At the Earth's Core

At the Earth's Core is a science fiction adventure novel by the American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, first published in 1914. It is the first book in his series set in Pellucidar, a fictional continent on the inner surface of a hollow Earth; the Chinese edition of the series is titled Journey to the Center of the Earth, and this book is the first volume. The novel was serialized in four parts in All-Story Weekly before appearing as a book in 1922, published by A. C. McClurg. The story follows David Innes, heir to a mining fortune, and his elderly inventor friend Abner Perry. Perry has built an experimental digging machine nicknamed the Iron Mole. On its first trial run, the two men discover that the machine cannot be steered; it bores about five hundred miles down through the Earth's crust and bursts into the strange, unknown world beneath the surface known as Pellucidar. In Burroughs's conception, the Earth is a hollow shell, and Pellucidar lies on its inner surface, still inhabited by prehistoric creatures from every geological age. The region is ruled by the Mahars, intelligent and civilized flying reptiles who enslave Stone Age humans. Innes and Perry are captured by the Sagoths, ape-like servants of the Mahars, and marched with other human captives to Phutra, the Mahars' central city. Among the captives they meet Ghak, a brave warrior from Sari, the cunning Hooja, and Dian the Beautiful, a girl of Amoz. Innes, unfamiliar with local customs, falls into a misunderstanding with Dian. He then endures escape, getting lost, and a hazardous return to Phutra, and gradually discovers that Pellucidar has no day or night and no way to measure time, so time becomes subjective and different people experience its passage very differently. He finally defeats Jubal, a rival suitor with evil intentions, and wins Dian. Innes, Perry, Ghak, and others then lead the humans in revolt against the cruel Mahars. As events unfold, Innes returns to the surface in the Iron Mole to gather supplies, only to discover after setting out that Hooja has switched the cargo and put a drugged Mahar aboard the machine, leaving Dian behind in Pellucidar. The novel ends as Innes meets the author in the surface world, setting up a sequel. Blending prehistoric wonders, alien rule, and adventure romance, it is one of the defining works of the hollow Earth genre and was adapted into a film of the same name in 1976.