WORLDS OF EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS EDITED BY MIKE RESNICK AND ROBERT T. GARCIA

Copyright 2013 except The Forgotten Seas of Mars 1965.

TARZAN AND THE GREAT WAR by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Tarzan is in the Kasbah looking for leads to his wife Jane who was taken by Germans. After meeting a man who had no information he is contacted by French intelligence. They want to use him in exposing a group of traitors selling secrets to the Germans. Soon after the head of intelligence is murdered and Tarzan is battling the traitors with the help of an Englishman who had come to strip Tarzan of his title and fortune for the war effort.

THE FALLEN A TALE OF PELLUCIDAR by Mercedes Lackey

A story told by Mok who is an intelligent Sagoth in the service of David Innes. Mok was experimented on by the Mahars and is the only intelligent Sagoth. While visiting Kolk the king of Thuria in the Land of Awful Shadow a woman with wings falls from the sky. She is an inhabitant of the Dead World. Her people are under attack by the Mahars who have fled to the moon after being defeated. Mok is the only one who can communicate with her since she uses the same language as the Mahars. They have an adventure with a storm and hostile island natives. The woman falls in love with the kings son.

SCORPION MEN OF VENUS by Richard A. Lupoff

Carson and Duare are under attack by scorpion men and flying snakes when they are rescued by a mysterious flying ship. It takes them to a complex run by Dr. Bodog and his daughter and son. Bodog comes from Earth and the continent that sank in the Pacific ocean centuries ago. He is also insane and plans to take over the Earth. He goes back with Carson and his daughter who Carson has fallen in love with and land in Los Angeles during a football game.

THE FORGOTTEN SEA OF MARS by Mike Resnick

The writer is in an Arizona cabin that was used by Edgar Rice Burroughs. He meets John Carter and convinces him to tell the story after he defeated Hin Abtol. So Carter starts the search for Tan Hadron who disappeared when mutineers took him. From criminals in Zodanga he learns of another underground sea at the north pole. In the city of Ayathor he finds Hin Abtol continuing his plans of world conquest with another large army of men frozen. He finds Tan Hadron and with another rebel manage to overthrow him.

APACHE LAWMAN by Ralph Roberts

Shoz-Djiji the Apache Devil has settled down in the white man’s world. He manages the ranch of his love Wichita Billings. One day Marshal Fast Sam Dawson comes and offers Shoz a job as a deputy sheriff. Seems another renegade Apache has learned from the white-eyes and plans to take over the territorial government. He manages to stop his plans.

MOON MAID OVER MANHATTAN by Peter David

The story of Nah-ee-lah when she came to Earth. At first she is a celebrity and hounded by the press. Later the Kalkars those commie moon men invade. When her husband dies while killing Orthis she and her young son hide out in Canada. They are pursued by Orthis’s woman and her son for revenge.

TARZAN AND THE MARTIAN INVADERS by Kevin J. Anderson and Sarah A. Hoyt

Tarzan is at his English manor when he comes across writing from his ancestor who sailed with Drake. He finds out that Martians are coming to invade in Africa where he was born and raised. He goes back and gathers the apes and other animals to fight these tentacled invaders who can control the minds of men.

THE TWO BILLYS A MUCKER STORY by Max Allan Collins and Matthew Clemens

Billy Byrne has made the ultimate sacrifice by leaving his love Barbara Harding. He soon after gets a message from her that her fiance was kidnapped. So Billy goes off into the Chicago underworld to get him back.

TO THE NEAREST PLANET as told to Todd McCaffrey

The author buys an old typewriter and Edgar Rice Burroughs used. It starts typing and tells the story of Tangor and his trip from Poloda to find another world free of Kapars. The first world they come to Tonos. This world was destroyed in a war and now run by a computer. The remaining people are dying off until he educates them on how to run the machines on the world.

THE DEAD WORLD as related by David Innes to F. Paul Wilson via Gridley wave

David Innes is visiting Thuria when a meteor strikes. It releases a deadly spore that soon takes over the Land of Awful Shadow and starts spewing poisonous gas. David with Perry and Koort the young son of the king of Thuria go by balloon to the Dead World. They find out that the moon is really an artificial ship created by ancient aliens that created Pellucidar. Now they are returning and terraforming Pellucidar. David and friend have to battle cleaning robots to stop the plan.

TARZAN AND THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT by Joe R. Lansdale

Tarzan is coming back from Pellucidar in the O-220 when a story blows the ship to the southern hemisphere and crashes into the ocean. The only survivors are Tarzan, Captain Zuppner and a young Pellucidarian girl named Zamona. The make it to Caspak and battle cannibals that fly pterodactyls. Zuppner and Zamona decide to stay as Tarzan searches for a way home.

This was a cool idea for an anthology. Getting a bunch of writer together and put out stories from the worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs. They manage to cover all the base with not only Tarzan and John Carter but Pellucidar and Venus. They also get stories from Burrough’s lesser know works like the Moon Men, Apache Devil the Mucker and Caspak. They even had the continuing story from Beyond the Farthest Star. Many of the writers did a good job of emulating Burroughs. Even using the various first person narratives. Some like the martian invaders or the second Pellucidar story did not feel like something Burroughs would have written but were still entertaining.

The only story I didn’t care for was Lupoff’s Carson story. It was very un-Burroughs like to have Carson and Duare so quickly fall out of love. The romance that Burroughs wrote was one of the strong points to his writing and he just casually has them switch partners. It also just ended like it was only halfway through the story. I suppose there might be a continuation but I found it a complete waste of time. In spite of this story the others made this book a worthy effort.

THE OAKDALE AFFAIR BY EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS

A thief breaks into the home of Jonas Prim the president of the Oakdale bank and cleans out the safe of money and jewelry. He then goes out and meets a group of hobos. The hobos with such names as Dopey Charlie, Soup Face, Dirty Eddie and the Sky Pilot. This bunch is a tough lot and the boy tries to get into their good graces by calling himself the Oskaloosa kid and showing his stolen loot. This was not a good idea as the hobos try to murder him for the money.

The kid flees and runs into Bridge the poetic tramp that was the Muckers companion in the last book. Bridge has to save him from the hobos plus a private detective and a lynch mob. The man the kid stole from has his daughter Abigail missing and another man murdered. Throw in a traveling gypsy and her trained bear and you have one adventurous night. The ending come with a whole pile of coincidences and one revelation that was totally out there.

This book is a hard one to write a short coherent review. It is short but the story is written as all plot and action. There is almost no description or character thought so it takes a while for the reader to figure out what is going on. It is an interesting story that I think any fan of Burroughs will enjoy. The ending was a complete surprise that I never saw coming.

THE RETURN OF THE MUCKER BY EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS

The second book finds Billy Byrne back in Chicago hoping to start a new life. Unfortunately his old life comes back to haunt him. An old acquaintance turns him in to the police for he is still wanted for murder and quickly arrested. He escapes and goes on the run. He meets a hobo named Bridge who sprouts poetry. The two head off down to Mexico.

Mexico during this time is in the midst of a civil war. Gringos are not popular but Byrne fall in with a rebel general bandit named Pesita. Bridge goes to work on an American owned ranch that is owned by Barbara’s father. Barbara is down there with him after breaking off her engagement. Eventually she gets kidnapped and Byrne has to rescue her. The two then work out their differences and end up happily married.

The sequel to the first Mucker book is not that good as the first. It does tie up the loose end of Byrne’s and Barbara’s romance so it is crucial for the whole Mucker story arc.

THE MUCKER BY EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS

Billy Byrne is a product of the slums of Chicago. He has made his way in life though various petty crimes and larceny. One day he is unjustly framed for a murder he didn’t commit and flees to San Francisco. There he is drugged and shanghaied on the ship the Halfmoon.The ship is on a mission to kidnap the daughter of a wealthy businessman for ransom.

Billy beats up the daughter Barbara’s suitor Billy Mallory in a brutal manner. He expects that Barbara will cower in fear but she confronts him and calls him a coward. Now Byrne has always prided himself on his brutality as a sign of strength. He now starts to question his beliefs. Slowly he decides to change and also falls in love with Barbara.

A storm shipwrecks the ship on an island inhabited by descends of medieval Japanese samurai who have intermarried with the local headhunters. The tribe forms a hybrid of the two cultures. Byrne and the survivors have adventures among the inhabitants and he starts to exhibit more noble qualities. Barbara comes to love him and Byrne seems to sacrifice himself to rescue her fiancé. Barbara and the others are rescued and leave Byrne thinking that he is dead.

Months later Billy is rescued and finds his way back to Chicago. He cleans his act up and becomes a boxer with serious potential. He reads that Barbara is engaged to Mallory and goes to New York. Barbara is willing to break off the engagement for him but Billy decides he could never fit in her world and encourages her to marry Mallory.

This is one of Burrough’s books that are held in high esteem by fans. I can see why. It has pirates and savage, mysterious civilizations on a strange island. The main feature of this book is the protagonist Billy Byrne. He is not the usually well bred and educated man that are the staple of Burrough’s stories. He is an uneducated thug that speaks with heavy slang. He will hit a person while he isn’t looking and kick him while he’s down. He grows to eventually see that life can offer more and falls in love. There was a lot of character development in this story which is something is usually lacking in Burrough’s books.