Listed in sequence of writing and, wherever available, linked to copies available for free online.
Tarzan Series
1. Tarzan of the Apes (1912/1914): First published in 1914, Edgar Rice Burroughs's romance has lost little of its force over the years--as film revivals and TV series well attest. Tarzan of the Apes is very much a product of its age: replete with bloodthirsty natives and haunted by what zoo specialists now call charismatic megafauna (great beasts snarling, roaring, and stalking, most of whom would be out of place in a real African jungle). Burroughs balances such incorrectness, however, with some unattractive representations of white civilization--mutinous, murderous sailors, effete aristos, self-involved academics, and hard-hearted cowards. At Tarzan's heart rightly lies the resourceful and hunky title character, a man increasingly torn between the civil and the savage, for whom cutlery will never be less than a nightmare. Interesting comparison version here, showing Ballantyne's changes to ERB's version.
2. The Return of Tarzan (1913/1915): Tarzan had renounced his right to the woman he loved, and civilization held no pleasure for him. After a brief and harrowing period among men, he turned back to the African jungle where he had grown to manhood. It was there he first heard of Opar, the city of gold, left over from fabled Atlantis. It was a city of hideous men -- and of beautiful, savage women, over whom reigned La, high priestess of the Flaming God. Its altars were stained with the blood of many sacrifices. Unheeding of the dangers, Tarzan led a band of savage warriors toward the ancient crypts and the more ancient evil of Opar . . .
3. The Beasts of Tarzan (1914/1916): Now that he was the rich Lord Greystoke, Tarzan became the target of greedy and evil men. His son was kidnapped, his wife had been abducted, and Tarzan was stranded on a desert island where he seemed helpless. But with Tarzan's bond with the animals, he could work with Sheeta, the vicious panther, and the great ape Akut, to begin his escape. Then together with the giant Mugambi, they reached the mainland and took up the trail of the kidnappers.
4. The Son of Tarzan (1915/1917): Paulvitch still lived and sought vengeance against Tarzan. As part of his plot, he lured Tarzan's young son away from London. But the boy escaped, with the aid of the great ape Akut. Together they fled to the savage African jungles where Tarzan had been reared. There the civilized boy had to learn to meet the great beasts. He also had to face and conquer the same dangers his father had conquered. But he grew in time to be Korak the Killer, a warrior almost as mighty as Tarzan. Korak found a friend in Meriem, whom he rescued from a raiding Arab band. Then he discovered that the dangers of the jungle were nothing compared to the dangers devised by men.
5. Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar (1915/1918): Generally considered one of the better of Edgar Rice Burroughs' tales of the Lord of the Jungle. Tarzan once again returns to Opar, the source of the gold for lost colony of fabled Atlantis. Ever since Atlantis sank beneath the waves, the workers of Opar have continued to mine the gold. Tarzan follows a greedy Belgian and Arab into the jungle, where the evil pair manage to stumble upon the lost city, at which point our hero loses his memory after a fight. This is good news for La, the beautiful high priestess who serves the Flaming God, because she has had that big crush on the apeman since their first encounter.
6. Jungle Tales of Tarzan (1917/1919): A collection of several short stories all about the times when Tarzan was a young boy and a teenager being raised by the great apes. The young Tarzan was unlike the great apes who were his only companions and playmates. Theirs was a simple, savage life, filled with little but killing or being killed. But Tarzan had all of a normal boy's desire to learn. He had painfully taught himself to read from books left by his dead father. Now he sought to apply this book knowledge to the world around him.
7. Tarzan the Untamed (1919/1920): Tarzan faced his worst attack--an attack against his wife and child. With the speed of the great apes, Tarzan rushed through the jungle toward his home and family--only to find that the marauders had been there before him. His farm was in shambles and no one was left alive. Of his beloved wife there was only a charred, blackened corpse, still wearing the rings he had given her. Silently, he buried the body and swore his terrible vengeance against those who had done this terrible deed. Then he set out grimly to track them ... through warring armies...across a vast desert that no man had ever crossed...and to a strange valley where only madmen lived.
8. Tarzan the Terrible (1920/1921): Lieutenant Obergatz had fled in terror from the seeking vengeance of Tarzan of the Apes. And with him, by force, he had taken Tarzan's beloved mate, Jane. Now the ape-man was following the faint spoor of their flight, into a region no man had ever penetrated. The trail led across seemingly impassable marshes into Pal-ul-don -- a savage land where primitive Waz-don and Ho-don fought fiercely, wielding knives with their long, prehensile tails -- and where mighty triceratops still survived from the dim dawn of time . . . And far behind, relentlessly pursuing, came Korak the Killer.
9. Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1922/1923): Betrayed, drugged into oblivion, and captured--thus came Tarzan to be a prisoner in the deepest dungeon of Opar, lost Atlantis city of gold. But even as the flames of treason engulfed La, Queen of Opar, she sacrificed all to rescue him. Followed by Tarzan's fierce golden lion, Jad-bal-ja, they escaped into the deadly Valley of the Palace of Diamonds, where cruel bejeweled gorillas hungered to destroy Queen La and Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle.
10. Tarzan and the Ant Men (1923/1924): When his plane crashed deep inside the impassable Great Thorn Forest, Tarzan became the first man to set foot in the dark wilderness tainted with fearsome tales of ferocious female giants and armies of minuscule warriors. Ahead lay countless perils as Tarzan strove to outwit the ruthless she-brutes and strange ant men who doomed him forever to slavery. Against these invincible odds, it would take all Tarzan's power, savagery, and jungle cunning to carve his way to freedom.
11. The Tarzan Twins (juvenile, 1927/1927): Dick and Doc, the Tarzan Twins were born on the same day and, although they were not as alike as two peas, still they resembled one another quite closely enough to fulfill that particular requirement of twinship. The boys were athletic and as active as a couple of manus. Then it was that the big surprise came in a letter that Dick received from his mother. Dick's distant relative Tarzan of the Apes had invited them all to visit him and spend two months on his great African estate.
12. Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle (1927/1928): When slave traders and safari hunters invade Tarzan's jungle kingdom, the mighty ape-man is caught up in a perilous quest for the lost Leopard City of Nimmr, a treasure land of amazing wealth. But Tarzan's cunning enemies vow his destruction, and the fabulous metropolis in the Forbidden Valley holds its own horrors of medieval mortal combat . . .
13. Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins with Jad-Bal-Ja, the Golden Lion (juvenile, 1928/1936): Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins with Jad-bal-ja the Golden Lion is the second of two folk wondertales written about Dick and Doc, the so called "Tarzan Twins." This story along with it's predecessor,The Tarzan Twins, were written specifically for an audience of children rather than for adults, as the rest of the 24 Tarzan novels certainly were. This story is a continuation of the adventures of Dick and Doc on their visit to Africa at the estate Tarzan of the Apes. (Dick’s father is distantly related to the ape-man.) The events of the tale begin on the day following their rescue from the Bagalla cannibals -- a previous story related in The Tarzan Twins.
14. Tarzan and the Lost Empire (1928/1929): While searching for a missing scholar in the treacherous Wiramwazi Mountains, Tarzan is captured by an ancient tribe of the centuries-dead Roman Empire. In this dangerous throwback to Caesar's brutal regime, Tarzan must triumph over cruel emperors, skilled gladiators, and blood-hungry lions--or he will never taste freedom again . . .
15. Tarzan at the Earth's Core (1929/1930): A startling radio transmission summoned Tarzan to the savage land of Pellucidar, hidden deep inside the Earth. His challenge? Rescue a kidnapped emperor. But first he was forced to emerge victorious over titanic pterodactyls, fierce snake men, and other demonic creatures who hungered to destroy him.
16. Tarzan the Invincible (1930/1931): When Tarzan tried to stop some greedy tyrants in Opar, an ancient outpost of Atlantis, he was captured by a merciless band of warrior priests who yearned to sacrifice him on the bloody altars of the Flaming God. It took Tarzan's most magnificent display of nerve, courage, and raw animal power to free himself and vanquish the enemy.
17. Tarzan Triumphant (1931/1932): Mortal danger engulfed Tarzan. A powerful assassin from a wicked regime had teamed up with thieving cutthroats known as shiftas to destroy the ape-man once and for all. He would need every bit of his animal cunning and brute strength to emerge victorious over these murderous fanatics!
18. Tarzan and the Leopard Men (1931/1935): The steel-clawed Leopard Men were looking for victims for their savage rites. The secret cult struck terror in the hearts of all the villagers. Only Orando of the Utengi dared to declare war on them. And with Orando went Tarzan of the Apes -- but a strangely changed Tarzan, who now believed that he was Muzimo, the spirit or demon who had been Orando's ancestor. There were traitors among Orando's people. And in the village of the Leopard Men was Kali Bwana, the white girl who had come to Africa to find a missing man. Only Tarzan could save her....
19. Tarzan and the City of Gold (1932/1933): Magnificent in all his primitive savagery, the prisoner Tarzan stood unbowed before the beautiful Nemone, evil queen of the forgotten city of Cathne. Escape seemed futile as the ape-man engaged in a seductive battle of wits with the demonic ruler, who was herself torn between lust and loathing for the bronzed, irresistible hero . . .
20. Tarzan and the Lion Man (1933/1934) : Burroughs felt Tarzan and the Lionman was his weakest ape-man novel, yet time reveals Lionman to be ERB's best satire of Hollywood and the movie ape-man. Burroughs revisits the plot device of mistaken identity and lost cities--this time inhabited by talking gorillas. Readers grin when John Clayton is fired as the film Tarzan because he is NOT the type.
21. Tarzan's Quest (1935/1936): Written under the working title "Tarzan and Jane," this story marks the final appearance of Jane as a major character in the Tarzan stories. In fact, the story is more about Jane than the ape-man. Jane shines in this story, displaying strength of character, will, and resourcefulness. The Kavuru pellets are at the core of this story and the source of much speculation. Did Tarzan, Jane, and Nkima eat the elixir of perpetual youth? Did it give them immortality? Did Tarzan give tablets to Jad-bal-ja, Korak, and Meriem? The supply of pills could not have been an endless supply; yet, Kavandavanda clearly states that the tablets must be taken monthly at the full moon. Is Tarzan immortal because of the Kavuru tablets? Or is he immortal because he is Tarzan?
22. Tarzan the Magnificent (1937/1939): This novel was originally two stories combined into one novel. There are the twin cities of Kaji and Zuli separated by their twin magicians Mafka and Woora, who each possess one of the two magical gems, the Gonfal and the Great Emerald of the Zuli. The dual personality of Queen Gonfala is a pivotal part of the first story. The two cities, Cathne and Athne are the center of the second part of the story.
23. Tarzan and the Forbidden City (1937/1938): "Forbidden City" is generally considered a rather weak Tarzan story by dedicated and oft-times critical readers because the original tale came from a radio serial written by Rob Thompson. Burroughs’ heart was apparently not into revising "Tarzan and the Forbidden City" for magazine and book publication. Burroughs teams his ape-man up with his old friend d’Arnot, who explains the history of Tarzan to the characters and to the reader. The author initially uses a case of mistaken identity between Tarzan and Brian Gregory but this plot device is soon abandoned. "Forbidden City" is a tale of treachery, deceit, greed,--and trust and love. The novel contains Burroughs' trademarks of capture and escape, unrequited love, and heroic deeds.
24. "Tarzan and the Jungle Murders" (1939/1965): As Tarzan walks along a forest trail, a note in Dango, the hyena’s, voice causes him to investigate. He finds a crashed Italian airplane surrounded by hyenas. Tarzan quickly disperses the beasts and finds the pilot dead in the cockpit, killed by a bullet through the throat.
25. "Tarzan and the Champion" (1939/1965): The heavyweight champion of the boxing world, a stupid mug (who was actually Joe Louis at time time) goes to Africa, shoots up a herd of zebra and elephants with a machine gun, gets punched-out by Tarzan, then captured with Tarzan by cannibals, and is finally rescued when Tarzan kills a lion in the middle of the village. Rather than a short story, one might think of this piece as a vignette about Tarzan’s place in American life at the end of the 1930’s. As such, it is a rich period piece--like a 15-minute radio play.
26. Tarzan and the Madman (1940/1964): Tarzan's 5 senses are developed far beyond ordinary men, as was his "sixth sense." Thus, he senses a safari before he comes upon it - 2 white men and a score or more of blacks. This group was met by 2 more whites and 4 canoe loads of natives -- they camp together. Safari 1 is led by Pellham Dutton and Bill Gantry, his guide and hunter. Safari 2 is led by Tom Crump, an ivory poacher known to Tarzan, and Ivan Minsky. Tarzan overhears that Dutton is looking for Sandra Pickerall whom "Tarzan" abducted. Sandra's father, Timothy, has put up a reward for her safe return and for Tarzan dead or alive.
27. "Tarzan and the Castaways" (1940/1965): Tarzan and the Castaways is a two-part story. The first part takes place on the high seas. It is a tale of prisoners in iron cages on the deck of a ship that reminds one of The Lad and the Lion, but it is a wonderful little story filled with humor. The second part takes place in a lost city of the Mayans in the middle of the South Seas.
28. Tarzan and "The Foreign Legion"(1944/1947): Colonel John Clayton of the RAF joins an American Liberator bomber on a recon and photograph mission over Sumatra. S/sgt. Joe "Datbum" Bubnovitch, S/sgt. Tony "Shrimp" Rosetti, and Capt. Jerry Lucas are members of the "Lovely Lady's" crew. The bomber is shot down. Clayton parachutes to safety and strips down to his accustomed jungle attire, loin cloth and knife. Lucas, Bubnovitch and Rosetti are the only other survivors.
29. "Unnamed Tarzan Novel" (1946, unfinished): This synopsis of events is based upon the famous ERB manuscript found in his safe after his death. The novel was "completed" by Joe R. Lansdale for Dark Horse as Tarzan:The Lost Adventure in December 1995. Synopsis: A safari of deserters accost a smaller safari of Eugene Hanson, Ph.D., and his daughter Jean. The bad whites are Gromovitch, a Russian and Blomberg. The Negroes are Woodrow Wilson Jones and an unnamed man. Gromovitch makes a pass a Jean, and her dad drops him with a punch. The bad guys take the Hanson food, guns and bearers.
Martian Series
1. A Princess of Mars (1911/1917): Although Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) is justifiably famous as the creator of Tarzan of the Apes, that uprooted Englishman was not his only popular hero. Burroughs's first sale (in 1912) was A Princess of Mars, opening the floodgates to one of the must successful--and prolific--literary careers in history. A Princess of Mars is the first adventure of John Carter, a Civil War veteran who unexpectedly find himself transplanted to the planet Mars. Yet this red planet is far more than a dusty, barren place; it's a fantasy world populated with giant green barbarians, beautiful maidens in distress, and weird flora and monstrous fauna the likes of which could only exist in the author's boundless imagination. Sheer escapism of the tallest order, the Martian novels are perfect entertainment for those who find Tarzan's fantastic adventures aren't, well, fantastic enough.
2. The Gods of Mars (1912/1918): John Carter returns to the red planet ten years after his Martian death in search of his wife, Princess Dejah Thoris. He joins forces with old comrades and forms new lifetime alliances as he battles hostile enemies, previously unknown to his people of Barsoom. His adventures reveal the truth about the Gods of Mars.
3. The Warlord of Mars (1913/1919): Far to the north, in the frozen wastes of Polar Mars, lay the home of the Holy Therns, sacred and inviolate. Only John Carter dared to go there to find his lost Dejah Thoris. But between him and his goal lay the bones of all who had gone before.
4. Thuvia, Maid of Mars (1914/1920): Carthoris falls in love with Thuvia, princess of Ptarth, who was rescued by John Carter from the Therns. Thuvia is stolen away by Astok, Prince of Dusar, Ptarth's rival. Carthoris follows her across Barsoom and rescues her, encountering some strange and fascinating creatures. Thuvia, unfortunately, is already betrothed to Kulan Tith, Jeddak of Kaol, ally of Helium.
5. The Chessmen of Mars (1921/1922): This book focuses on Tara of Helium, John Carter's daughter. Strange creatures who play deadly games of martian chess decide to use her in one of their live games. As always, Burroughs described everything with such clarity that you can nearly see it. Part of the "Barsoom" series, focusing on Tara, daughter of John Carter and Dejah Thoris. Tara meets Gahan, and Gahan falls in love with her. Tara is captured by the Kaldane. a species who eat humans as a food source. After a botched rescue attempt, Gaha and Tara must play against the Chessmen of Mars for their lives.
6. The Master Mind of Mars (1925/1928): Beginning with Captain Ulysses Paxton's miraculous transference from the Earth to Mars, you rush breathlessly from one adventure to another. Paction's arrival, his fight with a Martian warrior, his meeting with Ras Thavas, the 1000-year-old savant, his learning the secret of human immortality, his falling in love with a beautiful Martian maid, his heroic fight on her behalf, his meeting with the Warlord of Mars, and finally, his marriage with the lovely Valla Dia, after many sensational battles and escapes in strange lands, these are but a few of the thrills in store for you.
7. A Fighting Man of Mars (1929/1931): Originally published in six-parts in Blue Book Magazine, May to September 1930. It is an interesting and exciting novel filled with futuristic scientific inventions. There are five enemy cities or lands encountered in this tale with five wonderfully drawn villains: Xanator with the green men and white apes; Tjanath with Haj Osis and “The Death”; Ghasta with Ghron the “spider”; Jhama with Phor Tak the mad scientist; and U-Gor with the cannibals. It is a high adventure in the best tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs.
8. Swords of Mars (1933/1936): John Carter appears at ERB’s cabin in the White Mountains of Arizona with this first person tale of high adventure. Zodanga is a hotbed of assassins; Carter goes there in disguise to teach them a lesson.
9. Synthetic Men of Mars (1938/1940): John Carter desperately needed the aid of Barsoom's greatest scientist. But Ras Thavas was the prisoner of a nightmare army of his own creation -- half-humans who lived only for conquest. And in their hidden laboratory seethed a horror that could engulf all of Mars.
10. Llana of Gathol (1940/1948): This novel consists of four short stories, each numbering 13 chapters: “The City of Mummies” first published in “Amazing Stories,” March 1941. The working title was “The Frozen Men of Mars” and then “John Carter and the Pits of Horz.” (There are 13 divisions or chapters in each story.); “Black Pirates of Barsoom” first published in “Amazing Stories,” June 1941; “Yellow Men of Mars,” first published in “Amazing Stories,” August 1941. ERB’s title was “Escape on Mars.” “Invisible Men of Mars” first published in “Amazing Stories,” October 1941. The four stories were later published in hardback as “Llana of Gathol” by ERB, Inc., March 26, 1948.
11. "Skeleton Men of Jupiter" (1941/1964, included with "John Carter and the Giant of Mars" by John Coleman Burroughs in John Carter of Mars. ) "Skeleton Men of Jupiter" John Carter is called away from Dejah Thoris to Tardos Mors in the Hall of Jeddaks by an unknown guard. Perhaps he is from Zor, a recently conquered city. The red man who led Carter into this trap is U-Dan, formerly a padwar in the guard of Zu Tith, the Jed of Zor. He is in love with Vaja, a cousin of Multis Par, who has also disappeared. Multis Par is holding her captive on Sasoom, and U-Dan is bribed into helping him capture Carter in order to get her back. John Carter and the Giant of Mars John Carter & Dejah Thoris ride a single thoat through the lonely Helium Forest to inspect their kingdom. They are attacked by an arbok, a tree reptile, and Dejah disappears. The thoat has been killed by a bullet from an atom gun, so Carter runs home to find a ransom note. He is to give up the iron works of Helium to Pew Mogel in three days or Dejah will lose her fingers.
Pellucidar (Earth's Core) Series
1. At the Earth's Core (1913/1922): The author relates how, traveling in the Sahara desert, he encounters a remarkable vehicle and its pilot, David Innes, a man with a remarkable story to tell. David is a mining heir who finances the experimental "iron mole," an excavating vehicle designed by his elderly inventor friend Abner Perry. In a test run, they discover the vehicle cannot be turned, and it burrows 500 miles into the earth, emerging into an unknown interior world. It is a world of eternal daylight, prehistoric beasts and primitive people, the Pellucidar.
2. Pellucidar (1915/1923): David Innes searches for Dian, and they try to stop the exploitation of the primitive humans in the Stone Age world.
3. Tanar of Pellucidar (1928/1930) : The reptilian Mahars and their gorilla-like Sagoths have been driven beyond the boundaries of their Empire; however, they are now being attacked by a strange, savage race of white men, who are also attacking the Kingdom of Thuria in the Land of the Awful Shadow, which is led by Goork. Both races are begging help from David, who sends Tanar, son of Ghak to demand their departure. David follows with 10,000 warriors to relieve the Thurians, who are able to hold off the swarthy, bearded strangers, who fight with ancient harquebuses, by their superior modern firearms supplied to them by David and Perry.
4. Tarzan at the Earth's Core (1929/1930): A startling radio transmission summoned Tarzan to the savage land of Pellucidar, hidden deep inside the Earth. His challenge? Rescue a kidnapped emperor. But first he has to emerge victorious over titanic pterodactyls, fierce snake men, and other demonic creatures who hungered to destroy him.
5. Back to the Stone Age (1935/1937) The story is a flashback to the moment of the tiger-mammoth fight in Tarzan At The Earth’s Core. This time the focus is on Von Horst, and the reader is carried through his exploits up to and including the time of his discovery in the distant land of Lo-har by David Innes. By this time Von Horst has passed through a series of hair-raising perils raised by strange beasts and stranger men, has won the love of the beautiful La-ja of Lo-har, and has attained the chieftainship of La-ja’s tribe.”
6. Land of Terror (1939/1944): David and his band of Sarians are returning across Pellucidar from Lo-har to Sari on the shore of Lural Az. while crossing a river, they are attacked by bearded warriors in canoes. Although they have rifles, they are captured through the ruse of a smoke screen. The bearded men are really women who talk about men the way men sometimes talk about women in a comic role-reversal situation. The leader of the women is Gluck of the village of Oog. She wants the secret of the rifles.
7. Savage Pellucidar (1940,1944/1963): This Pellucidarian "novel" which consists of inter-linked novelettes as originally published in Amazing Stories in 1942: The Return to Pellucidar: David decides to go to Fash, the King of Suvi to remove him from the throne since he had once captured his mate, Dian the Beautiful. Men of the Bronze Age: O-aa thinks Blug has killed Hodon, so she runs away. Tiger Girl: David passes over Dian and Gamba sailing and lands at Tanga-tanga. Savage Pellucidar: David in search of Dian sails north on the Kosar Az while Hodon and his men sail south in search of O-aa.
Venus (Amtor) Series
1. Pirates of Venus (1931/1934): The novel can be read as a political satire aimed at communism or as a tale of adventure. ERB's communists, or Thorists as they are called in the book, start a revolution for their own good only, cheating the uneducated masses and killing or driving away the highly educated persons that should form the foundation of any sound society. But apart from the light satire, there are fantastic creatures, amazing landscapes, picturesque kingdoms with strange customs, a resourceful hero, and, of course, a beautiful and strong-willed princess.
2. Lost on Venus (1932/1935): Edgar Rice Burroughs's Lost on Venus (1933) continues the tale of Science Fiction's most famous Wrong-Way Corrigan. Carson Napier left the Earth in a spaceship intended to land on Mars and ended up on cloud-covered Venus by happy accident. The "happy" part is Carson did not vaporize in the Sun. The less happy part is that he fell madly in love with an unapproachable princess and had Hell to pay for his attentions.
3. Carson of Venus (1937/1939): Like the previous two novels in the series, Carson of Venus is quite as much political commentary as it is adventure romance. As such, it is in my opinion the most successful in the series. Here we find the Zani, a political faction that is a satire of Nazism (note that Zani is an anagram of Nazi). A few historical characters are also present in the text. The most obvious is the tyrant Mephis, who represents Hitler. Other characters that may be based on real persons, although not as obviously, are Spehon (Himmler) and Muso (Mussolini).
4. Escape on Venus (1940/1946): Burroughs' long-held belief in military strength and gentleman honor rings large in the Barsoom series, with this refrain also found in the Tarzan and Pellucidar stories. Yet, it is the incomplete Poloda series (Beyond the Farthest Star) and Escape on Venus which indicates the author had a reality check, one that was firmly addressed in Tarzan and "the Foreign Legion" as written in 1944. A long time presenter of honorable soldiers and mercenaries with a heart, Burroughs had a real change of heart during the writing of Carson of Venus.
5. "The Wizard of Venus" (1941; in Tales of Three Planets, 1964): One of the stories found in the company safe some fifteen years after Edgar Rice Burroughs' death, Wizard of Venus continues the longest romantic courtship between one of his more durable heroic couples. It took three novels before Carson and Duare became "an item" and even then they were separated for much of that book and the following "Escape on Venus." In this book, Carson uses the mystical (telepathic) training he received as a youth in India from the East Indian mystic Chand Kabi.
Western Stories
1. "For the Fool's Mother" (1912; in Forgotten Tales of Love and Murder, 2001): Burroughs' first western.
2. The Bandit of Hell's Bend (1923/1925): Bull, foreman of Elias Henders' ranch, falls off the wagon when Hal Colby gets him drunk. Feeling his oats, Bull goes to town and makes a fool of himself. Henders fires Bull. Afterwards, Bull is nearly murdered by Gum Smith, the evil sheriff.
3. The War Chief (1926/1927): A white baby is taken by Geronimo and raised as his own son. Follow the adventures of this heroic individual in the first of Burroughs' two Apache novels.
4. Apache Devil (1927/1933): A sequel to The War Chief, Shoz-Dijiji, the Black Bear, has lost his love, Ish-kay-nay, to death, killed his mortal enemy, Juh, the Apache, and does not understand his attraction to the white woman, Wichita Billings, he takes up the warpath as the Apache Devil. From ERBville Press.
5. The Deputy Sheriff of Comanche County (1930/1940): Buck Mason confronts Ole Gunderstrom regarding an 18 year old difference regarding a fence. Despite animosity over the land, young Mason inquires after Gunderstron's daughter, Olga they had grown up together as children. Ole is overly-protective of the girl currently attending school back east and threatens Mason. Mason rides off to his ranch, thinking of Olga, now twenty two, and realizing her eastern education left little opportunity for his uneducated affection.
"Realistic" Works
1. The Girl from Farris's (1916/1965) : "In ‘The Girl from Harris's' Ed adopts the role of social reformer, commenting bluntly and witheringly about the alliance, in Chicago, between certain vice interests, scheming politicians, and powerful real estate groups and property owners. In addition, through his portrait of a hypocritical clergyman he offers a caustic view of religious do-gooders and of society's narrowly puritanical standards. The novel is a partially autobiographic description of a broken businessman leaving Chicago for an Idaho ranch where he tries gold-mining.
2. The Efficiency Expert (1921/1966): Jimmy Torrence, after four years of college, is a star athlete, yet is aware of certain academic shortcomings. But helped by his best friends: a pickpocket studying to be a safe-cracker and a gorgeous little prostitute with a heart of gold, Jimmy joins the International Machine Company as an efficiency expert and uncovers a plot of corruption and crime.
3. The Girl from Hollywood (1922/1923): Eva, the Colonel's daughter, brings home Wilson Crumb, a Hollywood movie director. She has invited him to the ranch to scout locations. Custer doesn't approve of this nor does Guy, who thinks they will use I.W.W. riffraff on the job.
4. Marcia of the Doorstep (1924/1999): Marcus Aurelius Sackett, an actor of the old school threatens to quit his job at the theater when he is asked to play the part of “Dr. Pip “ in “Oh Rats!” a problem play of the day, 1906. He returns to his home and wife, Clara, who is also an actress, and a girl baby is left on their doorstep.They decide to keep her, and name her Marcia Aurelia Sackett.
5. You Lucky Girl (play) (1927/1999): You Lucky Girl! was first published in 2000 by Donald Grant Books and is one of the few remaining unpublished manscripts penned by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The play was discovered in the company safe some 15 years after his death in 1950. You Lucky Girl! is believed by some to have been written for Burroughs' daughter Joan in support of her desire to work on-stage or in film. She did, in fact, work in radio with her husband Jim Pierce in the Tarzan series
Science Fiction, Fantasy, Adventure, and Miscellaneous Works (in approximate order of writing)
1. Minidoka: 937th Earl of One Mile (1905?/1998): Minidoka is a whimsical fantasy in the tradition of Jonathan Swift`s Gulliver`s Travels and Lewis Carroll`s The Hunting of the Snark.
2. "Jonathan's Patience" (date unknown; in Forgotten Tales of Love and Murder, 2001): or How Fortune Came Through Faith, A Sunday School story.
3. "The Avenger" (1912; in Forgotten Tales of Love and Murder, 2001): A dark, violent story of revenge.
4. The Outlaw of Torn, 1912/1927; Henry III of England insults Sir Jules de Vac, who takes his vengeance by kidnapping young Prince Richard, a figure, Burroughs points out, who has been lost to the pages of history. As Norman, the Outlaw of Torn, the young man becomes the greatest swordsman in England and a fearless outlaw with a price upon his head who raises an army loyal only to him. Of course, although he is ignorant of his noble birth, he is drawn to the lovely Bertrade de Montfort, daughter of the King's brother-in-law, the Earl of Leicester. This romance fits in nicely with the plans of de Vac, who contrives situations for the king to be responsible for killing his own son.
5. The Monster Men (1913/1929): Doctor Maxon discovers the secret of how to create human life. As Number Thirteen, the last and best of Professor Maxon's attempts to create human life, roams the jungles of an island off the coast of Borneo, only Maxon's daughter, Virginia, knows of the creature's kind heart.
6. The Cave Girl (1913 & 1914/1925): A great wave washes Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones from the deck of a steamer. Fate deposits him on the beach of a jungle-edged shore. A Boston intellectual, Waldo, who is emaciated and in poor health, is terrified of the shadows, especially at night. He meets up with a naked cave girl and saves her from a group of savages. Reaching a secluded valley, Waldo learns swimming, woodcraft, tolerance for nudity, and language
7. The Eternal Lover (1913 & 1914/1925; aka The Eternal Savage) : Alarmed by an earthquake, Nu runs into Oo's cave but is buried alive by the collapse of the cave entrance. That was a hundred thousand years ago. Victoria Custer, sister of Barney Custer, is afraid of earthquakes. She and Barney are visiting Lord and Lady Greystoke at their African estate. Another earthquake opens the cave in which Nu was trapped and he wakes to a changed world.
8. The Mad King (1913 & 1914/1926): Regent Peter of Blentz has sequestered Leopold, the old king's mentally unbalanced son who escapes. Plans to swiftly recapture Leopold are entrusted to Captain Maenck. American Barney Custer is touring the homeland of his mother. He sees a placard regarding the mad king at a stop to fuel his automobile. A young girl on a runaway horse passes the auto on the treacherous road . Risking life and limb Barney rescues the woman, but loses the animal, car, and himself over the edge of a ravine. Uninjured, he climbs up the embankment to humorously introduce himself as "...the mad king of Lutha."
9. "The Man-Eater" (1915; in Beyond Thirty and The Man-Eater, 1957): Jefferson Scott marries Ruth in Africa. A year later, they have a daughter, Virginia, but Jefferson is killed in an attack. Ruth goes back to Virginia with her daughter. The elder Scott takes cares for his daughter-in-law and grandchild for 19 years. When Old Jefferson Scott dies, Scott Taylor, his nephew, claims that Virginia’s birth is illegitimate. Mrs. Scott writes to Gordon, who witnessed the marriage, but he has died two years previously. Dick Gordon, his son, gets Ruth’s letter, and implusively books passage to Mombasa to look for the marriage certificate.
10. "Beyond Thirty" (1915; in Beyond Thirty and The Man-Eater; aka The Lost Continent)
The year is 2137, over 160 years ago the "Great War" was fought in Europe. The Western Hemisphere stayed out of the conflict, as much as possible, using the slogan: "The East for the East...The West for the West". For all this time the USA did not go past 30 degrees or 175 degrees latitude. Until... The aero-submarine, "Coldwater" in command of Lieutenant Jefferson Turck is blown past the 30 in a raging storm. Damaged, the ship landed in Europe only to find that it was not the enemy that was expected but something entirely different. While sailing, a sudden storm brings Jefferson Turck to an England that has been destroyed after two hundred years of isolation.
11. "The Rider" (1915; in The Oakdale Affair and The Rider, 1937): Karlova and Margoth had been enemies for centuries-and now they were about to join in peaceful alliance through the marriage of Princess Mary and Prince Boris. But the Rider, the most successful highwayman ever to plague the two countries, secretly became part of the royal wedding plans. From then on, nothing went according to schedule. Who was his mysterious brigand? What could he gain by sabotaging the two nations' only chance for peace?
12. The Mucker (1913, including "The Return of the Mucker" 1916/book 1921): The Mucker: Billy Byrne is raised in Chicago's West Side among low-life men, muckers. At 17 he rides the pugilistic success of a neighbor in learning the game and takes up irregular work at Larry Hilmore's boxing academy. Later, travelling to San Francisco, he is kidnapped by sailors. Although beaten and tortured in the beginning, he soon earns the sailors' respect by his ability to handle himself in fights with them. The Return of the Mucker: Billy Byrne was coming home. He had left under a cloud and with a reputation for rowdyism that has seen few parallels even in the ungentle district. A girl had changed him. Billy had loved her and learned from her, and in trying to become more as he knew the men of her class were he had sloughed off much of the uncouthness that had always been a part of him, and all of the rowdyism. Billy Byrne was no longer the mucker.
13. "The Oakdale Affair" (1917; in The Oakdale Affair and The Rider, 1937): Gail Prim runs away from home, taking with her her jewels and some money. She joins a band of tramps and poses as a noted criminal. Her father believes that she has been kidnapped by the thieves who robbed her jewel case. The story ends with Gail in jail after many thrilling adventures. Her father comes and easily proves her innocence of any crime, and she returns home.
14. "The Little Door" (1917; in Forgotten Tales of Love and Murder, 2001):"The Little Door... developed a theme of hatred and revenge against the Germans. It is Burroughs' most violent and bloodthirsty story of the anti-German type. The victorious Germans, invading a small French village, force their way into a home where the young girl Jeanne and her father live. Innocent and childlike, "her life had been one of kindliness and love," and she had no knowledge of evil. It remained for the Germans to teach her about terror and death. ... (She) lures German officers through the little door into the chamber of doom. (After her lover returns from battle) the mystery of the room from which no German ever emerges is solved."
15. The Land that Time Forgot (includes "The Land that Time Forgot," 1917; "The People that Time Forgot," 1918; and "Out of Time's Abyss," 1918; book, 1924) The Land that Time Forgot: Follows the adventures of Bowen Tyler, an American shipbuilder captured by Germans in 1916, along with some British seamen and and American woman, Lys La Rue, who is engaged to Baron von Schoenvorts, captain of the U-boat that sinks their ships and takes them all prisoner. The Germans, British, and Americans discover Caspak and learn to survive there. Tyler writes about their experiences in a diary that he eventually casts into the sea. The People that Time Forgot: Tom Billings, a long-time friend to Bowen Tyler, comes into possession of Tyler's manuscript and mounts an expedition to rescue Tyler, Lys La Rue, and the British sailors. Billings gets swept up into the higher politics of Caspak's more advanced peoples as he searches for Bowen Tyler. Out of Time's Abyss: Bradley, one of the British seamen captured with Bowen Tyler, leads an expedition in search of a way out of Caspak. They are cut off from the main party and Bradley finds himself exploring the most dangerous regions of Caspak before he finally is reunited with Bowen Tyler and his shipmates.
16. "Beware!" (1922; aka "The Scientists' Revolt"): Late in the twenty-first century, all of Europe became involved in a war from which emerged a scientific power that ruled the whole continent. . . ." The Science Rule was benevolent, though it could not predict the calamity of automation on the lives of humans.
17. The Moon Maid (includes "The Moon Maid," 1922; "The Moon Men," 1917 & 1922; "The Red Hawk," 1925; book, 1926) Moon Maid: A manned spaceship headed for Mars is forced to crash land on the moon, and the stranded travelers discover a fantastic world beneath the craters where winged women soar among the decaying remnants of ancient civilizations. Moon Men: Through the treason of a handful of men, contact between Earth and the Moon had become a nightmare. The world became the tool of the Lunarians, whose plundering and cruelty reduced thriving nations to poverty-stricken wastelands. The Moon Men is the story of that tragedy, and of the exploits of Julian, the human who dared fight for freedom. It is the story, also, of Red Hawk, Julian's descendant, the nomad who attempted to bring the struggle to its final desperate conclusion. Red Hawk: Julian 20th, the Red Hawk, tells his own story. The year is 2430. The revolution started three hundred years ago by Julian 9th has driven the Kalkars to the western edge of the continent. For the last one hundred years they have held the pass, probably Cajon Pass, that leads down the mountains to their last stronghold. Julian announces to the council that they will take everything and everyone with them. This will be the final battle - win or lose - there is no coming back.
18. Jungle Girl (aka The Land of Hidden Men 1929/1932): Gordon King, a young American doctor in Cambodia to study strange maladies, decided to explore, looking for Khmer ruins. He lost his way and realized that he had traveled in a circle. He was physically exhausted, hungry, and almost out of water. On the eighth morning, he awoke with chills and fever. He was rescued by Vay Thon, high priest of the temple of Siva in the city of Lodidhapura. Later, in the jungle, he meets and rescues a Cambodian girl Fou-tan, who was escaping from Lodidhapura.
19. "Calling All Cars" (1931; in Forgotten Tales of Love and Murder, 2001): Murder and romance in the hills of Los Angeles.
20. "Pirate Blood," (1932, in The Wizard of Venus, 1970): The "hero" of Pirate Blood is descended from Jean LaFitte, the corsair of the Gulf of Mexico. Johnny LaFitte of Glenora, California is offered by the author as an example of heredity vs. environment–and that "bad genes" will ultimately prevail lacking a proper environment. Burroughs may have intended to revise and expand entire sections, most especially Johnny LaFitte's second year on the Vulture's island. It is during this period that LaFitte and La Diablesa, the Vulture's unwilling mistress, embark upon their secret love affair.
21. "Elmer" (1936; in Forgotten Tales of Love and Murder, 2001; aka "The Resurrection of Jimber-Jaw," in Tales of Three Planets, 1964): A defrosted caveman comes to Hollywood.
22. The Lad and the Lion (1914 & 1937/1938): Prince Michael is the subject of villainous plotters. The old king, his grandfather, goes riding and is killed. The ship upon which Prince Michael escapes founders in a hurricane. He is rescued by a crazy old man on a derelict steamer, who beats him, then falls into an epileptic fit. The lad sees a lion in a cage on the deck. But his memory is totally gone. “He did not know that the creature in the cage was a lion, or that the other upon the deck was a man, or that he himself was a boy.” He pets the lion, and the lion purrs.
23. "Mr. Doak Flies South" (1938)
24. "Angel's Serenade" (1939)
25. "The Strange Adventure of Mr. Dinnwiddie" (1940; in Forgotten Tales of Love and Murder, 2001): Humor, seduction, and intrigue aboard an ocean liner bound for Hawaii.
26. "Beyond the Farthest Star" (1940; in Tales of Three Planets, 1964): Beyond the Farthest Star is a two part novel, actually two novellas put together: “Adventure on Poloda” and “Tangor Returns.” Burroughs probably intended the series to be a multi-part saga, but his death in 1950 stopped the mysterious typewriter messages from Tangor, so that no one has ever found out how the American airman managed to activate it all the way from Poloda in the first place. John Carter-like, Tangor was a warrior who was mysteriously transported to another world after his apparent death, this time in World War II. He never found out how he got there, but he found on Poloda another world at war, a world which he adopted and went to war for. The events of the first story took place from September 1939 to January 1940, and those of the second from January to autumn of 1940.
27. "Tangor Returns" (1940; in Tales of Three Planets, 1964): See above.
28. "Misogynists Preferred" (1941; in Forgotten Tales of Love and Murder, 2001): Shows what happens when a gaggle of woman-hating men meets a covey of man-hating women.
29. "Uncle Miner and Other Relatives" (1941)
30. I am a Barbarian (1941/1967): The main character, son of a chief of the Britons made captive by the Romans, becomes the personal slave and companion to a four-year-old boy whom he calls 'Little Boots.' Only ten himself, Britannicus soon realizes that he is serving the grandnephew of the emperor, one who bore a name that would be indelibly recorded on the pages of history -- Caligula"
31. "More Fun! More People Killed" (1943; aka "Night of Terror")
32. "Uncle Bill" (1944; in Forgotten Tales of Love and Murder, 2001): A tale of horror in everyday life.
For chapter by chapter summaries of the entire ERB ouvre, got to: http://www.erblist.com/
OR
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