The Gods of Mars
1913
John Carter returned to Mars expecting to reunite with his beloved Dejah Thoris. Instead, he finds only silence where she once ruled. Trapped in the legendary Eden of Barsoom, a verdant hell where no Earth man has ever survived, Carter must navigate a world of monstrous Plant Men, ancient mysteries, and the cruel gods who dwell in the Valley of Dor. The greenMartian Tharks remain his only allies, but their alien psychology is its own kind of danger: they laugh at suffering, and their strange humor masks something far more unsettling than simple savagery. As Carter fights through this lush nightmare landscape, each step deeper into Barsoom's mysteries brings him closer to the truth of what happened to his wife, and farther from any hope of escape. The Gods of Mars is planetary romance at its purest: sword-wielding adventure, exotic world-building, and a love story that spans the void between worlds. It established the template for a century of science fantasy, from Flash Gordon to Game of Thrones.
