![]() The cover of the first collected edition of Warlord of Mars by J. ![]() Ray Bradbury, another writer inspired by Burroughs, sang his praises at every opportunity, once calling him, in a 2010 interview, “probably the most influential writer in the entire history of the world” because “By giving romance and adventure to a whole generation of boys, Burroughs caused them to go out and decide to become special.” Through the Barsoom novels, Burroughs almost single-handedly created the genre known initially as “planetary romance” or, later, “sword-and-planet,” inspiring many other authors, such as Otis Adelbert Kline, Jack Vance, Frank Herbert, and Leigh Brackett, to follow in his footsteps. The first three books in this series – the aforementioned A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars, and The Warlord of Mars – are often treated as a trilogy, as John Carter is the protagonist in all three, while later books (mostly) focus on other characters, including Carter’s own descendants. Over the next quarter-century, Burroughs would pen eleven books chronicling the red planet of Barsoom. ![]() McClurg & Company collected all six parts of “Under the Moons of Mars,” along with material excised from the original drafts, and released it as a complete novel, A Princess of Mars. However, the popularity of “Under the Moons of Mars,” not to mention the $400 he received – nearly $10,000 in today’s money – encouraged him to take up fiction writing full-time. The author, Norman Bean was, as everyone now knows, a pseudonym, adopted by Edgar Rice Burroughs because he initially worried that he would suffer ridicule for writing a story about Martians. The serial ran for six issues and was a great success with readers, who demanded further tales of John Carter’s exploits. The cover for the December 1913 issue of All-Story, featuring the first publication of the first segment of Warlord of Mars.
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