A Princess of Mars is a
science fantasy novel by American writer
Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first of his Barsoom series. It was first serialized in the pulp magazine
All-Story Magazine
from February–July, 1912. Full of swordplay and daring feats, the novel
is considered a classic example of 20th-century pulp fiction. It is
also a seminal instance of the planetary romance, a subgenre of science
fantasy that became highly popular in the decades following its
publication. Its early chapters also contain elements of the
Western.
The story is set on Mars, imagined as a dying planet with a harsh
desert environment. This vision of Mars was based on the work of the
astronomer Percival Lowell, whose ideas were widely popularized in the
late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Barsoom series inspired a number of well-known 20th-century
science fiction writers, including Jack Vance, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C.
Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein, and John Norman. The series was also
inspirational for many scientists in the fields of space exploration and
the search for extraterrestrial life, including Carl Sagan, who read
A Princess of Mars when he was a child.
