The Warlord of Mars

The Warlord of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs, is the third book in his famous Barsoom series. This novel continues where The Gods of Mars abruptly ended. John Carter's wife, the princess Dejah Thoris, is imprisoned in the Temple of the Sun by the vile pretender goddess Issus. It is said one has to wait an entire Barsoomian year before the room the prisoner is in revolves back to the entrance. John Carter discovers that a First Born knows the secret of the Temple of the Sun, and he and the Holy Hekkador Matai Shang want to rescue the Holy Thern's daughter who is imprisoned with Dejah Thoris and another Barsoomian princess, Thuvia of Ptarth. John Carter follows them in the hope of liberating his beloved wife. His antagonists manage to stay ahead of him and flee to the north, taking the three previously imprisoned women along.