The Chessmen of Mars Illustrated

A storm carries Tara, princess of Helium, far from the familiar cities of Barsoom. She has recently dismissed Gahan, the prince of Gathol, as a vain courtier, but isolation forces both characters into roles that appearance alone cannot explain.

After escaping the lion-like Banths, Tara is captured by the Kaldanes. These head-shaped beings use bred, headless bodies called Rykors and intend a brutal fate for their prisoner. Tara's singing wins the sympathy of Ghek, a Kaldane whose response begins to complicate the boundaries between captor, ally, and outsider.

Gahan follows Tara into the storm and reaches the Kaldane realm of Bantoom. Once he finds her, he conceals his royal identity under the warrior name Turan. Their damaged flier eventually brings Tara, Gahan, and Ghek to Manator, where the search for safety produces another captivity.

The Chessmen of Mars Illustrated builds its central spectacle from Jetan, a Barsoomian board game transformed into an arena. Human pieces fight when positions are taken on a life-sized board, making strategy inseparable from survival. Edgar Rice Burroughs combines planetary romance, concealed identity, strange biology, and martial contest in an adventure centered on Tara's resourcefulness and Gahan's attempt to prove himself through action.