Audiobook Sample
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- Title: Princess of Mars
- Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs
- Narrator: Various Readers
- Length: 07:12:00
- Version: Abridged
- Release Date: 01/01/2012
- Publisher: LibriVox
- Genre: Fiction & Literature, Classics
- ISBN13: SABLIBX978020
There’s something magical about encountering an old story through new ears. As I listened to “Princess of Mars” while trekking through the red-rock canyons of Utah last month, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ century-old vision of Mars felt strangely at home in that alien terrain. The rust-colored cliffs and endless horizons became my personal Barsoom, and the multiple narrators of this LibriVox production became my campfire storytellers.
This audiobook version, with its rotating cast of volunteer narrators, reminds me of those evenings in Oaxaca where different family members would take turns spinning tales. Each voice in this production brings unique texture to Burroughs’ pulpy prose – some gruff and battle-worn perfect for John Carter’s warrior perspective, others more delicate when voicing the captive princess Dejah Thoris. While the inconsistent audio quality shows its public-domain origins, there’s charm in these imperfections, like finding marginalia in a well-loved used book.
Burroughs’ 1912 adventure remains a fascinating cultural artifact – equal parts thrilling and troubling to modern ears. The Darwinian struggles of Barsoom’s colorful races (green Tharks, red Martians, and the mysterious Therns) unfold with cinematic vividness in audio format. I found myself grinning at the sheer audacity of Carter leaping across the lower-gravity landscape, while simultaneously cringing at the colonialist subtexts that were less visible when I first read this as a teenager.
What surprised me most during this listening experience was how Burroughs’ descriptions of dying Martian cities resonated with real places I’ve visited – the abandoned cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde, the crumbling colonial architecture in Havana. There’s unexpected pathos in these passages that the narrators capture beautifully, especially in quieter moments between battles.
The audiobook’s ensemble approach actually serves the material well, as “Princess of Mars” is essentially a patchwork of adventure tropes: swordplay, alien romance, last-minute rescues. Different narrators highlight different facets – one emphasizes the Western undertones of Carter’s character, another leans into the Gothic horror elements of the Therns. It’s like hearing multiple oral traditions of the same legend.
For contemporary listeners, the gender dynamics require historical context. Dejah Thoris’ portrayal as a perpetually endangered prize reflects early 20th-century fantasies rather than modern sensibilities. Yet in these narrators’ voices, I heard subtle reinterpretations – one reader gave Dejah more steeliness during her political negotiations, another emphasized her scientific curiosity about Earth.
As a travel writer, I was particularly struck by Burroughs’ world-building. The audiobook format makes his Martian ecology surprisingly tactile – you can almost feel the thin alien air, hear the strange fauna, taste the odd fruits. It’s a reminder that all great adventure stories are, at heart, travelogues of the imagination.
While the production can’t compete with modern studio recordings, there’s authenticity in these amateur voices that suits the material. Like John Carter himself, this audiobook is rough around the edges but full of heart. It’s best enjoyed as I did – outdoors, letting the red dust of your surroundings stand in for Martian soil, with headphones as your personal atmosphere plant.
May your literary journeys be ever adventurous,
Marcus Rivera
