''Out of Time's Abyss'' is a

science fantasy Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction that simultaneously draws upon or combines tropes and elements from both science fiction and fantasy. In a conventional science fiction story, the world is presented as being scientif ...

novel by American writer

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...

, the third of his

Caspak Caprona (also known as Caspak) is a fictional island in the literary universe of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Caspak Trilogy, including '' The Land That Time Forgot'', '' The People That Time Forgot'', and '' Out of Time's Abyss''. They were published as ...

trilogy. The sequence was first published in ''

Blue Book Magazine ''Blue Book'' was a popular 20th-century American magazine with a lengthy 70-year run under various titles from 1905 to 1975. Ashley, Mike, "Blue Book—The Slick in Pulp Clothing". ''Pulp Vault'' Magazine, No. 14. Barrington Hills, IL: Tattered P ...

'' as a three-part serial in the issues for August (vol. 27 #4), October (vol. 27 #6), and December (vol. 28 #2) 1918, with ''Out of Time's Abyss'' forming the third installment. The complete trilogy was later combined for publication in book form under the title of '' The Land That Time Forgot'' (the title of the first part) by

A. C. McClurg A. C. McClurg was a stationer, publisher, and book wholesaler for over 120 years in Chicago, Illinois. The business began in 1844, as Chicago's first stationery store and changed hands several times, often as the result of a fire. Alexander McCl ...

in June 1924. Beginning with the

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns, and soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first scienc ...

editions of the 1960s, the three segments have usually been issued as separate short novels.

Plot introduction

''Out of Time's Abyss'' is a direct sequel to '' The Land That Time Forgot'' and '' The People That Time Forgot'', continuing the

lost world The lost world is a subgenre of the fantasy or science fiction genres that involves the discovery of an unknown Earth civilization. It began as a subgenre of the late- Victorian adventure romance and remains popular into the 21st century. The g ...

saga begun in the earlier stories. It connects the previous two installments, bringing in characters introduced in each. Burroughs completes the revelation of his lost world's unique

biological Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary in ...

system, only hinted at in the previous installment, in which the slow progress of

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

in the world outside is recapitulated as a matter of individual

metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some inse ...

. This system forms a thematic element serving to unite the three otherwise rather loosely linked Caspak stories.

Plot summary

The book begins with Bradley, who had left Fort Dinosaur on an expedition in the first novel and never returned. Bradley and his party are attempting to return to Fort Dinosaur. Along the way, they encounter a creature which appears to be a flying dead man. Some of the members of the party consider it to be a

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

banshee A banshee ( ; Modern Irish , from sga, ben síde , "woman of the fairy mound" or "fairy woman") is a female spirit in Irish folklore who heralds the death of a family member, usually by screaming, wailing, shrieking, or keening. Her name is c ...

. Tippet is convinced that he is soon to die, and the next day he is killed by a ''

Tyrannosaurus ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropoda, theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosa ...

''. The ghost-like creature is seen again, and James is killed by a ''

Smilodon ''Smilodon'' is a genus of the extinct machairodont subfamily of the felids. It is one of the most famous prehistoric mammals and the best known saber-toothed cat. Although commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not closely related ...

''. Bradley disappears during the night, and the remaining members of the party make it safely to Fort Dinosaur. Bradley had been captured by the ghost-like creature, which is soon revealed to be a naturally winged human being, belonging to a subgroup of humanity known as the Wieroo. The Wieroo takes Bradley to the island of Oo-oh, set in Caspak's inland sea. It attempts to keep Bradley in a prison, but he escapes through a secret passage. He meets Co-Tan, a girl of the highest human race of mainland Caspak, the Galu, fully human and of a

neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

cultural level. They enter the chamber of the Wieroo king, a huge member of the race, and Bradley kills the creature with its own sword. Co-Tan and Bradley escape the city of the Wieroo and live for several months on the forested coast of Oo-oh. Finally, though, they are discovered by Wieroo. They succeed in capturing two of the Wieroo and forcing them to fly to the mainland, one bearing each of the humans. On the Caspakian mainland, Co-Tan and Bradley begin the trek to Fort Dinosaur, only to find the U33 under the command of its German crew from the first book. It is revealed that in his haste to escape Caspak and leave the Allies, Capt. Von Schoenvorts has miscalculated the resources necessary for their journey home, forcing the German crew to sail back to Caprona to replenish, and in the process capturing the rest of Bradley's men. Bradley and Co-Tan confront the Germans, leading to the death of Von Schoenvorts, at the hands of one of his own crewmembers. With their captain dead, the rest of the German crew chose not to fight the Allies. Together, the survivors search for Bowen Tyler and Lys La Rue, who were lost in the jungles in the first book. Instead, they find a Galu village where they meet Tom Billings, and his love, Ajor. After some discussion, Billings and Ajor decide to accompany the Uboat crew on their escape from Caspak. Once the Uboat escaped via the cave river, the survivors meet the party from the outside world from the previous book, and they return home to America, where Bradley will marry Co-Tan.

Copyright

The

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

for this story has expired in the United States and, thus, now resides in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

there. The text is available via

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...

References

External links

Text of the novel at Project Gutenberg
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Out Of Time's Abyss 1924 American novels 1924 fantasy novels 1924 science fiction novels American fantasy novels American science fiction novels Caspak trilogy Novels about dinosaurs Works originally published in Blue Book (magazine) Novels first published in serial form Ace Books books