"The Gods of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burroughs is a science fantasy novel first published as a serial in 1913. John Carter returns to Mars after ten years, only to materialize in the Valley Dor—the Martian afterlife from which no one may leave. There he discovers a dark truth: the supposed gods of Mars are frauds who enslave and devour pilgrims seeking paradise. Carter must fight through layers of deception, rescue his beloved Dejah Thoris, and lead a massive fleet against false deities to expose the lies that have deceived an entire world.