After ten long years stranded on Earth, John Carter returns once again to Barsoom. But this time, he finds himself fighting for his life in the Valley Dor, the presumed Martian paradise that is in reality a violent hellscape, where legions of blood-thirsty Plant Men and four-armed great apes reward with bitter death believers who take the final pilgrimage down the sacred River Iss. Reunited with Tars Tarkas, his loyal green Martian friend, John Carter runs awry into the hands of the Holy Therns, the ancient cult that in secret rules all Barsoom. But even the Therns themselves fall victim to the ruthless pirates of the First Born-and somewhere among these myriad adversaries lies John Carter's beloved Dejah Thoris, waiting without hope beyond his reach.
