Princess of Mars

John Carter doesn't die in an Arizona cave. He wakes up on a dying world with two moons hanging low and ancient towers piercing a copper sky. He's arrived on Mars, and in an instant, his Confederate soldier's instincts transform him into the planet's most feared warrior. The red Martians call him Dotar Sojat, 'right hand of the Tharks.' The green giants with four arms name him their war chief. And then there's Dejah Thoris, the princess whose intelligence and courage match his own, whose people are teetering on the edge of annihilation. Burroughs wrote this in 1912, when Mars still held mysteries, when the public imagination was captured by Lowell's famous 'canals.' The result is pure boyish adventure: sword fights, desperate battles, narrow escapes, a love story that spans civilizations. It invented the space adventure. It gave us John Carter, the ultimate wish-fulfillment hero, stronger than any Martian, braver than any earthling. Flash Gordon, Star Wars, Avatar, they all trace back to this green and dying world. It's not subtle. It's not sophisticated. It's absolutely irresistible.