Edgar Rice Burroughs

A novel by American author Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar is the fifth of a 24-book series he wrote on the titular Tarzan. It was first published in the November and December 1916 issues of All-Story Cavalier Weekly, and McClurg published the first volume in 1918. In order to make up for some recent financial setbacks, Tarzan travels back to Opar, the location of a forgotten Atlantean colony and the source of its wealth. There is a significant cache of gold that was mined while Atlantis itself was submerged beneath the waves thousands of years ago, but which is now lost to the memory of the Oparians and only Tarzan is aware of its hidden position. Tarzan is discreetly followed to Opar by Albert Werper, a rapacious, outlawed Belgian army commander working for a crooked Arab. After getting hit on the head by a boulder that was falling during an earthquake in the treasure room, Tarzan there loses his memory. She had fallen in love with the apeman during their first encounter, and La and her high priests are not going to let Tarzan escape their sacrificial knives this time.

Under the working title "Number Thirteen," American author Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote the science fiction book The Monster Men in 1913. A Man Without a Soul was the title under which it initially appeared in print in the November 1913 edition. Professor Arthur Maxon of Cornell University visits a secluded Pamarung Island in the East Indies with his daughter Virginia. The first experiment escaped and kidnapped Virginia. In his fanatical preoccupation, Maxon aims to marry the perfect human being produced by Experiment Number Thirteen to Virginia. After failing in his effort to use Jack against Maxon, Jack von Horn hands over the other eleven monsters to the pirate Muda Saffir. Virginia is taken off by Von Horn, while Budadreen and his gang steal Maxon's riches. The monsters are subdued and tamed by Jack, but Maxon turns against him and chases him. After overcoming several Dayaks, Jack's band finally finds itself in the company of an orangutan group. After that, to keep the location of the riches a secret, von Horn murders his friends. Virginia is ultimately informed by Von Horn that Jack is Number Thirteen, but she still chooses to love Jack. The hunt comes to an end at the location of the unearthed "prize," when von Horn's decapitated body is discovered next to the unlocked box.

American of low social class Billy Byrne was born in the slums of Chicago. He disregards individuals who earn a living by choosing a life of thievery and violence. After being wrongfully charged with murder, he runs away to San Francisco and is kidnapped by pirates on a ship. The ship's covert mission to kidnap a yacht and hold a millionaire's daughter's ransom is shortly carried out. Billy Byrne's Barbara is kidnapped by headhunters descended from medieval Japanese. He saves the life of one kidnapper, Theriere, rather than let him be washed overboard. After a terrible storm, the ship is damaged and only makes it to land with Billy's help at the wheel. Barbara, played by Billy Byrne, is taken hostage by headhunter descendants of medieval Japanese. Instead of letting one kidnapper, Theriere, drown, he manages to save his life. The ship is wrecked after a tremendous storm, and Billy's assistance at the helm is the only reason it makes it to shore. Billy keeps Barbara safe from the jungle as his injuries mend. When Billy realizes he can never fit in with Mallory, he breaks off his engagement with her. When she hears about Billy's struggle on the news, Barbara sends for him. He explains that she and Mallory must be married since the gap between them cannot be filled.

Edgar Rice Burroughs, a native of the United States, wrote a brief contemporary mystery called The Oakdale Affair. The Mucker (1914-1916) is a partial sequel to Bridge and the Oskaloosa Kid, which was written in 1917 under the working title of the same title. In 1919, it was made into a silent movie starring Evelyn Greeley. In the earlier piece, Bridge, the protagonist, was a supporting figure. In March 1918, Blue Book Magazine published it for the first time. In The Oakdale Affair and The Rider, published by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. in February 1937 and then reprinted by Grosset & Dunlap in 1937, 1938, and 1940, it was first published alongside the unrelated story "The Rider". The novella was initially published independently as a paperback by Ace Books in July 1974. Later hardback copies were published by Ameron and Buccaneer (1977); a later paperback edition was published by Charter (1979). The last 174 lines of the magazine version's original ending are left out of the majority of versions, although the Buccaneer and Charter editions include it again. A robber steals the daughter of bank president Jonas Prim, Abigail's possessions, as well as the clothing of a servant, from Prim's residence in Oakdale.

Two classic masterpieces of fantasy adventure from the Pulp Era are featured in this volume Journey to the Hollow Earth with Edgar Rice Burroughs' first two books of the Pellucidar series in this classic reprint presentation from Lost Continent Library.

The Tarzan Collection includes the first five Tarzan novels, including Tarzan of the Apes, The Return of Tarzan, The Beasts of Tarzan, The Son of Tarzan, and Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar. Tarzan's jungle upbringing gives him abilities far beyond those of ordinary humans. His strength, speed, stamina, agility, reflexes, and swimming skills are put to the test when he wrestles not just full-grown apes, but also gorillas, leopards, lions, and crocodiles. Tarzan has been called one of the best-known literary characters in the world. In addition to literature, the character has appeared in films, radio, television, comic strips, and comic books. Burroughs considered other names for the character, including "Zantar" and "Tublat Zan," before he settled on "Tarzan." Tarzan has remained popular; Burroughs's melodramatic situations and the elaborate details he works into his fictional world, such as his construction of a partial language for his great apes, appeal to a worldwide fan base. Tarzan remains one of the most successful fictional characters to this day and is a cultural icon. This case laminate collector's edition includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket.

The Son of Tarzan is a novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the fourth in his series of twenty-four books about the title character Tarzan. It was written between January 21 and May 11, 1915, and first published in the magazine All-Story Weekly as a six-part serial from December 4, 1915 to January 8, 1916. It was first published in book form by A. C. McClurg & Co. in March 1917 and has been reprinted numerous times since by various publishers. In this novel, for the first and only time in the Tarzan series, the main character is not Tarzan himself but his son Jack, who becomes known as Korak, first introduced (as a baby) in the earlier novels The Eternal Lover (1914/15) and The Beasts of Tarzan (1914). Korak would return as a supporting character in the later novels Tarzan the Terrible (1921), Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1922/23) and Tarzan and the Ant Men (1924). The story begins 10 years after the conclusion of The Beasts of Tarzan. During the past decade, Alexis Paulvitch, who had escaped Tarzan at the end of the last novel, has lived a hideous life of abuse and disease among tribal people in Africa. Now he is discovered by a European ship and taken aboard. In the months that follows, Paulvitch encounters the ape, Akut, (whom Tarzan had befriended in that previous story) at one of the ship's stops. Because of Akut's interactions with Tarzan, he is unafraid of white men, and Paulvitch, unaware of the previous relationship, sees an opportunity to make some money. He takes Akut to London and begins displaying him publicly. After the trauma of the kidnappings ten years earlier, Jane has refused to return to Africa or to allow Jack to know anything about his father's past for fear that he might somehow try to relive it. Perhaps she instinctively knew that Jack was somehow very connected to Tarzan's old life, for Jack did have an avid interest in wildlife and he was extremely athletic. When the Claytons hear about the displayed ape, they forbid Jack from going to see it. But he sneaks off and does so anyway. John Clayton follows his son and is surprised to find the ape is his old friend, Akut, and begins conversing with him. Jack is amazed to see that his father could do so. John then tells Jack of his life as Tarzan. Jack continues sneaking away to see Akut and begins to learn the language of the apes. Jack forms a plan to take Akut back to the jungle. Paulvitch, seeing an opportunity for revenge against Tarzan, agrees to help Jack. They escape to an African port where Paulvitch attacks Jack. Akut kills Paulvitch, and Jack, terrified, escapes into the jungle with him, thinking he will have to run for the rest of his life. Like Tarzan before him, Jack learns survival in the jungle and encounters the Mangani apes, who he can speak with because of his dialogue with Akut. Akut has difficulty pronouncing the name "Jack" and names him Korak, which means "killer" which seems appropriate since Jack has proven himself to be such. Jack finds an abused girl of about 11 named Meriem and rescues her. He begins teaching her to survive the jungle and they begin a sibling type relationship and live adventurously in the jungle for several years. In the interim, Tarzan and Jane have begun living at their Waziri estate in Africa again, not having any idea what became of their son. After about six years, Tarzan and Jane reunite with Korak (now about 18) and Meriem (now 16) and return to London where Korak and Meriem are married. (wikipedia.org)

The Chessmen of Mars is a science fantasy novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the fifth of his Barsoom series. Burroughs began writing it in January, 1921, and the finished story was first published in Argosy All-Story Weekly as a six-part serial in the issues for February 18 and 25 and March 4, 11, 18 and 25, 1922. It was later published as a complete novel by A. C. McClurg in November 1922. In this novel Burroughs focuses on a younger member of the family established by John Carter and Dejah Thoris, protagonists of the first three books in the series. The heroine this time is their daughter Tara, princess of Helium, whose hand is sought by the gallant Gahan, Jed (prince) of Gathol. Both Helium and Gathol are prominent Barsoomian city states. Tara meets Prince Gahan of Gathol, and is initially unimpressed, viewing him as something of a popinjay. Later she takes her flier into a storm and loses control of the craft, and the storm carries her to an unfamiliar region of Barsoom. After landing and fleeing from a pack of ferocious Banths (Martian lions), she is captured by the horrific Kaldanes, who resemble large heads with small, crab-like legs. The Kaldanes have bred a symbiotic race of headless human-like creatures called Rykors, which they can attach themselves to and ride like a horse. The Kaldanes imprison Tara, intending to fatten her up, then eat her. While imprisoned, Tara manages to win over one of the Kaldanes, Ghek, with her lovely singing voice. Gahan, who has fallen in love with Tara, sets out to find her, only to find himself caught up in the same storm, and he falls overboard while attempting to rescue one of his crew. He stumbles upon Bantoom, realm of the Kaldanes, and manages to rescue Tara, and together with Ghek they flee in Tara's crippled flier. Tara doesn't recognize Gahan as the prince she met earlier, as he is worn from his ordeals and no longer dressed in his fancy clothes. In light of her earlier reaction to him, Gahan decides to keep his identity secret, and identifies himself instead as a Panthan (warrior) called Turan. The three of them manage to reach the isolated city of Manator. Gahan ventures into the city seeking food and water, but is tricked and taken prisoner by the inhabitants. Tara and Ghek are also captured. In Manator, captives are forced to a fight to the death in the arena, in a modified version of Jetan, a popular Barsoomian board game resembling Chess; the living version uses people as the game pieces on a life-sized board, with each taking of a piece being a duel to the death. (wikipedia.org)

The People That Time Forgot is a fantasy novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs. The novel begins with the organization of an expedition to rescue Bowen J. Tyler, Lys La Rue, and the other castaways marooned on the large Antarctic island of Caprona, whose tropical interior, known to its inhabitants as Caspak, is home to prehistoric fauna of all eras. Tyler's recovered manuscript detailing their ordeal is delivered to his family, and the relief effort is put together by Tom Billings, secretary of the Tyler shipbuilding business. The expedition's ship, the Toreador, locates Caprona, and while the bulk of the crew attempts to scale the encircling cliffs Billings flies over them in an aircraft. Billings' plane is attacked by flying reptiles and forced down in the interior of Caspak. He saves a native girl named Ajor from a large cat and a group of ape-men, and undertakes to accompany her back to her people, the fully human Galus, while she educates him in the language and mysteries of the island. They travel north, encountering various creatures of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras, as well as additional primitive subhuman races. They pass through the lands of the Neanderthal Bo-lu (club men) and the more advanced Sto-lu (hatchet men), who are easily cowed by gunfire. But in the country of the Band-lu (spear men) he is taken captive, and despairs until rescued in turn by Ajor. They resume their journey, re-encountering and befriending Tomar, a Band-lu newly become Kro-lu (bow man). Tomar and his mate So-al are the first examples Billings has actually seen of Caspakian evolutionary metamorphosis in action. After an interlude in which Ajor's back story is related the new friends separate. Billings and Ajor enter Kro-lu territory and save Chal-az, a Kro-lu warrior, from a group of Band-lu. Visiting the Kro-lu village as his guest, they are parted again when Billings is attacked through the machinations of the chief Du-seen, who has designs on Ajor. They escape individually, making for the Galu country. Du-seen goes after Ajor with some of his warriors. Billings catches and tames an ancestral horse, with the aid of which he rescues Ajor from Du-seen. Pursued, they resign themselves to death, but are relieved by a force consisting of Bowen Tyler, Galu warriors, and the rescue crew from the Toreador, which had successfully scaled the cliffs and entered Caspak after Billings' ill-fated airplane flight. All are reunited in the Galu village, where Tyler and Lys La Rue have been formally married by the captain of the Toreador. Billings and Ajor also desire to wed, but Ajor may not leave Caspak due to her status as cos-ata-lo - she was born a fully evolved Galu rather than attaining that form through metamorphosis, and hence is treasured by her people. Billings elects to remain in Caspak to be with her. (wikipedia.org)

The Land That Time Forgot is a fantasy novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first of his Caspak trilogy. His working title for the story was "The Lost U-Boat." The sequence was first published in Blue Book Magazine as a three-part serial in the issues for September, October and November 1918. The complete trilogy was later combined for publication in book form under the title of the first part by A. C. McClurg in June 1924. Beginning with the Ace Books editions of the 1960s, the three segments have usually been issued as separate short novels. Starting out as a harrowing wartime sea adventure, Burroughs's story ultimately develops into a lost world story reminiscent of such novels as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World (1912) and Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island (1874) and Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864). Burroughs adds his own twist by postulating a unique biological system for his lost world, in which the slow progress of evolution in the world outside is recapitulated as a matter of individual metamorphosis. This system is only hinted at in The Land That Time Forgot; presented as a mystery whose explication is gradually worked out over the course of the next two novels, it forms a thematic element serving to unite three otherwise rather loosely linked stories. (wikipedia.org)

Tarzan of the Apes is a 1912 novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first in a series of twenty-four books about the title character Tarzan. It was first published in the pulp magazine The All-Story in October 1912 before being released a book in 1914. The story follows Tarzan's adventures, from his childhood being raised by apes in the jungle to his eventual encounters with other humans and Western society. So popular was the character that Burroughs continued the series into the 1940s with two dozen sequels. Scholars have noted several important themes in the novel: the impact of heredity on behavior; racial superiority; civilization, especially as Tarzan struggles with his identity as a human; sexuality; and escapism. (wikipedia.org)

Thuvia, Maid of Mars is a science fantasy novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the fourth of the Barsoom series. The principal characters are Carthoris (the son of John Carter of Mars) and Thuvia of Ptarth, each of whom appeared in the previous two novels. In this novel the focus shifts from John Carter, Warlord of Mars, and Dejah Thoris of Helium, protagonists of the first three books in the series, to their son, Carthoris, prince of Helium, and Thuvia, princess of Ptarth. Helium and Ptarth are both prominent Barsoomian city state/empires, and both Carthoris and Thuvia were secondary characters in the previous two novels. Its plot devices are similar to the previous Martian novels, involving the kidnapping of a Martian princess. This time John Carter's son Carthoris is implicated. It does however have some inventive and original ideas, including an autopilot and collision detection device for Martian fliers, and the creation of the Lotharians, a race of ancient Martians who have become adept at telepathic projection, able to create imaginary warriors that can kill, and sustain themselves through thought alone. ...(wikipedia.org)

The Land That Time Forgot is a fantasy novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first of his Caspak trilogy. His working title for the story was "The Lost U-Boat." The sequence was first published in Blue Book Magazine as a three-part serial in the issues for September, October and November 1918. The complete trilogy was later combined for publication in book form under the title of the first part by A. C. McClurg in June 1924. Beginning with the Ace Books editions of the 1960s, the three segments have usually been issued as separate short novels. Starting out as a harrowing wartime sea adventure, Burroughs's story ultimately develops into a lost world story reminiscent of such novels as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World (1912) and Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island (1874) and Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864). Burroughs adds his own twist by postulating a unique biological system for his lost world, in which the slow progress of evolution in the world outside is recapitulated as a matter of individual metamorphosis. This system is only hinted at in The Land That Time Forgot; presented as a mystery whose explication is gradually worked out over the course of the next two novels, it forms a thematic element serving to unite three otherwise rather loosely linked stories. (wikipedia.org)

The Outlaw of Torn is a historical novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, originally published as a five-part serial in New Story Magazine from January to May 1914, and first published in book form by A. C. McClurg in 1927. It was Burroughs' second novel, his first being the science fiction work A Princess of Mars. His third was Tarzan of the Apes. The Outlaw of Torn is one of only two historical novels Burroughs wrote. The other, I Am a Barbarian, set in the Rome of Caligula, was not published until 1967, seventeen years after his death. The story is set in 13th century England and concerns the fictional outlaw Norman of Torn, who purportedly harried the country during the power struggle between King Henry III and Simon de Montfort. Norman is the supposed son of the Frenchman de Vac, once the king's fencing master, who has a grudge against his former employer and raises the boy to be a simple, brutal killing machine with a hatred of all things English. His intentions are partially subverted by a priest who befriends Norman and teaches him his letters and chivalry towards women. Otherwise, all goes according to plan. By 17, Norman is the best swordsman in all of England; by the age of 18, he has a large bounty on his head, and by the age of 19, he leads the largest band of thieves in all of England. None can catch or best him. In his hatred for the king he even becomes involved in the civil war, which turns the tide in favor of de Montfort. In another guise, that of Roger de Conde, he becomes involved with de Montfort's daughter Bertrade, defending her against her and her father's enemies. She notes in him a curious resemblance to the king's son and heir Prince Edward. Finally brought to bay in a confrontation with both King Henry and de Montfort, Norman is brought down by the treachery of de Vac, who appears to kill him, though at the cost of his own life. As de Vac dies, he reveals that Norman is in fact Richard, long-lost son of King Henry and Queen Eleanor and brother to Prince Edward. The fencing master had kidnapped the prince as a child to serve as the vehicle of his vengeance against the king. Luckily, Norman/Richard turns out not to be truly dead, surviving to be reconciled to his true father and attain the hand of Bertrade. (wikipedia.org)

The Gods of Mars is a science fantasy novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs and the second of Burroughs' Barsoom series. It features the characters of John Carter and Carter's wife Dejah Thoris. It was first published in The All-Story as a five-part serial in the issues for January-May 1913. It was later published as a complete novel by A. C. McClurg in September, 1918 and in many editions subsequently. Burroughs's vision of Mars was loosely inspired by astronomical speculation of the time, especially that of Percival Lowell, who saw the planet as a formerly Earthlike world now becoming less hospitable to life due to its advanced age, whose inhabitants had built canals to bring water from the polar caps to irrigate the remaining arable land. Lowell was influenced by Italian astronomer, Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli, who in 1878, had observed features on Mars he called canali (Italian for "channels"). Mistranslation of this into English as "canals" fuelled belief the planet was inhabited. The theory of an inhabited planet with flowing water was disproved by data provided by Russian and American probes such as the two Viking missions which found a dead, frozen world where water does not exist in a fluid state. The Valley of Dor, with the ring of cliffs around it and Sea of Korus within it, is placed in a mile-deep crater at Mars' South Pole. However, Burroughs makes a mistake in that he has the sun rise in the east and set in the west as elsewhere in the planet, and the moons are visible from the Valley. In reality, at the South Pole, Mars' moons would not be seen, and the sun would not rise in the east and set in the west (all directions away from the Pole are "north" in any case), but instead ring the cliffs for half the Martian year, and leave the area shrouded in darkness for the other half of the Martian year. In addition, unlike what one would expect at the south pole of Mars, the temperature in the Valley of Dor is mild and temperate, and although that may be accounted for by its being in a deep crater, the temperature in the Therns' fortress on the surrounding cliffs does not appear to be all that cold either. (wikipedia.org)