Returning to Barsoom after ten years, John Carter materializes in the Valley Dor, the supposed destination of the Martian dead, where he survives attacks by deadly plant men and great white apes before unexpectedly reuniting with his old friend Tars Tarkas and discovering that the planet’s most sacred beliefs conceal a terrible deception. With Thuvia he learns that the holy Therns exploit the pilgrims who journey to the valley, only to discover an even deeper hierarchy when the Black Martians carry him beneath the surface to Omean and before Issus, the self-proclaimed Goddess of Eternal Life. After witnessing the enslavement of prisoners on Shador, Carter helps unleash a rebellion and fights for escape, transforming his personal struggle for survival into a campaign against the religious fraud that has controlled Barsoom for generations.
