Swords of Mars vs The Chessmen of Mars: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Dejah Thoris, Barsoom, Carter, John Carter, Extraterrestrial beings, Life on other planets
Swords of Mars
"Swords of Mars" is the eighth book in the Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian series. It was featured in six issues of the "Blue Book" magazine in 1934-1935. John Carter reprises his role of hero as he vows to bring an end…
vs
The Chessmen of Mars
“TARA of Helium rose from the pile of silks and soft furs upon which she had been reclining, stretched her lithe body languidly, and crossed toward the center of the room, where, above a large table a bronze disc depended from the low ceiling.”
SHEA had just beaten me at chess, as usual, and, also as usual, I had gleaned what questionable satisfaction I might by twitting him with this indication of failing mentality by calling his attention to the nth time to…
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The Chessmen of Mars has the widest readership — 8291 ratings behind its score.
Scores by source
| Swords of Mars | The Chessmen of Mars | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.8 (3687) | 3.8 (8291) |
| Hardcover | 3.9 (4) | 3.6 (20) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (57) | 5.0 (18) |
Reception
| Swords of Mars | The Chessmen of Mars | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 3687 | 8291 |
| Editions | 110 | 313 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 3288 | 4769 |
| Reading it now | 283 | 436 |
| Written reviews | 133 | 355 |
| Wikipedia attention | 649 | 1481 |
| Pages | 226 | 234 |