The Chessmen of Mars (Barsoom #5) (1922)

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by Edgar Rice Burroughs



Princess Tara of Helium is swept up by a sudden storm and deposited near the isolated city of Manator, where she’s captured and made the human stake in a lethal, live-action game of Jetan (Martian chess). 



Gahan of Gathol goes after her, disguises himself among enemies, and has to win the game to secure both her freedom and her affection. 



This installment keeps the “lone warrior chases the missing princess” structure that Burroughs used in the previous installment. 



The storm-capture-rescue plot is replicated so faithfully that an experienced reader can see most of the turns ahead of time. 



Still, there are highlights like Manator’s Jetan spectacle and the genuinely alien menace of the Kaldanes, who push the series toward higher-concept sci-fi/horror instead of yet another round of warring tribes. 



Tara also helps; she’s more proactive than Dejah Thoris tends to be, relying on her own judgment and a concealed dagger rather than simply waiting to be rescued. 



Some of what happens is frankly ridiculous, but when Burroughs focuses on the rules of the game, the psychological pressure it creates, and the weird social order built around it, this continuation of the post–John Carter generation arc that began in the previous novel feels rather fresh. 


Edgar Rice Burroughs


If you can accept the contrivances, this is one of the more detailed and imaginative Barsoom entries.


"A Deadly Chessboard on Mars" (Czech)

"The Chess Players of Mars" (Greek)

"John Carter and the Game of Death" (Swedish)

"Knights of Mars" (Finnish)

"Chess on Mars" (French)

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