Customer Reviews

The Lost Continent

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In "The Lost Continent" (a.k.a. "Beyond Thirty") Edgar Rice Burroughs provides one of his most interesting combinations of adventure and social commentary. The premise behind this alternative history story is that the United States did not get involved in the "Great War" in Europe but instead followed its isolationist tendencies to such an extreme ("The East for the East...The West for the West") that no one from the United States has gone past 30 degrees or 175 degrees latitude for over 160 years, which means no one in America even knows who won the war.

It is now 2137 and a raging storm has thrown the Pan-American aero-submarine "Coldwater" past the 30 degree mark. The damaged vessel under the command of Lt. Jefferson Turck lands in England and German helmet and Felis tigers. In time, the crew will discover what happened to "The Lost Continent" of the Old World. Of course, since this is a ERB novel we know that there will be a damsel in distress for Lt. Turck to save from the great evils that he finds in the Europe that has slipped back into barbarism the way it did after the fall of the Roman Empire.

One of the main strengths of Burroughs was his ability to create ancient civilizations. "The Lost Continent" is actually atypical for Burroughs who usually plunges his heroes into these strange new worlds a lot quicker than what happens in this novel, so this time around there is much more of a sense of mystery to the proceedings. Still, by the last half of the novel we are definitely on familiar and well-trod ground in terms of a ERB adventure story.

Before World War II Burroughs wrote "Beyond the Farthest Star," about a distant planet that had been at war for centuries and where technological advances in warfare threatened to destroy all life, which makes it the other ERB novel to check out if you are interested in looking at another example of his rare attempts at social commentary. I do not think the payoff is worthy of the set up in "The Lost Continent," but it is intriguing to think that the United States completely cutting all ties with Europe was a viable basis for telling a futuristic adventure.

Written in 1916 by Edgar Rice Burroughs, "The Lost Continent" is the story of Jefferson Turck, a 21 year old Navy Lieutenant for Pan America. The premise is that the US and the rest of the western hemisphere didn't participate in the "Great War" (World War I), and Europe went on to destroy itself. And since the consolidation of all North and South America nations into the single nation of Pan America, no one has bothered to travel outside the longitude boundaries of 30d on the east and 175d on the west. But due to an act of sabotage his airplane/submarine/ship ends up beyond 30d and he and a few comrades eventually come ashore in Europe, where he finds a land of lions, tigers, and a few savage people.

I assume this was meant as a social commentary to say that the only outcome of the war would be destruction. But for a futuristic story, I find it unimaginitive and lacking any real vision. Other than the airplane/submarine/ship creation, the men appear to fire regular rifles similar to what would have existed in 1916. And while I don't find the writing style particularly appealing, I realize that ERB has a lot of fans out there who do appreciate it. So I guess fans of ERB will enjoy this book a lot more than I did (I read the PDA version).

This book came as a very pleasant surprise. I had thought that I was familiar with all of Burrough's work and then I came across this book- after all these years a new ERB! Written in his classic style, I could not hope for better.

It is also, as far as I am concerned, one of his most original books. Written in 1916, it postulates a world where WW1 never ended. Instead, the combatants kept fighting for decades until they reduced themselves to the level of the stone age. Reflecting the American sentiment for noninvolvement, the United States combines with the rest of the Americas to form the United Americas- a fortress of civilization barricaded against any contact with the world beyond the seas. That is how it remained for two centuries until the aero-submarine Coldwater under the command of Captain Jefferson Turck of the Pan-American Navy was driven east of 30 degrees longitude by mechanical failure and storm...

I can see why this book was never reprinted after its first appearance in 1916 for it is essentially an anti-war story. There is plenty of action and adventure on the individual level but it basically opposes war on the industrial scale as suicidal stupidity. The Wilson government censors would have made sure that such a book never saw the light of day again after our entry into the war. As it is however, this is probably the most idealistic thing that ERB ever wrote.