Where to Start with Edgar Rice Burroughs
- Best entry point → Tarzan of the Apes
- Start the Barsoom series → John Carter in A Princess of Mars
- What fans keep coming back to → John Carter in The Warlord of Mars (Barsoom)
- Best narrator for Edgar Rice Burroughs → John Carter in The Gods of Mars (The Barsoom Series)
- Highest rated by listeners → Llana of Gathol (Barsoom #10)
- 1
Tarzan of the Apes
Tarzan • Book 1
Narrated by Grover Gardner
★ 4.04 ABR Score (49.2K ratings)★ 3.9 Goodreads (48.2K) ★ 4.38 Audible (959)21h 20m listening time • Released 2019Grover Gardner transforms this pulp classic into something genuinely gripping—his vocal range brings the jungle alive while keeping the absurdity from tipping into camp.
- 2
John Carter in The Warlord of Mars (Barsoom)
Barsoom • Book 3
Narrated by Scott Brick
★ 4.02 ABR Score (16.3K ratings)★ 3.87 Goodreads (15.7K) ★ 4.56 Audible (568)5h 57m listening time • Released 2012Scott Brick transforms this pulpy Mars adventure into genuine swashbuckling cinema—his distinct voices for Carter and Dejah Thoris make the desperate rescue mission feel real, and the exotic alien world crackles with urgency in his hands.
- 3
John Carter in A Princess of Mars
Barsoom • Book 1
Narrated by Scott Brick
★ 4.00 ABR Score (63.4K ratings)★ 3.81 Goodreads (60.8K) ★ 4.41 Audible (2.6K)6h 44m listening time • Released 2012Scott Brick transforms this 1911 adventure into pure kinetic energy, giving Carter the weathered conviction of a man stranded between worlds. If you've written off early sci-fi as quaint, his performance proves Burroughs invented the template for every swashbuckling hero story that followed.
- 4
John Carter in The Gods of Mars (The Barsoom Series)
Barsoom • Book 11
Narrated by Scott Brick
★ 3.97 ABR Score (5.5K ratings)★ 3.83 Goodreads (4.7K) ★ 4.53 Audible (801)8h 43m listening time • Released 2012Scott Brick's dynamic narration brings real swagger to Burroughs' pulp adventure, making Mars feel genuinely lived-in rather than quaint. If you want swashbuckling sci-fi that knows exactly what it is, this is the audiobook that nails the performance.
- 5
Llana of Gathol
Barsoom • Book 10
Narrated by Alan Crookham
★ 3.70 ABR Score (2.8K ratings)★ 3.79 Goodreads (2.8K) ★ 4.86 Audible (7)8h 45m listening time • Released 2024 - 6
A Fighting Man of Mars
Barsoom • Book 7
Narrated by Tom Weiss
★ 3.67 ABR Score (4.2K ratings)★ 3.86 Goodreads (4.1K) ★ 4 Audible (1)8h 30m listening time • Released 2023 - 7
Synthetic Men of Mars - 02039
Barsoom • Book 9
Narrated by Alan Crookham
★ 3.66 ABR Score (3.3K ratings)★ 3.8 Goodreads (3.3K) ★ 3.67 Audible (3)6h 58m listening time • Released 2024 - 8
The Barsoom Collection: John Carter Books 1-6
Barsoom #1-6 • Book 1
by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Christopher Ragland
Narrated by Christopher Ragland
★ 3.56 ABR Score (13 ratings)★ 5 Goodreads (2) ★ 4.73 Audible (11)45h 8m listening time • Released 2024
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How We Rank Audiobooks
Rankings are driven by listener ratings and review counts from Audible and Goodreads. Books with high ratings across a large number of listeners rank higher — a 4.5 with 50,000 ratings says more than a 4.8 with 200.
Unlike most book lists, we weight audiobook-specific factors: narrator performance, production quality, and how well a story translates to audio. A great book with a poor narration isn't a great audiobook.
We don't accept paid placements or prioritize new releases. These rankings reflect what listeners actually enjoy, not what's being promoted.
Rankings update periodically as new ratings come in and new titles are added to the collection.