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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when the lord of the jungle enters a world where night never falls and reptiles rule?
A radio call draws Jason Gridley toward Pellucidar, a hidden world inside the hollow Earth. David Innes, an American adventurer and leader there, needs help. Gridley turns to Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, for a rescue that takes the ape-man far beyond his African forests. Skill and nerve matter more than familiar ground.
In Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Tarzan at the Earth's Core, the horizon curves upward and ancient beasts threaten the expedition. The Mahars, intelligent flying reptiles, rule much of this inner land, with fierce Sagoth soldiers enforcing their power. When events divide the party, the travelers must face danger apart. Loyalty gives them a reason to keep going.
What you’ll discover
- A world without night Enter Pellucidar, where an upward-curving horizon makes even the landscape feel strange.
- Tarzan beyond the jungle Follow the ape-man into unfamiliar country that demands his skill and nerve.
- Monsters with power Meet the Mahars and their Sagoth soldiers, whose rule makes humans lesser creatures.
- Friendship worth the danger Discover a rescue driven by the refusal to abandon friends, however far away.
- Danger at every turn Short chapters and perilous encounters keep the story close to the action.
Who will love it
Readers who love lost worlds, prehistoric monsters and airship voyages will feel at home here, and so will fans of Tarzan.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Trust turns a plan into action
- Wonder can hide immediate danger
- Fair play builds an unlikely friendship
- Pride interrupts a growing bond
- Captives need one another to survive
- Freedom from clocks has a cost
- Character matters more than civilized appearances
- Separate journeys keep rescue close
- Kindness holds the scattered adventure together
Who’s who
- TarzanThe ape-man and Lord Greystoke, who leads the expedition into Pellucidar and is soon lost and alone among strange tribes.
- Jason GridleyA young American from Southern California who hears radio messages from the inner world and organizes the rescue of its emperor.
- JanaThe Red Flower of Zoram, a proud mountain girl who fears the lowland men who steal women and trusts no one easily.
- ThoarA warrior of Zoram and Jana's brother, who hunts with Tarzan and follows the tracks of his lost sister.
- Tar-gashA Sagoth bull, a hairy man of Pellucidar, who becomes Tarzan's loyal companion after a lucky act of fair play.
- Captain ZuppnerThe captain of the airship O-220, who must keep his ship and crew safe while he searches for the missing.
- MuviroChief of the Waziri warriors, a skilled tracker who is loyal to Tarzan and lost with his men in the great forest.
- Robert JonesThe ship's cook from Alabama, who trusts his rabbit's foot and cannot make sense of a sun that never moves.
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Tarzan at the Earth's Core
by Edgar Rice Burroughs · 1930
A giant airship sails to the North Pole to find a hollow world and rescue an emperor from a dungeon.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“Only a man may go where The Red Flower of Zoram goes.”
In short
What would you do if a stranger walked out of the African forest and told you the Earth is hollow, with an emperor rotting in a dungeon on its inner surface? That is the offer Jason Gridley, a young American, brings to Tarzan of the Apes.
Tarzan at the Earth's Core at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 55 min3 h 55 min fast, 5 h 55 min slow
- Length
- 70,800 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1930by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A young American brings Tarzan a wild plan
The story opens in the African forest, where Tarzan senses a safari before he sees it. He drops onto the trail and meets Jason Gridley, who has crossed half the world to find him. Gridley admits his tale will sound mad.
He has talked by radio with Abner Perry, an inventor living in Pellucidar. Perry's last news was that David Innes, the emperor there, sits in a dark dungeon in the land of the Korsars. Gridley lists his clues: warm Arctic winds, drifting leafy branches, and northern lights that could be rays from an inner sun.
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Details
- First published
- 1930
- Language
- English
- Level
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Cite this edition
Burroughs, Edgar Rice. Tarzan at the Earth's Core. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/tarzan-at-the-earths-core.
Burroughs, E. R. (2026). Tarzan at the Earth's core. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tarzan-at-the-earths-core (Original work published 1930)
Burroughs, Edgar Rice. Tarzan at the Earth's Core. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tarzan-at-the-earths-core.
@book{burroughs2026tarzan,
author = {Burroughs, Edgar Rice},
title = {Tarzan at the Earth's Core},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tarzan-at-the-earths-core},
note = {First published 1930}
}
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What is Tarzan at the Earth's Core about?
Tarzan joins Jason Gridley on an airship expedition to the North Pole, entering the hollow world of Pellucidar to rescue its emperor, David Innes. The party is scattered among prehistoric beasts, strange tribes and pirates.
Who is Jana, the Red Flower of Zoram?
Jana is a mountain girl from the land of Zoram, famed for her beauty and fierce independence. She flees the lowland men of Pheli, meets Jason Gridley, and teaches him her language as they travel.
What is Pellucidar and why is there no time there?
Pellucidar is the world on the inner surface of the hollow Earth. Its small sun hangs always at the top of the sky, so there is no night, no horizon and no way to measure the hours.
The author
Edgar Rice Burroughs
1875–1950 · American adventure novelist
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American writer born in Chicago in 1875. He wrote novels about Tarzan and novels set on Mars. His first Mars story appeared in 1912 and became the book A Princess of Mars in 1917. He later lived in California and died in Encino in 1950.
“Only a man may go where The Red Flower of Zoram goes.”
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