Tarzan at the Earth's Core: (#13) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ Edgar Rice Burroughs (Author)
Key Phrases: scent spoor, polar opening, outer crust, Jason Gridley, The Red Flower of Zoram, Von Horst (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Before Jurassic Park there were Burroughs's jungles; before Princess Leia there was Jana, the Red Flower of Zoram; before the Dyson sphere there was Pellucidar; and before the Terminator there was Tarzan."--From Sean McMullen's introduction "[Burroughs's] stories are still as solid and imaginative as anything being published today. Perhaps, dare we say it, even more so."--Statesman Journal --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

Continuing the saga of Pellucidar, the empire located in the Earth's hollow center, Tarzan at the Earth's Core is the fourth work in this classic series. The American explorer and emperor of Pellucidar, David Innes, has been captured by the deadly Korsar pirates. Picking up on the desperate cries for help emanating from Pellucidar, Jason Gridley of Tarzana brings the message to the only person who can help, Tarzan of the Apes. Together young Gridley and Lord Greystoke travel to the exotic and strange realm within the Earth to save the imprisoned ruler. Unaccustomed to the difficulties of Pellucidar, the two struggle in its savage environment, with its eternal noon and bizarre monsters, in their quest to save Innes and the precarious rule he has established. Sean McMullen provides an introduction for this Bison Books edition.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (January 12, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345328221
• ISBN-13: 978-0345328229
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,517,260 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best of the Pellucidar Stories, August 13, 2001

By	George R Dekle "Bob Dekle" (Lake City, FL United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Tarzan at the Earth's Core (Tarzan Series #13) (Mass Market Paperback)

Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote a number of series. Some series consisted of as few as two or three novellas. The Tarzan series stretched to 24 volumes. Almost all of the series were interrelated in some way or another. Clark A. Brady maps out the complex interrelationships in Appendix C to his "Burroughs Cyclopaedia" (available from Amazon.com). "Tarzan at the Earth's Core" makes the clearest connection between two Burroughs series. It is the 13th Tarzan novel and the 4th Pellucidar novel.

The Tarzan stories represent some of Burroughs' best work. The Pellucidar stories do not. Burroughs stretches credulity in all his stories, but he takes it to the limit in the Pellucidar stories. In the Pellucidar seriest Burroughs employs a preposterous concept (a hollow Earth with an inner world where time stands still) and adds insult to injury with highly improbable plot twists. This makes the quality of "Tarzan at the Earth's Core" all the more surprising. It stands as the absolute best Pellucidar story and one of the best Tarzan stories. Ironically it stands near the middle of both series.

David Innes, the hero of the Pellucidar stories, is in trouble. Jason Gridley, inventor of the Gridley Wave, hears the radio distress signal from the center of the Earth, and organizes a rescue party. Many stalwart adventurers, including Tarzan of the Apes, enlist in the expedition. Where Innes got to the Earth's core in a mechanical mole, Gridley's party travels there in an airship. Read the book to find out how they fly an airship to the center of the Earth and confront the many perils of the savage world they find.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heart Warming Pulp Adventure, August 16, 2006

By	R. G. Somebody "Feegle" (Louisville, KY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tarzan at the Earth's Core (Bison Frontiers of Imagination) (Paperback)

Tarzan at the Earth's Core by Burroughs is a heart warming tale of loyalty, romance, and adventure set in the hollow earth setting of Pellucidar. Like all of the other tales set in this world it is full of prehistoric creatures of the various periods and peopled by the most anachronistic cast of characters ever assembled. There are pirates, Vikings, cavemen, and intelligent apes as well as some wonderful made up races such as the evolved reptilian race that enjoy feasting on human flesh. Tarzan, of course, finds himself at home in the jungles of this world, and the supporting characters are heroic and delightful to become acquainted with. Even if you have never read a novel set in this world, a fan of pulp should do oneself a favor and pick this one up. It may not be the best place to start on your journey into hollow earth, but it is at least a start.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Read it as a teen, read it again at forty., March 15, 2007

By	Sailor Barsoom - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tarzan at the Earth's Core (Bison Frontiers of Imagination) (Paperback)

I found myself less tolerant of the Red Flower of Zoram this time around, perhaps because by forty I had myself been in relationships where you never know if she loves you or thinks you are a jalok. And there seems little reason for it. When David Innes insulted Dian or John Carter insulted Dejah Thoris, those were some heavy insults, for all that the heroes didn't intend them. Jason's crime seems rather minor. I actually found myself wishing she'd just get over herself.

OK, now that that's out of the way...
This is a wonderful adventure story. Pellucidar is it's old horizonless, timeless self, and we see new areas and new peoples. Tarzan is in fine form, and has to deal with a problem he's never had before: he gets lost in the jungle! There are savages, pirates, reptile-men, pterodactyls, and ape-men whom the Lord of the Jungle finds strangely familiar. There are a few many coincidences near the end, but all in all, you can do worse, but might not do better.