A Princess of Mars

Burroughs first published the story as a magazine serial in 1912, and it launched both his career and a whole genre of planetary romance. Carter narrates his adventures as a memoir. On Barsoom he is taken in by the Tharks, a tribe of fierce green Martians with tusks and four arms. He gains the friendship of the chieftain Tars Tarkas and the kind young Sola, and the loyalty of Woola, a huge, ugly but devoted watchdog-like creature.

When the Tharks capture Dejah Thoris, a red Martian princess, Carter falls in love and sets out to protect her. The story becomes a series of escapes, duels, airship battles and alliances, as Carter crosses dead sea bottoms and ancient ruined cities and becomes involved in the war between Helium and the rival city of Zodanga. Burroughs fills the planet with invented customs, animals and technology, including the vital atmosphere factory that keeps Mars breathable. The style is old-fashioned and the characters simple, but the energy and imagination influenced generations of writers and filmmakers.

Short, swift and pure adventure. About 240 pages in the Modern Library paperback, with an introduction by Ray Bradbury.