6 h 6 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 6 h 6 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the person you love is held captive by a surgeon who can rearrange living bodies?
Ulysses Paxton, a soldier shaped by the Great War, leaves Earth and finds himself on Barsoom, a dying Mars of desert lands, warring cities and strange beasts. In the care of Ras Thavas, he faces a world where a surgeon's skill inspires both need and fear.
In the laboratory, Paxton meets Valla Dia, a young woman held captive by the surgeon's craft. Their bond gives him someone to protect, while Xaxa, a ruler with purposes of her own, poses another threat. Edgar Rice Burroughs brings surgery, danger and romance together in an adventure that asks what makes a person themselves.
What you’ll discover
- A dangerous new world Explore Barsoom's harsh deserts, warring cities and strange beasts alongside a newcomer from Earth.
- Science without familiar limits Enter Ras Thavas's laboratory, where brilliant surgery gives one chilly man frightening power over others.
- Loyalty under pressure Follow Paxton's growing bond with Valla Dia as care for another becomes a reason to act.
- The puzzle of identity Consider what remains of the self when a body is no longer your own.
- Adventure that moves fast Short chapters and sharp hooks carry you through a tale of sword fights, danger and romance.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you love planetary adventure, daring escapes and clever schemes, or a hero who wins by wit, loyalty and love.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A dying soldier finds another world
- Science serves those who can pay
- A stolen face cannot erase goodness
- Paxton names an unexpected price
- A promise needs more than words
- Kindness brings separate hopes together
- Faith becomes a ban on questions
- The god hides a human mechanism
- Loyalty exposes the limits of calculation
Who’s who
- Ulysses PaxtonA wounded American captain drawn to Mars, called Vad Varo, who learns surgery and sets out to give a stolen body back to its owner.
- Ras ThavasThe thousand-year-old surgeon of Toonol, a brilliant, cold man who trusts only self-interest and wants to live forever.
- Valla DiaA kind and brave young woman whose brain lives in an old tyrant's body and who longs for her home in Duhor.
- Gor HajusThe famous assassin of Toonol, bound by a strict code of honor, who wants one chance at the tyrant who condemned him.
- Dar TarusA murdered warrior of Phundahl whose body was stolen for a noble, and who wants it back and the girl he loves.
- Hovan DuA great white ape ruled by half a human brain, who wants his own mind restored and serves Paxton loyally.
- XaxaThe cruel Jeddara of Phundahl, who bought a young girl's beautiful body to rule in, and is feared and hated by her people.
- Mu TelA prince of Toonol, nephew of the tyrant Vobis Kan, who helps the travelers because their success will help his own ambitions.
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- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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The Master Mind of Mars
by Edgar Rice Burroughs · 1927
A soldier dying in a shell hole is pulled to Mars, where a surgeon swaps brains between bodies for pay.
Medium level2–5 hours to readEnglish
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In short
Picture a young captain in a shell hole in France, his legs torn away. He stretches his arms toward the red star Mars and prays.
The Master Mind of Mars at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h 30 min2 h 45 min fast, 4 h 10 min slow
- Length
- 49,500 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1927by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A dying captain wakes on Mars
The book opens with a letter from Ulysses Paxton to the author. In the trenches of France, a shell takes both his legs. As he lies dying, he prays to Mars, and his spirit crosses space.
He wakes on a red lawn inside a walled garden. Before him stands a withered old man in huge many-lensed spectacles, who reaches for a sword. Paxton leaps up, and Mars has so little gravity that he sails twenty feet through the air. The jump costs the old man his spectacles, and without them he is almost blind.
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 15 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1927
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Burroughs, Edgar Rice. The Master Mind of Mars. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-master-mind-of-mars.
Burroughs, E. R. (2026). The master mind of Mars. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-master-mind-of-mars (Original work published 1927)
Burroughs, Edgar Rice. The Master Mind of Mars. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-master-mind-of-mars.
@book{burroughs2026master,
author = {Burroughs, Edgar Rice},
title = {The Master Mind of Mars},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-master-mind-of-mars},
note = {First published 1927}
}
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What is The Master Mind of Mars about?
It follows Ulysses Paxton, a wounded American soldier drawn to Mars, who becomes assistant to a brain-swapping surgeon, Ras Thavas, and then sets out across the marshes to give a girl her stolen body back.
Who is Ras Thavas?
He is the old surgeon of Toonol, over a thousand years old, who runs a huge laboratory on an island. He transplants brains and organs, trusts only self-interest, and mocks what he calls sentiment.
Do you need to read the John Carter books first?
No. Paxton tells his own story and explains Barsoom as he goes, so the book stands on its own. John Carter appears near the close, and fans of the series will enjoy the cameo.
The author
Edgar Rice Burroughs
1875–1950 · American adventure novelist
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American writer born in Chicago in 1875. He wrote novels about Tarzan and novels set on Mars. His first Mars story appeared in 1912 and became the book A Princess of Mars in 1917. He later lived in California and died in Encino in 1950.
More by Edgar Rice Burroughs
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