The Martian Child: A Novel About A Single Father Adopting A Son

Book Description

An autobiographical novel about a single father and his adopted sonOhand one more thing: Dennis thinks hes a Martian.Parents are instructed to expect the unexpected. But in the case of an adoption no one can be said to be truly prepared.For David Gerrold, his decision to pursue an adoption of an eight-year-old boy named Dennis forced him to rethink, rearrange, and basically reinvent his entire life. Why? Dennis was the son a substance abuser and alcoholic who abandoned him in a seedy moel at the age of one-and-a-half. His father died of an overdose. Seized by the state, Dennis shuffled among eight different foster homes in less than eight years. He was abused in at least two of his placements. He suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome. He was beaten severely in one home. Dennis was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He was put on Ritalin and then Disipramine. He was prone to violent emotional outbursts. His case history identified him as hard to placea euphemism for unadoptable.But for David Gerrold it was love at first sight. As a gay man, he thought he understood a bit how Dennis might feel as an unloved outsider. David wanted a son and obviously Dennis needed a father. As far as David knew, it was a win-win situation. Until the reality of single fatherhood set in. An autobiographical novel which is an unforgettable record of a difficult and troubled adoption, The Martian Child is a relentlessly honest, funny, and at times heartbreaking portrait of a special bond between a father and his son. A son who thinks hes a Martian.

Customer Reviews:

A very nice and realistic story............2007-09-28

This book is short but full of emotions and situations. Every single men or women that is thinking in adoption should read it. This book will gave a little notion corcening the adoption process and the adapting process of new son or dougther.... It's also a very light but interesting reading.....

Really hit home.......2007-09-19

I adopted a little girl who was the same age as the boy in the book almost two years ago. I really "needed" this book right now! The challenges I have faced are similar in more ways than they are different, and they have been on an upward cycle recently. This book provided me with emotional support for my frustration.

As far my experience -- and I cannot speak for anyone else's -- this was a very accurate portrayal of the nature of the challenges one faces adopting an older child, especially one who has been through multiple placements and has learned not to trust adults. People think that a ton of love, support and concern will "fix" everything, but it is not so simple. I am sure that there are some relatively smooth older child adoptions but, as a general rule, it is not for the fainthearted.

Yes, this book is from the adoptive parent's point of view, and not the child's. However, as an adoptive parent, it is refreshing to hear this story from the parent's perspective and to know that I am neither crazy nor alone. The author does not attempt to portray himself as the "perfect parent" but honestly discusses the emotional toll one goes through as one attempts to forge a strong bond with a child that you love with all your heart but that pushes back at every turn.

Growing Up Martian.......2007-05-26

The Martian Child is a singleton story about a man adopting a boy. The novelette on which this novel is based won the Hugo and Nebula in 1995 and it has the feel and flavor of SF. It is by one of our well known authors, so it has been claimed by the SF community. Yet it is not really science fiction.

In this story, David decides to adopt a child. Being a writer (and an SF one to boot), he researches the subject of adoption extensively. After finally being approved by the authorities, he faces the decision as to whom to adopt.

As he browses through the adoption catalogs, he notices that most available children have moderate to severe problems. He resolves to only adopt one with minimal problems, since he is not sure that he can handle the stress of raising a child with very demanding needs. Then he sees the picture of Dennis at the very back of a listing and instantly relates to the boy. This is the one!

After meeting the boy in his group home surroundings and then visiting with him twice a week for a while, David is finally ready to keep the boy overnight. However, the boy's caseworker then calls and requires a go/nogo decision on that very day, for the group home is closing and all the children must be reassigned. While feeling uncertain about his parenting skills, David discovers that he can't let the boy go back to the foster/group home environment. He has already made his commitment and has already adopted Dennis in his own mind. When Dennis declares that he would like to be adopted by David, the match is made.

Dennis goes through the whole gamut of behaviors listed in the adoption manuals. However, David responds to everything with love and humor; in fact, one of his first big successes is teaching Dennis the enjoyment of jokes and the use of inside jokes as play. In the end, David's insight and Dennis' intense need to be loved overcome all obstacles.

This story is about aliens -- others -- dwelling among humanity. As with the autistics in Moon's The Speed of Dark, these children differ from most of their peers. Often such children are rejected by their parents and other children their age and are ignored by most adults. Usually such children are accepted only by their siblings.

Unfortunately, there are too many damaged, abused and neglected children in our society who don't have happy endings to their stories. Sometimes they can't be adopted because of legal entanglements or never find an empathic person to adopt them. Sometimes the adoption occurs, but the child's defenses are impossible to breach; the child acts out to test the commitment of the adoptive parent and eventually destroys their relationship.

It should be said that David is an exceptionally empathic person and Dennis has an unusual willingness to lower his walls to David. Many children with a similar history would have not been able to overcome their defenses against rejection even with someone as empathic as David. So this is an unusual story, but not totally unique. Sometimes things just work out, despite all the odds against it.

The story is an unusual self-portrait of a person during a crucial time in his life. His frank self-appraisal and willingness to change are unusual in themselves. Add to that his insight into his own history and self-image (David realizes late in the story that he is as much a Martian as Dennis is) and the story becomes exceptional. Then, too, Dennis is a real scene stealer.

Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys stories of human compassion and self-enlightenment.

-Bill Jordin

The Martian Child by David Gerrold.......2007-05-22

This is the story of a middle-aged gay man wanting very much to adopt a child. While the book has charm and warmth, to a degree, it left me wanting to know more about how the child finally came to accept his new life as a reality. Maybe he just went along with it for as long as it might last.

Most of the story is about the adoptive father and his feelings, how he often thinks he can't handle all the drama of parenting a child who has never stayed in one family or facility more than a short time. On these points, I felt he wrote with clarity and a firm sense of having been in such a situation. Now if he could have given an equally deep look inside the mind of the child, I would have felt much better about his story. But, it is his story, and I accept and have enjoyed what he wrote.

The thing about the child thinking he is really a Martian, rings true. This child, Dennis, possibly couldn't bear the fact that he was born into the world, unwanted, unloved, without a family. So why not assume the identity of an alien. At least he could cling to the hope that one day he would be called back to where he belonged. Even those of us who grew up in relative security and privilege, often imagined we came from a different plain of society, that eventually, the Gates family would realize they took the wrong baby home and would come to claim their own.

I'm pleased that David and Dennis made it through all their tribulations and seem to have come to the realization that the life they have together is what each of them
had always dreamed of.

Spoilers Ahead.......2006-02-10

I must take umbrage with "Lady of Mercia" and the way (s)he mis-categorized the resolution to this book. The book clearly states that Dennis DECIDES he doesn't want to be a Martian anymore. Then he makes a Martian Wish to make it so. If you're going to review a book, have the decency to actually read the dang thing.

I'm not in love with the last 20 pages or so of the text of the book. They derail a lot of the suspension of disbelief Mr. Gerrold had built up to that point. It reads too much like a bad episode of Ally McBeal. As a published writer, I don't appreciate too much tipping of the artistic hand.

And the actual finale of the novel isn't his strongest work. But it is a testament to the truth that even in the midst of all the posturing the emotional truth shows through -- that this man loves making a family with this boy.

For those with thicker skins seeking a more polished take on human connection as seen through a stunning deconstructionist bent, catch Mr. Gerrold's most recent posting in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (February, 2006). Mind you, you're going to have to deal with a much more in-your-face take on gay sex, but if you can deal it is absolutely brilliant.

Additionally, they're making a 'straightened up' version of this book as a lame-arsed movie. 'Crushed by the death of his fiancée, a writer (John Cusack) adopts a 6-year-old boy in an effort to create a family. The boy, who desperately wants a father, is troubled by the idea that he's from Mars.' (They've made the kid younger, and I assume cuter, than in the book.)

See IMDb.com for Mr. Gerrold's honest response to this development -- how he saw it as a way to get the message out there that ALL kids need to be in loving homes even if the film-makers purposely made it NOT about him or his circumstances. I can only imagine what else they'll do to this book to make it more 'Hallmark Hall of Fame'-like, which the book definitely is NOT.

Read this book. It contains a wonderful amount of insight into how writers think, how writers hide in their writing sometimes, and what horrible thing sent Mr. Gerrold into the creation of his books. And how Dennis helped him find his way out of the disconnection he felt.

I applaud Mr. Gerrold and what he did. If you read this book, I think you will too.

The Martian Chronicles (The Grand Master Editions)

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The Martian Chronicles (The Grand Master Editions)
Ray Bradbury
Manufacturer: Spectra
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0553278223
Release Date: 1984-06-01

Amazon.com

From "Rocket Summer" to "The Million-Year Picnic," Ray Bradbury's stories of the colonization of Mars form an eerie mesh of past and future. Written in the 1940s, the chronicles drip with nostalgic atmosphere--shady porches with tinkling pitchers of lemonade, grandfather clocks, chintz-covered sofas. But longing for this comfortable past proves dangerous in every way to Bradbury's characters--the golden-eyed Martians as well as the humans. Starting in the far-flung future of 1999, expedition after expedition leaves Earth to investigate Mars. The Martians guard their mysteries well, but they are decimated by the diseases that arrive with the rockets. Colonists appear, most with ideas no more lofty than starting a hot-dog stand, and with no respect for the culture they've displaced.

Bradbury's quiet exploration of a future that looks so much like the past is sprinkled with lighter material. In "The Silent Towns," the last man on Mars hears the phone ring and ends up on a comical blind date. But in most of these stories, Bradbury holds up a mirror to humanity that reflects a shameful treatment of "the other," yielding, time after time, a harvest of loneliness and isolation. Yet the collection ends with hope for renewal, as a colonist family turns away from the demise of the Earth towards a new future on Mars. Bradbury is a master fantasist and The Martian Chronicles are an unforgettable work of art. --Blaise Selby

Book Description

Leaving behind a world on the brink of destruction, man came to the Red planet and found the Martians waiting, dreamlike. Seeking the promise of a new beginning, man brought with him his oldest fears and his deepest desires. Man conquered Mars—and in that instant, Mars conquered him. The strange new world with its ancient, dying race and vast, red-gold deserts cast a spell on him, settled into his dreams, and changed him forever. Here are the captivating chronicles of man and Mars—the modern classic by the peerless Ray Bradbury.

Invincible Volume 8: My Favorite Martian (Invincible)

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Invincible Volume 8: My Favorite Martian (Invincible)
Robert Kirkman , Ryan Ottley , and Bill Crabtree
Manufacturer: Image Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1582406839

Book Description

Invincible battles the Reanimen on the campus of Upstate University. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to him trouble is brewing - trouble of Martian origin. Invincible must assemble a team of Earth's mightiest defenders to go out into space and prevent what could well be the end of mankind!

Hap Ki Do: The Korean Martian Art of Self Defence: Practical Hap Ki Do Textbook

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Practical Hapkido Textbook
IHF style GM MYONG JAE NAM
Great Text Book Ecspecially for beginners
Good Intro to Hapkido
Practical Hapkido Textbook

Hap Ki Do: The Korean Martian Art of Self Defence: Practical Hap Ki Do Textbook
Hui-Son Choe
Manufacturer: Hui Son Choe
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0966825411

Book Description

This book is a practical guide to learning Hap Ki Do: The Korean Martial Art of Self Defense. A textbook with pictures and indept explanations of kicks, techniques, weapons, breathing technique 205 pages full of precise clearly written step by step examples of the Korean Martial Art of Hap ki do.

Customer Reviews:

Practical Hapkido Textbook.......2006-01-30

Excellent Hap Ki Do book. I'm a taekwondo'er and found this book very easy to understand with big clear pictures for illustration. I've purchased all three of Master Choe's HKD books and found a certain amount of redundancy in the techniques, but highly recommend all three any way. I originally found one of these in the library and realized right away that these books were the best I've found.

IHF style GM MYONG JAE NAM.......2003-10-06

Looks a lot like his work. Good book. Should give credit where it is due however.

Great Text Book Ecspecially for beginners.......2001-09-13

As a beginner in hapkido i would recommend this book for others that are also interested in starting hapkido. This book offers step by step pictures on how to execute kicks and basic self defense, and plus it is very short on words which makes it interesting and easy to learn techniques.

Good Intro to Hapkido.......2000-10-17

This is the book to start with for Hapkido. Master Choe's other book (Hap Ki Do - The Korean Art of Self Defense) focuses mainly on joint locks and takedows and how they can be varied from different grabs. This book however, shows a variety of striking techniques and counters in addition to the joint locks. Also, more realistic situations and the effective techniques are presented here. Although both books are lacking in text they are definitely worth getting as excellent references.

Practical Hapkido Textbook.......1999-12-06

This is an excellent reference book for anyone starting in hapkido. The pictures are detailed and easy to do. I really enjoyed working through is book.

What Does a Martian Look Like? The Science of Extraterrestrial Life

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Enlightening but Lacking
Good information with lots of filler.
This will sell many titles!
It Isn't Easy Bein' Green
Good, but not great; Schmidt's book is better

What Does a Martian Look Like? The Science of Extraterrestrial Life
Jack Cohen , and Ian Stewart
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0471268895

Book Description

"A fascinating and useful handbook to both the science and science fiction of extraterrestrial life. Cohen and Stewart are amusing, opinionated, and expert guides. I found it a terrific and informative piece of work-nothing else like it!"
-Greg Bear

"I loved it."
-Larry Niven

"Ever wonder about what aliens could be like? The world authority is Jack Cohen, a professional biologist who has thought long and hard about the vast realm of possibilities. This is an engaging, swiftly moving study of alien biology, a subject with bounds and constraints these authors plumb with verve and intelligence."
-Gregory Benford

"A celebration of life off Earth. A hearteningly optimistic book, giving a much-needed antidote to the pessimism of astrobiologists who maintain that we are alone in the universe-a stance based on a very narrow view of what could constitute life. A triumph of speculative nonfiction."
-Dougal Dixon, author of
After Man: A Zoology of the Future

Customer Reviews:

Enlightening but Lacking.......2007-08-10

I enjoyed this book thoroughly, but I can't say that it was quite what I expected to find.

Cohen and Stewart have clearly done their research on concepts such as DNA and evolution on earth. Be prepared for an exhaustive dissertation on these scientific subjects.

The book was very informative. I never considered some of the possibilities for alien life that were presented here. In fact, with the reasoning the authors have used and explained, I find this to be the most sensible view of potential alien life I have yet encountered. There are descriptions of characteristics some alien life (including intelligent alien life) might have and environments in which they might live that provide an optimistic view of the universe while simultaneously reining in the reader's excitement by clarifying the logistical problems (time, distance, great differences between species, etc.) that would prevent humanity from even recognizing these life forms, let alone contacting them. Still, I could think of few factors Cohen and Stewart may have overlooked, and they do not completely deny the possibility of contact, given the right circumstances. It all made sense, even if it was a little thick.

Though informative and entertaining, this seemed to me to be an exercise in self-aggrandizement. The authors have bones to pick, particularly with Media Sci-Fi, Creationists, and the authors of Rare Earth. Their arguments are strong, but at times seemed petty and could easily have been shortened. They repeatedly make reference to other books they have written (or plan to write), and, though this is not done to extremes, there is a sense that the authors believe all readers interested in this subject should read all of their work because theirs is the only credibly authoritative voice. And they seem to have a few "pet" explanations and comparisons, which they use repeatedly throughout the book to the point that, once, I wondered if I had read that page already.

My only disappointment with the book was it's lack of examples of what a martian (or other alien) might look like, which is what the title suggested. Some examples were given, but I found myself wanting more. For the SF writers out there, this may be a good option to generate ideas, but do not expect to just pluck an alien race out of this book and use it in your own. The authors make reference to many SF books they found enlightening (I have created a reading list for myself from this book) and offer their interpretations of the relative probabilities and improbabilities inherent in several of them. Be prepared to have some of your favorite books closely scrutinized.

The bottom line is that I enjoyed the book. I think it needed a few more examples and a couple more rounds with an editor to trim the excess. Otherwise, it was a good read, and it will be staying on my shelf for reference.

Good information with lots of filler........2005-04-13

This is a very thorough look at what true aliens may be like. It is critical the ridiculous SciFi movie and TV aliens, and even many of the aliens in literature. They discuss everything from alien genetics to alien environment and how it will affect alien biology and thinking, to alien societies. In short, aliens will be beyond anything we can comprehend, both in mind and body.

Cohen and Stewart have written a thoughtful book on the subject, perhaps one of the best out there. However, they tend to go off on tangents. They definitely have an axe to grind with a number of people, specifically creationists and the authors of Rare Earth. I'm not a creationist by any means, but arguing against them is rather pointless. If I wrote an atlas, I wouldn't devote any time debunking the flat-earthers. First, it's an atlas and there's no place for that sort of thing. Second, all of the evidence is against the flat-earthers, so why bother? Yet, Cohen and Stewart have devoted almost an entire chapter to debunking creationists, including a childish comment about how God is silly because of how he designed our throats. Such an argument is as inane as any a creationist might give debunking evolution.

In regards to the book Rare Earth, they definitely do a hatchet job, but they are generally fair. There are a number of other books, authors, and scientists they are very critical of, but, again, they are fair about it. They also spend time railing on UFO believers. They are harsh, but given the nature of the book (and the silliness of alien greys looking like us with only superficial differences), it is appropriate. Ditto that on Star Trek, Star Wars, and other media based SciFi. They blame sources such as these for creating a false idea of what alien contact may be like. And while they also rail against a few SF authors, they also praise a few for their vision.

This is a worthwhile book if you don't mind wading through the rhetoric and tangents (particularly in the beginning). Overall, it is highly informative, but it could have been much shorter.

This will sell many titles!.......2003-01-07

Apart from being mis-titled for North American readers, this is a mind-expanding view of "what's out there" - or might be. Released as "Evolving the Alien" in the UK, this book examines numerous and too often poorly considered suggestions about how life might evolve in other places.

Note "places," since Cohen and Stewart don't limit their conjectures to planets alone. Noting the impact of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds" as a starting point for how we think about life elsewhere, Cohen and Stewart divide the book between evidence from hard science and the conjectures of "SF" [speculative fiction] authors. Including themselves. In their view, both exobiologists and novelists have been remiss in considering how alien life might evolve. They do a comprehensive job, presented with the kind of wit expected of collaborators of Terry Pratchett of Discworld fame.

Recognizing they are entering a relatively unexplored area, they abandon old terms like "astrobiology" or "extraterrestrial life" to suggest a new, all encompassing term - xenobiology. They condemn outright the narrow views expressed by some scientists, notably Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee in "Rare Earth." Cohen and Stewart argue that limiting life to DNA-based forms is far too restrictive. Different environments are capable of producing life in ways "we can't even imagine." Magnetic fields in suns or neutron stars, silicon-based chemistry, unusual energy uses are all part of the panorama nature has in its recipes in making life start. Our localized experience is too limited, they argue, and we should look further with more open minds.

Those who have attempted a more open view have traditionally been limited to writers of speculative fiction. Cohen and Stewart sprinkle the text with examples of this genre, accompanied by an analysis of what is right or wrong with the ET life presented. "Science fiction" might just as easily be labelled "fictional science" in the eyes of these authors. Too little attention has been given to environmental complexity by the legions of writers seeking to entertain readers with simple plots and much action. Among that phalanx, however, there are some writers who strive to bring reality to the fictional worlds they create. Jack Cohen has been called into the story-building process as a consultant by several authors. The result, once the dust had settled, was SF with a reality check. The authors give accounts of some of
these efforts and the resulting books should be sought out and compared to those less favoured by the authors of this book.

Jack&Ian [as they style themselves] have provided a rich trove of ideas for nearly everyone. Scientists can gain fresh areas of research to consider, while fiction readers may find a whole new list of interesting readings. The book isn't footnoted, but there is a divided bibliography of "Popular Xenoscience Reading" and "Technical Xenoscience Reading" at the end. If you fail to find new concepts to consider here, you haven't tried.

It Isn't Easy Bein' Green.......2002-12-15

Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart are interesting thinkers and writers in the guise of Jack&Ian, and What Does A Martian Look Like? is a very good, thought provoking read. This book takes an optomistic view of the possibilities of life and intelligence elsewhere in the universe and proposes a broad xenoscience as an antidote to what Jack&Ian see as the narrow view of astrobiology. Rare Earth by Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee comes in for the most criticism [not for the writing, but for the opinions], being one of the most popular books on astrobiology in the last few years. Stewart and Cohen do their best when they discuss their ideas in the context of science fiction stories and hit bottom when their criticisms of mainstream astrobiology begin to sound petty. Fans of mainstream SF should be prepared for the dressing down of their favorite aliens. If it'll hurt your feelings to find out that aliens probably won't look humanoid, do not read this book. Although not a perfect book, What Does A Martin Look Like? [especially if paired with the book Rare Earth] will take the reader's thinking to the far corners of the universe.

Good, but not great; Schmidt's book is better.......2002-10-30

Setting aside that the authors take an unfair swipe at the Waldahudin from my Hugo Award-nominated STARPLEX as being too like Earthly fauna (getting their facts wrong while doing so, and not discussing the very alien Darmats [dark-matter aliens] and Ibs [gestalt organisms] from that novel), this is still a pretty good book, although the dogmatic tone gets tiresome awfully fast. In a way, Stewart and Cohen should be praised for using so many examples from science fiction, but, at the same time, they give very short shrift to the notion that some SF writers might be using aliens for literary/metaphoric purposes, rather than just as high-school-biology-class exercises in designing lifeforms. Stanley Schmidt's ALIENS AND ALIEN SOCIETIES is a better book (even if Stewart and Cohen's acknowledgement of its existence seems mostly limited to a petty critique of its cover art, incidentally -- although they don't mention this -- by Hugo Award-winner Bob Eggleton).

Showcase Presents: Martian Manhunter, Vol. 1

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The definition of Heroic

Showcase Presents: Martian Manhunter, Vol. 1
Jack Miller
Manufacturer: DC Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1401213685

Book Description

Over 500 pages of classic adventures are included in thisvalue-priced volume collecting stories from the late 1950s starring thischarter member of the Justice League of America!Adopting the Earthly identity of Police Detective John Jones, thesuper-hero known as the Martian Manhunter uses his incredible strength,shape-shifting abilities and other powers to combat crime!

Customer Reviews:

The definition of Heroic.......2007-09-15

Simply put, any of the Silver Age volumes in DC Comics Showcase and Marvel's Essentials are better crafted, and more fun than the current kill 'em all and let god sort 'em out software those companies now publish.

Buy Green Lantern. Buy Adam Strange. Buy Batman. Buy the Elongated Man. Buy Antman. Buy The Fantastic Four. Buy Ironman. Buy Daredevil. Heck. Buy Haunted Tank and Man-thing! It really will make you question comics current direction.

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learn about counting systems by interpreting space signals

How to Count Like a Martian
Glory St. John
Manufacturer: Random House Childrens Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0809831252

Customer Reviews:

learn about counting systems by interpreting space signals.......1998-07-23

The author supposes that signals come in from Mars. Your job is to figure out what they mean. By supposing that they might be numbers, she introduces you to different counting systems that have been used on earth. (Mayan, Egyptian, Greek and Arabic among others) By the way, Martians count in Base-4. Does that mean they have four fingers?

Swords of Mars: (#8) (Martian Tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs, No 8)

Average customer rating:

A great example of the series.
READ IT AND HAVE FUN!
John Carter decides to take down the Assassins Guild
AS FUN AS THEY GET
Awesome! Exciting!

Swords of Mars: (#8) (Martian Tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs, No 8)
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0345329562
Release Date: 1985-07-12

Download Description

"""Swords of Mars"" is the eighth book in the Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian series. It was featured in six issues of the ""Blue Book"" magazine in 1934-1935. John Carter reprises his role of hero as he vows to bring an end to the Assassins Guild. He must travel to one of the moons of Barsoom, Carter then creates a race of secret super assassins to destroy this powerful Guild of Assassins. He ventures to the city of Zedong in a fierce attempt to overthrow Ur Jan the leader pf the Assassins. There are many fantastic characters and galaxies in this compelling spy story in this edge of your seat science thriller. Please Note: This book is easy to read in true text, not scanned images that can sometimes be difficult to decipher. The Microsoft eBook has a contents page linked to the chapter headings for easy navigation. The Adobe eBook has bookmarks at chapter headings and is printable up to two full copies per year. "

Customer Reviews:

A great example of the series........2005-05-13

Swords of Mars is one of my favorites of the Martian Tales. Although late in the series, it has all the elements that made Burroughs a classic in the field:

1.
It is a John Carter novel. He is still the best character in the series.

2.
It does not suffer from the same artifacts of serialization that you see in some of the other Mars books. The chapters flow together very nicely without too many inconsistencies or abrupt breaks.

3.
It manages to deal with the political aspect of life on Barsoom while staying smaller. I enjoy the more intimate focus on John Carter more than I do the more epic sweeps of some of the other books.

Recommended for fans of the series. People new to the series should really at least read A Princess of Mars series. However, if you have read that one and are skipping around, this would be a good one to skip around to.

READ IT AND HAVE FUN!.......2005-03-15

This was about number eight in the Martian Series and the story continues. With this book, Burroughs has John Carter fighting and trying to put an end to the practice of assissination on Mars. Like the rest of the Mars Series, the action is non stop. While I will grant you that ERB has certainly used a formula (Dejah Thoris is captured again and John Carter must rescue), it is never-the-less an effective formula. These books of course are sort of the grand-daddy of much of the Fantasy Fiction of today. Please keep in mind when they were written and do enjoy the style and syntax. This was some of the best pulp fiction coming out in the early part of the last century. Read and enjoy. Recommend highly.

John Carter decides to take down the Assassins Guild.......2003-08-28

After being relegated to the background for the previous four Martian novels, "Swords of Mars" brings John Carter back to the forefront as he vows to bring an end to the Assassins Guild and travels to one of Barsoom's moons. Carter shows up at Edgar Rice Burroughs' cabin in the mountains of Arizona and relates this tale, which ERB then serializes as the eighth Martian story in six issues of "The Blue-Book Magazine" in 1934-35. Carter has created a secret organization of super assassins to strike back against the powerful guild of assassins, which is headquartered in the city of Zodanga, and goes to the city undercover to infiltrate their ranks. As the first step in an attempt to overthrow Ur Jan, the head of the assassins, Carter pretends to be a panthan and becomes the body guard of Fal Sivas, an inventor. Eventually, as he gets closer to his goal, Carter has to go to Thuria, one of the moons of Mars.

For the most part "Swords of Mars" is one of the most intimate novels in the series, by which I simply mean that it does not have the gigantic armies of variously colored Barsoomians and thousands of air ships arrayed in battle. The first half of the novel is basically a spy story, while the second half find Burroughs indulging in one of his imaginative flights of fancy. Of course, it is not an ERB Martian novel if Carter's beloved Dejah Thoris, princess of Helium, does not need to be rescued. Just because ERB sticks to his pulp fiction formula does not distract from the fact he was a master of the form. This is an above average Burroughs yarn and while it is a step below his best Martian tales, such as "The Chessmen of Mars," it is still a compelling tale. Best of all, John Carter is back front and center. I wound rate this novel as a 4.5, but I will round up for Carter's return.

Besides "A Princess of Mars," I think it is clear that "Swrods of Mars" is one of the primary inspirations for John Norman's Gor series, which was one of the best series that followed in the footsteps of ERB's Martian seres. Note: The first letters of the first words in the preface and twenty-four chapters from an acrostic message: "TO FLORENCE WITH ALL MY LOVE ED." The reference is to Florence Gilbert, ERB's second wife, whom he married in 1935.

AS FUN AS THEY GET.......2003-03-26

"Swords of Mars" is the 8th of 11 John Carter of Mars books that Edgar Rice Burroughs gave to the world. It first appeared serially in the "Blue Book Magazine" in six parts, from November 1934 to April 1935, and is one of the best in the Carter series. For the first time since book 3, "The Warlord of Mars," Carter himself takes center stage, rather than making a brief cameo appearance, and his return as the lead character is perhaps the best single element of this book. This time around, Carter goes to the Barsoomian city of Zodanga to put an end to the assassins guild that is thriving there. In the first half of the novel, Carter goes undercover to infiltrate this Murder Inc.-type of organization, and this segment is extremely tense and exciting. In the second half, Carter's wife, Dejah Thoris, in what to any reader of this series must come as an instance of Dejah vu (sorry...couldn't resist!), is abducted again, and Carter follows her kidnappers to one of the Martian moons, using one of that planet's first spaceships. His subsequent adventures on the moon propel the reader into the realm of pure fantasy. Both parts of the novel are as fun as can be, although very much different in tone.
This novel features very few of the inconsistencies--both internal and with other books in the series--that mar every previous Carter novel. There are some, however. For example, the great Scarlet Tower of Greater Helium is referred to in this book, whereas in previous novels, this tower was referred to as being in Lesser Helium, and besides which, was destroyed in book 5, "The Chessmen of Mars." More of a problem in the current volume are the book's implausibilities. For example, Carter & company jump out of their spaceship on that Martian moon, without bothering to check on the moon's breathable air. Fortunately, the air is just fine, thank you, although Burroughs makes nothing of this...surprising, given the pains he had taken in previous books to explain the breathable air on Mars itself. The invisibility-inducing hypnosis that the moon people use against Carter is a bit much to buy, but that's alright; it's all in good fun. But Burroughs' theory that a person who lands on this 7-mile-wide moon would be the same relative size that he would be on Mars--in other words, that he would shrink in proportion to the planetoid's mass; his so-called "compensatory adjustment of masses"--is, as Carter puts it, "preposterous," though, as it turns out, such is the case in the book. Like I said, it's all in good fun. And this book IS as fun as they get.
Oh...one other nice touch. As pointed out in the ERB List, a fine Burroughs Website, if you take the first letter of each first word of each chapter in this book, you will find a secret message that Burroughs incorporated for his new bride. A nice touch.

Awesome! Exciting!.......1999-04-02

It's a great book like the rest of the series! Buy it

The Martian Climate Revisited: Atmosphere and Environment of a Desert Planet (Springer Praxis Books / Geophysical Sciences)

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The Martian Climate Revisited: Atmosphere and Environment of a Desert Planet (Springer Praxis Books / Geophysical Sciences)
Peter L. Read , and Stephen R. Lewis
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 354040743X

Book Description

The atmosphere and climate of Mars is a crucial factor, both for understanding the planet's past and appreciating the possibilities of its future. Given the high level of current interest in Mars, and the major advances afforded by recent space exploration, this book seeks to examine and review our knowledge and understanding of the meteorology and climate of Mars in its present state. This is based not only upon direct observations, but also on the newer techniques of modelling: numerical simulation and data assimilation. This authoritative discussion of Mars' atmosphere and climate gives a balanced review of some of the hottest issues concerning Mars' environments, its present and past climate and potential to support life, and its possible future following manned exploration.

Planet Mars: Story of Another World (Springer Praxis Books / Popular Astronomy)

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Planet Mars: Story of Another World (Springer Praxis Books / Popular Astronomy)
François Forget , François Costard , and Philippe Lognonné
Manufacturer: Praxis
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0387489258

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Mars, like planet Earth, is a complex and vast world with a long history. The authors of this book give a new insight of Mars by adopting an original outline based on history rather than on subtopic (atmosphere, surface, interior). They focus on the past and present evolution of Mars and also incorporate all the recent results from the space missions of Mars Express, Spirit and Opportunity.

This book goes to the heart of current planetological research, and illustrates it with many beautiful images. The authors describe the magnificent scenery on Mars including Olympus Mons, more than 20,000 metres high and the solar system’s biggest volcano. At Mars’ poles, glaciers, formed from thousands of fine strata, are evidence of past climatic fluctuations. Drs Forget and Costard and Professor Lognonné introduce a new world and reveal the workings of the planet Mars. They answer the questions: How was Mars formed? Why has its evolution followed a different path to that of Earth? What do its river beds, volcanoes and glaciers tell us about its past? Could life have existed there? Does it exist there now? What processes ‘drive’ Mars today?

The five parts of the book trace the history of Mars. Part 1 examines its formation from the ashes of dead stars, more than 4·5 billion years ago. Part 2 travels through its early and turbulent youth and gradual, 3·5-billion-year long metamorphosis. Part 3 traces the creation of great planetary structures while Part 4 explores this active planet as it is today, with its dust storms, water features and atmosphere, and shows that Mars is subject to continual climatic change. Finally in Part 5, the story of the recent exploration of Mars and current research in laboratories and space agencies in preparation for the missions of the next twenty years is recounted.

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