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Read Out Of Time's Abyss (2004)

Out of Time's Abyss (2004)

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Series
Rating
3.64 of 5 Votes: 4
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ISBN
1595402284 (ISBN13: 9781595402288)
Language
English
Publisher
1st world library

Out Of Time's Abyss (2004) - Plot & Excerpts

Originally posted at FanLit. http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...In Out of Time’s Abyss, the last volume of Edgar Rice Burrough’s CASPAK trilogy, we learn what happened to Bradley, one of the adventurers we met in the first novel, The Land that Time Forgot. As we expected, Bradley has frightening adventures on Caspak, is nearly killed by lions, bears, tigers, dinosaurs, etc, and he saves and falls in love with a beautiful young damsel in distress.In this installment, we meet the Wieroo, the most highly evolved species on Caspak. Their form and society isn’t at all what the American and European adventurers would have expected. We also learn the rest of the mystery of the strange evolution that has happened on Caspak. Since this is Earth instead of a fantasy world, it’s all too far-fetched to believe, but that’s okay because we weren’t really expecting or demanding more from a lost world story.The plot of Out of Time’s Abyss could have been enjoyable, but its problem is that, except for the episode with the Weiroo, it’s nearly identical to the previous two CASAPAK stories, The Land that Time Forgot and The People that Time Forgot: white man fights prehistoric creatures and falls in love with the adorable native girl he’s protecting. At this point, the formula which has worked well before has become stale.Blackstone Audio’s version of Out of Time’s Abyss was read by Brian Emerson who does a great job. The CASPAK trilogy was published in 1918 so you can find both a print and an audio version in the public domain.

The third and weakest entry in the CASPAK trilogy, OUT OF TIME'S ABYSS is too silly and implausible for readers to stay interested in all the world-building throughout. Burroughs should have just stuck with dinosaurs; instead, our hero is pitted against a race of bat/human hybrids with a convoluted evolutionary history that requires them to kidnap unwilling females in order to reproduce, and to become serial murderers in order to climb the social ladder. Our hero spends much of the book punching these creatures in the face.And of course he rescues one of the kidnapped women, who immediately falls in love with him. And would it surprise you to learn that she is very buxom and loosely attired?The thrills of this book are all very lazy, and Burroughs relies heavily on coincidence in allowing our hero to survive his various scrapes. That, and the stupidity of his adversaries.The title OUT OF TIME'S ABYSS conveys a certain amount of gravitas, but, believe me, the book itself is a steaming bowl of corn cheese.

What do You think about Out Of Time's Abyss (2004)?

Third installment in Burrough's Caspak trilogy. This book introduces characters who disappeared in the first novel and takes up the tale of their subsequent adventures, eventually connecting figures and events across both earlier novels. This time around we spend a lot more time among the Wieroo, a winged species of human banshees who might have advanced intelligence but have used it to create a human bird-bat civilization based on advancement through murder. The theme of Anglo-Saxon hero falling for capable but subservient Galu maiden is repeated, and we get a nasty battle scene with some sadistic Prussians to remind us that even though the setting might be fantastic, its environment antediluvian, this work dates from 1918.
—Scot

By the third Caspak book, it is clear that Burroughs' heroes and villains are pretty cookie cutter. Brave hero meets native girl, they fall in love through their shared ordeals and they defeat the villains. With that said, the strength of this story is the interesting society he develops with the Weiroos. Through book 1 and 2 there have been hints about the winged creatures, but in this book we finally get to see why the other tribes fear them and why they are heading to an evolutionary dead end. Their society, customs and brutality are fully explored as Bradley ( a character from Book 1) is captured and must make his escape. Time's Abyss also raps up loose ends from the other two books and forms a definitive conclusion to the trilogy.
—Stuart

One of the all-time great titles for a novel, isn’t it? The final of the three Caspak books, in some ways it is more reminiscent of a Barsoom adventure than its two predecessors—Burroughs’s favored lost-city-with-strange-inhabitants motif is added to the prehistoric dangers we’ve already seen.It’s an odd mix but an inventive one, and it works. Overall, ‘Out of Time’s Abyss’ is perhaps the best of ERB’s short novels set in this world. The book also fully lays out the odd and rather preposterous science fiction premise of Caspakian evolution, hinted at in the earlier novels. He seemed to love to inject such tongue-in-cheek propositions into his writing. And succeed in making us believe them!The protagonist here has a certain resemblance to a fellow Britisher, Lord Greystoke, physically as well as in his self-assuredness. He’s certainly better with women than the heroes of the first two books. He’s also competent at dealing with the grotesque winged semi-human Weiroo who kidnap him and the beautiful young woman with whom he inevitably falls in love. That’s three for three in the series.And inevitably, the Weiroo political structure—advancement through assassination—also provides Burroughs with the opportunity for some of his typical social commentary. Their city of Oo-oh (another great name) is vividly realized. Definitely a worthwhile read—but you must finish the other two books first!
—Stephen Brooke

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