The Chessmen of Mars

Description

The Chessmen of Mars is part of the Martian series, also known as the Barsoom series, written and published by Edgar Rice Burroughs between 1912 and 1942. Considered by many to be the best piece in the series, The Chessmen of Mars blends eventfulness with grotesque elements, humor and adventure with romantic elements.

The book is the fourth story in the series and it tells the story of Tara, the daughter of Dejah Thoris and John Carter, the two protagonists of previous stories. Tara is the princess of Helium, a city state on Barsoom and she is courted by Gahan, the prince of Gathol, another city state, but the girl seems to be uninterested. Later on, she is swept by a storm as she travels in her aircraft and is taken by the storm to a previously unkown area on Barsoom, the land of the Kaldanes, populated by strange creatures with large heads and a crab-like body who capture Tara with the intention of fattening her and eating her later.

Gahan sets out to find Tara and he is swept away by the same storm, landing in the land of the Kaldanes as well. After lots of hardships, he rescues the girl, but they fall captive again, in a different city and this time it all gets even more dangerous for the two, for this time they have to escape from the creatures of Manator who use them as figurines in a strange chess game that makes each move a duel fought until death.

The Chessmen of Mars is one of the most inventive pieces by Burroughs. The characters, the beasts and the adventures are all described at great length, taking the reader to a world that is nothing like ours, so if you are looking for a story where imagination seems to have no boundaries, you will surely like this book.
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