Pellucidar

At the end of "At the Earth's Core", David Innes, our everyman-now-Emperor, has returned to the outer world, with an ugly reptilian Mahar instead of his lovely Dian. He vows to return, and here, in the second book of this particular series, he does exactly that. Once again, Burroughs' simple vivid prose describes one thrilling adventure after another, in full cinematic glory. There are brutal hand-to-hand combat scenes, jungle hunts, mountaineering escapades and even a sea-faring battle. All this in under 200 pages (per my Canaveral Press copy). ERB doesn't waste a lot of words. You just have to love the lot of characters on display here. The names alone generate all sorts of mental images: King Gr-Gr-Gr, Hooja the Sly One, Ghak the Hairy One, the Mahars, the Sagoths, the massive lidi, the hyaenadons Raja and Ranee... Over the course of two books, you'll be hard pressed NOT to cheer for the indefatigable David Innes. He's an old-fashioned, capital-H hero; plucky, smart and brave, yet human. After all, this adventure is what happens to him while he searches for his beloved Dian. There are two high compliments I'd like to offer: One, is that upon finishing one book I cannot wait to read the next. Two, is that in this modern age of film, only with computer imagery could they reproduce the fabulous vistas of Pellucidar, with the overhead "horizons" and that low-lying, rotating pendant moon. The compliment is that it would never be as "fabulous" as those ERB created inside my head.

In this, his second novel set in the savage world of Pellucidar, Edgar Rice Burroughs returns his hero David Innes to the earth's core. In relatively formulaic ERB style, David's stone-age empress Dian the Beautiful has been stolen from him by Hooja the Sly One, and he sets off against daunting odds across a primitive world to rescue her. He is aided by advanced technology (such as firearms) brought with him from the surface, and the innovations of his dear friend, the scientist Abner Perry.This is relatively light weight science fiction, but as always Burroughs fast moving plot and adventurous style keep the pages turning like lightning. My father once reccomended this to me when I was in grade school and I simply fell in love with ERB, and I have recently been able to share the pleasure by passing on my small collection of Burroughs novels to my younger brother (now aged 12). . . after rereading them of course. He's become hooked as well, and now will not stop pestering me to find him a copy of book 3.

Pellucidar continues the tale of David, the lovable protagonist from At The Earth's Core. It tells the story of his return trip to the fabled subterrainian stone-age land known as Pellucidar. Here he must locate old friends, reunite with his lost loved one, and face his all-but-forgotton foes.Burroughs' writing is simply fabulous, and even makes the characters seem all the more realistic, though many of them are not even human, but sentient creatures who can exist only in the minds of great writers like Burroughs, and in the land known as Pellucidar.

In the incredible world inside the Earth David Innes discovers a new frontier for Mankind. He strove to carve a civilization out of its Stone Age perils. But the kidnapping of the beautiful cave-woman-empress, Dian, made him drop his fight for advancement and enter into a still greater battle against all the primitive monsters of Pellucidar!1st rate book!

Although Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote many stories about societies of the distant future or past, peopled with anything from prehistoric creatures to aliens, I believe that this is the best representation of his talent for writing fast paced, fun to read science fiction. Although he did not have the advantage modern authors do of capitalizing on recent scientific advances for story material, he draws the reader in, especially in this book, with his ability to create a world of wild imagination and make the reader feel like they are part of the action. This is the book which made me an avid Burroughs fan and encouraged me to read the Mars, Tarzan (and other Pellucidar novels) in their entirety.