Llana of Gathol — Edgar Rice Burroughs

In LLANA OF GATHOL, John Carter is captured by the in-habitants of Horz, one of the supposedly "dead" cities of Mars. Together with Pan Dan Chee, his captor, who has also been sentenced to death for bringing Carter into Horz, he is sent down to the pits under the city. To the astonishment of the two men, they discover the remnants of a maritime race which had existed hundreds of thousands of years before--men and women gorgeously apparelled, maintained in suspended animation, unaware that the five beautiful seas of Mars on which they used to sail are now dried up, that indeed, their whole way of life has long since disappeared from the face of the dying planet. In the dark pits too is Llana of Gathol, exquisite daughter of Tara of Helium, held prisoner by the loathesome madman who runs the pits. It is many moons and many countries before Pan Dan Chee and Carter are able to bring Llana safely home to Gathol.