John Carter of Mars
Edgar Rice Burroughs
- Ballantine Books 1979
- 650 p.
- Barsoom Book 2 .
The Barsoom series inspired a number of well-known 20th-century science fiction writers, including Jack Vance, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein, and John Norman. The series was also inspirational for many scientists in the fields of space exploration and the search for extraterrestrial life, including Carl Sagan, who read A Princess of Mars when he was a child.
From a cave in Arizona, former confederate soldier John Carter mysteriously transports to the surface of Mars. After a few successful trials with the local Martian population called Tharks, a nomadic green-skinned race with six limbs, he finds himself as a new, and respected, member of the tribe. Soon after, the Tharks capture a humanoid red-Martian named Dejah Thoris, who is a princess among her people. It is then that John Carter must choose to either ignore the captured princess or take action. A warrior may change his metal, but not his heart.