Customer Reviews

At the Earth's Core: Book 1 of the Pellucidar Series (Bk. 1)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
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Giant gorilla people, lizard men, epic battles, adventure, sci-fi and dinosaurs! What else could you ask for in an adventure novel? Rice does a wonderful job of truly expanding the imagination with this novel. Though it is quite short, it is packed from beginning to end with fun filled adventure.

Short Summary: David and Perry work at a mine. Perry has invented a new machine which he calls "The Mole" that is supposed to dig deep tunnels... David and Perry get in the machine to try it out and end up in a new world. Apparently the earth is hollow and there are all KINDS of things walking around on the inside of the earth's crust. From giant bears, to monkey people, to the gorgeous Dian (her name actually is Dian the Beautiful). They end up fighting ferocious beasts, trying to rescue Dian, discovering hidden temples, fighting more beasts, being taken captive as slaves, and eventually starting a war.

The characters are not the most well developed I have read, however if I mentally compare this to modern YA books (which it is) they are about standard. The focus in this book is more on the action and the amazement of the creatures and beings that David encounters. The entire book is told from David's point of view, which is good because although he is smart... he starts out the book only around 18 years old, so he's naïve enough to get himself into all kinds of adventures but brave enough to find a way out of them. This is one of those fun filled tale where a man from a modern time finds himself in a primitive age where evolution hasn't followed the same plan. This was similar to "Journey to the Center of the Earth" by Jules Verne, but I actually felt that this book was more of an Action packed story than Verne's. Either way, get this book - read it - then hand it to your 10 year old. (Be sure to explain to him NOT to dig his attempts at reaching the Earth's core in the front yard). Highly recommended for just a fun read.

Having already created two highly memorable science fiction heroes in Tarzan and John Carter, Edgar Rice Burroughs begins his third major series with David Innes. With friend Abner Perry, they dive their "mole", or burroughing machine, straight through the earth's surface where they discover the savage land of Pellucidar. Here, where dinosaurs still exist and mankind is enslaved by the reptilian Mahars, David and his friend are forced to face unknown perils and survive in a hostile environment.

"At the Earth's Core" is another highly entertaining science fiction novel from ERB. Even though his format is formulaic, you're always assured of fast paced adventure in his novels. Not as groundbreaking as Tarzan or as strong as John Carter, The Pellucidar series is still a worthy addition to Burroughs body of work, and it gets an extra star for the nostalgia of being a personal childhood favorite.

Burroughs keeps a vigorous pace to this story, with many fine bits of story telling. The terrors in the Mahar temple is one of my favourites! Along with the Martian series, this would have to be amongst the most enjoyable of his books.

A man with a fancy machine decides to do a bit of drilling. Taking a friend along in his contraption, he didn't expect to end up on a journey to the centre of the earth.

They end up in Pellucidar, where things like time and space work just a little bit differently then they are used to. There they encounter the usual bad guys, beasts and babes.

Personally, I greatly enjoyed the Pellucidar series. With some exceptions toward the end, they were all fine adventure stories in the best ERB tradition. This book is interesting in that the hero is not a complete loner as Tarzan, John Carter, and Carson Napier started out but comes with a good friend who serves effectively as the voice of the audience in many parts. Pellucidar itself is picturesque, and Dian the Beautiful is a well-drawn, if fairly standard, pulp heroine for Innes to fall in love with. The Mahars ruling the Inner World are intriguing villains, and Hooja the Sly One comes off as particularly loathsome. Many of the battles Innes fights--most notably with Jubal the Ugly One--are breathtakingly described. Burroughs did well on this and even set us up for a sequel. (Here, I have a quibble though: Rather than building up the sequel with inventiveness, Burroughs relies on uncharacteristic stupidity on Innes' part. It is completely out of character for the man and very jarring for him to make such a huge error--especially with his beloved wife at stake--but aside from this, the book has no serious flaws.) For those who enjoy ERB's work, this is a pleasure to read and the rest of the series should follow quickly. Highly recommended.

I like reading ERB. I have a problem with alot of fantasy or scifi authors that are in mass production now, they have a certain pompousness about them that is really off putting to me as a reader. ERB doesn't have that at all, his narrative style is direct and simple. His characters are always enjoyable, this is the first non-Tarzan book that I have read (I have more waiting for me on my shelf) and the first told in first person too. (Though I see from the others that Tarzan seems to be an exception in the third person narration)

David Innes, like Tarzan is a man forced back into his primal ways by circumstance, with his superior mind though he is able to rise above the creatures that live in the core of the Earth. (Another common theme in ERB, brawn without brains will only take you so far). A sort of pantheon is set up, not unlike the Norse gods, there is Hooja the sly one and Perry, something like an Odin, Ghak as a sort of Thor and David as our hero, duped by Hooja and forever loyal to Perry, supported by Ghak and other noble and strong men in Pellucidar, slaying the dragons and other nasty critters.

I also enjoyed the character of Dian the Beautiful, she is a little bit more than the average cave woman as he has to come to and she manages to outwit David in certain ways as well, though it seems she is little more than an object of beauty to the other central characters for much of the story.

David is also in an interesting postion between forces of female power, his love for Dian and his hate for the all female race of the Mahars, his ultimate lifting up of Dian and dooming of the Mahars. One man seems to hold all of the power in this book, but considering the ending of the book he only holds it precariously.

It took me a while to get into this book, as it is nothing compared to the last ERB book I read (Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar) however once I figured out which animal was what and the story was flowing I was really interested in it. A very fun read and with a little bit of food for thought just for good measure. Its too bad these books are so hard to find now.

This is absolute Burroughs' work. If you like the John Carter series, then you are bound to like this one. Burroughs is one of the God Fathers of current SiFi, i.e. Fantasy Adventure, and this work is a good illustration as to why. While most of the author's work is pretty predictable, it never-the-less never stops moving and is a true joy to read. While the style is a bit archaic, it is quite easy to follow after the first few pages, so give it a chance. This is one of those stories you like to set on a rainy weekend and just get lost in for the simple fun of it. Recommend it highly.