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Pellucidar #2
Pellucidar
David Innes and his captive, a member of the reptilian Mahar master race of the interior world of Pellucidar, return from the surface world in the Iron Mole invented by his friend and companion in adventure Abner Perry.
Emerging in Pellucidar at an unknown location, David frees his captive. He names the place Greenwich and uses the technology he has brought to begin the systematic exploration and mapping of the unknown land while searching for his lost companions, Abner, Ghak, and Dian the Beautiful. He soon encounters and befriends a new ally, Ja the Mezop of the island country of Anoroc; later he finds Abner, from whom he learns that in his absence the human revolt against the Mahars has not been going well. In a parlay with the Mahars David bargains for information of his love Dian and his enemy Hooja the Sly One, which his foes agree to supply in return for the book containing the Great Secret of Mahar reproduction that David stole and hid in the previous novel. David undertakes to recover it, only to find that Hooja has been there before him and claimed Dian as his own reward of the Mahars! - Summary by wikipedia
Emerging in Pellucidar at an unknown location, David frees his captive. He names the place Greenwich and uses the technology he has brought to begin the systematic exploration and mapping of the unknown land while searching for his lost companions, Abner, Ghak, and Dian the Beautiful. He soon encounters and befriends a new ally, Ja the Mezop of the island country of Anoroc; later he finds Abner, from whom he learns that in his absence the human revolt against the Mahars has not been going well. In a parlay with the Mahars David bargains for information of his love Dian and his enemy Hooja the Sly One, which his foes agree to supply in return for the book containing the Great Secret of Mahar reproduction that David stole and hid in the previous novel. David undertakes to recover it, only to find that Hooja has been there before him and claimed Dian as his own reward of the Mahars! - Summary by wikipedia
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First published January 1, 1915
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About the author
Edgar Rice Burroughs
2,902 books2,739 followersEdgar 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 161 reviews
July 9, 2008
Well, pushed through the first two books of the Pellucidar series in two nights, and what an awesome series so far. This book was basically the icing on the cake as a follow-up to
At the Earth's Core
and filled in everything and more that I wanted to know about this strange new land. Just the beginning itself blew me away where David Innes must relate his entire story through TELEGRAPH via a wire traversing the entire Earth's crust - my god! what a concept!
Unfortunately, at the moment I don't have any more books in this series, however, the end of this book tied everything up quite nicely and can more than hold me over whereas the end of the first just begged you to move on to the second.
Unfortunately, at the moment I don't have any more books in this series, however, the end of this book tied everything up quite nicely and can more than hold me over whereas the end of the first just begged you to move on to the second.
April 19, 2024
It should have had a sub-title: The Boys' Book of Empire-Building. Those poor Pellucidarians, they don't know what David Innes has in store for them. Guns, cannon and gunpowder, an Industrial Revolution - there is already mining in place, iron ore and presumably sulphur, and arms factories free of labour laws:
"There being no nights [in Pellucidar]," explains Perry, "there was no laying off from work - they [the Mezops] labored incessantly stopping only to eat and, on rare occasions, to sleep... Why, no sooner had we fashioned the first muzzle-loader and they had seen it work successfully, then fully three thousand Mezops fell to work to make rifles."
On an isolated island there is "a great powder-factory." It's not clear if Perry explained to them why it was isolated. While near the iron-mine is a smelter and "on the eastern shore of Anoroc, a well equipped ship-yard." Pollution is just waiting to happen. I pity those lumbering lidi: only a few short years from extinction as their environment dies around them.
David's ambitions are endless:
"That is the day I look forward to! When you and I can build sewing-machines instead of battle-ships, harvesters of crops instead of harvesters of men, plow-shares and telephones, schools and colleges, printing-presses and paper! When our merchant marine shall ply the great Pellucidarian seas, and cargoes of silks and typewriters and books shall forge their ways where only hideous saurians have held sway since time began!"
All hail, Emperor David! But where are the philosophers, the poets, the artists, musicians, writers. It seems Pellucidar will be an empire of mercantile might - until some little tin-pot dictator comes along and reminds everyone there is an outside world waiting to be subdued.
The adventures leading up to all of that are routine ERB stuff, escaping from monsters, rescuing the beautiful Dian and running from thrill to thrill. Fun stuff if one has nothing else to read or are suffering from boredom, but it's nothing that Mr. Burroughs didn't write in a hundred previous stories, whether in the jungle, on Mars, or inside the Earth.
"There being no nights [in Pellucidar]," explains Perry, "there was no laying off from work - they [the Mezops] labored incessantly stopping only to eat and, on rare occasions, to sleep... Why, no sooner had we fashioned the first muzzle-loader and they had seen it work successfully, then fully three thousand Mezops fell to work to make rifles."
On an isolated island there is "a great powder-factory." It's not clear if Perry explained to them why it was isolated. While near the iron-mine is a smelter and "on the eastern shore of Anoroc, a well equipped ship-yard." Pollution is just waiting to happen. I pity those lumbering lidi: only a few short years from extinction as their environment dies around them.
David's ambitions are endless:
"That is the day I look forward to! When you and I can build sewing-machines instead of battle-ships, harvesters of crops instead of harvesters of men, plow-shares and telephones, schools and colleges, printing-presses and paper! When our merchant marine shall ply the great Pellucidarian seas, and cargoes of silks and typewriters and books shall forge their ways where only hideous saurians have held sway since time began!"
All hail, Emperor David! But where are the philosophers, the poets, the artists, musicians, writers. It seems Pellucidar will be an empire of mercantile might - until some little tin-pot dictator comes along and reminds everyone there is an outside world waiting to be subdued.
The adventures leading up to all of that are routine ERB stuff, escaping from monsters, rescuing the beautiful Dian and running from thrill to thrill. Fun stuff if one has nothing else to read or are suffering from boredom, but it's nothing that Mr. Burroughs didn't write in a hundred previous stories, whether in the jungle, on Mars, or inside the Earth.
April 13, 2022
A great and fun read. Pure action from page to page. Somehow, as he always does, ERB writes a timeless classic that reads as well today as when it was first written. Nothing but pure fast paced plot that carries you along. Very Recommended
June 25, 2014
"Pellucidar" is the second of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Earth's Core" series. David Innes has returned to the strange land in the center of the Earth with plans to change that world. As with all of Burroughs' stories, the plot is propelled by improbable coincidences, and whenever the action falters, somebody kidnaps his wife. This happens several times in this story alone... However, you can't fault Burroughs' imagination, and he creates a fascinating alien culture and propels the story with fast and furious action. It's a fun - if a trifle simplistic - read.
July 27, 2008
I have an older edition of this book, from Del Rey, and it's pretty good. I don't care as much for the Hollow Earth stories as his Martian and Venus series, but it's still grand adventure.
November 23, 2024
eponymous sentence:
p7: I ridiculed the assumption that there was an inner world and that these wires led downward through the earth's crust to the surface of Pellucidar.
ocr:
p102: At last the majority appeared to prevail, for simu-taneously the two archers raised their weapons.
Pellucidar has been colonized (by two people?).
p7: I ridiculed the assumption that there was an inner world and that these wires led downward through the earth's crust to the surface of Pellucidar.
ocr:
p102: At last the majority appeared to prevail, for simu-taneously the two archers raised their weapons.
Pellucidar has been colonized (by two people?).
January 28, 2023
Первая часть цикла была про романтику открытия новых земель, а во второй, к сожалению, начался типичный Берроуз - злодеи похитили у героя девушку и он всю книгу линейно едет через весь подземный мир ее спасать, а по дороге претерпевает разные тяготы и совершает подвиги.
Само по себе это не плохо, но проблема в том, что накал тягот и подвигов в этой книге абсолютно беспрецедентный. Например, в какой-то момент герой, находясь высоко в горах, оступается и падает в ледяную расщелину глубиной в КИЛОМЕТР. Но склон этой расщелины имеет такую идеально закругленную форму, что он как ни в чем ни бывало скатывается на попе к подножию горного хребта и только радуется, что удачно сэкономил время!
Или вот герой оставляет своим первобытным друзьям некие указания и отбывает на пару месяцев по делам - а по возвращении обнаруживает, что они за это время построили парусный флот под сотню кораблей, а заодно освоили металлургию и порох и отлили тысячу пушек.
Ну и постоянные случайные встречи в пути, это просто любимая тема Берроуза. Сплошь и рядом случается, что герой идет-идет по джунглям Пеллюсидара (который по площади не сильно уступает нашей Земле), и вдруг ррраз - навстречу ему совершенно случайно выходит именно тот, кого он ищет! Или плывет герой по океану, и рррраз - навстречу ему абсолютно случайно выплывает главный злодей на своем злодейском корабле! Как одноразовый сюжетный прием это еще туда-сюда, но автор повторяет этот трюк каждые 2-3 главы.
Короче, все как обычно у Берроуза - первая книга цикла очень классная и интересная, а продолжения превращаются в апокалипсис мартисьюшного маразма.
6/10 (и то с натугой)
Само по себе это не плохо, но проблема в том, что накал тягот и подвигов в этой книге абсолютно беспрецедентный. Например, в какой-то момент герой, находясь высоко в горах, оступается и падает в ледяную расщелину глубиной в КИЛОМЕТР. Но склон этой расщелины имеет такую идеально закругленную форму, что он как ни в чем ни бывало скатывается на попе к подножию горного хребта и только радуется, что удачно сэкономил время!
Или вот герой оставляет своим первобытным друзьям некие указания и отбывает на пару месяцев по делам - а по возвращении обнаруживает, что они за это время построили парусный флот под сотню кораблей, а заодно освоили металлургию и порох и отлили тысячу пушек.
Ну и постоянные случайные встречи в пути, это просто любимая тема Берроуза. Сплошь и рядом случается, что герой идет-идет по джунглям Пеллюсидара (который по площади не сильно уступает нашей Земле), и вдруг ррраз - навстречу ему совершенно случайно выходит именно тот, кого он ищет! Или плывет герой по океану, и рррраз - навстречу ему абсолютно случайно выплывает главный злодей на своем злодейском корабле! Как одноразовый сюжетный прием это еще туда-сюда, но автор повторяет этот трюк каждые 2-3 главы.
Короче, все как обычно у Берроуза - первая книга цикла очень классная и интересная, а продолжения превращаются в апокалипсис мартисьюшного маразма.
6/10 (и то с натугой)
December 12, 2024
Hilarious
October 9, 2018
You know that “Star Trek” TOS episode where the advanced aliens send Kirk and the lizard captain to fight it out on the planet that's just Bronson Canyon, and they're both told they'll have materials to make weapons? I saw that when I was a kid and I was like “that zip-gun is all he makes? What a rip-off!” Well, “Pellucidar” is sort of like that situation, except that human hero manages, cannons, rifles, a fleet of ships, etc.
There are a lot of wonderful and imaginative things here in the second book in the series, although that's largely true because they are the same wonderful and imaginative things that appeared in “At the Earth's Core” before it. Unlike a lot of Burroughs sequels, “Pellucidar” actually picks up the same track as its predecessor, although it may stick too closely to it.
David Innes (narrating via Morse code to a set found in the Sahara) managed to get the Prospector working again and returns to inner-Earth with the Mahar. It is a sequel, so he finds his friend Perry running in fear and learns that their plans to make humans supreme in Pellucidar are basically back to square one. This also makes a lot of what goes on in the sequel sort of a repeat of the last few chapters of the first book.
Hooja, “the sly one”, is now a major threat, gathering armies and cooperating with The Mahars. As you can imagine, he's soon got Dian, The Beautiful in his evil clutches.
There are some new things here, Innes encounters a different race, ventures through the land of shadow, domesticates a dog, and gets a freakin functioning navy!
“Pellucidar” belongs to a very small collection of Burroughs works, being those written during WW1, but before America's involvement or the Russian revolution. This is the same period during which he wrote the post-apocalyptic “The Lost Continent”, which has a far future American exploring a Europe which was destroyed by WW1. This is perhaps the only time Burroughs expresses anti-war views, and there are things like bids for unity and some genuine humanism. In the Mars books, the human hero is content to go with the flow of war and conquest, but here Innes and Perry strive to bring peace, civilization, literacy, etc. Hell, they even propose their society to be one without money! If it doesn't sound like a big deal, try reading the red-scare stuff Burroughs wrote later, like “The Moon Men” and “Pirates of Venus”. It's tragic, but Burroughs really was more fun before he went off the rails on his anti-communist trip.
This book is not a perfect journey into the Burroughs world. It has the kidnappings and searches like all else, but it is oddly almost too upbeat and a few more new wrinkles would have been welcome. I'm glad I read “Pellucidar”, but I also kinda wish it had been to its series what “Gods of Mars” was to Barsoom. Anyhow, I've got 4 more books in this series, plus the Tarzan crossover. Maybe I need to catch up on Tarzan?
Oh! And I would have liked more Mahars. Mahar torture dungeon stuff, give me gobs of that.
There are a lot of wonderful and imaginative things here in the second book in the series, although that's largely true because they are the same wonderful and imaginative things that appeared in “At the Earth's Core” before it. Unlike a lot of Burroughs sequels, “Pellucidar” actually picks up the same track as its predecessor, although it may stick too closely to it.
David Innes (narrating via Morse code to a set found in the Sahara) managed to get the Prospector working again and returns to inner-Earth with the Mahar. It is a sequel, so he finds his friend Perry running in fear and learns that their plans to make humans supreme in Pellucidar are basically back to square one. This also makes a lot of what goes on in the sequel sort of a repeat of the last few chapters of the first book.
Hooja, “the sly one”, is now a major threat, gathering armies and cooperating with The Mahars. As you can imagine, he's soon got Dian, The Beautiful in his evil clutches.
There are some new things here, Innes encounters a different race, ventures through the land of shadow, domesticates a dog, and gets a freakin functioning navy!
“Pellucidar” belongs to a very small collection of Burroughs works, being those written during WW1, but before America's involvement or the Russian revolution. This is the same period during which he wrote the post-apocalyptic “The Lost Continent”, which has a far future American exploring a Europe which was destroyed by WW1. This is perhaps the only time Burroughs expresses anti-war views, and there are things like bids for unity and some genuine humanism. In the Mars books, the human hero is content to go with the flow of war and conquest, but here Innes and Perry strive to bring peace, civilization, literacy, etc. Hell, they even propose their society to be one without money! If it doesn't sound like a big deal, try reading the red-scare stuff Burroughs wrote later, like “The Moon Men” and “Pirates of Venus”. It's tragic, but Burroughs really was more fun before he went off the rails on his anti-communist trip.
This book is not a perfect journey into the Burroughs world. It has the kidnappings and searches like all else, but it is oddly almost too upbeat and a few more new wrinkles would have been welcome. I'm glad I read “Pellucidar”, but I also kinda wish it had been to its series what “Gods of Mars” was to Barsoom. Anyhow, I've got 4 more books in this series, plus the Tarzan crossover. Maybe I need to catch up on Tarzan?
Oh! And I would have liked more Mahars. Mahar torture dungeon stuff, give me gobs of that.
March 1, 2021
Another series gem from Burroughs using all the tropes, plot points, twists and turns which made him famous. There were no surprises in this story. After a while of reading Burroughs' work, you know the signs and signals he gives of what's coming next. If there's a joy to formulaic writing, he must have experienced it big time.
And an enjoyable, blowoff read especially when one needs a break from more serious fare.
And an enjoyable, blowoff read especially when one needs a break from more serious fare.
January 4, 2015
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Continual cycle keeps action going. Dian passive girl kidnapped, freed. David caught, fights free, makes peace, rebuilds his Empire. Old friends - Abner Perry, Raja jalok dog, Ja of Anoroc. Sons of chiefs - Gr-gr-gr ape-men, Juag of Thurian village. Luana new king is "old fellow who had good sense to surrender" p 77.
David Innes narrates return under Earth to Abner Perry for wife Dian the Beautiful. Hooja the Sly misled Dian, that David left for "mate" in upper world. Abner is left with ship plans, to build 50 for rescue.
Ja leads Mezops "magnificent specimens of manhood .. red race" p 24 on Anoroc isle. Sagoths translate for reptile Mahars, all female, who want "secret of artificial propagation" p 26 hidden by David and Dian. David is captured by Mahars, taken to their city of Phutra.
When he refuses to give up secret, Mahars take him to their arena to fight for freedom. He sees "girl armed with a javelin" p 27 against "a mighty tarag, the huge cave tiger of the Stone Age" p 27. Surprise, she is Dian. Did Mahars recognize her and ask for secret too?
Scarred one-eyed Gr-gr-gr rules giant "black, hairless, long-tailed ape-things .. built thatched huts in arboreal retreats .. domesticated dogs and ruminants" p 44. Great "man-brute" with "lone sheep-eye" does not believe David is also "enemy of Hooja" p 45, orders death after melon patch weeded.
Continual cycle keeps action going. Dian passive girl kidnapped, freed. David caught, fights free, makes peace, rebuilds his Empire. Old friends - Abner Perry, Raja jalok dog, Ja of Anoroc. Sons of chiefs - Gr-gr-gr ape-men, Juag of Thurian village. Luana new king is "old fellow who had good sense to surrender" p 77.
David Innes narrates return under Earth to Abner Perry for wife Dian the Beautiful. Hooja the Sly misled Dian, that David left for "mate" in upper world. Abner is left with ship plans, to build 50 for rescue.
Ja leads Mezops "magnificent specimens of manhood .. red race" p 24 on Anoroc isle. Sagoths translate for reptile Mahars, all female, who want "secret of artificial propagation" p 26 hidden by David and Dian. David is captured by Mahars, taken to their city of Phutra.
When he refuses to give up secret, Mahars take him to their arena to fight for freedom. He sees "girl armed with a javelin" p 27 against "a mighty tarag, the huge cave tiger of the Stone Age" p 27. Surprise, she is Dian. Did Mahars recognize her and ask for secret too?
Scarred one-eyed Gr-gr-gr rules giant "black, hairless, long-tailed ape-things .. built thatched huts in arboreal retreats .. domesticated dogs and ruminants" p 44. Great "man-brute" with "lone sheep-eye" does not believe David is also "enemy of Hooja" p 45, orders death after melon patch weeded.
December 20, 2013
In the previous book, At The Earth's Core, David Innes has been tricked. He ends up back on the surface of our own world, his beloved wife Dian replaced by a vile, winged-crocodile like Mahar. Determined to once again return to the underground world of Pellucidar and get his wife back, he turns his digging machine downward, to dig back through the hundred miles of Earth's crust, to land once more in Pellucidar. He finds himself lost, miles away from any recognizable landmark. Soon he encounters his old friend Perry, who tells him that Hooja the Sly One has told Dian that David has left their land for good, that he has another wife and that he never meant to take Dian with him. The empire that Innes built, peaceful and solid, is crushed by infighting and the determination of the Mahar people to do away with humanity for good. Innes and Perry set off on foot, well-armed, to find Dian, and then, to reforge Innes' empire.
Pellucidar is short partially because Edgar Rice Burroughs often skims over events.
"I shall not weary you with the repetition of the countless adventures of our long search. Encounters with wild beasts of gigantic size were of almost daily occurrence..."
Rather than being a negative -- how many times can you describe killing a wild beast? -- it works well with the story, giving you a sense that a great deal is happening, a lot of ground and time being covered, without having to suffer through it all. This method of writing works particularly well because of the framing Burroughs uses. In the beginning, we start not with Innes, but with the writer who set down Innes' previous story for our enjoyment, and a self-styled world wanderer who had found -- of all things -- a buried yet active telegraph key in the Sahara desert. They meet there and immediately the telegraph operator, Downes, finds out that they're talking to David Innes himself, and thus, through a telegraph wires suspended through the Earth's crust, they manage to get the whole of his story, "Practically in his own words." So it is little wonder that he, in his autobiographical narrative, is more than eager to skim the traveling and skip to the good stuff.
There is plenty of that. Pellucidar is a realm of incredible imagination. The horizon curves up, and, save for in one very special place, the sun is always high. Even further down, beneath the surface of Pellucidar, the winged Mahar live in intricate social groups, while above them human kind tries to rise above its -- literally -- stone age attitudes. The landscape is beautiful and exotic, and constantly changing. A favorite place for me was the Land of Awful Shadow, with its hauntingly beautiful pendant moon.
The story is never slow as Innes and his friends travel through these places, fighting savage animals and savage humans, often meeting up with friends at just the right time. Sometimes Innes' luck is too good. I find it hard to imagine Perry whipping up an ocean fleet out of hardly any materials with the ease you or I would cook a TV dinner, but it's so well conceived, so fast paced that your doubts disappear almost before you can conceive them.
This actual edition of Pellucidar has some high points. I found the forward, by Jack McDevitt and the afterward Phillip R. Burger to be quite illuminating, and the pictures were lovely. J. Allen St. John's style is wonderful, like Boris Vallejo with a Victorian feel.
Originally posted at the SF Site: http://www.sfsite.com/04b/pl150.htm
Pellucidar is short partially because Edgar Rice Burroughs often skims over events.
"I shall not weary you with the repetition of the countless adventures of our long search. Encounters with wild beasts of gigantic size were of almost daily occurrence..."
Rather than being a negative -- how many times can you describe killing a wild beast? -- it works well with the story, giving you a sense that a great deal is happening, a lot of ground and time being covered, without having to suffer through it all. This method of writing works particularly well because of the framing Burroughs uses. In the beginning, we start not with Innes, but with the writer who set down Innes' previous story for our enjoyment, and a self-styled world wanderer who had found -- of all things -- a buried yet active telegraph key in the Sahara desert. They meet there and immediately the telegraph operator, Downes, finds out that they're talking to David Innes himself, and thus, through a telegraph wires suspended through the Earth's crust, they manage to get the whole of his story, "Practically in his own words." So it is little wonder that he, in his autobiographical narrative, is more than eager to skim the traveling and skip to the good stuff.
There is plenty of that. Pellucidar is a realm of incredible imagination. The horizon curves up, and, save for in one very special place, the sun is always high. Even further down, beneath the surface of Pellucidar, the winged Mahar live in intricate social groups, while above them human kind tries to rise above its -- literally -- stone age attitudes. The landscape is beautiful and exotic, and constantly changing. A favorite place for me was the Land of Awful Shadow, with its hauntingly beautiful pendant moon.
The story is never slow as Innes and his friends travel through these places, fighting savage animals and savage humans, often meeting up with friends at just the right time. Sometimes Innes' luck is too good. I find it hard to imagine Perry whipping up an ocean fleet out of hardly any materials with the ease you or I would cook a TV dinner, but it's so well conceived, so fast paced that your doubts disappear almost before you can conceive them.
This actual edition of Pellucidar has some high points. I found the forward, by Jack McDevitt and the afterward Phillip R. Burger to be quite illuminating, and the pictures were lovely. J. Allen St. John's style is wonderful, like Boris Vallejo with a Victorian feel.
Originally posted at the SF Site: http://www.sfsite.com/04b/pl150.htm
July 21, 2017
One of the marks of a great writer is that he can take an unbelievable situation and make it sound true and accurate and believable. “Pellucidar”is book two of the seven-volume Pellucidar series by Burroughs, which tells the story of the adventures in a hollow-earth world where intelligent reptiles were the dominant species and humans were stuck in stone age civilization. One of the remarkable things Burroughs created in this hollow-world are the fact that, without sunrise or sunset, there is simply an eternal mid-day sun and thus no real conception of time. Although he was not the first one to ever postulate the existence of an inner-earth world, no one either before or since has done it half as well. Above all, this book, like the others in this terrific series, is a wonderful adventure story of fighting and chivalry.
In the first book in the series (“At the Earth’s Core”), Innes and Perry tunneled into this inner-world in a mighty metal prospector, not having any idea that it ever existed. At the end of the first book, Innes returns to the outer crust to gather arms, tools, and books so that he and Perry can advance human civilization in the inner world and take on the Mahar (reptile) empire. This second book of the series details Innes return to the inner world and his adventures there and how with his tools, weapons, and technological know-how brought back from the outer world, he leads a federation of stone age kingdoms in battle against the Mahars, bringing to bear weapons that no one in the inner world could ever have dreamed of.
It is truly a great story and, once you expect the conceit that there is an inner world with an inner sun and intelligent creatures there of many kinds, you will enjoy this book immensely. It is simply a great adventure story and quite enjoyable to read.
In the first book in the series (“At the Earth’s Core”), Innes and Perry tunneled into this inner-world in a mighty metal prospector, not having any idea that it ever existed. At the end of the first book, Innes returns to the outer crust to gather arms, tools, and books so that he and Perry can advance human civilization in the inner world and take on the Mahar (reptile) empire. This second book of the series details Innes return to the inner world and his adventures there and how with his tools, weapons, and technological know-how brought back from the outer world, he leads a federation of stone age kingdoms in battle against the Mahars, bringing to bear weapons that no one in the inner world could ever have dreamed of.
It is truly a great story and, once you expect the conceit that there is an inner world with an inner sun and intelligent creatures there of many kinds, you will enjoy this book immensely. It is simply a great adventure story and quite enjoyable to read.
April 13, 2011
Pellucidar is the sequel to At the Earth's Core. In this story, David Innes, the protagonist from the first story, returns to Pellucidar after returning to the surface to gather supplies to help the people in their struggle against the Mahars, but upon returning finds that things have not been going well. The people are divided, the Mahars are seeking a secret that was stolen from them, and David cannot find Dian, the woman he loves. To make matters worse, a man named Hooja the Sly One has been causing distrust among the people of Pellucidar.
David manages to find his friend Perry, who accompanies him to the land where David's friend Ja lives. There they make plans to track down Hooja, who people suspect might be working with the Mahars. David makes plans to travel to the Land of Awful Shadow while Perry decides to stay behind. David must once again overcome prehistoric animals, bizarre interior races, and enemies to find Dian, stop Hooja, and overthrow the Mahars once and for all.
I am pleased with the way Edgar Rice Burroughs has created this world within our own. Burroughs manages to create a world that has been left behind in time, and still manages to create characters with strong morals. The way he uses prehistoric animals in this land is incredible too, for some are used in a way that people of ancient times used them. I can officially say that I am a fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs Pellucidar series.
David manages to find his friend Perry, who accompanies him to the land where David's friend Ja lives. There they make plans to track down Hooja, who people suspect might be working with the Mahars. David makes plans to travel to the Land of Awful Shadow while Perry decides to stay behind. David must once again overcome prehistoric animals, bizarre interior races, and enemies to find Dian, stop Hooja, and overthrow the Mahars once and for all.
I am pleased with the way Edgar Rice Burroughs has created this world within our own. Burroughs manages to create a world that has been left behind in time, and still manages to create characters with strong morals. The way he uses prehistoric animals in this land is incredible too, for some are used in a way that people of ancient times used them. I can officially say that I am a fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs Pellucidar series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2012
I liked the first volume very much and I liked this, too.
It was easy to read and an exciting adventure.
If hadn't been paying attention in school I guess I would believe it, too. That there is an inner world, under the surface of ours. It's a really good idea and I enjoyed the explanations.
I don't really like Dian, though. I'm not sure why. She's not the typical 'helpless girl', but there's something about her, that makes me grimace, I just don't know what exactly it is...
I keep hearing/reading, that the Pellucidar series is a lot like the Barsoom series. I wouldn't know, haven't read the latter, and I guess, I won't pick it up, so similarities don't bother me. I'll stay with the Inner World and be happy with it.
It was easy to read and an exciting adventure.
If hadn't been paying attention in school I guess I would believe it, too. That there is an inner world, under the surface of ours. It's a really good idea and I enjoyed the explanations.
I don't really like Dian, though. I'm not sure why. She's not the typical 'helpless girl', but there's something about her, that makes me grimace, I just don't know what exactly it is...
I keep hearing/reading, that the Pellucidar series is a lot like the Barsoom series. I wouldn't know, haven't read the latter, and I guess, I won't pick it up, so similarities don't bother me. I'll stay with the Inner World and be happy with it.
May 18, 2013
Another one of those, "dashing hero saves the day and wins the heart of the pretty girl" stories that ERB loved to wright. He had an amazing imagination considering how long ago these stories were written. I'm busy reading all these old classics and having a lot of fun. Definatley worth the read.
June 10, 2015
Intriguing adventure in this early, classic science fiction.
December 3, 2015
Well-written silliness.
May 15, 2017
sci-fi or intra-earth?
February 12, 2022
Edgar Rice Burroughs' 1915 Pellucidar, second in the Pellucidar series, begins with another classic Burroughs factual-seeming narrative frame for an impossible tale: After "[s]everal years" without "an opportunity for big-game hunting," the narrator is just about to "return to [his] old stamping-grounds in northern Africa" when he receives a letter from one of his readers that brings him to "a state of excitement bordering upon frenzy" (Early 1960s Ace paperback, page 5). You see, an independently wealthy "wanderer upon the face of the earth" named Cogdon Nestor had chanced upon At the Earth's Core "in [his] club in Algiers" (page 8)--seated in a wingback chair with a whiskey-soda or G&T, presumably-- and was filled with "a great and abiding wonder" that...well, "that people should be paid real money for writing such impossible trash" (page 6).
The skeptical Nestor, however--this well-educated fellow so superior, that is, to those unwashed plebeians who read pulp fiction, and yet who somehow himself read a pulp-fiction tale from beginning to end--is the perfect correspondent to inform the fictionalized Burroughs that he has just discovered, beneath "the arid, shifting sands of the Sahara" (page 6), the telegraph which the quote from the end of the previous book reminds us that David Innes had "hidden beneath a lost cairn" (page 8). Well! Time for Burroughs and Nestor and a telegraph expert named Downes, accompanied of course by their "native servants" (page 10), to head over and receive another "practically in his own words" tale (page 9), eh, what?
As the narrative frame wonders for the benefit of anyone who missed the first book,
"[W]hat adventures had befallen [Innes] since his return?
Had he found Dian the Beautiful, his half-savage mate, safe among friends, or had Hooja the Sly One succeeded in his nefarious schemes to abduct her?
Did Abner Perry, the lovable old inventor and paleontologist, still live?
Had the federated tribes of Pellucidar succeeded in overthrowing the mighty Mahars, the dominant race of reptilian monsters, and their fierce, gorilla-like soldiery, the savage Sagoths?" (page 10)
Well, it would hardly be a Burroughs pulp if a scantily clad female was not in the clutches of a leering abductor; Innes, even with his "long-barreled six-shooter" and his "heavy express rifle" (page 15), still really could use the help of inventor Perry; and if the creepy and humanivorous Mahars were overthrown already, it'd probably be a pretty short book...
There are dangers and crazy coincidences, cliffhangers and hairbreadth escapes, friendship and honor. Somehow it struck me as being slightly inferior to At the Earth's Core, so I'll call it a 4-star read, still decently entertaining for the hundred-year-old pulp fiction that it is. The rah-rah of pouring more cannons and rifles into the hollow world until everything is "civilized" cannot help grating a bit, though finally Innes does explain to Perry that these two men from the surface twentieth century must "give them something better than scientific methods of killing one another" (page 147). Of course, when there are "sewing-machines instead of battleships, harvesters of crops instead of harvesters of men, plow-shares and telephones, schools and colleges, printing-presses and paper," then their "merchant marine shall ply the great Pellucidarian seas, and cargoes of silks and typewriters and books shall forge the their ways where only hideous saurians have held sway since time began!" (pages 147-48).
Sigh... I won't ask why people in this mild climate beneath the motionless central sun of Pellucidar would want sewing machines and silks rather than just the current light animal skins, and although I am flummoxed by a trade-only economy in which "[a] man may exchange that which he produces for something which he desires that another has produced" but may not trade this acquisition again (page 158), I won't quibble or even ask why black markets don't naturally spring up, because fortunately the topic is raised only a couple page from the end. As Cogdon Nestor comments at the beginning, this Pellucidar hoo-ha isn't necessarily "literature" (page 9); it is straight-up adventure, and sometimes rather boyish stuff at that. Still, for what it is and from whence it comes, Edgar Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar remains a decently entertaining piece of early-twentieth-century pulp fiction.
The skeptical Nestor, however--this well-educated fellow so superior, that is, to those unwashed plebeians who read pulp fiction, and yet who somehow himself read a pulp-fiction tale from beginning to end--is the perfect correspondent to inform the fictionalized Burroughs that he has just discovered, beneath "the arid, shifting sands of the Sahara" (page 6), the telegraph which the quote from the end of the previous book reminds us that David Innes had "hidden beneath a lost cairn" (page 8). Well! Time for Burroughs and Nestor and a telegraph expert named Downes, accompanied of course by their "native servants" (page 10), to head over and receive another "practically in his own words" tale (page 9), eh, what?
As the narrative frame wonders for the benefit of anyone who missed the first book,
"[W]hat adventures had befallen [Innes] since his return?
Had he found Dian the Beautiful, his half-savage mate, safe among friends, or had Hooja the Sly One succeeded in his nefarious schemes to abduct her?
Did Abner Perry, the lovable old inventor and paleontologist, still live?
Had the federated tribes of Pellucidar succeeded in overthrowing the mighty Mahars, the dominant race of reptilian monsters, and their fierce, gorilla-like soldiery, the savage Sagoths?" (page 10)
Well, it would hardly be a Burroughs pulp if a scantily clad female was not in the clutches of a leering abductor; Innes, even with his "long-barreled six-shooter" and his "heavy express rifle" (page 15), still really could use the help of inventor Perry; and if the creepy and humanivorous Mahars were overthrown already, it'd probably be a pretty short book...
There are dangers and crazy coincidences, cliffhangers and hairbreadth escapes, friendship and honor. Somehow it struck me as being slightly inferior to At the Earth's Core, so I'll call it a 4-star read, still decently entertaining for the hundred-year-old pulp fiction that it is. The rah-rah of pouring more cannons and rifles into the hollow world until everything is "civilized" cannot help grating a bit, though finally Innes does explain to Perry that these two men from the surface twentieth century must "give them something better than scientific methods of killing one another" (page 147). Of course, when there are "sewing-machines instead of battleships, harvesters of crops instead of harvesters of men, plow-shares and telephones, schools and colleges, printing-presses and paper," then their "merchant marine shall ply the great Pellucidarian seas, and cargoes of silks and typewriters and books shall forge the their ways where only hideous saurians have held sway since time began!" (pages 147-48).
Sigh... I won't ask why people in this mild climate beneath the motionless central sun of Pellucidar would want sewing machines and silks rather than just the current light animal skins, and although I am flummoxed by a trade-only economy in which "[a] man may exchange that which he produces for something which he desires that another has produced" but may not trade this acquisition again (page 158), I won't quibble or even ask why black markets don't naturally spring up, because fortunately the topic is raised only a couple page from the end. As Cogdon Nestor comments at the beginning, this Pellucidar hoo-ha isn't necessarily "literature" (page 9); it is straight-up adventure, and sometimes rather boyish stuff at that. Still, for what it is and from whence it comes, Edgar Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar remains a decently entertaining piece of early-twentieth-century pulp fiction.
December 16, 2021
I just reread this book after many decades. I probably last read it some time in the early 1970s, but am not sure. The edition I read is the Ace paperback series first published in the 1960s, a paperback I have owned since the ‘70s. This is an early ERB, first published in 1915, an immediate sequel to AT THE EARTH’S CORE. It’s not as good as the first one, but it does contain pointed Burroughsian comments on evolution and race and human society generally. Here’s an interesting quotation from David Innes, our hero. He is reflecting on “the dominant race” of Pellucidar, the Mahars, who look like a cross between crocodiles and pterodactyls. Noting the reptilian intelligence of the Mahars, Innes says:
She was a member of the dominant race of Pellucidar. By a strange freak of evolution her kind had first developed the power of reason in that world of anomalies.
To her, creatures such as I were of a lower order. As Perry had discovered among the writings of her kind in the buried city of Phutra, it was still an open question among the Mahars as to whether man possessed means of intelligent communication or the power of reason.
Her kind believed that in the center of all pervading solidity there was a single, vast, spherical cavity, which was Pellucidar. This cavity had been left there for the sole purpose of providing a place for the creation and propagation of the Mahar race. Everything within it had been put there for the uses of the Mahar. (Chap 1)
And here’s another. Innes, who has been captured by the Mahars, comments on what a dominant group thinks of the inferiors whom the dominant ones enslave:
While it had always been difficult for me to look upon these things [the Mahars] as other than slimy, winged crocodiles… I was now forced to a realization of the fact that I was in the hands of enlightened creatures—for justice and gratitude are certain hallmarks of rationality and culture.
But what they purposed for us further was of most imminent interest to me. They might save us from the tarag [a beast who devours humans in the arena] and yet not free us. They looked upon us yet, to some extent, I knew, as creatures of a lower order, and so as we are unable to place ourselves in the position of the brutes we enslave—thinking that they are happier in bondage than in the free fulfillment of the purposes for which nature intended them—the Mahars, too, might consider our welfare better conserved in captivity than among the dangers of the savage freedom we craved. (Chap. 5)
You can’t say that ERB is exactly enlightened, but he clearly thinking about the implications of so-called racial superiority.
This book ends badly. Innes ends up bringing “civilization” to Pellucidar. This civilization mostly consists of repeating rifles, canons, and large ships (which can carry canons). The world envisioned as civilized most resembles an aggressive imperial raj.
She was a member of the dominant race of Pellucidar. By a strange freak of evolution her kind had first developed the power of reason in that world of anomalies.
To her, creatures such as I were of a lower order. As Perry had discovered among the writings of her kind in the buried city of Phutra, it was still an open question among the Mahars as to whether man possessed means of intelligent communication or the power of reason.
Her kind believed that in the center of all pervading solidity there was a single, vast, spherical cavity, which was Pellucidar. This cavity had been left there for the sole purpose of providing a place for the creation and propagation of the Mahar race. Everything within it had been put there for the uses of the Mahar. (Chap 1)
And here’s another. Innes, who has been captured by the Mahars, comments on what a dominant group thinks of the inferiors whom the dominant ones enslave:
While it had always been difficult for me to look upon these things [the Mahars] as other than slimy, winged crocodiles… I was now forced to a realization of the fact that I was in the hands of enlightened creatures—for justice and gratitude are certain hallmarks of rationality and culture.
But what they purposed for us further was of most imminent interest to me. They might save us from the tarag [a beast who devours humans in the arena] and yet not free us. They looked upon us yet, to some extent, I knew, as creatures of a lower order, and so as we are unable to place ourselves in the position of the brutes we enslave—thinking that they are happier in bondage than in the free fulfillment of the purposes for which nature intended them—the Mahars, too, might consider our welfare better conserved in captivity than among the dangers of the savage freedom we craved. (Chap. 5)
You can’t say that ERB is exactly enlightened, but he clearly thinking about the implications of so-called racial superiority.
This book ends badly. Innes ends up bringing “civilization” to Pellucidar. This civilization mostly consists of repeating rifles, canons, and large ships (which can carry canons). The world envisioned as civilized most resembles an aggressive imperial raj.
February 9, 2019
An unpleasant, dull sequel to an already-underwhelming story. Problems, top to bottom. Of Burroughs' work I've read thus far, this is easily that which aged the poorest, and adds meager substance to a potentially fascinating adventure.
I will start with the good--such as it is--by speaking again on Pellucidar as a setting. Much ado is made about subjective perception, and this book adds to it with some more speculative concepts. "The Land of Awful Shadow" is a region eclipsed by a satellite in Pellucidar's sky, and as such it causes a peculiar 'dusk' effect.
Continuity is emphasized somewhat as well; it begins immediately after "At the Earth's Core" (excusing the now-tedious middleman conceit), and sees David Innes (noted baseball player and poor runner) attempting to bring modern amenities and enlightenment to Pellucidar--with many bumps on the way (including a charming attempt to bring 'time' in a place without a day/night cycle). Once again, the Mahars steal the show.
Regrettably, the strong points are few and far between. The Mahars, easily a highlight of the prequel, are relegated to little more than footnotes--much as any interesting or exciting moments to be had. The first half of the book is exhausting and ultimately irrelevant.
But it gets worse.
Unfortunately, much more ado is made of David and (poor, sidelined) Perry's efforts to unite "savage" Pellucidar's people under an empire, bringing with it the overthrow of the Mahars, conflicts with rivals, and a horribly off-putting colonialist vibe. Their singleminded intent of bringing civilization to those who neither asked nor needed it, and appointing themselves rulers of this tech-borne "utopia," surely cannot be construed as much else?
This combines at the end to produce a double-whammy in the Burroughs catalogue of writing flaws--florid, drawn-out examination (a product of serialization) and a "twofer" ending that lacks proper closure (and yet another weak villain in the returning Hooja)--stirred with these badly-outdated ideas on race and culture (and gender, as Dian again receives the contradictory treatment of being put on a pedestal yet discredited as an individual), leading to a sleep-inducing tour of David and Perry's conquest...essentially, "Pellucidar" takes Burroughs' weakest product to date, brings all his flaws to the forefront, and provides something less than entertaining. I took nearly two months to finish this, mainly because doing nothing was frequently more interesting. And what's more damning than being that uninteresting?
Well, that's the greatest sin of "Pellucidar": for a cheap-and-cheerful pulp novel, how does it only succeed in being so damn boring? I can only say that I'm looking forward to returning to Barsoom; Burroughs won't return to Pellucidar for quite some time, and I hope that absence makes the heart grow fonder (and writing stronger).
I will start with the good--such as it is--by speaking again on Pellucidar as a setting. Much ado is made about subjective perception, and this book adds to it with some more speculative concepts. "The Land of Awful Shadow" is a region eclipsed by a satellite in Pellucidar's sky, and as such it causes a peculiar 'dusk' effect.
Continuity is emphasized somewhat as well; it begins immediately after "At the Earth's Core" (excusing the now-tedious middleman conceit), and sees David Innes (noted baseball player and poor runner) attempting to bring modern amenities and enlightenment to Pellucidar--with many bumps on the way (including a charming attempt to bring 'time' in a place without a day/night cycle). Once again, the Mahars steal the show.
Regrettably, the strong points are few and far between. The Mahars, easily a highlight of the prequel, are relegated to little more than footnotes--much as any interesting or exciting moments to be had. The first half of the book is exhausting and ultimately irrelevant.
But it gets worse.
Unfortunately, much more ado is made of David and (poor, sidelined) Perry's efforts to unite "savage" Pellucidar's people under an empire, bringing with it the overthrow of the Mahars, conflicts with rivals, and a horribly off-putting colonialist vibe. Their singleminded intent of bringing civilization to those who neither asked nor needed it, and appointing themselves rulers of this tech-borne "utopia," surely cannot be construed as much else?
This combines at the end to produce a double-whammy in the Burroughs catalogue of writing flaws--florid, drawn-out examination (a product of serialization) and a "twofer" ending that lacks proper closure (and yet another weak villain in the returning Hooja)--stirred with these badly-outdated ideas on race and culture (and gender, as Dian again receives the contradictory treatment of being put on a pedestal yet discredited as an individual), leading to a sleep-inducing tour of David and Perry's conquest...essentially, "Pellucidar" takes Burroughs' weakest product to date, brings all his flaws to the forefront, and provides something less than entertaining. I took nearly two months to finish this, mainly because doing nothing was frequently more interesting. And what's more damning than being that uninteresting?
Well, that's the greatest sin of "Pellucidar": for a cheap-and-cheerful pulp novel, how does it only succeed in being so damn boring? I can only say that I'm looking forward to returning to Barsoom; Burroughs won't return to Pellucidar for quite some time, and I hope that absence makes the heart grow fonder (and writing stronger).
July 28, 2019
I can think of no author who had a greater effect on me during my adolescent reading years than Edgar Rice Burroughs--though whether that was good or bad, I don’t know. I do know that I devoured his stories—a quick count tells me I read over half his output (40+ novels) in the half dozen years of junior high and high school. Accessibility is probably all that kept me from reading more.
Returning to Burroughs’ work now, thirty years later, I don’t expect to be captivated like I once was—actually, I don’t know what I expect, though I think there is always a lurking hope that I might find a remnant of that old wonder and amazement to latch onto. Mostly what I’ve found, in the few instances when I have gone back and revisited Burroughs’ novels, are lingering traces of the adolescent I was when I read them the first time around. So be it.
Pellucidar is the second book in the Pellucidar series, the first being At the Earth's Core, from which an absolutely terrible film (if you were a Burroughs purist like I was) was made, starring Peter Cushing and Doug McClure. All that aside, these two installments in the series were written early in Burroughs’ career—1913 and 1914 respectively—and also during an unusually productive period for the author; he penned thirteen other novels besides these two during that time. This was also early in his career—Burroughs broke into the All-
Story market in 1912 with A Princess of Mars and never looked back; although he continued to write until the 1940’s, half his novels were written in the ten-year period following Princess.
It may be because of the pace of his writing at that time, or from his relative newness as an author, or because Burroughs was simply Burroughs, but I thought Pellucidar one of his weaker efforts. Obviously my tastes have changed over the years, and comparing anything I read of him now with my memories of how they affected me years ago is going to be risky at best, but I still think this one was hastily written—sort of tossed off to complete the cliffhanger ending that he left readers with in the previous book. The conclusion of At the Earth's Core had found David Innes, the hero, returning from the land of Pellucidar in the Iron Mole he and Abner Perry had originally used to burrow into the Earth’s surface. His plan was to introduce his beloved Dian the Beautiful to the outer crust, and load up on 20th century supplies and return to his new friends. Unfortunately, David’s nemesis, Hooja the Sly One had kidnaped Dian and substituted one of the Mahars (a race of intelligent pterodactyls who were the dominant race in Pellucidar) in her place. At the Earth's Core ended with David realizing the trick that was played on him, and at the same time on the run from a bandit horde that roamed the Saharan desert where the iron mole had broken back to the surface.
Oh no!
Pellucidar picks up when Burroughs—who often pretended to be sort of a middle man in these tales—introduces a letter he received from an adventurer in North Africa who had read At the Earth's Core (and who, according to the letter, had an ‘abiding wonder that people should be paid real money for writing such impossible trash’), and had discovered, purely by accident, a telegraph set in the wilds of the desert, desperately clicking away. The telegraph proved to have been left behind by none other than David Innes (though how he managed this was never exactly clear to me), and once a Morse code expert was found, David begins to relate his adventures upon returning to the Land of Eternal Sun once more.
I won’t go into the details of the book any more than that—it’s typical Burroughs, with cliffhanger endings and improbably rescues and unlikely coincidences and romance and boyish excitement and a celebration of idealistic abstractions and of the noble savage as well; it is also a bit dreamy-eyed about the wonders of the modern world as introduced to the prehistoric world, and chauvinistic to some extent (though not as much as some might make of it, to my mind), and, as I hinted at before, it seems a bit slap-dash, as in everything wraps up nicely and neatly as if Burroughs were mostly looking for his next house payment.
Even while reading it again, I could not quite be sure if this was one of the many Burroughs books I had read as a teen—I think it is, though I’m still not sure, which indirectly tells me this is just a weaker effort. I do know I read the following three books in the series (Tanar of Pellucidar, Tarzan at the Earth's Core (Tarzan, #13), and Back to the Stone Age), which form a loose trilogy all by themselves, and (again relying on a faulty memory), that I think they were probably the best three in the series after the first, which introduced the concept. The latter three were also written almost fifteen years after PELLUCIDAR, and it’s quite possible that Burroughs had his act so polished by this time that they really were better--or perhaps they were just more of what I craved at the time, I don’t know. But the fact that I still remember details from these three, and couldn’t about PELLUCIDAR, is convincing enough for me of their relative merit.
And relative is the word to keep in mind. I came to these books during a Burroughs revival in the mid to late 70’s, and I wonder if I wasn’t part of the last generation that could possibly be as affected by his work as I was—even then, at a time when men had already landed on the moon, suspending belief long enough for his books to resonate was getting more and more difficult. But the real charm of these books, especially to a young and rather naïve fellow like I was, was the satisfaction of the romantic adventure, and the desperate desire for the simple principles that Burroughs touted so well (honesty and uprightness trumps baseness every time) to be the principles on which the world actually ran. One could always hope!
Well, Burroughs is what he is—no one is ever going to mistake him for a Melville or a Faulkner. I do enjoy the memories I have of reading these so long ago, and even picking one up every five years or so, I still kind of get a kick out of them. But I don’t know that anyone coming to it new would feel the same way—and if there was someone trying out Burroughs for the first time, I’d suggest giving Pellucidar a pass for now. Go ahead and read the first three Tarzan novels, or the first three Martian novels. If the Burroughs’ bug bites then, well Katy bar the door, cause there’s plenty more where those came from.
Returning to Burroughs’ work now, thirty years later, I don’t expect to be captivated like I once was—actually, I don’t know what I expect, though I think there is always a lurking hope that I might find a remnant of that old wonder and amazement to latch onto. Mostly what I’ve found, in the few instances when I have gone back and revisited Burroughs’ novels, are lingering traces of the adolescent I was when I read them the first time around. So be it.
Pellucidar is the second book in the Pellucidar series, the first being At the Earth's Core, from which an absolutely terrible film (if you were a Burroughs purist like I was) was made, starring Peter Cushing and Doug McClure. All that aside, these two installments in the series were written early in Burroughs’ career—1913 and 1914 respectively—and also during an unusually productive period for the author; he penned thirteen other novels besides these two during that time. This was also early in his career—Burroughs broke into the All-
Story market in 1912 with A Princess of Mars and never looked back; although he continued to write until the 1940’s, half his novels were written in the ten-year period following Princess.
It may be because of the pace of his writing at that time, or from his relative newness as an author, or because Burroughs was simply Burroughs, but I thought Pellucidar one of his weaker efforts. Obviously my tastes have changed over the years, and comparing anything I read of him now with my memories of how they affected me years ago is going to be risky at best, but I still think this one was hastily written—sort of tossed off to complete the cliffhanger ending that he left readers with in the previous book. The conclusion of At the Earth's Core had found David Innes, the hero, returning from the land of Pellucidar in the Iron Mole he and Abner Perry had originally used to burrow into the Earth’s surface. His plan was to introduce his beloved Dian the Beautiful to the outer crust, and load up on 20th century supplies and return to his new friends. Unfortunately, David’s nemesis, Hooja the Sly One had kidnaped Dian and substituted one of the Mahars (a race of intelligent pterodactyls who were the dominant race in Pellucidar) in her place. At the Earth's Core ended with David realizing the trick that was played on him, and at the same time on the run from a bandit horde that roamed the Saharan desert where the iron mole had broken back to the surface.
Oh no!
Pellucidar picks up when Burroughs—who often pretended to be sort of a middle man in these tales—introduces a letter he received from an adventurer in North Africa who had read At the Earth's Core (and who, according to the letter, had an ‘abiding wonder that people should be paid real money for writing such impossible trash’), and had discovered, purely by accident, a telegraph set in the wilds of the desert, desperately clicking away. The telegraph proved to have been left behind by none other than David Innes (though how he managed this was never exactly clear to me), and once a Morse code expert was found, David begins to relate his adventures upon returning to the Land of Eternal Sun once more.
I won’t go into the details of the book any more than that—it’s typical Burroughs, with cliffhanger endings and improbably rescues and unlikely coincidences and romance and boyish excitement and a celebration of idealistic abstractions and of the noble savage as well; it is also a bit dreamy-eyed about the wonders of the modern world as introduced to the prehistoric world, and chauvinistic to some extent (though not as much as some might make of it, to my mind), and, as I hinted at before, it seems a bit slap-dash, as in everything wraps up nicely and neatly as if Burroughs were mostly looking for his next house payment.
Even while reading it again, I could not quite be sure if this was one of the many Burroughs books I had read as a teen—I think it is, though I’m still not sure, which indirectly tells me this is just a weaker effort. I do know I read the following three books in the series (Tanar of Pellucidar, Tarzan at the Earth's Core (Tarzan, #13), and Back to the Stone Age), which form a loose trilogy all by themselves, and (again relying on a faulty memory), that I think they were probably the best three in the series after the first, which introduced the concept. The latter three were also written almost fifteen years after PELLUCIDAR, and it’s quite possible that Burroughs had his act so polished by this time that they really were better--or perhaps they were just more of what I craved at the time, I don’t know. But the fact that I still remember details from these three, and couldn’t about PELLUCIDAR, is convincing enough for me of their relative merit.
And relative is the word to keep in mind. I came to these books during a Burroughs revival in the mid to late 70’s, and I wonder if I wasn’t part of the last generation that could possibly be as affected by his work as I was—even then, at a time when men had already landed on the moon, suspending belief long enough for his books to resonate was getting more and more difficult. But the real charm of these books, especially to a young and rather naïve fellow like I was, was the satisfaction of the romantic adventure, and the desperate desire for the simple principles that Burroughs touted so well (honesty and uprightness trumps baseness every time) to be the principles on which the world actually ran. One could always hope!
Well, Burroughs is what he is—no one is ever going to mistake him for a Melville or a Faulkner. I do enjoy the memories I have of reading these so long ago, and even picking one up every five years or so, I still kind of get a kick out of them. But I don’t know that anyone coming to it new would feel the same way—and if there was someone trying out Burroughs for the first time, I’d suggest giving Pellucidar a pass for now. Go ahead and read the first three Tarzan novels, or the first three Martian novels. If the Burroughs’ bug bites then, well Katy bar the door, cause there’s plenty more where those came from.
October 7, 2025
Return to the Hollow Earth!
This book is the second entry of the “Pellucidar” original prose novels, featuring the hero named David Innes.
DESPERATELY LOOKING FOR DIAN
The first book left in kinda cliffhanger with David Innes, our hero, finding out that Hooja the Sly One fooled him and interchange her lover Dian the Beautiful with a female native of the Hollow Earth species. Obviously, David Innes didn’t have any choice but to get back to Pellucidar in the Iron Mole (not to mention that Abner Perry, his friend and Iron Mole inventor was still in Pellucidar (but I am not sure if David would be so altruist to return for Abner if he’d be successful of returning to surface with Dian, hehe)).
David Innes soon enough returned to Pellucidar, the underground realm located in the center of the Earth that it’s hollow, and starting the search for Idan (not to mention, Abner too, which curiously enough, he’s the one that David found first).
Abner explained David that the revolt that they provoked of the humanoid species against the Mahars (an all-female reptil especies ruling Pellucidar) hasn’t going well.
David deals witht the devil calling a truce with the Mahars to obtain information about the wherebouts of Hooja the Sly One in exchange of a sacred book of the Mahars that David hid in the previous book.
I won’t detail any further since I’d spoil the fun of the resolution of the book, that I like it better since this one had a proper closure of the whole adventure of David and Abner exploring Pellucidar (obviously it’s not the final book, there are still various others but reading this second entry you are left with a good ending if you decided not to read anymore (but it’s very likely that I will try some following entries in the series)).
This book is the second entry of the “Pellucidar” original prose novels, featuring the hero named David Innes.
DESPERATELY LOOKING FOR DIAN
The first book left in kinda cliffhanger with David Innes, our hero, finding out that Hooja the Sly One fooled him and interchange her lover Dian the Beautiful with a female native of the Hollow Earth species. Obviously, David Innes didn’t have any choice but to get back to Pellucidar in the Iron Mole (not to mention that Abner Perry, his friend and Iron Mole inventor was still in Pellucidar (but I am not sure if David would be so altruist to return for Abner if he’d be successful of returning to surface with Dian, hehe)).
David Innes soon enough returned to Pellucidar, the underground realm located in the center of the Earth that it’s hollow, and starting the search for Idan (not to mention, Abner too, which curiously enough, he’s the one that David found first).
Abner explained David that the revolt that they provoked of the humanoid species against the Mahars (an all-female reptil especies ruling Pellucidar) hasn’t going well.
David deals witht the devil calling a truce with the Mahars to obtain information about the wherebouts of Hooja the Sly One in exchange of a sacred book of the Mahars that David hid in the previous book.
I won’t detail any further since I’d spoil the fun of the resolution of the book, that I like it better since this one had a proper closure of the whole adventure of David and Abner exploring Pellucidar (obviously it’s not the final book, there are still various others but reading this second entry you are left with a good ending if you decided not to read anymore (but it’s very likely that I will try some following entries in the series)).
December 17, 2025
At the end of the book, At the Earth’s Core, David Innes had begun the trip to return to the surface. He had a captured Mahar (telepathic lizard) with him.
In this sequel, Innes gathers up supplies and returns to Pellucidar. He frees the Mahar and eventually runs into Perry. The geography of this world is disorienting, and Burroughs reminds us regularly of it. Also, always being sunlit, time is merely subjective.
Innes learns of Dian’s capture and goes off to rescue her. He is captured himself by the Mahars and agrees to take them where he had hidden their great book to free Dian. Hooja, on of the human villains in the first book, follows their journey, snatches the great book and gives it to the Mahars who give Dian to him. Hooja flees to his kingdom.
Innes goes off to rescue Dian again but is captured by a tribe of primitive people led by Ger-Ger-Ger, who puts Innes to work in the fields. He helps them in a battle and they free him.
Innes continues his search for Dian. Along the way, he saves a hyenadon from drowning and names it Raja. Dian is found but Hooja pursues them. Innes is aided by Ger-Ger-Ger and others and eventually runs into Perry. Perry has been busy building a fleet of ships and smelting iron and making weapons.
Innes goes after Hooja and then conquers all the nearby tribes of humans. His next target is to the free the humans enslaved by the Mahars.
I guess I do not like the Earth’s Core stories that much. The empire building near the end is too pat, too quick. Burrough’s expository style might be fine with an omniscient third person as narrator, but in this book, the narrator is Innes himself, and it is flat or monotonous or something.
In this sequel, Innes gathers up supplies and returns to Pellucidar. He frees the Mahar and eventually runs into Perry. The geography of this world is disorienting, and Burroughs reminds us regularly of it. Also, always being sunlit, time is merely subjective.
Innes learns of Dian’s capture and goes off to rescue her. He is captured himself by the Mahars and agrees to take them where he had hidden their great book to free Dian. Hooja, on of the human villains in the first book, follows their journey, snatches the great book and gives it to the Mahars who give Dian to him. Hooja flees to his kingdom.
Innes goes off to rescue Dian again but is captured by a tribe of primitive people led by Ger-Ger-Ger, who puts Innes to work in the fields. He helps them in a battle and they free him.
Innes continues his search for Dian. Along the way, he saves a hyenadon from drowning and names it Raja. Dian is found but Hooja pursues them. Innes is aided by Ger-Ger-Ger and others and eventually runs into Perry. Perry has been busy building a fleet of ships and smelting iron and making weapons.
Innes goes after Hooja and then conquers all the nearby tribes of humans. His next target is to the free the humans enslaved by the Mahars.
I guess I do not like the Earth’s Core stories that much. The empire building near the end is too pat, too quick. Burrough’s expository style might be fine with an omniscient third person as narrator, but in this book, the narrator is Innes himself, and it is flat or monotonous or something.
January 21, 2021
Pellucidor spans 5 books.
Pellucidar. Thuvia maid of mars.
Tamar of pellucidar.
The chess men of mars.
The master mind of mars.
Tanar the son of john carter of mars.
Leaves earth for mars to the civilization
Of pellucidar.
Like ancient rome or egypt.
There he is in battles with the gods.
Great beasts and lords.
He has romance with large breasted woman. Such awesome boobage.
He kills with his sword.
Chops off there heads.
Then he is in great palaces. Great queens.
Multiple armed gorillas. Laser guns.
Questing in the mazes of catacombs.
The son of john carter. Younger more naive. More cut and dark.
Like conan on mars.
So viral.
Does he ever excape mars?
Does he ever find true love?
Are the masters of mars defeated?
The kingdom made his own?
I do believe there are 4 more of
Tanar of mars.
Edger rice Burroughs a bit winded.
I believe him british or to have a female
Ghost writer. Often a wife or student
Will write for a prolific.
Still I do enjoy the characters and fantasy realm of john carter of mars.
The movie was a joy.
Perhaps john Carter's son could be a film adaption. The lush paradise of the Mediterranean. The scorpion king or 300.
I feel he probly drew inspiration from the bible. Many grew up reading bible.
Awesome beasts or fabulous lords are themes there.
A real joy Franz kafka art work.
From heavy metal magazine illustrations.
Very good.
Pellucidar. Thuvia maid of mars.
Tamar of pellucidar.
The chess men of mars.
The master mind of mars.
Tanar the son of john carter of mars.
Leaves earth for mars to the civilization
Of pellucidar.
Like ancient rome or egypt.
There he is in battles with the gods.
Great beasts and lords.
He has romance with large breasted woman. Such awesome boobage.
He kills with his sword.
Chops off there heads.
Then he is in great palaces. Great queens.
Multiple armed gorillas. Laser guns.
Questing in the mazes of catacombs.
The son of john carter. Younger more naive. More cut and dark.
Like conan on mars.
So viral.
Does he ever excape mars?
Does he ever find true love?
Are the masters of mars defeated?
The kingdom made his own?
I do believe there are 4 more of
Tanar of mars.
Edger rice Burroughs a bit winded.
I believe him british or to have a female
Ghost writer. Often a wife or student
Will write for a prolific.
Still I do enjoy the characters and fantasy realm of john carter of mars.
The movie was a joy.
Perhaps john Carter's son could be a film adaption. The lush paradise of the Mediterranean. The scorpion king or 300.
I feel he probly drew inspiration from the bible. Many grew up reading bible.
Awesome beasts or fabulous lords are themes there.
A real joy Franz kafka art work.
From heavy metal magazine illustrations.
Very good.
October 23, 2025
From the perspective of being one of the pioneers of science fiction and fantasy, I think ERB is just ok. Here is the deal, I do enjoy the escapism and concept of Pellucidar. I like the idea, and perhaps the world that the author builds allows me to my imagination.
Beyond that, these books run like clockwork. If it is Mars, the moon, or at earths core, each book is literally the same. Let me guess…. the protagonist will find the love of his life right? The protagonist has a small adventure that he fights monsters or some sort of primitive race and he ends up learning their language. That is the same in all of the series. I find that comical because I can’t imagine if I were a reader back when these books were written. Did they not see how linear these books are?
Also I’m half way through book 3 and Tanar of Pellucidar is running into the same exact shenanigans. With that said, I come expecting this and 3 stars is appropriate for my love of science fiction and the idea that a world exists outside our own. The adventure is in the age of the literature and that is why I like these books.
Beyond that, these books run like clockwork. If it is Mars, the moon, or at earths core, each book is literally the same. Let me guess…. the protagonist will find the love of his life right? The protagonist has a small adventure that he fights monsters or some sort of primitive race and he ends up learning their language. That is the same in all of the series. I find that comical because I can’t imagine if I were a reader back when these books were written. Did they not see how linear these books are?
Also I’m half way through book 3 and Tanar of Pellucidar is running into the same exact shenanigans. With that said, I come expecting this and 3 stars is appropriate for my love of science fiction and the idea that a world exists outside our own. The adventure is in the age of the literature and that is why I like these books.
March 28, 2023
The good: Faced paced and a whole lot of fun. A very good action and adventure story.
The bad: I'd be remiss to not touch on the most obvious issue with this book and it's predecessor, it's problematic verbiage. Lots of mentions of red savages, lots of David being shocked that anyone who isn't him or Perry (white and western) understanding anything at all, lots and lots of white savior syndrome. You put it into context of the times in which the novel was written, but every time it happened, I was ripped right out of the story.
I'm not trying to cancel ERB or anything like that, it's just something we should talk about regarding about his novels. I doubt this is something a POC would enjoy since everyone in this book who isn't a western white guy is relegated to either dumb, brute savages or views David as the Messiah who are desperate to be shown the way of the White man. The moments of overt racism/white saviorism are very cringe and while I had a lot of fun, I don't think this series is for me.
The bad: I'd be remiss to not touch on the most obvious issue with this book and it's predecessor, it's problematic verbiage. Lots of mentions of red savages, lots of David being shocked that anyone who isn't him or Perry (white and western) understanding anything at all, lots and lots of white savior syndrome. You put it into context of the times in which the novel was written, but every time it happened, I was ripped right out of the story.
I'm not trying to cancel ERB or anything like that, it's just something we should talk about regarding about his novels. I doubt this is something a POC would enjoy since everyone in this book who isn't a western white guy is relegated to either dumb, brute savages or views David as the Messiah who are desperate to be shown the way of the White man. The moments of overt racism/white saviorism are very cringe and while I had a lot of fun, I don't think this series is for me.
October 9, 2017
Pellucidar, by Edgar Rice Burroughs is a very good book about a journey to the centre of the Earth to reveal a whole different world, as if they had time travelled back to the stone age. The sun never sets and the people live in tribes, anyone not in your tribe is your enemy so you kill them. It's an old book and the language used in it has lots of words that most people wouldn't understand, but it's very detailed and descriptive, and you certainly get a clear mental image of what this world is like. I have read back to the stone age as well, the fifth book in this series. Pellucidar is second, and the first is at the Earth's core, which I haven't read but I am hoping too. There is Tanar of Pellucidar and Tarzan at the Earth's core in between, and this author did create Tarzan. The book and series wouldn't appeal to all people but for most people it's good. These books are some of the best I've read and I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
July 10, 2023
Pure Edgar Rice Burroughs, and as I'm fan, that's good enough for me. It has his usual faults like a heavy reliance on coincidence but jam-packed action-adventure too.
In the first Pellucidar novel, a rogue drilling machine strands David Innes and Abner Perry in the dinosaur-populated hollow Earth. This sequel kicks off with some great scenes (including a man telling Burroughs how amazing he found the first book — as in, it's amazing anyone would publish such crap) before getting into Innes return. Since his departure, treacherous Hooja the Sly One has destroyed Innes' alliance of the various tribes against the reptilian Mahars, preparatory to conquering everyone himself. Can David defeat him? Recover his lover Dian? Thwart the Mahars? Well, of course, but it's fun watching.
Burroughs seems to have intended ending the series here (read the ending, you'll see what I mean) but reconsidred and gave us five more books.
In the first Pellucidar novel, a rogue drilling machine strands David Innes and Abner Perry in the dinosaur-populated hollow Earth. This sequel kicks off with some great scenes (including a man telling Burroughs how amazing he found the first book — as in, it's amazing anyone would publish such crap) before getting into Innes return. Since his departure, treacherous Hooja the Sly One has destroyed Innes' alliance of the various tribes against the reptilian Mahars, preparatory to conquering everyone himself. Can David defeat him? Recover his lover Dian? Thwart the Mahars? Well, of course, but it's fun watching.
Burroughs seems to have intended ending the series here (read the ending, you'll see what I mean) but reconsidred and gave us five more books.
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