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Caspak #2
The People That Time Forgot
Book by Rice Burroughs, Edgar
160 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1918
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1279 people want to read
About the author
Edgar Rice Burroughs
2,701 books2,752 followersEdgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.
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June 15, 2022
Edgar Rice Burroughs' first book in his now-classic Caspak trilogy, entitled "The Land That Time Forgot," was a truly excellent introduction to the series, giving the reader a tantalizing glimpse at the wonder-filled island of Caprona, in the extreme South Pacific, while yet holding up its sleeve the answers to many of our questions. Fortunately, in Book 2, "The People That Time Forgot," we get a much more in-depth look at the island--in a geographical area that Book 1 had not touched on--and from a fresh POV. And while not all of the island's mysteries are resolved by the end of Book 2, we yet come away with a much greater knowledge of this 20th century hellhole, where Jurassic monstrosities reign and seven distinct varieties of man, each in a discrete but progressing evolutionary stage, contend with one another.
"The People That Time Forgot," like its predecessor, first saw the light of day in the pages of "The Blue Book Magazine." Book 1 had appeared in the August 1918 issue (cover price: 15 cents), and Book 2 would appear two months later, in October. (The September issue, by the way, had seen the magazine's cover price jump to 20 cents, but customers still got a solid 192 pages of fine literary product for their two dimes; surely, not a bad investment!) Book 3, "Out of Time's Abyss," would be released in the December issue, and in 1924, Burroughs saw his vision of the three installments comprising a single novel realized when A. C. McClurg, a Chicago-based publisher, released the trilogy in one hardcover volume. Today, the three novellas (which really should be read sequentially and in tandem) can be purchased separately or in one volume, but the edition that I was fortunate enough to acquire, the 1999 release from Bison Books, is, I feel, the way to go. Featuring a scholarly intro by Mike Resnick, several useful glossaries, artwork by the famed Burroughs illustrator J. Allen St. John, and a map of Caspak (the natives' word for the interior of Caprona) drawn by ERB himself in 1917, this might very well be the definitive volume of this truly wonderful trilogy; I mean, series; I mean, novel.
In Book 1, you may recall, the American would-be WW1 airman Bowen Tyler, Jr. and his faithful Airedale terrier Nobs, as well as the beautiful American fiancée Lys La Rue, had been stranded on the high seas after the sinking of their transport ship by the German submarine designated U-33. They'd been picked up by a British tug that would soon also be sunk by the U-33, but not before the English sailors and Tyler had stormed the sub and captured it. A saboteur on board had wrecked the sub's navigational equipment, however, with the result that the U-boat had somehow blundered into the Pacific, found itself at Caprona, and made its way into the heart of the Mesozoic world. By the end of Book 1, those rascally Germans had managed to refuel the sub and had secretly departed; Bradley, Tyler's second-in-command, had led an exploratory expedition that had never been seen again; and Bowen himself, following a self-conducted wedding to Lys, had placed his written account of the crew's adventures into a bottle, thrown it into the sea, and hoped for the best.
As Book 2 commences, we learn that not only had Bowen's missive been found (by a man in southern Greenland, as revealed in Book 1), but that a rescue mission is about to be instituted. Leading this expedition is Thomas Billings, who had been a fellow student with Tyler and who had, until recently, been the personal secretary of Tyler's father, who dies suddenly as Book 2 begins. Billings, thus, takes his former employer's yacht, the Toreador, with a crew of 40 men, and endeavors to find the legendary island, which he actually manages to do fairly easily. Although the island's surrounding rampart cliffs pose an almost insurmountable problem (the U-33 had entered the island by means of a subterranean tunnel), Billings has come prepared with a one-man hydroplane, with which he flies over the barrier and begins to explore. But trouble arises fairly quickly, when run-ins with several pterodactyl types cause his plane to crash into the upper branches of a tree, wrecking it completely. Now marooned by himself in a land of ubiquitous prehistoric monsters and protomen, Billings must work his way a good 300 miles north and then west, to get close to the position of the Toreador on the island's other side.
During his great adventure on Caprona, Billings is fortunate enough to encounter a young woman named Ajor, of the island's most highly evolved Galu people. Ajor is also endeavoring to make the long trek to her homeland in the north, and so the two travel together, with each of them saving the life of the other on more than one occasion. They are captured by the peoples of both the Band-lu (spear-men) and the more highly evolved Kro-lu (bow-and-arrow-men), managing to barely escape and picking up some allies en route. While traveling, Ajor tells the story of how her people live in constant fear of a winged race of men, the Wieroo, who live on the northern island of Caprona's Great Inland Lake. She tells Billings that one of the Galu men, the renegade Du-seen, has, against all precedent, entered into an agreement with both the Kro-lu and the Wieroo themselves to topple Ajor's father, the chieftain Jor, from power. And Billings, as might be expected, naturally and inevitably becomes embroiled in this intrigue, all the while holding himself back from falling in love with the lovely barbarian girl by his side....
As had been the case with Book 1, which seemed to be more concerned with Caprona as an entity itself, "The People That Time Forgot" is a well-titled affair, focusing as it does on the seven various evolutionary groups that populate the island. Besides the three groups just mentioned, Billings also encounters (in ascending evolutionary status, as he travels north) the Alus (speechless-men who are just a little higher than the ape), the Bo-lus (club-men), and the Sto-lus (hatchet-men); everything but the lowest order, the Ho-lus (apes). We learn a lot about the various peoples in this book, especially those three highest orders, and even a little more of the manner in which each individual evolves, before leaving his/her current group and migrating north to his/her new, more highly evolved tribe. Indeed, the fact that we do learn a lot more about Caspak in this book is probably its single greatest selling point, and exploring another huge section of the island (the eastern side, as opposed to Book 1's western side), and from a different set of eyes, keeps things fresh and interesting. Billings, unsurprisingly, makes for a very ingratiating narrator, and although he at one point confesses that he is not a "writer-fellow," he yet does a wonderful job at telling us his remarkable story. And just as Tyler's former experience as a worker in his father's submarine factory had served him in good stead during the high-seas action of Book 1, Billings' earlier career as a "cowpuncher" and outdoorsman serves him well here, when it comes to survival skills, lassoing, skinning animals, shooting and so on. Interestingly, whereas in Book 1 Tyler had fallen in love almost instantly with a woman (Lys) who did her utmost to resist him, in Book 2, Burroughs switches things up a bit. Thus, here, we have a woman (Ajor) who is drawn to Billings almost from the start, while the American does everything in his power to resist the "half-baked little barbarian"...uselessly, of course.
As mentioned, this second installment seems more focused on the different peoples, political intrigue, and evolutionary matters than Book 1. This second volume also features fewer prehistoric monstrosities, which is only natural as Billings heads into the cooler north. (One would imagine that the climate would tend to get colder the farther south one traveled in Caspak--in other words, the closer one got to nearby Antarctica--but somehow, that is not the case.) But even with fewer action sequences, this second volume still manages to dish out some doozies, including Billings' aerial battle with a pterodactyl when he first flies over Caspak; Billings and Ajor wandering hopelessly through an endless cave system, almost unto death, in the territory of the Band-lu; Ajor's story of how she was forced to flee from her people, and her subsequent abduction by one of the winged Wieroo; the capture of a wild stallion by Billings, aided by the ever-reliable Nobs; and Billings and Ajor trapped in a swamp, with a horde of Kro-lus, and Du-seen, about to enfilade them with arrows. (Regarding Nobs, pretty much the only returning character from Book 1--until Book 2's tail end, at least--I must add that he is simply wonderful here; as loyal, brave, intelligent and heroic a canine companion as one could ever hope to have by one's side.) And if Book 2 features fewer dinosaurs than Book 1, Billings yet has to deal with those pterodactyls, a (mild-mannered) diplodocus, a panther, a giant cave-bear, saber-toothed tigers, a cave-lion, killer rhinos and so on. Burroughs even gets to throw some pleasing social commentary into this second installment, when Al-tan, the duplicitous Kro-lu chieftain, after hearing of WW1 Europe, tells Billings:
"...I am glad...that I do not dwell in your country among such savage peoples. Here, in Caspak, men fight with men when they meet--men of different races--but their weapons are first for the slaying of beasts in the chase and in defense. We do not fashion weapons solely for the killing of man as do your peoples. Your country must indeed be a savage country, from which you are fortunate to have escaped to the peace and security of Caspak...."
Some food for thought there, indeed!
Now, good as it is, inevitably, some small problems do crop up in "The People That Time Forgot." For one thing, the person who narrates the first chapter of the book--the man who had conceivably found Bowen's MS in a bottle off the southern tip of Greenland--is never really made known to us, either by name or in any other manner. He seems to be familiar with Tyler from earlier in his life, but if he is, would not this constitute yet another far-fetched coincidence in the world of Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose works were filled with so many? And whoever this nameless narrator of Chapter 1 may be, he gives us some misinformation when he states that Bowen Tyler, Jr. had left for WW1 Europe to join "the American Ambulance," when we already know that Tyler had departed from California to join the Lafayette Escadrille! It also bugged me that Billings was able to learn and fluently speak the Caspakian language just three days after his advent there, but I suppose that this kind of unrealistic speed learning is par for books such as this. While reading Burroughs' work here, I could not help wondering why Billings, who was at the extreme southern tip of Caprona, would travel hundreds of miles northeast to get to where he wanted to go. Imagine yourself at the 6:00 position of a clock, and instead of going clockwise to your intended 9:00 destination, going counterclockwise to get to the same place! This, I couldn’t help thinking, was making zero sense...until, that is, Burroughs explained matters by reminding us that the southwest section of Caprona was the most heavily populated by giant reptiles and dinosaurs. So at least that conundrum is nicely resolved for us.
Burroughs' book ends a little too abruptly for my taste, but at least it is a very happy ending, unlike the more downbeat one to be found in Book 1. Still, several outstanding questions yet remain. What ever did happen to the U-33? Does Billings actually remain in Caspak with Ajor, as seems to be his intent? What of those mysterious Wieroo, and their island domain off the coast of the Galus' territory? And what ever became of Bradley and his lost expedition? I guess I'll just have to move on to Book 3 now, "Out of Time's Abyss," to find out. And really, I cannot imagine any reader of Books 1 and 2 not breathlessly wanting to proceed on and find out more....
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at https://fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs....)
"The People That Time Forgot," like its predecessor, first saw the light of day in the pages of "The Blue Book Magazine." Book 1 had appeared in the August 1918 issue (cover price: 15 cents), and Book 2 would appear two months later, in October. (The September issue, by the way, had seen the magazine's cover price jump to 20 cents, but customers still got a solid 192 pages of fine literary product for their two dimes; surely, not a bad investment!) Book 3, "Out of Time's Abyss," would be released in the December issue, and in 1924, Burroughs saw his vision of the three installments comprising a single novel realized when A. C. McClurg, a Chicago-based publisher, released the trilogy in one hardcover volume. Today, the three novellas (which really should be read sequentially and in tandem) can be purchased separately or in one volume, but the edition that I was fortunate enough to acquire, the 1999 release from Bison Books, is, I feel, the way to go. Featuring a scholarly intro by Mike Resnick, several useful glossaries, artwork by the famed Burroughs illustrator J. Allen St. John, and a map of Caspak (the natives' word for the interior of Caprona) drawn by ERB himself in 1917, this might very well be the definitive volume of this truly wonderful trilogy; I mean, series; I mean, novel.
In Book 1, you may recall, the American would-be WW1 airman Bowen Tyler, Jr. and his faithful Airedale terrier Nobs, as well as the beautiful American fiancée Lys La Rue, had been stranded on the high seas after the sinking of their transport ship by the German submarine designated U-33. They'd been picked up by a British tug that would soon also be sunk by the U-33, but not before the English sailors and Tyler had stormed the sub and captured it. A saboteur on board had wrecked the sub's navigational equipment, however, with the result that the U-boat had somehow blundered into the Pacific, found itself at Caprona, and made its way into the heart of the Mesozoic world. By the end of Book 1, those rascally Germans had managed to refuel the sub and had secretly departed; Bradley, Tyler's second-in-command, had led an exploratory expedition that had never been seen again; and Bowen himself, following a self-conducted wedding to Lys, had placed his written account of the crew's adventures into a bottle, thrown it into the sea, and hoped for the best.
As Book 2 commences, we learn that not only had Bowen's missive been found (by a man in southern Greenland, as revealed in Book 1), but that a rescue mission is about to be instituted. Leading this expedition is Thomas Billings, who had been a fellow student with Tyler and who had, until recently, been the personal secretary of Tyler's father, who dies suddenly as Book 2 begins. Billings, thus, takes his former employer's yacht, the Toreador, with a crew of 40 men, and endeavors to find the legendary island, which he actually manages to do fairly easily. Although the island's surrounding rampart cliffs pose an almost insurmountable problem (the U-33 had entered the island by means of a subterranean tunnel), Billings has come prepared with a one-man hydroplane, with which he flies over the barrier and begins to explore. But trouble arises fairly quickly, when run-ins with several pterodactyl types cause his plane to crash into the upper branches of a tree, wrecking it completely. Now marooned by himself in a land of ubiquitous prehistoric monsters and protomen, Billings must work his way a good 300 miles north and then west, to get close to the position of the Toreador on the island's other side.
During his great adventure on Caprona, Billings is fortunate enough to encounter a young woman named Ajor, of the island's most highly evolved Galu people. Ajor is also endeavoring to make the long trek to her homeland in the north, and so the two travel together, with each of them saving the life of the other on more than one occasion. They are captured by the peoples of both the Band-lu (spear-men) and the more highly evolved Kro-lu (bow-and-arrow-men), managing to barely escape and picking up some allies en route. While traveling, Ajor tells the story of how her people live in constant fear of a winged race of men, the Wieroo, who live on the northern island of Caprona's Great Inland Lake. She tells Billings that one of the Galu men, the renegade Du-seen, has, against all precedent, entered into an agreement with both the Kro-lu and the Wieroo themselves to topple Ajor's father, the chieftain Jor, from power. And Billings, as might be expected, naturally and inevitably becomes embroiled in this intrigue, all the while holding himself back from falling in love with the lovely barbarian girl by his side....
As had been the case with Book 1, which seemed to be more concerned with Caprona as an entity itself, "The People That Time Forgot" is a well-titled affair, focusing as it does on the seven various evolutionary groups that populate the island. Besides the three groups just mentioned, Billings also encounters (in ascending evolutionary status, as he travels north) the Alus (speechless-men who are just a little higher than the ape), the Bo-lus (club-men), and the Sto-lus (hatchet-men); everything but the lowest order, the Ho-lus (apes). We learn a lot about the various peoples in this book, especially those three highest orders, and even a little more of the manner in which each individual evolves, before leaving his/her current group and migrating north to his/her new, more highly evolved tribe. Indeed, the fact that we do learn a lot more about Caspak in this book is probably its single greatest selling point, and exploring another huge section of the island (the eastern side, as opposed to Book 1's western side), and from a different set of eyes, keeps things fresh and interesting. Billings, unsurprisingly, makes for a very ingratiating narrator, and although he at one point confesses that he is not a "writer-fellow," he yet does a wonderful job at telling us his remarkable story. And just as Tyler's former experience as a worker in his father's submarine factory had served him in good stead during the high-seas action of Book 1, Billings' earlier career as a "cowpuncher" and outdoorsman serves him well here, when it comes to survival skills, lassoing, skinning animals, shooting and so on. Interestingly, whereas in Book 1 Tyler had fallen in love almost instantly with a woman (Lys) who did her utmost to resist him, in Book 2, Burroughs switches things up a bit. Thus, here, we have a woman (Ajor) who is drawn to Billings almost from the start, while the American does everything in his power to resist the "half-baked little barbarian"...uselessly, of course.
As mentioned, this second installment seems more focused on the different peoples, political intrigue, and evolutionary matters than Book 1. This second volume also features fewer prehistoric monstrosities, which is only natural as Billings heads into the cooler north. (One would imagine that the climate would tend to get colder the farther south one traveled in Caspak--in other words, the closer one got to nearby Antarctica--but somehow, that is not the case.) But even with fewer action sequences, this second volume still manages to dish out some doozies, including Billings' aerial battle with a pterodactyl when he first flies over Caspak; Billings and Ajor wandering hopelessly through an endless cave system, almost unto death, in the territory of the Band-lu; Ajor's story of how she was forced to flee from her people, and her subsequent abduction by one of the winged Wieroo; the capture of a wild stallion by Billings, aided by the ever-reliable Nobs; and Billings and Ajor trapped in a swamp, with a horde of Kro-lus, and Du-seen, about to enfilade them with arrows. (Regarding Nobs, pretty much the only returning character from Book 1--until Book 2's tail end, at least--I must add that he is simply wonderful here; as loyal, brave, intelligent and heroic a canine companion as one could ever hope to have by one's side.) And if Book 2 features fewer dinosaurs than Book 1, Billings yet has to deal with those pterodactyls, a (mild-mannered) diplodocus, a panther, a giant cave-bear, saber-toothed tigers, a cave-lion, killer rhinos and so on. Burroughs even gets to throw some pleasing social commentary into this second installment, when Al-tan, the duplicitous Kro-lu chieftain, after hearing of WW1 Europe, tells Billings:
"...I am glad...that I do not dwell in your country among such savage peoples. Here, in Caspak, men fight with men when they meet--men of different races--but their weapons are first for the slaying of beasts in the chase and in defense. We do not fashion weapons solely for the killing of man as do your peoples. Your country must indeed be a savage country, from which you are fortunate to have escaped to the peace and security of Caspak...."
Some food for thought there, indeed!
Now, good as it is, inevitably, some small problems do crop up in "The People That Time Forgot." For one thing, the person who narrates the first chapter of the book--the man who had conceivably found Bowen's MS in a bottle off the southern tip of Greenland--is never really made known to us, either by name or in any other manner. He seems to be familiar with Tyler from earlier in his life, but if he is, would not this constitute yet another far-fetched coincidence in the world of Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose works were filled with so many? And whoever this nameless narrator of Chapter 1 may be, he gives us some misinformation when he states that Bowen Tyler, Jr. had left for WW1 Europe to join "the American Ambulance," when we already know that Tyler had departed from California to join the Lafayette Escadrille! It also bugged me that Billings was able to learn and fluently speak the Caspakian language just three days after his advent there, but I suppose that this kind of unrealistic speed learning is par for books such as this. While reading Burroughs' work here, I could not help wondering why Billings, who was at the extreme southern tip of Caprona, would travel hundreds of miles northeast to get to where he wanted to go. Imagine yourself at the 6:00 position of a clock, and instead of going clockwise to your intended 9:00 destination, going counterclockwise to get to the same place! This, I couldn’t help thinking, was making zero sense...until, that is, Burroughs explained matters by reminding us that the southwest section of Caprona was the most heavily populated by giant reptiles and dinosaurs. So at least that conundrum is nicely resolved for us.
Burroughs' book ends a little too abruptly for my taste, but at least it is a very happy ending, unlike the more downbeat one to be found in Book 1. Still, several outstanding questions yet remain. What ever did happen to the U-33? Does Billings actually remain in Caspak with Ajor, as seems to be his intent? What of those mysterious Wieroo, and their island domain off the coast of the Galus' territory? And what ever became of Bradley and his lost expedition? I guess I'll just have to move on to Book 3 now, "Out of Time's Abyss," to find out. And really, I cannot imagine any reader of Books 1 and 2 not breathlessly wanting to proceed on and find out more....
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at https://fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs....)
February 8, 2019
This was also pubbed in '18, but rather than focusing so much on the WWI bent as the other novel, it turns this cowboy into a wannabe rescuer for his buddy. I'll let the other guy's manuscript just happening to "fall" into his hands go. After all, at least we now have a good solid emotional reason to go flying in to save the man who just BARELY escaped getting eaten by tons of dinos or being blown up by the Baron. :)
MOVING ON...
I think the start of this one was pretty damn solid. I had fun and let the hand-wavy stuff go and we were thrown into some delicious dino moments right away.
But that is where it kinda goes sideways for me. The remaining novel is mostly about the indigenous cavemen and cavewomen. Not bad, mind you. I've read much, much worse. I'll also ignore the ease this American has with a new language in mere days, because, after all, the story needs to move. :)
And it moves. Lots of adventure, exploration, and tribal shit. I enjoyed most of that just fine, but what did I really want to see going on?
Yeah, you named it... DINOSAURS! So many of them are missing from the latter half. Alas!!!
All told, I really have no big complaints... but no great love, either.
MOVING ON...
I think the start of this one was pretty damn solid. I had fun and let the hand-wavy stuff go and we were thrown into some delicious dino moments right away.
But that is where it kinda goes sideways for me. The remaining novel is mostly about the indigenous cavemen and cavewomen. Not bad, mind you. I've read much, much worse. I'll also ignore the ease this American has with a new language in mere days, because, after all, the story needs to move. :)
And it moves. Lots of adventure, exploration, and tribal shit. I enjoyed most of that just fine, but what did I really want to see going on?
Yeah, you named it... DINOSAURS! So many of them are missing from the latter half. Alas!!!
All told, I really have no big complaints... but no great love, either.
February 9, 2019
After reading the first, I really wanted to continue the adventure and I'm glad I did. These stories are definitely the grandpa of all dinosaur/adventure stories read or seen on television.
This time we are following a cowboy who happens to be the best friend of the first book's MC. He found the journal that told us the first story and decided on a search and rescue mission.
Thus, he and a few others land on the island and are soon surrounded by various dinosaurs, flying specimen like the pterodactyl for example, or sabre tooth tigers.
In between, also because our cowboy MC is being stupid and consequently gets separated from his party, we get some kind of romance with the exotic "barbarian/savage" girl that is, of course, beautiful.
However, that gave us the lone discovery of the island through the MC's eyes and that is what I really liked.
Sadly, in this book the MC was more the typical alpha male than the one in the first volume. Consequently, there were more patronizing nonsense from his point of view towards the "weaker sex". Culminating in a relatively typical damsel-in-distress scenario.
Despite that, I did like the adventure of it, the fauna and flora invoked by the once again fast-paced writing style, the atmosphere of it all - maybe also aided by my memory of Saturday nights spent watching one movie adaptation or another as a kid. Speaking of which, yes, there were many story elements readers will recognize from various movie and TV adaptations, such as The Lost World.
This time we are following a cowboy who happens to be the best friend of the first book's MC. He found the journal that told us the first story and decided on a search and rescue mission.
Thus, he and a few others land on the island and are soon surrounded by various dinosaurs, flying specimen like the pterodactyl for example, or sabre tooth tigers.
In between, also because our cowboy MC is being stupid and consequently gets separated from his party, we get some kind of romance with the exotic "barbarian/savage" girl that is, of course, beautiful.
However, that gave us the lone discovery of the island through the MC's eyes and that is what I really liked.
Sadly, in this book the MC was more the typical alpha male than the one in the first volume. Consequently, there were more patronizing nonsense from his point of view towards the "weaker sex". Culminating in a relatively typical damsel-in-distress scenario.
Despite that, I did like the adventure of it, the fauna and flora invoked by the once again fast-paced writing style, the atmosphere of it all - maybe also aided by my memory of Saturday nights spent watching one movie adaptation or another as a kid. Speaking of which, yes, there were many story elements readers will recognize from various movie and TV adaptations, such as The Lost World.
February 22, 2015
A rewarding sequel to the Land That Time Forgot. Where the first Caspak book had an abrupt, unfinished ending, the sequel runs at a good pace and tells a satisfying story. It's focus is the strange evolutionary process of the human life in Caspak. The author concentrates on the various tribes, their customs and life cycle. The dinosaurs are still an ever present threat and we get to see a bi-plane take on a pterodactyl.
The characters are a bit old fashion feeling. They have a pulp nature to them. As Tom Billings (the hero) learns the Caspak language, the native characters begin losing their unique voice and begin talking in the voice of the author. This was my only complaint about the book.
Update. Wow! I always write my review before reading other readers' take on the novel. This time, after reading the comments I couldn't help but add to my blurb. Some people commented that the story was "racist", calling it a "justification for segregation." Unbelievable. Then there are all the people talking about how "silly" the evolutionary cycle is. Yes, it lacks scientific rigor, but as a science fiction idea I found it fascinating.
The characters are a bit old fashion feeling. They have a pulp nature to them. As Tom Billings (the hero) learns the Caspak language, the native characters begin losing their unique voice and begin talking in the voice of the author. This was my only complaint about the book.
Update. Wow! I always write my review before reading other readers' take on the novel. This time, after reading the comments I couldn't help but add to my blurb. Some people commented that the story was "racist", calling it a "justification for segregation." Unbelievable. Then there are all the people talking about how "silly" the evolutionary cycle is. Yes, it lacks scientific rigor, but as a science fiction idea I found it fascinating.
October 16, 2014
This book doesn't translate to modern times very well. It's quite racist-y!
So, let's focus on the unintentionally hilarious things about this book! Burroughs has this weird way of making his male protagonists totally unappealing and self-deprecating. Which I find hilarious. Our narrator for this book, Tom Billings, admitted not only is he not a 'ladies man,' but that he doesn't 'make love to' women because he's pretty much unskilled, so he's just going to leave it to the dudes who are. I'm pretty sure ol' Tom is a big ol' virgin. Don't worry, he luckily finds a 'barbarian' woman that doesn't know any better and she gives him a chance. Ah, love. And right before they're about to do it, they get interrupted. No! Poor, racist-y Tom. I'm sure he'll get his chance in one of these books. Someday.
So, let's focus on the unintentionally hilarious things about this book! Burroughs has this weird way of making his male protagonists totally unappealing and self-deprecating. Which I find hilarious. Our narrator for this book, Tom Billings, admitted not only is he not a 'ladies man,' but that he doesn't 'make love to' women because he's pretty much unskilled, so he's just going to leave it to the dudes who are. I'm pretty sure ol' Tom is a big ol' virgin. Don't worry, he luckily finds a 'barbarian' woman that doesn't know any better and she gives him a chance. Ah, love. And right before they're about to do it, they get interrupted. No! Poor, racist-y Tom. I'm sure he'll get his chance in one of these books. Someday.
May 27, 2015
THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT is an absurd (and unintentionally funny) sequel to Burrough's marginal classic, THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT. People hoping for something along the lines of Michael Crichton's JURASSIC PARK or Arthur Conan Doyle's THE LOST WORLD will be severely disappointed. Yet, there is an element of fun to be had here, especially if you treat it like an old-fashioned YA novel and grant it the same kind of leeway as you would, say, a PERCY JACKSON adventure.
Interestingly, it took people in the first Caspak story half the book just to reach the dinosaur-infested island, but the characters in this sequel accomplish the same feat within the first chapter--meaning a stronger focus on fighting prehistoric creatures and making out with voluptuous cavewomen. Despite the scientific pretensions of the first-person narrator, little about the story comes across as logical or even vaguely plausible. The narrator is the kind of action hero who can fly an airplane, shoot like Annie Oakley, and learn a new language within a few days. He also has a perfect sense of direction and is very handy with a lasso.
It drove me particularly crazy how characters always showed up in the nick of time whenever someone desperately needed rescue. Very lazy, from a storytelling perspective. Then there's all the evolutionary science mumbo-jumbo that comes across not only as being stupid, but borderline racist. The "savages" in the story are even able to pass through several evolutionary stages within a single lifetime. As they reach each new stage, a strange inner voice tells them to move away from their homes and go live among superior beings of their own kind.
In other words, racial segregation at its finest.
Interestingly, it took people in the first Caspak story half the book just to reach the dinosaur-infested island, but the characters in this sequel accomplish the same feat within the first chapter--meaning a stronger focus on fighting prehistoric creatures and making out with voluptuous cavewomen. Despite the scientific pretensions of the first-person narrator, little about the story comes across as logical or even vaguely plausible. The narrator is the kind of action hero who can fly an airplane, shoot like Annie Oakley, and learn a new language within a few days. He also has a perfect sense of direction and is very handy with a lasso.
It drove me particularly crazy how characters always showed up in the nick of time whenever someone desperately needed rescue. Very lazy, from a storytelling perspective. Then there's all the evolutionary science mumbo-jumbo that comes across not only as being stupid, but borderline racist. The "savages" in the story are even able to pass through several evolutionary stages within a single lifetime. As they reach each new stage, a strange inner voice tells them to move away from their homes and go live among superior beings of their own kind.
In other words, racial segregation at its finest.
July 11, 2022
Picking up where the Burroughs classic adventure "The Land that Time Forgot" left off, this Radium-Age sci-fi sequel was first published in 1918 as an entry in "Blue Book Magazine," and then reappeared with its predecessor and a second sequel bound together as one giant novel in the 20s.
The first story concerned a ship-builder, Bowen Tyler, and his love interest, Lys La Rue, who are on a cruise ship bound for France that is sunk by a German U-boat, and after an exhausting string of action sequences, the couple and a faithful dog end up stranded on an unchartered land called Caprona, or Caspak by the natives. In a manuscript found in a thermos floating off the coast of Greenland, a man reads all about the adventures of these lost survivors in this exotic land inhabited by dinosaurs and several species of prehistoric humans in various states of evolution. In the sequel, the recovered manuscript sparks a rescue mission led by Billings, a former classmate of Tyler's, who sets out in search of the lost survivors on the yacht "Toreador."
Caspak is surrounded by impenetrable cliffs, and in Book One, the island had to be entered by a subterranean tunnel via a U-boat. So the crew of the Toreador bring along an amphibious plane upon which Billings intended to pilot each of the expedition two-by-two over the barrier. But on the inaugural flight, the author immediately begins his nonsensical and artificial means of creating drama and tension. He has the Billings character act like an idiot. Instead of carrying out his objective, he starts chasing down pterodactyls and doing some unauthorized sightseeing, resulting in him crashing his plane into a tree. Oh dear! How are the rescue crew ever going to cross the rocks into the island now, let alone hope to rescue Tyler and Ms. LaRue? Then we have to read a couple of pages of him bemoaning how he's stranded. Well, you had one job to do, you dope, and you blew it acting like a cowboy! So no one wants to hear your bitching.
Well, there's our early introduction to the "hero" of this tale, who then goes about having to survive on the island, picking up a ragtag team of cave people as friends along the way, while still hoping to run into the survivors from the original story. We basically retread the same ground as the first book, only the discovery of all the prehistoric wonders is told through the fresh eyes of Billings. We learn a little more about the strange island, but not all the mysteries are revealed, which is a good thing.
Whereas Tyler was pretty casual and straightforward as a narrator in the first book, Billings is more bombastic and melodramatic. He's constantly breaking from the story to ramble on like a hyperventilating Tweet. And he says stupid things. For example, while finding a way to escape from a cave, he says he doesn't know if he'd been trapped in there a day or a week. Yeah, I think you'd know. If you were hiking uphill, which he claimed to have done, without food or water for a day, you'd walk out feeling pretty rough. If it was a week, you wouldn't be walking. But who can tell with Burroughs' writing? He has Billings crawling through the cave, saying "sleep... must SLEEP... forever..." and all that rubbish when suddenly, WATER! One sip and our man is back on his feet. So, which is it? Was the guy in the cave for a week and has remarkable powers of recuperation, or is he just a drama queen?
There are moments in Burroughs stories that really demonstrate his genius as a thinker, such as in parts of his epic "The Moon Maid" and select novels of the Tarzan saga. But so far, the Caspak series has been a demonstration of how Burroughs threw caution to the wind for the sake of prolific literary output. Not only does this novel continue the themes from "The Land that Time Forgot," but it feels like Burroughs only had a few main ideas for the majority of his bibliography, recycling the same elements to bring us romances in jungles full of monsters and cavemen, whether those jungles be in Tarzan's Africa, at the center of the Earth, on Mars or Venus or the Moon, or wherever.
But that doesn't mean I hate it. First of all, the way evolution works on this island is quite a fascinating idea, and I'd be curious how more modern writers might expand this material into a weird fiction format. The character of Billings, for all of his irritating qualities early in the novel, actually does start to grow on you towards the end. He has an arc. He despises Caspak at first for all of its savagery, where everything and everyone seems to be out to kill for their next meal, but then puts things in perspective in regards to his own culture in the midst of yet another war. And his epiphany comes from an unlikely source--one of the cave-dwelling villains of the story. The book has further things to say about the value of life, loyalty, and the responsible use of weaponry. In fact, on the whole, I may have liked this book a little more than its predecessor.
But the real strength of books like "The People that Time Forgot" is in the sheer energy of the narrative and the fantastic nature of the content. If you love the "Jurassic Park" and "Jurassic World" franchises, or enjoyed watching films of Raquel Welch clutching to the chest hair of cave men battling an allosaurus, or have fond memories of reading Jules Verne, or books like Doyle's "The Lost World" and Burroughs' own "Journey to the Center of the Earth," you shouldn't forgo this series.
This stuff is great for getting your kids off the YouTube videos of dopey teens playing Friday Night Funkin', and into reading. And it is perfect for the kid in all of us. It may not be the finest example of Radium-Age science fiction, or even the best of Burroughs, but I couldn't help but enjoy the thrill of this early literary equivalent to a summer blockbuster.
The first story concerned a ship-builder, Bowen Tyler, and his love interest, Lys La Rue, who are on a cruise ship bound for France that is sunk by a German U-boat, and after an exhausting string of action sequences, the couple and a faithful dog end up stranded on an unchartered land called Caprona, or Caspak by the natives. In a manuscript found in a thermos floating off the coast of Greenland, a man reads all about the adventures of these lost survivors in this exotic land inhabited by dinosaurs and several species of prehistoric humans in various states of evolution. In the sequel, the recovered manuscript sparks a rescue mission led by Billings, a former classmate of Tyler's, who sets out in search of the lost survivors on the yacht "Toreador."
Caspak is surrounded by impenetrable cliffs, and in Book One, the island had to be entered by a subterranean tunnel via a U-boat. So the crew of the Toreador bring along an amphibious plane upon which Billings intended to pilot each of the expedition two-by-two over the barrier. But on the inaugural flight, the author immediately begins his nonsensical and artificial means of creating drama and tension. He has the Billings character act like an idiot. Instead of carrying out his objective, he starts chasing down pterodactyls and doing some unauthorized sightseeing, resulting in him crashing his plane into a tree. Oh dear! How are the rescue crew ever going to cross the rocks into the island now, let alone hope to rescue Tyler and Ms. LaRue? Then we have to read a couple of pages of him bemoaning how he's stranded. Well, you had one job to do, you dope, and you blew it acting like a cowboy! So no one wants to hear your bitching.
Well, there's our early introduction to the "hero" of this tale, who then goes about having to survive on the island, picking up a ragtag team of cave people as friends along the way, while still hoping to run into the survivors from the original story. We basically retread the same ground as the first book, only the discovery of all the prehistoric wonders is told through the fresh eyes of Billings. We learn a little more about the strange island, but not all the mysteries are revealed, which is a good thing.
Whereas Tyler was pretty casual and straightforward as a narrator in the first book, Billings is more bombastic and melodramatic. He's constantly breaking from the story to ramble on like a hyperventilating Tweet. And he says stupid things. For example, while finding a way to escape from a cave, he says he doesn't know if he'd been trapped in there a day or a week. Yeah, I think you'd know. If you were hiking uphill, which he claimed to have done, without food or water for a day, you'd walk out feeling pretty rough. If it was a week, you wouldn't be walking. But who can tell with Burroughs' writing? He has Billings crawling through the cave, saying "sleep... must SLEEP... forever..." and all that rubbish when suddenly, WATER! One sip and our man is back on his feet. So, which is it? Was the guy in the cave for a week and has remarkable powers of recuperation, or is he just a drama queen?
There are moments in Burroughs stories that really demonstrate his genius as a thinker, such as in parts of his epic "The Moon Maid" and select novels of the Tarzan saga. But so far, the Caspak series has been a demonstration of how Burroughs threw caution to the wind for the sake of prolific literary output. Not only does this novel continue the themes from "The Land that Time Forgot," but it feels like Burroughs only had a few main ideas for the majority of his bibliography, recycling the same elements to bring us romances in jungles full of monsters and cavemen, whether those jungles be in Tarzan's Africa, at the center of the Earth, on Mars or Venus or the Moon, or wherever.
But that doesn't mean I hate it. First of all, the way evolution works on this island is quite a fascinating idea, and I'd be curious how more modern writers might expand this material into a weird fiction format. The character of Billings, for all of his irritating qualities early in the novel, actually does start to grow on you towards the end. He has an arc. He despises Caspak at first for all of its savagery, where everything and everyone seems to be out to kill for their next meal, but then puts things in perspective in regards to his own culture in the midst of yet another war. And his epiphany comes from an unlikely source--one of the cave-dwelling villains of the story. The book has further things to say about the value of life, loyalty, and the responsible use of weaponry. In fact, on the whole, I may have liked this book a little more than its predecessor.
But the real strength of books like "The People that Time Forgot" is in the sheer energy of the narrative and the fantastic nature of the content. If you love the "Jurassic Park" and "Jurassic World" franchises, or enjoyed watching films of Raquel Welch clutching to the chest hair of cave men battling an allosaurus, or have fond memories of reading Jules Verne, or books like Doyle's "The Lost World" and Burroughs' own "Journey to the Center of the Earth," you shouldn't forgo this series.
This stuff is great for getting your kids off the YouTube videos of dopey teens playing Friday Night Funkin', and into reading. And it is perfect for the kid in all of us. It may not be the finest example of Radium-Age science fiction, or even the best of Burroughs, but I couldn't help but enjoy the thrill of this early literary equivalent to a summer blockbuster.
January 3, 2013
Originally posted at FanLit http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
The People that Time Forgot (1918) is the second novel in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ CASPAK trilogy. In the first installment, The Land that Time Forgot, Bowen Tyler gets stranded on Caspak, a lost world where prehistoric animals and subhuman people exist. The story picks up in The People that Time Forgot as Bowen’s friend Tom Billings decides to go looking for him. When Tom lands on Caspak, he doesn’t have much time to search for his friend because it takes all his effort just to survive.
The People that Time Forgot offers all of the pulpy masculine adventure found in The Land that Time Forgot. There’s a constant stream of bears, dinosaurs, sabertooth tigers, barbarian warriors, and other creatures to fight, so Tom gets to prove his manliness as he moves from one exploit to the next.
And there’s romance, too, of course. Soon after arriving on Caspak, Tom saves a slender and “adorable” scantily-clad girl who he can’t think of romantically because she’s dirty and “so far beneath me in the scale of evolution.” He spends a lot of time thinking about how he can’t fall in love with a savage, but she turns out to have dimples and nice teeth and Tom discovers that he can’t bear to leave her in the end. Burroughs doesn’t give her much personality, but he does tell us that she’s keen-minded, shrewd, and she makes a great companion. (It’s nice to see that she has some desirable qualities other than her exposed slender figure and her dimples.)
Caspak is a strange land and there are some mysteries to solve. The island has a few subhuman primate species, but no children have been seen by the Americans who’ve visited. How can an adult-only society exist? Some of the intriguing (but not at all believable) answers will be found in this book, but others must wait for the next book, Out of Time’s Abyss.
I’m listening to the audio version of the CASPAK trilogy. This installment is read by Brian Emerson who did a better job than the narrator of the previous book did. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this version if you want to read The People that Time Forgot. You can also find the book in the public domain.
The People that Time Forgot (1918) is the second novel in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ CASPAK trilogy. In the first installment, The Land that Time Forgot, Bowen Tyler gets stranded on Caspak, a lost world where prehistoric animals and subhuman people exist. The story picks up in The People that Time Forgot as Bowen’s friend Tom Billings decides to go looking for him. When Tom lands on Caspak, he doesn’t have much time to search for his friend because it takes all his effort just to survive.
The People that Time Forgot offers all of the pulpy masculine adventure found in The Land that Time Forgot. There’s a constant stream of bears, dinosaurs, sabertooth tigers, barbarian warriors, and other creatures to fight, so Tom gets to prove his manliness as he moves from one exploit to the next.
And there’s romance, too, of course. Soon after arriving on Caspak, Tom saves a slender and “adorable” scantily-clad girl who he can’t think of romantically because she’s dirty and “so far beneath me in the scale of evolution.” He spends a lot of time thinking about how he can’t fall in love with a savage, but she turns out to have dimples and nice teeth and Tom discovers that he can’t bear to leave her in the end. Burroughs doesn’t give her much personality, but he does tell us that she’s keen-minded, shrewd, and she makes a great companion. (It’s nice to see that she has some desirable qualities other than her exposed slender figure and her dimples.)
Caspak is a strange land and there are some mysteries to solve. The island has a few subhuman primate species, but no children have been seen by the Americans who’ve visited. How can an adult-only society exist? Some of the intriguing (but not at all believable) answers will be found in this book, but others must wait for the next book, Out of Time’s Abyss.
I’m listening to the audio version of the CASPAK trilogy. This installment is read by Brian Emerson who did a better job than the narrator of the previous book did. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this version if you want to read The People that Time Forgot. You can also find the book in the public domain.
June 8, 2022
Not great . Big step down from the last book. Skip it
February 28, 2024
Medio flojo pero me gustó
August 16, 2017
I loved it. After reading the first part of the trilogy, which I enjoyed, I had to read this. And I'm glad I did.
The story continues where the first left off. Billings is in search of Bowen, having found his friend's message in a thermos floating on the ocean. I won't tell you the whole story, and how it ends. But I will urge you to read it.
It holds the same adventure, a cross between Tarzan and Indiana Jones, as the first.
I'm enjoying Burroughs' writing for a few reasons. These tales are a century old, yet they hold vibrancy I find lacking in some modern books. There are hints of sex, yet it's not overt. Things are left to the imagination, which is stimulated in many other ways. That's a refreshing change.
I'd like to know your thoughts, as a writer and a reader. Please feel free to discuss.
The story continues where the first left off. Billings is in search of Bowen, having found his friend's message in a thermos floating on the ocean. I won't tell you the whole story, and how it ends. But I will urge you to read it.
It holds the same adventure, a cross between Tarzan and Indiana Jones, as the first.
I'm enjoying Burroughs' writing for a few reasons. These tales are a century old, yet they hold vibrancy I find lacking in some modern books. There are hints of sex, yet it's not overt. Things are left to the imagination, which is stimulated in many other ways. That's a refreshing change.
I'd like to know your thoughts, as a writer and a reader. Please feel free to discuss.
March 23, 2018
The second book, published a month later in 1918. Less dinosaurs, more of the various tribes of "early man" and their "evolution" from one tribe to the next. One too many last minute rescues, and instead of a message in a bottle (thermos), this time an entire boat load of people survived to return to California.
Glad to see the return of the dog, but disappointed in the angsty male lead and his female friend (referred to as a "half-baked savage" and "squaw"). Somebody who has read Twilight should compare it to this. Some sort of winged humanoid is described here also, but not further explored.
I'll read the third, and then cleanse my palette with The Lost World.
Glad to see the return of the dog, but disappointed in the angsty male lead and his female friend (referred to as a "half-baked savage" and "squaw"). Somebody who has read Twilight should compare it to this. Some sort of winged humanoid is described here also, but not further explored.
I'll read the third, and then cleanse my palette with The Lost World.
December 12, 2023
The People That Time Forgot is the 2nd book in the Caspak trilogy by adventure / fantasy / Sci Fi author Edgar Rice Burroughs, probably best know for his Tarzan and his John Carter of Mars series. The People that Time Forgot is a smaller series and set in the land of Caprona, located near Antartica. It's an island held in the past, the primeval past, whose humid, mild climate is controlled by the waters and mountains that surround the land.
In this story, told by Thomas Billings, Thomas and a shipload of friends and allies try to find this mysterious island so they rescue their friend Bowen Tyler. Somehow, Tyler's journal has made its way to Thomas and he gets together a ship and crew to try and find out whether the island is an actual place. Upon arrival, Thomas assembles an aircraft to use so he can scale the mountain and then set up a way for the friends to climb the peaks. (complicated?)
Well, Thomas's plane is attacked by a pterodactyl and he crashes into the trees. Now he must try and find his way back to the location to meet his friends but it's a long, roundabout journey. On his way, he'll learn the Capronan language, meet a woman, Ajor, who will journey with him and with whom he will fall in love. He'll learn about the various races that make up the land, how they progress from one race to another, like from Cro-Magnon to the next hierarchical level... I still don't totally understand but it's not crucial that you do.
It's a constant adventure as Thomas and Ajor battle dinosaurs, more current predators and even the various tribes. Will they get to Ajor's homeland? Will they find Bowen Tyler or Thomas's friends? It's not the best of Burroughs' series / stories but it's entertaining. I imagine in the next and final book we might meet the flying race, the Wieroo??? It's on order because I have to see how it ends. Check it out. (2.5 stars)
In this story, told by Thomas Billings, Thomas and a shipload of friends and allies try to find this mysterious island so they rescue their friend Bowen Tyler. Somehow, Tyler's journal has made its way to Thomas and he gets together a ship and crew to try and find out whether the island is an actual place. Upon arrival, Thomas assembles an aircraft to use so he can scale the mountain and then set up a way for the friends to climb the peaks. (complicated?)
Well, Thomas's plane is attacked by a pterodactyl and he crashes into the trees. Now he must try and find his way back to the location to meet his friends but it's a long, roundabout journey. On his way, he'll learn the Capronan language, meet a woman, Ajor, who will journey with him and with whom he will fall in love. He'll learn about the various races that make up the land, how they progress from one race to another, like from Cro-Magnon to the next hierarchical level... I still don't totally understand but it's not crucial that you do.
It's a constant adventure as Thomas and Ajor battle dinosaurs, more current predators and even the various tribes. Will they get to Ajor's homeland? Will they find Bowen Tyler or Thomas's friends? It's not the best of Burroughs' series / stories but it's entertaining. I imagine in the next and final book we might meet the flying race, the Wieroo??? It's on order because I have to see how it ends. Check it out. (2.5 stars)
January 31, 2016
Tom Billings goes on a rescue mission to the prehistoric island of Caspak to rescue his friend, but when his airplane is downed by a pterodactyl, he must rely on the aid of a beautiful cavewoman to help him negotiate his way through the increasingly advanced human societies that inhabit the land.
I’ll always be biased in favor of this book. One of my first memories of being totally lost in a story was curling up with an omnibus edition of the Caspak trilogy from the Science Fiction Book Club when I was twelve or thirteen. Rereading it almost forty years later, I find that it holds up very well so long as you do not expect it to be more than what it is--a rousing pulp adventure with stalwart, capable heroes who are equal to any challenge. Some readers accuse Burroughs and other writers of the time of racism. Whatever their personal views might have been, their stories functioned as uncritical reflections of prevalent opinion of the time. I can understand how, for some, that might tarnish the innocent fun that others respond to in these tales. However, I wonder if Burroughs, in this case, might deserve a little more credit than some would give him. Billings spends most of the story resisting his feelings for Ajor because he feels that she is inferior, even referring to her as a “squaw” at one point in his first-person narration. However, by the end of the story he realizes how foolish he has been. The “races” of Caspak are mutually antagonistic and rigidly segregated, but this racial identity is a fluid thing, with most individuals progressing from one stage of evolution to another. The concept of race is really an illusion in Caspak.
I’ll always be biased in favor of this book. One of my first memories of being totally lost in a story was curling up with an omnibus edition of the Caspak trilogy from the Science Fiction Book Club when I was twelve or thirteen. Rereading it almost forty years later, I find that it holds up very well so long as you do not expect it to be more than what it is--a rousing pulp adventure with stalwart, capable heroes who are equal to any challenge. Some readers accuse Burroughs and other writers of the time of racism. Whatever their personal views might have been, their stories functioned as uncritical reflections of prevalent opinion of the time. I can understand how, for some, that might tarnish the innocent fun that others respond to in these tales. However, I wonder if Burroughs, in this case, might deserve a little more credit than some would give him. Billings spends most of the story resisting his feelings for Ajor because he feels that she is inferior, even referring to her as a “squaw” at one point in his first-person narration. However, by the end of the story he realizes how foolish he has been. The “races” of Caspak are mutually antagonistic and rigidly segregated, but this racial identity is a fluid thing, with most individuals progressing from one stage of evolution to another. The concept of race is really an illusion in Caspak.
January 30, 2022
Una aventura magistralmente escrita y pensada al detalle. Me atrevería a decir, que supera a la primera obra de la saga.
January 29, 2023
Oh damn I'm back at this app lmao. Man I was on a "lost world" phase back then. Maybe that's why I took up geography for college. Finding new places. What an adventure.
December 7, 2023
Main character struggles with the fact that he’s falling in love with a handsome savage woman — something I can relate to
October 10, 2019
The People that Time Forgot (1918) is the second novel in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ CASPAK trilogy. In the first instalment, The Land that Time Forgot, Bowen Tyler gets stranded on Caspak, a lost world where prehistoric animals and subhuman people exist. The story picks up in The People that Time Forgot as Bowen’s friend Tom Billings decides to go looking for him. When Tom lands on Caspak, he doesn’t have much time to search for his friend because it takes all his effort just to survive.
The People that Time Forgot offers all of the pulpy masculine adventure found in The Land that Time Forgot. There’s a constant stream of bears, dinosaurs, sabertooth tigers, barbarian warriors, and other creatures to fight, so Tom gets to prove his manliness as he moves from one exploit to the next.
And there’s romance, too, of course. Soon after arriving on Caspak, Tom saves a slender and “adorable” scantily-clad girl who he can’t think of romantically because she’s dirty and “so far beneath me in the scale of evolution.” He spends a lot of time thinking about how he can’t fall in love with a savage, but she turns out to have dimples and nice teeth and Tom discovers that he can’t bear to leave her in the end. Burroughs doesn’t give her much personality, but he does tell us that she’s keen-minded, shrewd, and she makes a great companion. (It’s nice to see that she has some desirable qualities other than her exposed slender figure and her dimples.)
Caspak is a strange land and there are some mysteries to solve. The island has a few subhuman primate species, but no children have been seen by the Americans who’ve visited. How can an adult-only society exist? Some of the intriguing (but not at all believable) answers will be found in this book, but others must wait for the next book, Out of Time’s Abyss.
The People that Time Forgot offers all of the pulpy masculine adventure found in The Land that Time Forgot. There’s a constant stream of bears, dinosaurs, sabertooth tigers, barbarian warriors, and other creatures to fight, so Tom gets to prove his manliness as he moves from one exploit to the next.
And there’s romance, too, of course. Soon after arriving on Caspak, Tom saves a slender and “adorable” scantily-clad girl who he can’t think of romantically because she’s dirty and “so far beneath me in the scale of evolution.” He spends a lot of time thinking about how he can’t fall in love with a savage, but she turns out to have dimples and nice teeth and Tom discovers that he can’t bear to leave her in the end. Burroughs doesn’t give her much personality, but he does tell us that she’s keen-minded, shrewd, and she makes a great companion. (It’s nice to see that she has some desirable qualities other than her exposed slender figure and her dimples.)
Caspak is a strange land and there are some mysteries to solve. The island has a few subhuman primate species, but no children have been seen by the Americans who’ve visited. How can an adult-only society exist? Some of the intriguing (but not at all believable) answers will be found in this book, but others must wait for the next book, Out of Time’s Abyss.
November 10, 2019
This book was about tom billings on an adventure through America to find a person I think in a plane. But when he was flying there was a pterodactyl which hit him in mid-air and caused him to crash land. In this book he found tribal girl that he liked and they went on an adventure together. The best bit about the book was when they were attacked by other people who were in tribes who saved them from being eaten by a dinosaur they had to face the dinosaurs or get punished by the people. The character I liked the most in the book was tom billings because he was the main character and he got into a lot of fights with the tribes but in the end, they found petrol and escaped on a boat. The scariest part of the book was they were attacked by ta pack of wolves and they came out from every direction as they described it. I found that scary because there was randomly in the sentence them talking about the wolves like they were talking about the sky and then suddenly there was a howl. I only gave this 3 stars because I didn’t really like it and it wasn’t that fluent to read because it just jumped to the conclusions and the words were quite old and I didn’t recognise them.
August 20, 2019
The second book in Burrough’s Caspak trilogy finds young Tom Billings mounting a expedition to find missing friend Tyler Bowen, who was lost in the previous novella. High adventure ensues with Billings partnering with a native girl to survive the various creatures and murderous tribes of the inhabitants of Caspak, where each tribe make up a subset of human biological evolution. The book was written over 100 years ago has the stale prose of that time, although once I got past *that* annoyance the story sucked me in and I couldn’t put it down. The world-building and inventive biology were very impressive, and the story was teeming with adventure and action. The story requires dedicated reading due to the complexity and the odd names. If I had been reading another book concurrently I would surely gotten lost and stalled out.
January 19, 2020
Along with some of the early Tarzan novels, "The Land that Time Forgot" is easily my favourite Edgar Rice Burroughs novels. I must have read this 5 or 6 times and I still enjoy it.
I don't really know why I never got around to reading the sequels "The People that Time Forgot" and "Out of Time's Abyss", especially since I've had these in my possession for decades.
Anyway, "The People that Time Forgot" has all the elements that the first novel in the series has, but it probably has the disadvantage that is wasn't read by me as a teenager. Excellent escapist fiction, but it certainly isn't Literature with a capital L.
I don't really know why I never got around to reading the sequels "The People that Time Forgot" and "Out of Time's Abyss", especially since I've had these in my possession for decades.
Anyway, "The People that Time Forgot" has all the elements that the first novel in the series has, but it probably has the disadvantage that is wasn't read by me as a teenager. Excellent escapist fiction, but it certainly isn't Literature with a capital L.
January 4, 2022
I feel like this is a proper sequel to "The Land that Time Forgot" but at the same time it feels like... more of the same.
It's a good time. The story is OK, the characters are barely interesting, the plot is decent at best, it's not bad by any means, it's just... okay.
If you already read the first book then by all means read this one as well, it's very short (I even finished it in one day) and if you liked the first one, this is more of the same.
It's a good time. The story is OK, the characters are barely interesting, the plot is decent at best, it's not bad by any means, it's just... okay.
If you already read the first book then by all means read this one as well, it's very short (I even finished it in one day) and if you liked the first one, this is more of the same.
March 4, 2023
Not AS good as The Land that Time Forgot but it was still a pretty fun classic bout of dinosaur pulp.
The plot seems to be a little sped up this time and you don't get as fascinating human characters, with the majority of the interactions being with various tribes of cave people which just isn't as interesting as DINOSAURS.
The plot seems to be a little sped up this time and you don't get as fascinating human characters, with the majority of the interactions being with various tribes of cave people which just isn't as interesting as DINOSAURS.
March 19, 2020
Not enough dinosaurs >:(
Too many racists (one).
Too many racists (one).
December 24, 2020
Did not know this was book 2. Even that did not take too much away from the story. It was short enough to be read as a stand alone in my opinion.
January 31, 2023
Picks up where the last one left off as the narrator relates the account of Caspak from one of the survivors that returned before entering into the jungle himself.
April 3, 2023
If I have to read one more sentence variation of "I'm horny but there's no way I'm actually lusting after this woman because she's a savage barbarian" I'll scream
November 7, 2023
This is a nice sequel to the first story. Just as interesting. I like the world building aspect and the different characters that he created.
I will definitely read the third book.
I will definitely read the third book.
January 14, 2026
This series is fairly enjoyable and interesting as far as my history with "the classics" go but I have to remove major points for the constant misogyny and infantilization of the love interest. I know this is a common trope for fantasy and the time period it was written plays a part as well, but I had to roll my eyes at multiple points with Tom's internal conflict being attracted to Ajor.
December 22, 2017
Not the greatest book unless you like pulpy adventure. Which, as you could guess, I do. One thing I do want to point out - all of the top reviews for this book allude to how much better the prequel was. The thing they DO NOT mention is that the “first” book in the trilogy wasn’t written until several years later, so Burroughs had time to absorb criticism and write a more polished lead-in as a prequel. All in all, if you like John Carter or Indians Jones, you’ll probably enjoy this book.
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