Thu­via, Maid of Mars (1916) is the fourth nov­el in Edgar Rice Bur­roughs’ Bar­soom series, set on the fic­tion­al Mars and fea­tur­ing swash­buck­ling adven­ture, exot­ic alien land­scapes, and rich­ly devel­oped cul­tures. If you’re a fan of clas­sic plan­e­tary romance or Bur­roughs’ style of hero­ic escapism, this book is def­i­nite­ly worth read­ing. The sto­ry intro­duces Thu­via, a strong and capa­ble female pro­tag­o­nist, whose intel­li­gence and inde­pen­dence make her one of the most mem­o­rable char­ac­ters in the series. This is a refresh­ing depar­ture from the usu­al damsels in dis­tress com­mon in ear­ly 20th-cen­tu­ry lit­er­a­ture, show­cas­ing a more pro­gres­sive por­tray­al of women. As with oth­er books in the Bar­soom series, Thu­via, Maid of Mars offers fast-paced action, dar­ing res­cues, thrilling chas­es, and epic bat­tles. The nov­el also explores themes of loy­al­ty, hon­or, and self-sac­ri­fice, with char­ac­ters dis­play­ing a deep sense of duty to their peo­ple, rela­tion­ships, and hon­or. Bur­roughs con­tin­ues to build on the rich mythol­o­gy of Mar­t­ian soci­ety, intro­duc­ing new crea­tures, pol­i­tics, and cus­toms that add depth to the world. Char­ac­ter devel­op­ment is anoth­er high­light, par­tic­u­lar­ly in the rela­tion­ships between the main char­ac­ters, includ­ing John Carter and his son Cartho­ris. For fans of Bur­roughs’ oth­er Bar­soom books or read­ers who enjoy retro sci­ence fic­tion with a focus on adven­ture, hero­ism, and explo­ration, Thu­via, Maid of Mars* is a com­pelling and fun read. Although the nov­el may feel dat­ed at times, its time­less themes and engag­ing sto­ry­telling still make it a reward­ing expe­ri­ence for those who enjoy clas­sic sci-fi and adven­ture tales.