Customer Reviews

Pellucidar (Bison Frontiers of Imagination)

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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.

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.

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.

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!

"Pellucidar" is the second volume in the Pellucidar series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and find our hero David Innes and his scientist friend Abner Perry returning to the inner world. At the end of "At the Earth's Core" the duo had returned to the surface only to discover that Hooja the Sly One has substituted a Mahar, one of the rhamphorhynchus-like sentient reptiles that tyrannized Pellucidar, for Dian the Beautiful, the woman Innes loves. So the plan is to get back down there, rescue Dian, and if time allows end the exploitation of the primitive humans by the evil Mahars. The good news is that Innes returns to the inner world, but the bad news is that he ends up in a different part of Pellucidar where he has no friends and new enemies.

This 1923 novel is standard ERB adventure, where the hero is separated by circumstances and bad guys from the woman he loves (in fact, it is very reminiscent of "The Gods of Mars," the second John Carter novel). But this is still before ERB was in his potboiler stage where the main game was turning out as many Tarzan novels as possible. What makes Pellucidar a bit different from the rest of the Burroughs fantasy adventures is the unique geography of the inner world and the prominence of smart guy scientist Abner as a supporting character (i.e., the brains of the outfit). There is the usual framing device of this being a true story, communicated by Innes from the Earth's Core via a telegraph box buried in the Sahara. Another difference in this series is that Innes, unlike the other Burroughs heroes, is interested in radically reforming the alien world in which he is living. Innes literally wants to create a Utopia and with Abner he has a way of brining technological marvels to the prehistoric natives of Pellucidar.

"Pellucidar" first appeared in the May 1 and 8, 1915 issues of "All-Story Cavalier Weekly" and then continued in "All-Story Weekly" for May 15, 22, 29. If at all possible you want to pick up a copy of "Pellucidar" that has the original illustrations by Illustrated by J. Allen St. John, who remains by favorite ERB artist. The Pellucidar series consists of six stories, including a Tarzan crossover, and continues in "Tanar of Pellucidar," but you will find that these first two novels stand alone as a self-contained story. If you read "At the Earth's Core," you have to read this one to get to a natural stopping point.

This is the sequel to At The Earth's Core. Some of the reviews here say that it isn't quite as good as the first. I happen to think that it's a little bit better. Burroughs seems to avoid some of the continuity errors he made in the first book, and really it's quite a worthy addition to any adventure-reader's library.

This is the sequel to At the Earth's Core. That book ended with the hero, David Innes, back on the surface world and separated from his mate, Dian the Beautiful. In this book, he returns to Pellucidar to get her back. This is a formula in many Edgar Rice Burroughs books; the hero becomes separated from his lady love, and has a series of adventures until he is reunited with her. It may be a formula, but it's a successful one. Sure, the plots may be similar, but there are always different strange, exotic worlds to encounter. There was a reason ERB was the most popular pulp writer of his time. Fans of pulp fiction will enjoy this book.

Wow, I never really expected a freebie book that is about a century old to be GOOD. Yes, it's so old its written oddly, and yes, something like a telegraph machine is considered high-tech and "cool" but it still has tension, it still sucks you in (and so does the earth itself). Recommended read. Never pay for a public domain book, however. There is no need.

This review is for the audio book version of this novel that was read by Patrick Lawlor. I had listened to the first book in this series, At the Earth's Core (MP3 CD) (Pellucidar), with my 11-year old son and we liked it and decided to follow up with this book, which is the direct sequel. This had the same reader and he used the same characterizations as in the first book, which made for great continuity for me as a listener. I thought his voice was perfect as David Innes.

This book is vintage Edgar Rice Burroughs, with lots of action and adventure. The hero is always getting into difficult situations yet seems to get out of them under almost miraculous circumstances. There is also romance and many interesting characters and creatures. This is clearly not great literature, but is wonderful entertainment that can keep you on the edge of your seat.

As an engineer, sometimes I have a hard time with some of the physics of Pellucidar, but Burroughs does a good enough job to be consistent in his science. I recommend this book as an entertaining sequel to the first volume. A great listen for a road trip with the younger boys in your family.