John Eric Holmes (1930–2010)

I first read the Ace 1st printing of MAHARS OF PELLUCIDAR in paperback with the marvelous Boris Vallejo cover in 1976.

I am pleased to say that MAHARS OF PELLUCIDAR is as fun as I faintly remembered. Author Dr. John Eric Holmes captures the wonder and savagery of savage Pellucidar and provides the first fresh insight into the culture of ERB's Pellucidarian antagonists, the Mahars, expanding the lore. Best of all, he captures, imho, the essence of ERB's (interior) planetary romance in terms show more of adventure and heart-pounding action as well as the more contemporary connotation of "romance" between his hero and the lovely Varna of Pellucidar who, appropriately, is a strong, brave, independent, admirable hero on her own.

For me, there are but two deficiencies to the story.

The first is the loss of story momentum in the detailed account of the psychological testing of the story hero, Christopher, by the Mahar scientists. The second is the Deus ex machina climax to the novel that, humorously, even the story's hero, Christopher -- and, thus, the author himself -- recognizes in the story: "I never did get around to asking how Doc tracked me down amid the vastness of Pellucidar..." : ) While the writer in me cringed at the Deus ex machina, the audacity of the author's inclusion of his recognition of it made me laugh.

All in all, it is still one of the better additions to the ERB canon by a non-ERB writer. show less

I last read, and still possess, the Ace 1st printing of MAHARS OF PELLUCIDAR in paperback with the marvelous Boris Vallejo cover in 1976.

This ERB, Inc. reissue includes an introduction by the late author's son (namesake of the tale's hero) as well as a new tale of Tarzan and The Land that Time Forgot by the gifted author Joe R. Lansdale.

I am pleased to say that MAHARS OF PELLUCIDAR is as fun as I faintly remembered. Author Dr. John Eric Holmes captures the wonder and savagery of savage show more Pellucidar and provides the first fresh insight into the culture of ERB's Pellucidarian antagonists, the Mahars, expanding the lore. Best of all, he captures, imho, the essence of ERB's (interior) planetary romance in terms of adventure and heart-pounding action as well as the more contemporary connotation of "romance" between his hero and the lovely Varna of Pellucidar who, appropriately, is a strong, brave, independent, admirable hero on her own.

For me, there are but two deficiencies to the story.

The first is the loss of story momentum in the detailed account of the psychological testing of the story hero, Christopher, by the Mahar scientists [--although, interestingly in a story footnote (p. 75), the reference to similar testing performed not only by humans upon animals but also extraterrestrials upon humans as recounted in author J. V. McConnel's tale "Learning Theory" in the 1965 anthology THE WORM RE-TURNS adds, by extension, the non-ERB characters and events of its tale to the ERB UNIVERSE. Thus, having tracked the tale down, I will need to read it to see what "extraterrestrials" join the ERB UNIVERSE canon. Also in regard to the ERB UNIVERSE canon, there is a new footnote for this 2022 edition (p. 87) that adds the insights regarding the Mahars of Victory Harben introduced into the recent "The Sword of Eternity" story arc into this tale.]

The second narrative deficiency is the Deus ex machina climax to the novel that, humorously, even the story's hero, Christopher -- and, thus, the author himself -- recognizes in the story: "I never did get around to asking how Doc tracked me down amid the vastness of Pellucidar..." : ) While the writer in me cringed at the Deus ex machina, the audacity of the author's inclusion of his recognition of it made me laugh.

All in all, it is still one of the better additions to the ERB canon by a non-ERB writer. show less

The story of how this book came to be published, at long last, is a tale almost as suspenseful as the novel itself.

While MAHARS OF PELLUCIDAR, the first published novel of Red Axe, a.k.a. the twenty-five-year-old, ex-marine, USC student scientist Christopher West (named for the author's son who writes the introduction and provides the frontispiece for this edition) was well-received by Burroughs fans, it reportedly was not a financial success for its publisher, ACE books, who then declined show more to publish this anticipated sequel.

Copy paper editions were shared by fans at conventions, but they were replete with copy errors, and, in time, were hard to find.

An extremely limited (5-copy), oversized, hardcover edition was made and illustrated by Dr. John Eric Holmes close friend James A. Berger -- copy #1/5 which I purchased in auction from James, details of which can be found here my LibraryThing collection.

RED AXE OF PELLUCIDAR picks up the story of Christopher West, his beloved Varna, and their companions where the first novel ends and recounts two additional adventures along their return journey to Varna's tribe: their trials among the sea folk, and, later, the mammoth hunters of Pellucidar. Much of the conflict is with the different tribes' patriarchal systems and their spiritual beliefs -- especially the mummery of corrupt religious leaders.

An entertaining read. Rich with stone age action and old as well as new Pellucidarian monsters, the tale, however, seems but one along an uncompleted journey. Sadly, as noted by the author's son and in my correspondence with Mr. Berger, the third Red Axe novel SWORDSMAN OF PELLUCIDAR was never written and its story only known to the mind of Dr. Holmes, who did not share it. show less

The story of how this book came to be published, at long last, is a tale almost as suspenseful as the novel itself.

While MAHARS OF PELLUCIDAR, the first published novel of Red Axe, a.k.a. the twenty-five-year-old, ex-marine, USC student scientist Christopher West (named for the author's son who writes the introduction and provides the frontispiece for this edition) was well-received by Burroughs fans, it reportedly was not a financial success for its publisher, ACE books, who then declined show more to publish this anticipated sequel.

Copy paper editions were shared by fans at conventions, but they were replete with copy errors, and, in time, were hard to find.

An extremely limited (5-copy), oversized, hardcover edition was made and illustrated by Dr. John Eric Holmes close friend James A. Berger -- copy #1/5 which I purchased in auction from James, details of which can be found here my LibraryThing collection.

RED AXE OF PELLUCIDAR picks up the story of Christopher West, his beloved Varna, and their companions where the first novel ends and recounts two additional adventures along their return journey to Varna's tribe: their trials among the sea folk, and, later, the mammoth hunters of Pellucidar. Much of the conflict is with the different tribes' patriarchal systems and their spiritual beliefs -- especially the mummery of corrupt religious leaders.

An entertaining read. Rich with stone age action and old as well as new Pellucidarian monsters, the tale, however, seems but one along an uncompleted journey. Sadly, as noted by the author's son and in my correspondence with Mr. Berger, the third Red Axe novel SWORDSMAN OF PELLUCIDAR was never written and its story only known to the mind of Dr. Holmes, who did not share it. show less