Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs

WORLDS OF EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS, edited by Mike Resnick and Robert T. Garcia, Baen Books, $15, ISBN: 9781451639353, reviewed by Barry Hunter.

There is a lot to be said about Edgar Rice Burroughs. He was the creator of Tarzan and John Carter and a host of other characters that have filled a plethora of books and have been read by generations and now are into their second century of readership. This wonderful volume of stories should only add to the popularity of his creations.

Kristine Kathyrn Rusch gives a story of “Tarzan and the Great War” that takes place in Algiers while Tarzan was searching for Jane after the Germans had burned the plantation and kidnapped her. Mercedes Lackey gives a tale of Pellucidar and girl who has fallen from the moon. “The Forgotten Sea of Mars” is a reprint from ERBdom in 1963 by Mike Resnick that is extremely hard to find.

Richard A. Lupoff writes about the “Scorpion Men of Venus,” Ralph Roberts takes us out west with “Apache Lawman”, Peter David tells us of “Moon Maid Over Manhattan”, Todd McCaffrey returns us to Poloda with a new adventure of Tangor, Kevin Anderson & Sarah Hoyt channel H. G. Wells and Burroughs in “Tarzan and the Martian Invaders”, while Max Allan Collins & Matthew Clemens return us the Chicago of The Mucker.

Kudos go to F. Paul Wilson for his different take on Pellucidar in “The Dead World” – related by David Innes via Gridley Wave and Joe Lansdale gives us a lost adventure of “Tarzan and the Land That Time Forgot”.

Each of the writers involved in this project deserve credit for showing the spirit of Burroughs and doing credit to his creations. There are more lands that could be explored in another anthology of this caliber. I don’t know if there is a volume two in our future, but I would love to see it.

Thanks to Baen and all the fantastic writers who made me feel like a teenager again as I was able to revisit with a bunch of old friends.