A Princess of Mars: Illustrated (1917) is a science fantasy novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first of his Barsoom series. It is also a seminal instance of the planetary romance, a sub-genre of science fantasy that became highly popular in the decades following its publication. Its early chapters also contain elements of the Western.The story is set on Mars, imagined as a dying planet with a harsh desert environment. Forty-three million miles from the earth--a succession of the weirdestand most astounding adventures in fiction. John Carter, American, findshimself on the planet Mars, battling for a beautiful woman, with theGreen Men of Mars, terrible creatures fifteen feet high, mounted onhorses like dragons.The Barsoom series inspired a number of well-known 20th century science fiction writers, including Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein, including Carl Sagan, who read A Princess of Mars when he was a child..