best remembered for publications that included the first science fiction magazine. His contributions to the genre as publisher were so significant that, along with H. G...
for $1,250 -- only a third of the rate paid by magazines like Argosy All-Story, where the previous book in the series had first appeared. Gernsback chose the novel's final title and made it the cover feature in his newest magazine.
Plot introduction
In this novel Burroughs shifts the focus of the series for the second time, the first having been from early protagonists John Carter and Dejah ThorisDejah Thoris
Dejah Thoris is a fictional character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's series of Martian novels. Princess of the Martian city state/empire of Helium, Dejah Thoris is the love interest and later the wife of John Carter, an Earthman mystically transported to Mars, and subsequently the mother of their son...
to their children after the third book. Now he moves to a completely unrelated hero, Ulysses Paxton
Ulysses Paxton
Ulysses Paxton is a fictional character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs in his novel The Master Mind of Mars. Within the narrative framework of the novel, Paxton is a fan of Burroughs' Barsoom series, and after being wounded during a battle in World War I, he finds himself drawn across the gulfs...
, an Earthman like Carter who like him is sent to Mars by astral projection.
Plot summary
On Mars, Paxton is taken in by elderly mad scientistMad scientist
A mad scientist is a stock character of popular fiction, specifically science fiction. The mad scientist may be villainous or antagonistic, benign or neutral, and whether insane, eccentric, or simply bumbling, mad scientists often work with fictional technology in order to forward their schemes, if...
Ras Thavas, the "Master Mind" of the title, who educates him in the ways of Barsoom and bestows on him the Martian name Vad Varo. Ras has perfected techniques of transplanting brains, which he uses to provide rich elderly Martians with youthful new bodies for a profit. Distrustful of his fellow Martians, he trains Paxton as his assistant to perform the same operation on him. But Paxton has fallen in love with Valla Dia, one of Ras' young victims, whose body has been swapped for that of the hag Xaxa, Jeddara (empress) of the city-state of Phundahl. He refuses to operate on Ras until his mentor promises to restore her to her rightful body. A quest for that body ensues, in which Paxton is aided by others of Ras' experimental victims, and in the end he attains the hand of his Valla Dia, who in a happy plot twist turns out to be a princess.
Scientific basis
Burroughs vision of Mars was loosely inspired by astronomicalAstronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
speculation of the time, especially that of Percival Lowell
Percival Lowell
Percival Lawrence Lowell was a businessman, author, mathematician, and astronomer who fueled speculation that there were canals on Mars, founded the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, and formed the beginning of the effort that led to the discovery of Pluto 14 years after his death...
, who saw the planet as a formerly Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
like world now becoming less hospitable to life due to its advanced age, whose inhabitants had built canals to bring water from the polar caps to irrigate the remaining arable land. Lowell was influenced by Italian astronomer, Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli, who in 1878, had observed features on Mars he called canali (Italian for "channels"). A misunderstanding that "canals" implied water, fueled belief that the planet was inhabited. The theory of an inhabited planet with flowing water was disproved by data provided by Russian and American probes such as the two Viking missions
Viking program
The Viking program consisted of a pair of American space probes sent to Mars, Viking 1 and Viking 2. Each spacecraft was composed of two main parts, an orbiter designed to photograph the surface of Mars from orbit, and a lander designed to study the planet from the surface...
which found a dead, frozen world where water could not exist in a fluid state.
World of Barsoom
A million years before the narrative commences, Mars was a lush world with oceans. As the oceans receded, and the atmosphere grew thin, the planet has devolved into a landscape of partial barbarism; living on an aging planet, with dwindling resources, the inhabitants of BarsoomBarsoom
Barsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs, who wrote close to 100 action adventure stories in various genres in the first half of the 20th century, and is now best known as the creator of the character Tarzan...
have become hardened and warlike, fighting one another to survive. Barsoomians distribute scarce water supplies via a worldwide system of canals
Martian canals
For a time in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was erroneously believed that there were canals on Mars. These were a network of long straight lines that appeared in drawings of the planet Mars in the equatorial regions from 60° N. to 60° S. Lat., first observed by the Italian astronomer...
, controlled by quarreling city-states. The thinning Martian atmosphere is artificially replenished from an "atmosphere plant".
It is a world with clear territorial divisions between White, Yellow, Black, Red and Green skinned races. Each has particular traits and qualities, which seem to define the characters of almost every individual within them. Burroughs concept of race in Barsoom
Barsoom
Barsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs, who wrote close to 100 action adventure stories in various genres in the first half of the 20th century, and is now best known as the creator of the character Tarzan...
, is more similar to species than ethnicity.
Trivia
Burroughs' working titles for the novel were A Weird Adventure on Mars and Vad Varo of Barsoom. Ras Thavas reappears later in the series to perform more mad science in the novel Synthetic Men of MarsSynthetic Men of Mars
Synthetic Men of Mars is a science fiction novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the ninth of his Barsoom series. It was first published in the magazine Argosy Weekly in six parts in early 1939...
.
L. Sprague de Camp
L. Sprague de Camp
Lyon Sprague de Camp was an American author of science fiction and fantasy books, non-fiction and biography. In a writing career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and notable works of non-fiction, including biographies of other important fantasy authors...
enlisted Ras Thavas as guide to Barsoom for his hero Harold Shea in his short story "Sir Harold of Zodanga
Sir Harold of Zodanga
Sir Harold of Zodanga is a fantasy novella written by science fiction and fantasy author L. Sprague de Camp as part of the Harold Shea series he originated in collaboration with Fletcher Pratt and later continued with Christopher Stasheff. It was first published in paperback by Baen Books in de...
" (1995).
Copyright
The copyrightCopyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
for this story was not renewed by December 31, 1955 and therefore is in the public domain.
External links
- ERBzine.com Illustrated Bibliography for The Master Mind of Mars
- ERBzine.com Edgar Rice Burroughs Tribute Site
- barsoom.com Edgar Rice Burroughs Mars Site
- Zip file Text file at Project Gutenberg AustraliaProject Gutenberg AustraliaProject Gutenberg Australia, abbreviated as PGA, is an Internet site which was founded in 2001 by Colin Choat. The site hosts free ebooks or e-texts which are in the public domain in Australia. The ebooks have been prepared and submitted by volunteers...
- Edgar Rice Burroughs Summary Project page for The Master Mind of Mars