The People That Time Forgot

By: Edgar Rice Burroughs

Narrated by: Brian Emerson

Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

In uncharted Caprona, a continent lost from the map of the Earth, where Time has stopped and all primeval creatures of long-gone ages still prowl, Bowen Tyler is lost. To find Tyler, Thomas Billings travels across the world to Caprona, where even stranger mysteries await him, and a barbaric civilization hides, torn between the impassable jungle on one side and an unknown menace on the other.
The People that Time Forgot is an Edgar Rice Burroughs novel in his most exciting tradition.

(P) Blackstone Audiobooks

Not as good as its predecessor but still enjoyable

I really enjoyed the first book in this series (The Land That Time Forgot) and thought I would continue with the next book. While this was a good read I didn't enjoy it as much as much as the first one and it seemed to be rather rushed especially at the end. That being said it was a worthwhile read.

Rescue mission gone awry

Edgar Rice Burroughs' The People That Time Forgot is the sequel to The Land that Time Forgot. The tale begins with a rescue mission to retrieve the stranded crew from the prior installment. Utilizing a plane to search the island, the pilot crashes after being attacked by flying creatures. He saves a young woman from animal and more primitive tribesmen and together they traverse the island going through the various evolutionary stages of both man and creatures. There are many adventures with some tantalizing tidbits on the island's unique development. They eventually reach the encampment and find the rest of the rescue mission having found the stranded.

Burroughs attempts to recapitulate the ascent of man with a series of successive tribesmen who represent theoretical stages of human development from ordinary caveman: club men, hatchet men, spear men, bow man, etc. At the same time, the creatures are related to various geologic eras extending back over millions of years. Left to answer with the final installment is the reason for a lack of children anywhere.

The narration is well done with decent character distinction. Pacing is brisk making for a quick listen.

Adventure and romance

Originally posted at FanLit

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 Bowen’s friend Tom Billings decides to go looking for him. When Tom lands on Caspak, he doesn’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. There’s a constant stream of bears, 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 there’s romance, too, of course. Soon after arriving on Caspak, Tom saves a slender and “adorable” scantily-clad girl who he can’t think of romantically because she’s dirty and “so far beneath me in the scale of evolution.” He spends a lot of time thinking about how he can’t fall in love with a savage, but she turns out to have dimples and nice teeth and Tom discovers that he can’t bear to leave her in the end. Burroughs doesn’t give her much personality, but he does tell us that she’s keen-minded, shrewd, and she makes a great companion. (It’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 who’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 Time’s Abyss.

I’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 wouldn’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.

Beautiful story

The narrator's tone was perfect and fit very well with the story. well done with this classic!

A Fab sequel

Building off Land that Time Forgot, and following a new protagonist in the prehistoric setting, this sequel is less concerned with the dinos than the people. Readers of 1918 must have been interested in the debate and theories of man's evolution, and ERB gives is snippets of several cultures and peoples. Much like the 1st, its adventure and romance at breakneck pace.

Storyline

The fantasy of it especially the subject of genealogy. He is the champion of these kind of stories.

What Can I Say

It’s some of the classic science fiction that they wrote back then. Compared to the stuff that is produced today it is a bit wordy and oddly written

A Story that Time Forgot

Interesting, fun, and easy listening. times and attitudes change, but good stories remain. listen and enjoy.

I Forgot

I had forgotten how much elemental fun and adventure Burroughs provides in his old fashioned heroic tales. The reader adds a splendid authentic touch overall.