Princess of Mars (Version 4)

A Confederate veteran vanishes from an Arizona canyon and awakens on a dying world of ancient cities, airships, and sword-wielding warriors. John Carter, a man out of time and place, finds himself in the middle of Martian politics where the great powers of Barsoom teeter on the edge of total war. Captured by the green Tharks, their eight-legged war beasts, and their towering Jeddak, Tars Tarkas, Carter must navigate loyalty, betrayal, and love among the red Martian princess Dejah Thoris, whose people face annihilation. What follows is a tale of honor in strange lands, of swordfights beneath twin moons, and of a man who becomes a legend on a world not his own. Published in 1912, this is the book that invented planetary romance, the template for every sword-and-planet adventure that followed.