The Master Mind of Mars
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 dust-jacket of The Master Mind of Mars |
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| Author | Edgar Rice Burroughs |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Barsoom |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | A. C. McClurg |
| Released | 1928 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 312 pp |
| ISBN | NA |
| Preceded by | The Chessmen of Mars |
| Followed by | A Fighting Man of Mars |
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.
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[edit] 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 Thoris 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.
[edit] Plot summary
On Mars, Paxton is taken in by elderly mad scientist 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.
[edit] 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 Mars.
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).
[edit] Copyright
The copyright for this story has expired in Australia, and thus now resides in the public domain there. The text is available via Project Gutenberg Australia.
| Preceded by The Chessmen of Mars |
Barsoom series The Master Mind of Mars |
Succeeded by A Fighting Man of Mars |
[edit] References
- Bleiler, Everett (1948). The Checklist of Fantastic Literature. Chicago: Shasta Publishers, 67.
