Barsoom
#6783.83 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 11 books Status Complete 1917–1964 Reading commitment High Edgar Rice Burroughs Last reviewed 2026-10-13
Overview
Edgar Rice Burroughs' foundational Mars saga, following Confederate cavalry officer John Carter after he is mysteriously transported to Barsoom, the Martian name for Mars, a dying world of warring city-states, four-armed green warriors, and airborne navies. Beginning with A Princess of Mars, the eleven-book series follows Carter and, later, his descendants across a full Martian history. All eleven books first appeared as magazine serials between 1912 and 1943 before their book-form publication; Llana of Gathol is a fix-up of four linked novelettes, and John Carter of Mars is a posthumous collection of two novellas. The series is widely classified as science fantasy or planetary romance, blending science-fiction trappings with sword-and-sorcery adventure, and is considered foundational to the sword-and-planet subgenre and a major influence on early genre fiction.
Portal fantasy, Sword & sorcery · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (11 works) counts toward ranking
Barsoom Edgar Rice Burroughs
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | A Princess of Mars; ISBN recorded is the Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library hardcover (Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., 2020s); the first book edition predates ISBNs. | 1917 | 1 | core | 3.81 (61,599 ratings) |
 | The Gods of Mars; ISBN recorded is the Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library hardcover (Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., 2020s); the first book edition predates ISBNs. | 1918 | 2 | core | 3.89 (20,760 ratings) |
 | The Warlord of Mars; ISBN recorded is a Del Rey / Ballantine mass-market paperback (the long-running uniform American edition of the Martian tales); the first book edition predates ISBNs. | 1919 | 3 | core | 3.86 (12,448 ratings) |
 | Thuvia, Maid of Mars; ISBN recorded is the Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library hardcover (Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.); the first book edition predates ISBNs. | 1920 | 4 | core | 3.77 (10,120 ratings) |
 | The Chessmen of Mars; ISBN recorded is a Del Rey / Ballantine mass-market paperback (the long-running uniform American edition of the Martian tales); the first book edition predates ISBNs. | 1922 | 5 | core | 3.83 (8,270 ratings) |
 | The Master Mind of Mars; ISBN recorded is a Del Rey / Ballantine mass-market paperback (the long-running uniform American edition of the Martian tales); the first book edition predates ISBNs. | 1928 | 6 | core | 3.85 (5,263 ratings) |
 | A Fighting Man of Mars; ISBN recorded is the Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library hardcover (Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., 2020s); the first book edition predates ISBNs. | 1931 | 7 | core | 3.86 (4,173 ratings) |
 | Swords of Mars; ISBN recorded is a Del Rey / Ballantine mass-market paperback (the long-running uniform American edition of the Martian tales); the first book edition predates ISBNs. | 1936 | 8 | core | 3.84 (3,678 ratings) |
 | Synthetic Men of Mars; ISBN recorded is a Del Rey / Ballantine mass-market paperback (the long-running uniform American edition of the Martian tales); the first book edition predates ISBNs. | 1940 | 9 | core | 3.80 (3,333 ratings) |
 | Llana of Gathol; ISBN recorded is a Del Rey / Ballantine mass-market paperback (the long-running uniform American edition of the Martian tales); the first book edition predates ISBNs. | 1948 | 10 | core | 3.79 (2,832 ratings) |
 | John Carter of Mars; ISBN recorded is a Del Rey / Ballantine mass-market paperback (the long-running uniform American edition of the Martian tales); the first book edition predates ISBNs. | 1964 | 11 | core | 3.83 (4,693 ratings) |
Edgar Rice Burroughs' foundational planetary-romance saga of the fictional Mars ('Barsoom'), beginning with A Princess of Mars. All eleven books first appeared as magazine serials (1912-1943, Weird Tales/All-Story/Blue Book/Amazing Stories/Argosy) before their book-form publication years recorded here. Llana of Gathol (1948) is a fix-up of four linked novelettes; John Carter of Mars (1964) is a posthumous collection of two novellas. Genre-boundary transparency: the series is routinely classified as science fantasy / planetary romance, blending science-fiction trappings (interplanetary travel) with sword-and-sorcery adventure and magic-adjacent Barsoomian technology; critical and reference consensus (Wikipedia, genre reference works) treats it as fantasy-adjacent and foundational to the sword-and-planet subgenre, admitted here on that basis, the same transparency this project has applied to Pern and other genre-boundary cases. No awards could be confidently corroborated against a primary source at this pass; none are recorded.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Barsoom? Barsoom's Core Canon is 11 books.
- What is the reading order for Barsoom? Publication order, starting with A Princess of Mars. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Barsoom finished? Complete (1917–1964).
- How much reading does Barsoom take? High reading commitment (estimated from 11 Core Canon books · ~346 pages).
- How is Barsoom ranked? #678 in this site's official ranking, based on 137,169 reader ratings across 11 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #678?
Ranked #678 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.83 across 11 core books.
- Backed by 137k reader ratings.
- Remarkably consistent across the whole series: all 11 rated core books rate within 0.12 of each other.
- Less than 0.01 behind #677, The Merman's Children (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Rated · 11 books · Complete · 137k ratings · Ranks #678 overall
Good choice if you want a long-running portal fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (11 Core Canon books)
- A Princess of Mars (1917)
- The Gods of Mars (1918)
- The Warlord of Mars (1919)
- Thuvia, Maid of Mars (1920)
- The Chessmen of Mars (1922)
- The Master Mind of Mars (1928)
- A Fighting Man of Mars (1931)
- Swords of Mars (1936)
- Synthetic Men of Mars (1940)
- Llana of Gathol (1948)
- John Carter of Mars (1964)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- No awards could be confirmed for this series.
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Suggestions computed from what Barsoom and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- The Invisible Library Portal fantasy · Complete · High commitment · 3.97
- Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Sword & sorcery · Complete · High commitment · 3.97
- Wayward Children Portal fantasy · Ongoing · High commitment · 3.94
- Guardians of the Flame Portal fantasy · Complete · High commitment · 3.92
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.83 across 137,169 ratings on 11 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit Barsoom (Edgar Rice Burroughs) accepted 2026-09-06
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-09-06
Rule: Rule: Core Canon = all eleven Barsoom books (1917–1964). Genre-boundary transparency: classified as science fantasy / planetary romance by critical consensus; admitted as fantasy-adjacent on the same basis as other genre-boundary precedents in this canon.