Edgar Rice Burroughs started writing his Martian adventures in 1911. Even though science claims there is no life on Mars his stories remain vibrant and timeless tales, because Burroughs knew the appeal and power of the Martian myth. Writers like Ray Bradbury and scientists like Carl Sagan have acknowledged that Burroughs’ Martian tales were the wellspring from which their own careers arose.
With his opening trilogy, considered one of the landmarks of science fiction, Burroughs created a vast and sweeping epic. Captain John Carter of the Confederate Army is whisked to Mars (Barsoom) and discovers a dying world of dry ocean beds where giant four-armed barbarians rule, of crumbling cities home to an advanced but decaying civilization, a world of strange beasts and savage combat, a world where love, honor and loyalty become the stuff of adventure.
In eleven books Burroughs takes the reader all around the Red Planet (and even to Jupiter), while the action and excitement never let up. Take a trip down the sacred River Iss to the Valley Dor at Barsoom’s south pole, but be warned you might wind up the meal for a flesh-eating plant man! Visit the city of Manator, where the citizens play chess with live pieces to the death. Pay your respects to Ras Thavas, the Master Mind of Mars, who will be happy to transplant your brain into the body of your choice or maybe into the body of a giant ape. Rescue princesses from impenetrable fortresses, gallop across the sea bottoms of Barsoom astride your eight-legged thoat, or race through the thin air of Mars aboard your anti-gravity flier.