Pellucidar Books In Order

Publication Order of Pellucidar Books

The Pellucidar series is a series of action adventure novels written by the popular American author named Edgar Rice Burroughs. The series consists of a total of 7 novels, which were released between the years 1914 and 1944. In the year 1976, the Burroughs estate authorized one more book in the series. This book was titled as ‘Mahars of Pellucidar’ and was released as a sequel to the other novels. In all the books of the series, author Burroughs has described a fictional landmass of Hollow Earth called as ‘Pellucidar’. There is a noteworthy crossover event in the series called as the Tarzan story in which author Burroughs has described the journey of the Ape Man into Pellucidar. The whole series revolves around the adventures of the main characters named David Innes and Abner Perry. David is depicted as a mining heir, whereas Abner Pery is an inventor by profession and a friend of David Innes. Initially, the series shows the adventures of these two characters after they make use of an iron mole for burrowing 500 miles into the crust of the Earth. The later parts of the series show a number of other important protagonists as well as additional visitors, including Tanar, an indigenous caveman, Jason Gridley, Tarzan, Frederich Wilhelm, etc. According to the description of author Rice Burroughs, the Earth is nothing but a hollow shell and the Pellucidar is located at its internal surface. The accessibility of the Pellucidar to the surface world is only through a polar opening which serves as a passage between the outer and inner worlds. In the 4th book of the series, it is depicted that a rigid airship arrives through this passage. Even though the Earth’s inner surface appears to have a smaller area as compared to the outer one, the land area of Pellucidar is actually very big. A unique feature of the geography of the Pellucidar is that because of its surface’s concave structure, it does not have a horizon.

Pellucidar receives light through a miniature Sun that appears to be suspended at the hollow sphere’s center. This way, it is always overhead all the time and gives an eternal noon sensation at all places in Pellucidar. There is a small geostationary Moon in Pellucidar which has a unique region below it called as the Awful Shadow Land. The moon is comprised of its own animal and plant lives. The brightness of the miniature sun never changes. Therefore, there is no seasonal changes or night taking place in Pellucidar. Due to this, the natives of Pellucidar have very little time concept. Through the different events mentioned in the series by author Burroughs it can be understood that time in Pellucidar is elastic. It passes at different rates in different regions and also varies in the single locales. A few characters who arrive in Pellucidar from the outside world and lived for a long time tend to age at a slower rate. They exhibit high longevity. The moon in Pellucidar either has the atmosphere of its own or shares Pellucidar’s. DC Comics had acquired the rights to the properties of author Burroughs during the early 1970’s. They even adapted the first book of the series into a comic book. The first book was also adapted into a movie in the year 1976 with the same name. The direction of the movie was done by Kevin Connor with Doug McClure and Peter Cushing in the lead roles of David Innes and Abner Perry respectively. Pellucidar also makes appearances in a few episodes of the Tarzan TV series.

The debut novel of the Pellucidar series written by author Edgar Rice Burroughs is titled as ‘At the Earth’s Core’. This novel was initially released in the year 1914 and then again in 2003 by the Wildside Pres. The chief protagonists introduced in this book include Abner Perry and David Innes. The plot of the book follows a fantasy related to Pellucidar, a land of the hollow earth. At the beginning of the novel, author Burroughs has shown how he came across David Innes while traveling through the Sahara. Innes is a pilot with a remarkable vehicle. He is actually a mining heir, who finances an astonishing experimental excavating vehicle called as the ‘Iron Mole’. This vehicle is designed by David’s friend named Abner Perry. While testing the vehicle, they find out that it can’t be turned. Later, they use the vehicle to burrow a distance of 500 miles in Earth’s crust and discover the interior world known as Pellucidar. According to the author, Pellucidar is the internal surface of the Earth’ shell and is inhabited by the creatures of the prehistoric times from different geological areas. The dominating inhabitants of Pellucidar are the Mahars. It is a unique species of civilized and intelligent flying reptiles. The Mahars prey on and enslave the local humans of the stone age era. Abner and David also get captured by the Sagoth servants of the Mahars and taken to the chief city of Mahar called Phutra. The other captives along with them include, Ghak, Hooja, the Hairy One, and the Beautiful Dian from Amoz. David gets attracted to Dian and protects her from Hooja’s unwanted attentions. But, Dian misunderstands David’s intentions and thinks that he wants to make her a slave. This is due to David’s ignorance of the local customs and as a result, Dian snubs him. David Innes learns about the cause of the misunderstanding later from Ghak.

The second book in the Pellucidar series was published under the title ‘Pellucidar’. The book was released in the year 1915. Bison Books republished it in the year 2002. The novel serves as the sequel to the first one of the series and continues to depict the life stories of David Innes and Abner Perry in the savage and exotic land of Pellucidar. At the start of the book, it is shown that David returns to Pellucidar along with a captive who belongs to the Mahar race. After arriving at an unknown place, he frees the captive and begins to systematically explore and map the location with the help of the device that he brought from the outside world. David intends to find the lost companions, Ghak, Dian, and Abner Perry. Later, he goes on to make a deal with the Mahars for the information of his companions. In return, he agrees to supply a book that contains the secret of the reproduction system of the Mahars. In the end, David tracks down his enemy, Hooja, and defeats him. Subsequently, he also becomes successful in establishing a human civilization in Pellucidar after wiping out the cities of the Mahar. An adaptation of the book was developed by the DC Comics and used it in Weird Worlds. It is believed that the copyright of the story of Pellucidar has expired in the U.S. It is now available in the public domain over there.