Out of Time's Abyss

by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Book Overview

The third part of the Caspak trilogy. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0441644856
• ISBN13: 9780441644858
• Release Date: June 1979
• Publisher: Ace Books
• Length: 139 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.0" x 5.0"

Customer Reviews

Hollow-Earth swashbuckler

Count on Burroughs for adventure that's as grand as it is implausible. There's that Hollow Earth thing to start with - well, fine. Just use that to set your expectations. If you've read more than one or two things by Burroughs, you know what comes next: ** a centuries-old death cult, ** an improbable escape or two, ** a wide assortment of evolution's "also ran" species, with morals as low as their brows, ** treachery by a traveling companion, ** a babe in need of saving, ** inane romatic miscues, ** fist fights ending in one punch and gunfights ending with one shot... ... well, you know the list. It's all there. This time, the treacherous traveling companions are Germans, a safe choice for the original post-WWI English-speaking audience. Its pervasive but low-key racism could be annoying; I found it an archaic and ignorant part of the book's corny, campy, and simplistic quaintness. If you can put up with a book written for an audience of a very different era, you'll find a passable adventure story and maybe a pleasant afternoon's reading. -- wiredweird

Light Reading

Out of Time's Abyss is the third book of the Land that Time Forgot series, preceded by the Land that Time Forgot and the People that Time Forgot. It continues the story of the World War I German submarine captured by a combined allied group that gets stranded in a mysterious pre-historic land. The story is typical, light fare, something you might have expected from a black and white pre-history movie. A bit melodramatic at times, naïve at others. But so what! I've been reading and re-reading ERB for decades and while we aren't talking classics of literature, the stories are fun to read.Burroughs tackles the issues of evolution in this series, condensing the scope from millions of years to mere generations. Darwinism was still being debated at the time this was written, so it provides a glimpse of the shocking impact and disbelief in certain circles. A fun afternoon read, or something for a pre-teen with an appetite for adventure. (While you can read this book separately or out of sequence, I wouldn't recommend it, too many references to what has happened in the prior books.)P-)