haha... what a pleasant surprise! I haven't read Burrough's book, of which, apparently, this story is reminiscent. I don't know that I will now either - I really like the female main character and am pretty sure that if there was a male character acting and talking the way Jane does, it would drive me nuts. Sexism and women as objects is much more acceptable when it is turned on its head. Jane being the way she is mocks all those stories where the woman is there just to be rescued and as a sexual prize.

And the story is funny! Of course the setting and characters are a little on the thin side...but it is a pulp sci-fi story after all.

It was a bit formulaic in the plotting: character goes to A, does X, then to B and does Y, etc... but the humor and the freshness of Jane's non-feminine and yet still female attitudes more than made up for any sense of writing 101. There was just a tiny bit of moralizing - mostly to do with gender stereotypes - which was more entertaining than lecture-y. I bought the next book too. ( )

This is a modern update to A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The twist is instead of John Carter going to Mars we get Jane Carver going to Waar. Jane is a biker chick who accidentally kills a man who tries to take advantage of her. While on the run from the police, she discovers a cave with a glowing stone that transports her to the planet Waar. She does her best to adapt to her situation as only she can. A fun, fast read that captures the feel of the pulp classic it is inspired by. And yes, there is a sequel! ( )

Interesting. Very much in Burroughs style - enough to make me want to read some John Carter, to see just how close it is. Slightly uneven - Jane keeps obsessing about sex and her looks in a way that's very much male gaze, then she snaps back and feels like a woman again (I'm thinking particularly of the time in the gladiator stable, when she thinks how she misses cuddling). The characters are a bit sketchy, though they fill out a bit - become more than a collection of quirks - by the last few chapters. And one thing that's _very_ like John Carter - Jane spends the whole book working on getting home (with lots of side-quests on the way). At the end, she finally realizes she'd rather stay - for adventure and love and a better life than she has on Earth - at which point she's shanghaied back to Earth! Which, just like John Carter, sets up for the sequel - which is out, and which I want to read. I don't think Jane will ever be a favorite, but worth reading and likely worth rereading. ( )

http://bactra.org/weblog/algae-2012-04.html#waar ( )