Resumen
Resumen de Las piezas de ajedrez de Marte
Para quién es
For readers who love pulp adventure, strange worlds and fast chases, and anyone curious about the Barsoom series. A Martian princess, a devoted warrior and chess played with living pieces bring freedom and danger into vivid focus.
De qué trata este libro
The Chessmen of Mars is a planetary romance by Edgar Rice Burroughs, published in 1922. It is the fifth novel set on Barsoom, his name for a dying Mars of dry sea bottoms, flying ships, green warriors and red-skinned cities. Burroughs wrote it for the adventure magazines of his day, where readers wanted swift action, strange creatures and a bold hero. This time the focus moves away from John Carter and onto his daughter.
That daughter is Tara of Helium, a spirited young woman who is tired of being watched over. Her story brings in Gahan of Gathol, a warrior who loves her, and a race of beings found nowhere else on Barsoom, the Kaldanes. The book also gives us Jetan, the Martian form of chess, played with living pieces. You get a long chase across a hostile world, a nightmare city, and a deadly game. Let us begin where the trouble starts, with a princess who wants to fly alone.
En este resumen
- 1A princess slips away to fly aloneFree
- 2Lost in a land of strange creatures
- 3The Kaldanes and their headless riders
- 4Gahan follows, and the city of the game
- 5What the novel says about minds, bodies and pride
- 6How Burroughs tells it, and how to read it
Idea clave 1 de 6
A princess slips away to fly alone
The story begins in the world of Helium, the great Barsoomian city that is home to John Carter, Warlord of Mars. His daughter Tara is a headstrong young woman, and she is the heart of this book. She is the child of Carter and Dejah Thoris, and she has inherited her parents' courage along with a streak of impatience.
Tara loves to fly. On Barsoom, small fliers skim over the dead sea bottoms, and a skilled pilot can cover great distances in a day. She does not like being guarded or fussed over, and she longs to be out in the open sky on her own.
Among the people near her is Gahan, a noble warrior from the small city of Gathol. He admires Tara and wishes to win her. Burroughs sets up their bond with a brave man, a proud woman, and a world that is bound to come between them.
Then comes the moment that sets everything going. Tara takes a flier out alone and does not stay within safe reach of home. Wind and chance carry her into regions that no map of Helium describes, and an outing becomes the start of a long ordeal. From here the novel is a chase, with Tara in danger and her friends racing to find her.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Tara of Helium
- Tara is the headstrong daughter of John Carter and Dejah Thoris, eager to fly alone beyond Helium.
- Gahan of Gathol
- Gahan is a noble warrior from Gathol who loves Tara and searches for her across Barsoom.
- Ghek
- Ghek is a clever Kaldane who rides a headless body and crosses paths with Tara among his people.
- John Carter
- John Carter is Tara's father and the famed Warlord of Mars, whose family makes its home in Helium.
- Dejah Thoris
- Dejah Thoris is Tara's mother and the Princess of Helium, whose courage is shared by her daughter.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 90,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 6 h
- Listening time10 h
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about Las piezas de ajedrez de Marte
What is The Chessmen of Mars about?
It is a Barsoom adventure in which Tara of Helium is carried far from home and Gahan of Gathol sets out to find her. Their road leads through the strange Kaldanes and a city built around living chess.
What are the Kaldanes in The Chessmen of Mars?
The Kaldanes are a race of creatures that are mostly large, clever heads with spidery legs. They attach themselves to headless bodies called rykors, which carry them and do their fighting.
What is Jetan in Barsoom?
Jetan is the Martian form of chess, played on a board of one hundred squares with pieces named for ranks such as warriors and princesses. In the city of Manator, the pieces are living people.
Do I need to read the other Barsoom books first?
No. It is the fifth Barsoom novel, but it tells its own story and explains its world as it goes. Knowing John Carter and Dejah Thoris from earlier books adds some background.
When was The Chessmen of Mars written?
Edgar Rice Burroughs published it in 1922 as part of his Barsoom series. It is a work of fiction in the pulp adventure style, and it is not a true story.