Science Fiction
Burroughs is one of those writers who gets talked about as if you’re meant to apologise for enjoying him. I don’t see the need.
The Warlord of Mars #3 still has that same brisk, forward motion that makes the pages go by before you’ve had time to admire them. It’s of its time, certainly, but “of its time” is not the same as “dusty”. Sometimes momentum is enough. More than enough, really.
Not every book needs to be trying very hard to earn literary respectability. Some just need to keep you turning the pages, and this one does that with very little fuss.
The Warlord of Mars #3 still has that same brisk, forward motion that makes the pages go by before you’ve had time to admire them. It’s of its time, certainly, but “of its time” is not the same as “dusty”. Sometimes momentum is enough. More than enough, really.
Not every book needs to be trying very hard to earn literary respectability. Some just need to keep you turning the pages, and this one does that with very little fuss.
Burroughs can be a strange test case, because the appeal is so plain on the page. Either the pace works for you or it doesn’t. I’d rather that than a book straining for importance and still feeling airless.
The “of its time” warning often gets used as if it settles the matter. It doesn’t. Sometimes it just means the book is old, not irrelevant.
The “of its time” warning often gets used as if it settles the matter. It doesn’t. Sometimes it just means the book is old, not irrelevant.