At the Earth's Core Mass market paperbound - 1982

Name: At the Earth's Core
Price: 7.99 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs
ISBN: 9780441033270

by Edgar Rice Burroughs

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Summary

Dr. Abner Perry has invented a high-calibration digging machine affectionately called 'The Iron Mole'. While testing his invention with his financial backer and former student David Innes, the machine malfunctions and the pair end up burrowing deep into the earth to emerge in Pellucidar, a lush underground cavern filled with giant prehistoric creatures. While fleeing one such creature, Dr. Perry and David are captured by strange inhuman soldiers, called Sagoths, and placed with other human slaves, where they meet Ghak and the beautiful Princess Dia. Dia is kidnapped by another human named Hoojah the Sly One, while Dr. Perry, David and the slaves are taken to the city of the Majars, large telepathic bird-like creatures that rule the underground world. While David is sent to repair the walls that protect the city from the molten lava, Dr. Perry is sent to transcribe books in the Majar's library. David is able to escape his captors and finds a secret passage out of the Majar city. Outside, David meets Ra, the chief of a human tribe. David suggests that Ra organize the tribes to defeat the Majar but Ra shows David the Majar's true power by taking him to the Majar's grotto where he witnesses one of the Majars hypnotize a female slave before swooping down and carrying her off in its powerful talons. While sneaking back into the city, David and Ra are captured and forced to battle a huge monster but they prevail, killing a Majar in the process. Seeing that the Majar are not invincible, the slaves revolt, allowing David and Ra to escape with Ghak and Dr. Perry. Along the way, Dr. Perry shows David the 'secret of the Majar', a nursery where all the Majar are born. David vows to destroy the Majars but first, he must rescue Dia from Jubal the Ugly One. With the aid of Ra and Ghak, David unites the human tribes and arms them with primitive weapons but the telepathic Majar are prepared for their attack. At first, the battle doesn't go well, with Dia and Dr. Perry being captured but Ra is able to destroy the nursery by unleashing the lava at the cost of his own life. Hypnotized by a Majar, Dia is about to be killed when David and the other humans arrive to save her and Dr. Perry. As the humans flee the city, it is consumed by lava, killing all the Majar. Returning to the surface, David asks Dia to come with him but she says she cannot and the two sadly part company.

From the publisher

was born in Connecticut about thirty years ago. My name is David Innes. My father was a wealthy mine owner. When I was nineteen he died. All his property was to be mine when I had attained my majority-provided that I had devoted the two years intervening in close application to the great business I was to inherit. I did my best to fulfil the last wishes of my parent-not because of the inheritance, but because I loved and honored my father. For six months I toiled in the mines and in the counting-rooms, for I wished to know every minute detail of the business. Then Perry interested me in his invention. He was an old fellow who had devoted the better part of a long life to the perfection of a mechanical subterranean prospector. As relaxation he studied paleontology. I looked over his plans, listened to his arguments, inspected his working model-and then, convinced, I advanced the funds necessary to construct a full-sized, practical prospector. I shall not go into the details of its construction-it lies out there in the desert now-about two miles from here. Tomorrow you may care to ride out and see it. Roughly, it is a steel cylinder a hundred feet long, and jointed so that it may turn and twist through solid rock if need be. At one end is a mighty revolving drill operated by an engine which Perry said generated more power to the cubic inch than any other engine did to the cubic foot. I remember that he used to claim that that invention alone would make us fabulously wealthy-we were going to make the whole thing public after the successful issue of our first secret trial-but Perry never returned from that trial trip, and I only after ten years.

Details

Title At the Earth's Core
Author Edgar Rice Burroughs
Binding Mass Market Paperbound
Edition First Thus
Volumes 1
Language ENG
Publisher Ace Books, New York NY
Date January 1, 1982
ISBN 9780441033270 / 044103327X
Weight 0.5 lbs (0.23 kg)
Dimensions 5 x 7 x 1 in (12.70 x 17.78 x 2.54 cm)
Dewey Decimal Code FIC

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