If you missed the last part…
Black Pirates of Barsoom
The stories that comprise the tenth book in the Barsoom series, Llana of Gathol, were originally novellas written for Ray A. Palmer’s Amazing Stories. Edgar Rice Burroughs combined the four tales to make the book. The pieces are separate adventures but have a thread running through them to tie them together. The book is aptly named after John Carter’s granddaughter as the romance between her and Pan Dan Chee flows through the four segments.
In the last story, John Carter arrived in the abandoned city of Horz, saved Pan Dan Chee from the green Martians, then discovered his granddaughter in suspended animation in the Pits of Horz. Having escaped the Orovars, the white Martians of Pan Dan Chee’s people, the three wander the old sea bottoms on their way back to Gathol.
“Black Pirates of Barsoom” (Amazing Stories, June 1941) continues from where “The City of Mummies” ended. The three heroes, John Carter, Lllana of Gathol and Pan Dan Chee, encounter a horde of green Martians come to visit one of their hatcheries. The wanderers escape into a rift valley (which they didn’t even notice until this happened!) The green men chase them but the wanderers escape. They are a little afraid of the valley because the hillside is covered in skeletons. The flesh has been cooked right off the bones. The world of the valley is colorful and heavy with plants and game. They spy a city off in the distance. Llana wishes they could see the place.
Moments later they are surrounded by black Martians. These people haven’t been seen since Warlord of Mars. They are a warrior race with ebony colored skin but are not African-Americans. They hate the name ‘John Carter’ because it was our hero who had toppled the power of the Holy Therns in the early book. These Black Pirates are a colony separated from those of the North. The city is called Kamtol.
Slavery and Swords
The wanderers are taken and sold as slaves. The story follows John Carter’s adventures as a slave. (We’ll see the other two later.) Carter’s fighting prowess gets him noticed under the name the green men had given him when he first arrived on Mars, “Dotar Sojat”. He doesn’t want the black men to know who he really is. His owner, Xaxak, plans to win plenty of money when Carter fights in the games. One of the black men, John disarms is Ptang, one of Xaxak’s warriors. After the duel, Ptang becomes Carter’s friend.
Dotar Sojat is to enter the games. The night before he detects someone in his room, a man named Ban-tor, a weakling and braggard that Carter has disgraced. It appears he has done nothing and flees through the window. The next day, Carter wins his master a hundred thousand tanpi. This is inspite of his sword being shorter than it should be. Now he knew what Ban-Tor was up to. He calls out the thief and his master, Nastor. It is Nastor’s best warrior he is to fight.
Carter defeats Nolat, the best swordsman among the Black Pirates. The crowd roars for blood but Carter refuses.The jeddak is so impressed with Dotar Sojat that he insists Xaxak sell the slave to him. Xaxk has no choice so he gives the warrior to his king. No one will ever bet against Carter anyway. He sees Llana of Gathol among the jeddak’s slaves but signals her not to recognize him.
The Emperor’s Man
So Carter enters the home of the Jeddak, Doxus. The ruler pulls Carter aside and asks him to teach him all his sword tricks. The king can not allow others to see these training sessions so they practice in a secret chamber. While losing on purchase to the jeddak occasionally, Carter sees a secret door and a weird chamber on the other side. This is the secret lab of Myrlo, a kind of mad scientist. It is Myrlo’s machine that guards Kamtol. With it he can reach across space and strike down any escaped slave or enemy.
Now in the jeddak’s house, Jon Carter is given a scroll that allows him reasonable freedom in the city. He wanders until he finds the building where the Black Pirates keep their fleet of ships. The scroll, and the fact that he did not kill Nolat (the guard is a friend), gets him inside. He now begins formulating a plan. He runs into Pan Dan Chee. He learns that Llana is being kept in a tower because the emperor’s wife owns her and refuses to sell her to the jeddak. A guard breaks up their conversation but John tells him to be at certain corner and to watch for a black pirate flying a ship.
A Daring Plan
Carter’s plan for escape gets an immediate push when Black Pirates from the north show up for a visit. Any of these men would recognize him for the Warlord of Mars, so he must hurry. He uses his amazing jumping ability to avoid capture. He heads for the secret chamber and the secret door. In the lab he encounters Myrlo, who tries to shoot him. Carter kills him, assumes his harness.
He then goes to the hanger to steal a flier. The place is virtually deserted because of the visitors. Carter bluffs his way to a ship (using black make up to appear to be nobleman– a black face moment that would be problematic today) and flies off with it. He goes to the tower just in time to stop the jeddak taking Llana. The two escape out the window to the hovering flier and it is off to pick up Pan Dan Chee. The Ovorar has brought another slave him, Jad-Han. They all fly off before the Black Pirates can catch them.
Conclusion
“Black Pirates of Barsoom” is the only Burroughs title that actually uses the word “Barsoom”. That is unusual. It was ERB’s title but I doubt Ray Palmer would have worried about it much. In 1941, the name “Barsoom” wasn’t entirely unknown. And it sounds exotic. The other fact that strikes me is what scene is that on the cover? J. Allen St. John makes it exciting but that monster (a Banth?) looks kind of muddled. The title drawing is when Ban-Tor changes swords and escapes. The last drawing is when the wanderers are surrounded in the valley. None of these are particularly exciting scenes but JASJ had drawn plenty of sword fights and fliers in the air. He might have been challenged to find something different to do.
Next time… The Apt’s Return in “Yellow Men of Mars”…
