Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

For some reason I enjoyed Warlord of Mars more than the first two Barsoom books. It really was a lot more of the same with kidnapped princesses and pursuing princes. It occurs to me that this series feels like the origin of the Super Mario & Princess Peach story.

I always wondered how she managed to get herself kidnapped so much and why she couldn't ever effect an escape of her own.

In any case, the narrative starts off with John Carter waiting in a paroxysm of anxiety for the diabolical prison to open again so that he can find out if the scream he heard when the door closed was his beloved being stabbed by a jealous princess.

Of course, she's not dead but gets captured again by the Matai Sheng and Thorid and whisked off again as John Carter chases after. The man really should be cross country star the way he chases after that woman. On the way, Carter discovers yet another race on the surface of the planet, the yellow men of mars, whose evil jeddak must be overthrown before the rescue is complete. The man is constant source of political instability.