The Gods of Mars is Edgar Rice Burroughs second of the Barsoom series. It begins with John Carter"s arrival on Barsoom, Mars, after a ten year separation from his wife Dejah Thoris, his unborn child and the people of the nation of Helium, whom he has adopted as his own. Unfortunately, Carter materializes in the one place on Barsoom from which nobody is allowed to depart: the Valley Dor. Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan, "Lost worlds" and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter.