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Post by Char-Vell on Jan 9, 2018 11:44:56 GMT -5
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Post by Von K on Jan 9, 2018 12:11:09 GMT -5
Magnificent production values and a modified ruleset too. Look forward to checking out the quickstart version.
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Post by Von K on Jan 9, 2018 12:15:39 GMT -5
I re-read Synthetic Men of Mars recently. Another blastingly good yarn which I devoured at a single sitting.
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Post by ChrisLAdams on Jan 9, 2018 12:48:53 GMT -5
I re-read Synthetic Men of Mars recently. Another blastingly good yarn which I devoured at a single sitting. I agree. While that story gets criticized I always find it highly entertaining. Love the part when Tor-dur-bar's head is hanging in the net on the side of the malagor, chatting away at Vor Daj. Hilarious!
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Post by Von K on Jan 12, 2018 22:04:44 GMT -5
I agree. While that story gets criticized I always find it highly entertaining. Love the part when Tor-dur-bar's head is hanging in the net on the side of the malagor, chatting away at Vor Daj. Hilarious! For sure it's not one of ERB's best, he was going through a tough phase in his writing. I agree with some of the criticisms, though a few of the points I've read seem to depend as much on personal taste as literary sense. I was just glad to be back on Barsoom...
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Post by deuce on Feb 11, 2018 2:12:00 GMT -5
Only about 24hrs remain on Modiphius's Kickstarter for the John Carter of Mars role-playing game. Many great stretch goals--books, figurines, maps, and more--have been unlocked. If you haven't visited the campaign recently to see all the available goodies, check it out here:
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Post by deuce on Feb 14, 2018 10:51:10 GMT -5
“Yes, I was a fool, but I was in love, and though I was suffering the greatest misery I had ever known I would not have had it otherwise for all the riches of Barsoom. Such is love, and such are lovers wherever love is known.”
-- John Carter from A Princess of Mars
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Post by deuce on Mar 3, 2018 12:13:09 GMT -5
March 3rd definitely has some resonance when it comes to Barsoom. Here's a little write-up by scholar/fan, John Martin: On March 3, 1866, Capt. James K. Powell said farewell to fellow prospector John Carter and started out for civilization to purchase more mining tools. As we know from A Princess of Mars, he never made it.
On Saturday evening, March 3, 2012, ERB fans said farewell, temporarily. to the Warner Center Marriott and started out for the Disney Studio to watch a movie about the further adventures of Powell's gold-mining partner, John Carter.
Saturday morning at that Woodland Hills ECOF I came downstairs to the hotel gift shop and bought a copy of the Saturday edition of the "Sunday" L.A. Times, which was wrapped in "John Carter orange," a large-size movie poster covering the front of the newspaper.
The day was filled with more huckstering in the huckster room and several special presentations. They include meetings led by Jim Sullos, Robin Maxwell and Michael sellers:
Jim Sullos, president of ERB Inc., gave fans a preview of previewed coming events, mentioning that Warner Bros. had optioned a new Tarzan movie (that turned out to be "The Legend of Tarzan,"), Constantin Films of Germany had plans for a motion-capture Tarzan movie, and Al Bohl's was finishing his documentary, "Tarzan, Lord of the Louisiana Jungle."
In the merchandising department, he mentioned Tarzan slot machines in Vegas and the upcoming release of the Cryptozoic trading cards.
In books, he mentioned a special "Princess of Mars" edition Disney was publishing that would feature both a novelization of the "John Carter" movie as well as ERB's original story.
A change in attitude at ERB Inc. resulted in the allowance of books by other authors, he said, noting the authorization of books by Andy Briggs, aimed at juveniles, as well as Robin Maxwell's forthcoming Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan.
"When Edgar Rice Burroughs died," said Mr. Sullos, his family was running the business and at first they wanted to leave the canon alone. "But that attitude has changed." The corporation has made the decision to allow others to take up the keyboard to write stories about ERB characters.
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Robin Maxwell said, "Tarzan was my first heart throb."
She explained how she had gotten the idea for telling the story of Tarzan's early life in the jungle from Jane's point of view, and of her meeting with Jim sullos to win approval for the idea. She also did a lot of research on Africa (among her discoveres was the fact that tigers do not live there.)
Her Jane will be a modern, forward-thinking woman, someone that modern readers can relate to, she told everyone. And at that point, the ERB fans became rather alarmed. That was because a beep was sounding from the hotel's fire alarm. Everyone obediently left the room but it soon became apparent it was a false alarm so we all went back and Robin continued her talk, outlining differences between her approach to Tarzan and Jane's story and ERB's.
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Everyone wants kids to be interested in ERB. Michael Sellers, who would later write a book titled John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood, had set up "The John Carter Reading Project" in some area schools. Becky Garland, along with some of her elementary school students who had read A Princess of Mars, put on one of the programs.
Garland shared the results of a survey she had given the students. One question was whether they thought the story was too old-fashioned, noting ERB's use of words such as "vouchsafe." In response, none of the young people thought it was old-fashioned and all said they would recommend it to a friend.
One said that, because the book was written 100 years ago, he thought it might not be interesting. "But you could understand personally," he said. "I read it and was thoroughly shocked. I thought: This book interersts me...and it's old!"
The group of nine, including boys and girls from Caucasian, Black, Asian, Middle East and Hispanic cultures. Among the reasons they liked reading about John Carter on Mars was that ERB spent more time talking about the makeup of his Martian world and its culture, than talking about technological things.
The young people each shared some positive thoughts on the book and then several of them answered questions from the older ERB fans.
After the session, the young people went shopping in the huckster room and, later that evening, accompanied the group to the Disney Studio theatre for the preview showing of "John Carter."
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The big moment of the ECOF came Saturday night, with everyone piling onto buses and braving a ride through heavy traffic instead of through hostile Apaches.
As we walked to the theater entrance, young Disney employees gave us lanyards with a "John Carter" placard to wear, and checked in any cameras or cell phones that people had. Inside the small lobby, we were given 3-D glasses, a plastic bucket filled with popcorn, and our choice of bottled water or soft drinks.
The last number I heard on theater attendance was 227, but it could have ended up being more. They showed a short introductory film that had been prepared for Disney employees to help give them director Andrew Stanton's vision for the film.
After the movie, I saw a couple of the young people who had read A Princess of Mars, so I asked them how they liked the movie and they were quite thrilled with it.
Outside, Disney people were handing out free John Carter posters in tubes, suitable for mailing home, and smaller collectibles. One was a pack of John Carter trading cards and the other was a fold-out cardboard promo with movie scenes.
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Post by finarvyn on Mar 26, 2018 8:17:09 GMT -5
Oh, man. I would have loved a pack of John Carter playing cards. Heck, I'd like John Carter almost-anything. I also can't believe that it's been more than five years since the movie came out. Just finished re-reading Chessmen of Mars and I want to play some Martial chess now.
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Post by bunty0barbarian on Apr 16, 2018 1:47:23 GMT -5
Finished the first 3 books in the series and enjoyed them immensely.Wild imagination combined with the sense of excitement and adventure Burroughs books have.Gods of Mars is my favorite,crazy set pieces with less repetition but I gotta say compared to other pulp writers like REH,Morrcock,Dent etc ERB's plots are extremely formulaic. The same old kidnap princess-chase princess-rescue princess/cliffhanger ending narrative is quite annoying.
Will continue with the series but after reading Tarzan and The Jewels of Opar.
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Post by johnnypt on Apr 16, 2018 7:09:49 GMT -5
Finished the first 3 books in the series and enjoyed them immensely.Wild imagination combined with the sense of excitement and adventure Burroughs books have.Gods of Mars is my favorite,crazy set pieces with less repetition but I gotta say compared to other pulp writers like REH,Morrcock,Dent etc ERB's plots are extremely formulaic. The same old kidnap princess-chase princess-rescue princess/cliffhanger ending narrative is quite annoying. Will continue with the series but after reading Tarzan and The Jewels of Opar.
The only mitigating factor is for the modern era, Burroughs practically created the formula, then rode it into the ground for the next 25 years! He used the same plot on Mars, Venus, Pellucidar, the moon, the African jungle, the streets of Chicago, you name it, Burroughs put this plot there.
The first two Mars books are especially imaginative. But by the time he gets to Warlord, there are just too many false promises of rescue, then she's gone again. Book probably could've been reduced by a third, but he was getting paid by the word, so...
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Post by finarvyn on Apr 18, 2018 5:14:46 GMT -5
Finished the first 3 books in the series and enjoyed them immensely.Wild imagination combined with the sense of excitement and adventure Burroughs books have.Gods of Mars is my favorite,crazy set pieces with less repetition but I gotta say compared to other pulp writers like REH,Morrcock,Dent etc ERB's plots are extremely formulaic. The same old kidnap princess-chase princess-rescue princess/cliffhanger ending narrative is quite annoying. Will continue with the series but after reading Tarzan and The Jewels of Opar.
The only mitigating factor is for the modern era, Burroughs practically created the formula, then rode it into the ground for the next 25 years! He used the same plot on Mars, Venus, Pellucidar, the moon, the African jungle, the streets of Chicago, you name it, Burroughs put this plot there.
The first two Mars books are especially imaginative. But by the time he gets to Warlord, there are just too many false promises of rescue, then she's gone again. Book probably could've been reduced by a third, but he was getting paid by the word, so...
Not just that he was getting paid by the word, but he was getting paid to release his material in a serial format (if I understand correctly) so that chunks of story would build up to a cliffhanger and then ... hang until next time. I agree that Burroughs' style relied on a standard formula and that plot elements relied on unbelievable coincidences along the way, but the man was creative and had great ideas way before his peers. I read somewhere that he sold more books in the 20th century than any other author, so he must have done something right.
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Post by Jason Aiken on Apr 18, 2018 18:56:35 GMT -5
Burroughs definitely had formulaic plots, but he was one of the best-selling authors in the world and pioneered these techniques so he could get away with it.
I don't think today's readers would be so forgiving, but back then they couldn't get enough. And rightfully so. The man's imagination was something special, indeed.
Keep reading the Barsoom series, Chessmen was my favorite.
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Post by bunty0barbarian on Apr 26, 2018 1:43:12 GMT -5
Burroughs definitely had formulaic plots, but he was one of the best-selling authors in the world and pioneered these techniques so he could get away with it. I don't think today's readers would be so forgiving, but back then they couldn't get enough. And rightfully so. The man's imagination was something special, indeed. Keep reading the Barsoom series, Chessmen was my favorite. Will do but I want to try some of his lesser-known works first,his Westerns for instance.Bought the ERB Western Megapck.Thoughts?
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Post by johnnypt on Apr 26, 2018 6:56:47 GMT -5
Burroughs definitely had formulaic plots, but he was one of the best-selling authors in the world and pioneered these techniques so he could get away with it. I don't think today's readers would be so forgiving, but back then they couldn't get enough. And rightfully so. The man's imagination was something special, indeed. Keep reading the Barsoom series, Chessmen was my favorite. Will do but I want to try some of his lesser-known works first,his Westerns for instance.Bought the ERB Western Megapck.Thoughts?
The Mucker is the one that would immediately spring to mind, among his best and probably lesser known simply for the name. Beyond Thirty aka Lost Continent is also interesting.
Megapack is an interesting way to describe 4 novels I actually should pick it up since I haven't read Bandit or Deputy (Rocky Balboa has me beat there).
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