When the Viking landers touched down on Mars in 1976 it was hoped they would find some signs of life. Alas, they didn't. When the Martian rover went out for a drive on the Red Planet there was a chance it might find something that Viking missed. Unfortunately, all we met were rocks named Yogi and Scooby.

For a long time humans have wanted to believe that there was (or is) life on Mars. Today many people see evidence of a monumental carved "face" on Mars, even though scientists say it is only a trick of light and shadow. A hundred years ago, when Percival Lowell first looked through a telescope at Mars, he "saw" an intricate system of life-sustaining canals. Thus was born one of the great scientific myths of the twentieth century.

Edgar Rice Burroughs started writing his Martian adventures in 1911, and 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 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. The world of Barsoom

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. With this combination of super science and swordplay, not only will Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian tales provide thrills a-plenty, but you'll also discover that without Burroughs there probably never would have been Star Wars!

The complete Mars series

A Princess of Mars
The Gods of Mars
The Warlord of Mars
Thuvia, Maid of Mars
The Chessmen of Mars
The Master Mind of Mars
A Fighting Man of Mars
Swords of Mars
Synthetic Men of Mars
Llana of Gathol
John Carter of Mars