Lost Continent (Paperback)

~ Edgar Rice Burroughs (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the year 2137, the Old World and the New have been separated for more than two centuries in the aftermath of a devastating war. Finally, an American naval officer, his ship caught in a storm, is forced to land in England, where he finds tigers running wild in Devon (among other sad wonders), in this reprint of Edgar Rice Burroughs's The Lost Continent: A Tale of the Lost Continent, first published in 1917.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description

The year is 2137, over 160 years ago the "Great War" was fought in Europe. The Western Hemisphere stayed out of the conflict, as much as possible, using the slogan: "The East for the East...The West for the West". For all this time the USA did not go past 30 degrees or 175 degrees latitude. Until...

The aero-submarine, "Coldwater" in command of Lieutenant Jefferson Turck is blown past the 30 in a raging storm. Damaged, the ship landed in Europe only to find that it was not the enemy that was expected but something entirely different.

Originally published in 1915 as "Beyond 30".

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Product Details

• Paperback: 106 pages
• Publisher: Quiet Vision Pub (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576462331
• ISBN-13: 978-1576462331
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,034,916 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Typical Burroughs, complete with tigers and savage queens, September 19, 2001

By	Joe (USA) - See all my reviews

Typical Burroughs fantasy. Lieutenant Jefferson Turck lives in an isolationist world in which the United States and other North and South American nations have severed ties from the rest of the world for some two hundred years, the last credible contact around 1972. As a commander of a flying-submersible cruiser, his job is to cruise between 30d west and 175d west longitude; to go beyond those lines is to be stripped of rank - if you survive, which no one has.

Beset by sabotage, Turck is cast adrift east of 30d in a motor launch. With a small crew he explores first Great Britian, finding a wilderness complete with lions, tigers and wild animals (ex-zoo residents, often as not). The humans have reverted to spear carrying hunter groups. The motorboat then travels to Europe, which is also a wasteland where nature has reclaimed all of "civilization". A great war - which the Pan-American nations of Turck's origin avoided - had devestated human life in Europe.

In Europe, Turck is captured by soldiers from a black empire from Abysinia who are bringing civilization back to Europe. As well as slavery. He is finally set free by yet a seperate invasion of Chinese troops, who being enlightened free the slaves and reunite Turck with his homeland.

As mentioned, this is typical Burroughs "sceience fiction". Turck encounters a "savage" queen in Great Britian who then almost by chance is encountered again in Europe where they profess their love and hence marriage looms - the same plot seen in many others of his books. He is betrayed by a dastardly villian or two. The technology has "dated" stamped all over it ("submersible flying cruiser"?). He has more than one Tarzan-like encounter in the wilds.

At the same time, it lacks much of the movie-stock plots; the hero's gun doesn't jam and in fact when he encounters lions he shoots quiet a few, only to be driven off by their sheer numbers. (If you've read stories of starved packs of man-eaters terrorizing villages, the idea of hungry prides of lions doing so isn't so far fetched.) His main character sometimes wanders off in introverted sidelights on various subjects but eventually comes back online.

Overall, a good Burroughs read. If you like old-timey adventure fantasy with a bit of man-woman attraction added and exploring lost lands of great forrests, this is a good book to try.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What If: the US and Isolationism, July 16, 2003

By	David Stapleton (California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Beyond Thirty: The Lost Continent (Paperback)

First published in 1915, the motivations for this story are obvious. The nations of the western hemisphere have taken an extreme isolationist stance in the early years of World War I, to the point that 200 years later they do not even know whether anything or anyone has survived the massive armed conflagration that began in the early 20th century. The hero inadvertently gets stranded in Europe and makes all of the startling discoveries of the outcome of the conflict and ensuing 200 years.

The story is ERB's standard fare. However, like many of his books from this period, there are a few themes to the story that are of interest above and beyond the light adventure story. The elements foremost in this novel are the destructive nature of war and racism. There is also a certain amount of naivete from the period and the relative newness of the United States as a world power.

Most of Burrough's books are good reading for pre-teen to early adolescent, and nostalgic adults; this one is no exception.
P-)

2.0 out of 5 stars This one needed some work., January 5, 2002

By	V. Richmond "veralexinerichmond" (Huntington, WV United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Beyond Thirty-The Lost Continent (Hardcover)

I have read a lot of Burroughs, and this one is rather typical of his stories. The idea of the civilized man having to survive in a savage part of the world is an all too common plot line for him.

The initial idea of European civilization being severely damaged by World War I, while an isolationist North and South America growing to the height of civilization and peace was a brilliant one. The idea of someone from the Americas entering the unknown European realm is a fascinating plot idea. Unfortunately, the book was just not long enough to really develop the story.

Even if World War I had gone as badly as the story indicates, I do not believe that European civilization would have been so totally obliterated that no trace of it would remain. There should have been ruins, at least. It seems more as likely that some sort of Medieval-type society would have resulted, especially since that is so much a part of the history of that part of the world.

Further, when the Roman Empire fell, some learning was preserve in monastaries. It seems to me that something similar would have occurred if World War I had destroyed European civilization. I kept expecting the main characters to come across something of this nature, but they never did.

Third, I find it unlikely that the animals that Burroughs describes as thriving in England would be able to do so, unless the entire climate of the planet had changed, and there is no indication in the novel that this has occurred. Lions and elephants may be able to live in zoos but if turned loose with a few British winters (from what I've read of the British climate), they would certainly not become more populous than humans.

Finally, I felt that the end of the story was rushed. With the material that he had, Burroughs could have stretched this story out to a multi-hundred page novel. As it is, the edition that I read was under 100 pgs.

In all, Burroughs started with a great idea, but it just needed a lot of work.