The People That Time Forgot

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, show more 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. show less

Burroughs does something interesting in the second installment of the Caspak series. Rather than being narrated by the hero of The Land That Time Forgot, Tyler Bowen, this story is narrated by his friend Thomas Billings. Billings gets Bowen's manuscript - thrown into the ocean inside a thermos -- and undertakes a rescue expedition. Of course, Billings happens to be an aviator, crack shot, and all around great cowboy. The novel has a couple of points of interest: the details of how some primitive humans physically evolve in their lifetime and move from tribe to tribe accordingly and Billings cluelessly not realizing that he's falling in love with native woman (and true human) Ajor - a "squaw" not of his race or culture.

A quick, short and show more worthwhile read despite Burroughs characteristically ludicrous coincidences. show less

You must hid all your science education in the closet before reading this one, most of the "prehistoric" details in this one were flat wrong even when this was written. In particular the idea of people hatching from eggs on one end of the island and then slowly migrating north as they "evolve" into higher forms of humanity is absurd. The adventure is classic Burroughs, a perfect hero, lots of he-man posturing and overcoming predators. The action is fun but cannot make up for so many obvious plot and setting holes.

re-read 10/256/2023

I was a bit disappointed with this sequel to The Land That Time Forgot. I was expecting it to follow the adventures of Bowen Tyler and Lys after they accept their fate as being finally stranded in Caspak beyond hope of rescue. Instead it follows the adventures of Tom Billings, the man who finds the message in a bottle that Tyler threw into the sea at the end of the previous novel. He and his companions attempt to land on Caspak and Tom adventures across the land accompanied by a woman he meets, Ajor. This novel relies less on action and more of how Tom discovers more about the complicated societies on the island, where individual members of tribes progress through levels from apelike creatures to increasingly higher forms of humanity. show more This makes the novel somewhat more intellectually interesting but less readable as an adventure story. show less

This is the second instalment of Burroughs' Caspak saga.

Thomas Billings searches prehistoric Caspak for his good friend Bowen J. Tyler after a manuscript sent in a bottle falls into his hands (apparently sent from the uncharted volcanic island of Caprona where Tyler is stranded with his wife following being captured by a German U-Boat). With the backing and considerable wealth of Tyler's family behind him, Billings heads an expedition to the lost world; but during his first reconnaissance in an air-boat he is attacked by pterodactyls and forced down.
Now together with a girl savage named Ajor and various single-serving friends they meet along the way; the two of them fight for their lives in a terrifying world where dinosaurs still rule show more the earth, the waters and the skies!

This story was written when ERB was at his prime; nice characters, good plot development and enough descriptive writing to transport you to the lost world then draw you in to this epic struggle of one man against all the monsters of prehistory and then some!

I will definitely keep this on my bookshelf and give it another read some time in the future. Gripping stuff! show less

Originally posted at FanLit http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/the-people-that-time-forgot/

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 Bowenƒ??s friend Tom Billings decides to go looking for him. When Tom lands on Caspak, he doesnƒ??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. Thereƒ??s a constant stream of bears, show more 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 thereƒ??s romance, too, of course. Soon after arriving on Caspak, Tom saves a slender and ƒ??adorableƒ? scantily-clad girl who he canƒ??t think of romantically because sheƒ??s dirty and ƒ??so far beneath me in the scale of evolution.ƒ? He spends a lot of time thinking about how he canƒ??t fall in love with a savage, but she turns out to have dimples and nice teeth and Tom discovers that he canƒ??t bear to leave her in the end. Burroughs doesnƒ??t give her much personality, but he does tell us that sheƒ??s keen-minded, shrewd, and she makes a great companion. (Itƒ??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 whoƒ??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 Timeƒ??s Abyss.

Iƒ??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 wouldnƒ??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. show less

The present rubbed legs with the past, it played a strange melody. Edgar Rice Burroughs leads a tour of Capak. He leads us through strange lands amidst noble savages and sub-humans. The book is a Capak tour, but lacks action to be exciting. It makes me wonder if he was forced to write this one.

(I listened to this on libri vox read by Ralph Snelson)