David Innes is a mining heir who finances the experimental "iron mole," an excavating vehicle designed by his elderly inventor friend Abner Perry. In a test run, they discover the vehicle cannot be turned, and it burrows 500 miles into the Earth's crust, emerging into the unknown interior world of Pellucidar. In Burroughs' concept, the Earth is a hollow shell with Pellucidar as the internal surface of that shell. Pellucidar is inhabited by prehistoric creatures of all geological eras, and dominated by the Mahars, a species of flying reptile both intelligent and civilized, but which enslaves and preys on the local stone-age humans. Innes and Perry are captured by the Mahars' ape-like Sagoth servants and taken with other human captives to the chief Mahar city of Phutra. Among their fellow captives are the brave Ghak, the Hairy One, from the country of Sari, the shifty Hooja the Sly One and the lovely Dian the Beautiful of Amoz.
Edgar Rice Burroughs
**Edgar Rice Burroughs** (1875–1950) est un écrivain américain célèbre pour avoir créé **Tarzan**, l’un des personnages de fiction les plus emblématiques au monde. Ancien soldat, cow-boy et chercheur d’or, il se lance dans l’écriture au début du XXe siècle et invente un univers où aventure, science-fiction et fantastique se mêlent. Son œuvre, prolifique, a marqué la culture populaire et inspiré des générations de lecteurs et d’auteurs. *The Return of Tarzan*, publié en 1915, est le deuxième tome d’une saga de 24 romans.
