Black Amazon of Mars (Version 2)

Leigh Brackett wrote planetary romance before the genre had a name, and this savage tale proves why she still matters. Eric John Stark was raised by the brutal conditions of Mercury, and his barely human edge makes him the most dangerous thing on dying Mars. When his Martian friend Baddon dies in his arms during a desperate trek northward, Stark inherits a mission he never asked for: deliver the stolen talisman Ban Cruach to the ancient city of Ciaran, through a landscape crawling with enemies and haunted by the jewel's terrible whispers. The Black Amazon of Mars stalks beside him now, a warrior woman as merciless as the red world itself, driving Stark toward a confrontation he knows he cannot win. Every step toward the city invites the hordes of Ciaran closer, while ahead lies the dread Ice Creatures and the frozen kingdom that has waited centuries for Ban Cruach's return. This is Mars as raw mythology: a world of faded glory, brutal tribes, and magic that burns like ancient fire. For readers who want their science fiction with blood on its hands and a man's soul at stake.