also captured. In Manator, captives are forced to a fight to the death in the arena, in a modified version of Jetan, a popular Barsoomian board game resembling Chess; the living version uses people as the game pieces on a life-sized board, with each taking of a piece being a duel to the death. Writing The novel was written during 1921, from January 7 to November 12. It was a particularly inventive and broad piece of imagination, including many details of the traditions, beasts and characters featuring in the novel. While working on the piece, Burroughs created a worksheet with 70 entries relating to architecture, locations, equipment and geographical locations. Of these, probably the most remarkable is his creation of Jetan, the Martian version of Chess, played with living people. Burroughs was a keen chess player and played games with his assistant, John Shea, while writing the novel, which he invariably won. Burroughs, as he had done in prior Barsoom novels, cast himself as John Carter's nephew, entrusted with Carter's manuscript of another Martian tale. He actually mentions these games with Shea in the opening pages of the novel. Genre The novel can be classed as a planetary romance. This genre is a subset of science fiction, similar to sword and sorcery, but including scientific elements. Most of the action in a planetary romance is on the surface of an alien world, usually includes sword fighting, monsters, supernatural elements as telepathy rather than magic, and involves civilizations echoing those on Earth in pre-technological eras, particularly composed of kingdoms or theocratic nations. Spacecraft may appear, but are usually not central to the story. Major characters Gahan of Gathol: A prince of the Martian kingdom of Gathol who falls in love with Tara of Helium and is initially spurned by her when revealing his feelings. He later disguises himself as Turan, a mercenary, after rescuing her from the valley of the Kaldanes, revealing his true identity at the conclusion of the tale, by which time Tara has fallen in love with his assumed identity. Tara of Helium: A Princess of Helium, daughter of John Carter and Dejah Thoris. Ghek: A Kaldane, unusual among his kind in his ability to appreciate emotion, dissatisfied with Kaldane society who is charmed by Tara's singing, and joins Gahan of Gathol and Tara of Helium in their escape from the valley of the Kaldanes. Setting Scientific basis