"At The Earth's Core" and "Pellucidar" in one eBook! Both books complete and unabridged. In the first book, when David Innes accompanies his friend, the eccentric scientist Abner Perry in his newest invention, a rocketship shaped "mole" designed to penetrate the Earth's crust, he never dreams broken controls will send the two of them all the way to a strange word at the Earth's core. There human beings are still at a primitive state of development, and are enslaved by, and used for food by the Mahars, a race of near-immortal, telepathic pterodactyls. Taken prisoner David and Perry make friends and enemies. Then David falls in love with the primitive, beautiful cave woman, Dian, and finds a reason to lead his fellow prisoners in a hopeless revolt against the Mahars of Pellucidar. But when he attempts to return to the outer world, Dian is kidnapped and he ends up alone on the Earth's surface. In Pellucidar, David and Perry return to the inner world to find Dian, but emerge thousands of miles from their destination. With their "mole" wrecked, they must battle their way across savage Pellucidar--and only then will they be beginning their long search! Both books complete and unabridged--over 900 pages in hardcover.
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.
The first two books in Burroughs's Pellucidar books are plenty entertaining in the way you expect from Burroughs. It's pulp adventure fiction of high order. At times it does start to feel a bit silly, like the TV show "24" where you sit back and think, "really, now she's kidnapped...again?!" Still, it's all in good fun. The second volume is some straight-up Imperialist porn.
The Hollow Earth contains Edgar Rice Burroughs' first two Pellucidar novels, "At The Earth's Core" and "Pellucidar". At The Earth's Core is a charming and fun adventure in the classic Burroughs style about two turn of the century men, David Innes and Abner Perry, who are testing a deep drilling ship for mining and accidentally discover a prehistoric world in the center of the Earth. Here they encounter all sorts of strange creatures and peoples including the tyrannical Mahars; a race of telepathic reptilian bird women who cruelly rule over all the other inhabitants. David also meets and falls in love with a beautiful cave girl named Dian. It's a fast paced and fun adventure filled with heroism and daring escapes as our heroes try to escape the Mahars and rescue their new friends all the while trying to figure out how to get home. Pellucidar picks up 10 years later with David Innes having returned to the surface and finally finding his way back to the subterranean world that now sees him as emperor. Now he returns to find the empire he established in ruins and his precious Dian has been taken by Hooja The Sly One. Most of the book entails David's trek across the subterranean land to find his mate and then to liberate Pellucidar from Hooja and his Mahar allies. What really disappointed me about this story was David's complete arrogance in his desire to modernize the primitive peoples and worse bring them all modern weapons to wage war. I understand his wish to free them from the rule of the Mahars and Hooja's army but, his bringing all the worst aspects of modern civilization to these primitive tribes just didn't sit well with me. David does discuss this at one point and does lament having to arm these people before bringing education and modernization to them but, I personally have issue with his arrogant need to "modernize" these people at all instead of letting them progress on their own. By book's end this prehistoric world sees itself now with trains and factories and, in my opinion, he has ruined a primitive and naturally wild land. Maybe it's the tree hugger in me and Burroughs was writing from the thinking of his era but, I feel Innes ruined Pellucidar with his efforts to save it. And this kept me from enjoying this second adventure in this underground world.
I was a little disappointed with the first half of the book and was originally going to give this 3 stars but the second half really pulled through for me. Decent and fun book to dive into.