Edgar Rice Burroughs
in order.
The pulp pioneer who gave the world Tarzan, John Carter, and a hollow Earth full of dinosaurs.
Edgar Rice Burroughs was a failed pencil-sharpener salesman pushing 36 when he decided he could write better stories than the ones he read in pulp magazines. He was right. Beginning with 'Under the Moons of Mars' in 1912, Burroughs unleashed a torrent of adventure fiction that made him one of the best-selling and most influential authors of the twentieth century, and Tarzan of the Apes became one of the most recognizable fictional characters ever created.
Burroughs was a world-building machine decades before the term existed. He invented Barsoom, a dying Mars crisscrossed by canals and warring city-states; Pellucidar, a savage world inside the hollow Earth; Amtor, a cloud-shrouded Venus; and the ape-raised English lord whose name still needs no introduction. His formula of lost civilizations, courageous heroes, and breakneck pacing directly inspired generations of creators, from Ray Bradbury and Carl Sagan to George Lucas and James Cameron.
By the time of his death in 1950, Burroughs had written nearly 80 novels, founded his own publishing company, and become the first author to incorporate himself. The town that grew up around his California ranch is still called Tarzana. Few writers have ever built so many worlds, or invited so many readers into them.
Where to start
Start with Tarzan of the Apes (1912) and A Princess of Mars (1912), the openers of his two great series, and read whichever hooks you first in order. The Tarzan books are largely self-contained after the first two, so you can skip around, but the Barsoom series rewards strict order since the first three books (A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars, The Warlord of Mars) form a single continuous trilogy with cliffhanger endings. Once you're hooked, At the Earth's Core opens the Pellucidar series, and Pirates of Venus begins his final major saga.
Tarzan 24 BOOKS · IN ORDER
The saga of John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, orphaned in the African jungle and raised by great apes to become the legendary Tarzan.
01
Tarzan of the Apes 1912
The classic origin story: an orphaned English infant is raised by apes and grows into the lord of the jungle.
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02
The Return of Tarzan 1913
Tarzan navigates Parisian society, foils Russian spies, and discovers the lost city of Opar before reclaiming Jane.
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03
The Beasts of Tarzan 1914
Marooned on a jungle island by his enemies, Tarzan raises an army of apes and a panther to rescue his kidnapped son.
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04
The Son of Tarzan 1915
Tarzan's son Jack runs away to Africa and forges his own jungle legend as Korak the Killer.
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05
Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar 1916
An amnesiac Tarzan returns to Opar's treasure vaults while the priestess La schemes to keep him.
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06
Jungle Tales of Tarzan 1917
Twelve linked stories of Tarzan's youth among the apes, before he ever met another human.
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07
Tarzan the Untamed 1920
Believing Jane murdered by German troops, Tarzan wages a one-man war across WWI East Africa.
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08
Tarzan the Terrible 1921
Tarzan's search for Jane leads to Pal-ul-don, a hidden land of tailed men and living dinosaurs.
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09
Tarzan and the Golden Lion 1923
Tarzan raises the lion Jad-bal-ja and faces an impostor plot to loot Opar.
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10
Tarzan and the Ant Men 1924
Tarzan is shrunk to a quarter of his size and thrown into the wars of the miniature Minunian people.
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11
Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle 1928
The ape-man stumbles into a lost valley of medieval crusaders still fighting the Crusades.
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12
Tarzan and the Lost Empire 1929
A hidden remnant of ancient Rome, complete with gladiatorial arenas, survives deep in Africa.
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13
Tarzan at the Earth's Core 1930
Tarzan pilots a dirigible into hollow-Earth Pellucidar in a crossover with Burroughs's other great series.
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14
Tarzan the Invincible 1931
Tarzan thwarts a communist expedition scheming to plunder the gold of Opar.
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15
Tarzan Triumphant 1932
A lost sect of fanatics, a fugitive gangster, and a geology student collide in Tarzan's domain.
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16
Tarzan and the City of Gold 1933
Tarzan is captured by the rival golden and ivory cities of Cathne and Athne.
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17
Tarzan and the Lion Man 1934
A Hollywood film crew hunting authentic jungle footage meets the real thing, in a sly studio satire.
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18
Tarzan and the Leopard Men 1935
An amnesiac Tarzan battles a murderous secret society of leopard-cult killers.
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19
Tarzan's Quest 1936
Tarzan and Jane separately pursue a tribe whose secret pills promise immortality.
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20
Tarzan and the Forbidden City 1938
A hunt for the Father of Diamonds leads to the lost city of Ashair beneath a sacred lake.
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21
Tarzan the Magnificent 1939
Two warring tribes wield mind-controlling gemstones, and Tarzan is caught between them.
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22
Tarzan and the Foreign Legion 1947
In WWII Sumatra, Tarzan leads a downed bomber crew through Japanese-occupied jungle.
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23
Tarzan and the Madman 1964
A posthumously published tale of a deranged Tarzan impostor kidnapping in the ape-man's name.
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24
Tarzan and the Castaways 1965
A posthumous collection featuring a shipwrecked Tarzan and a lost Mayan colony in the Pacific.
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Barsoom (John Carter of Mars) 11 BOOKS · IN ORDER
Confederate veteran John Carter is mysteriously transported to the dying planet Mars, where his Earth-born strength makes him a warlord among its warring races.
01
A Princess of Mars 1912
John Carter awakens on Barsoom, wins the friendship of the four-armed Tharks, and loses his heart to Dejah Thoris.
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02
The Gods of Mars 1913
Carter returns to Mars and shatters the planet's false religion in its forbidden polar sanctuary.
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03
The Warlord of Mars 1914
The trilogy's finale sends Carter racing from pole to pole to rescue Dejah Thoris and claim the title Warlord.
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04
Thuvia, Maid of Mars 1916
Carter's son Carthoris pursues the kidnapped Thuvia to a city defended by phantom archers.
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05
The Chessmen of Mars 1922
Carter's daughter Tara faces the horrific headless Kaldanes and a deadly living chess game.
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06
The Master Mind of Mars 1928
Earthman Ulysses Paxton apprentices to a Martian brain-transplant surgeon with ghoulish clients.
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07
A Fighting Man of Mars 1931
A common soldier braves invisibility rays and cannibal ruins to rescue the woman he loves.
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08
Swords of Mars 1936
John Carter goes undercover among assassins and pilots the first flight to the Martian moon Thuria.
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09
Synthetic Men of Mars 1940
Grown-in-vats monster men rebel against their creator in one of Barsoom's strangest tales.
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10
Llana of Gathol 1948
Four linked novellas follow Carter and his granddaughter Llana across frozen cities and invisible foes.
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11
John Carter of Mars 1964
A posthumous volume collecting the final two Barsoom novellas, including 'Skeleton Men of Jupiter'.
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Pellucidar 7 BOOKS · IN ORDER
Adventurers tunnel into Pellucidar, a savage prehistoric world lining the inside of the hollow Earth, lit by an eternal noonday inner sun.
01
At the Earth's Core 1914
David Innes and Abner Perry drill 500 miles down and discover a stone-age world ruled by telepathic reptiles.
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02
Pellucidar 1915
Innes returns to the inner world to overthrow the Mahars and build a human empire.
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03
Tanar of Pellucidar 1929
A warrior of the Empire battles the Korsars, Pellucidar's brutal inner-world pirates.
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04
Tarzan at the Earth's Core 1930
Tarzan joins a rescue expedition into Pellucidar in the great Burroughs crossover novel.
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05
Back to the Stone Age 1937
A member of Tarzan's expedition, lost in Pellucidar, carves out a saga of his own.
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06
Land of Terror 1944
David Innes crosses Pellucidar's most nightmarish territories on a long journey home.
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07
Savage Pellucidar 1963
The posthumously collected final adventures of David Innes and Abner Perry in the inner world.
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Venus (Carson Napier) 5 BOOKS · IN ORDER
Carson Napier aims his rocket at Mars, misses spectacularly, and crash-lands on Amtor, the cloud-veiled and peril-filled planet Venus.
01
Pirates of Venus 1934
Carson Napier crashes on Venus, joins a mutiny, and turns pirate to rescue the princess Duare.
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02
Lost on Venus 1935
Carson and Duare flee across Amtor, from a scientific utopia to a city of the living dead.
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03
Carson of Venus 1939
Carson goes undercover in the fascist state of the Zanis in Burroughs's sharpest political satire.
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04
Escape on Venus 1946
Four linked adventures sweep Carson and Duare through fish-men, living plants, and warring cities.
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05
The Wizard of Venus 1970
A posthumous novella pitting Carson against a hypnotist posing as a sorcerer.
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Standalone books by Burroughs 6 BOOKS · BY YEAR
In publication order — read these in any order you like.
01
The Mucker 1914
A Chicago street tough is shanghaied, shipwrecked, and remade into a hero among samurai-descended islanders.
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02
The Land That Time Forgot 1918
A WWI U-boat crew discovers Caprona, a lost island where evolution itself works differently; first of the Caspak trilogy.
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03
The Moon Maid 1926
A centuries-spanning epic of lunar invasion and Earth's long fight back to freedom.
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04
The Outlaw of Torn 1927
Burroughs's medieval swashbuckler about a kidnapped prince raised to be England's greatest outlaw.
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05
The War Chief 1927
A white child raised by Geronimo's Apaches becomes a war chief, in one of Burroughs's most respected novels.
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06
I Am a Barbarian 1967
A posthumously published historical novel narrated by the slave of the mad emperor Caligula.
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The movies READ IT BEFORE YOU WATCH IT
Tarzan the Ape Man 1932
Based on: Tarzan of the Apes (1912)
Johnny Weissmuller's debut created the definitive screen Tarzan and launched a 12-film MGM/RKO series.
The Land That Time Forgot 1975
Based on: The Land That Time Forgot (1918)
Cult Amicus production with a screenplay co-written by SF author Michael Moorcock.
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes 1984
Based on: Tarzan of the Apes (1912)
Oscar-nominated prestige retelling starring Christopher Lambert and Andie MacDowell.
Tarzan 1999
Based on: Tarzan of the Apes (1912)
Disney's animated hit with Phil Collins's Oscar-winning song 'You'll Be in My Heart'.
John Carter 2012
Based on: A Princess of Mars (1912)
Disney's lavish $250M Barsoom epic, released for the novel's centennial.
The Legend of Tarzan 2016
Based on: Tarzan of the Apes (1912)
Alexander Skarsgard stars in a sequel-style take that grossed over $350M worldwide.
Frequently asked questions
How many Tarzan books are there?
Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote 24 Tarzan books, beginning with Tarzan of the Apes in 1912 and ending with the posthumously published Tarzan and the Castaways in 1965. Authorized sequels by other writers, such as Fritz Leiber's Tarzan and the Valley of Gold, extend the series further, but the core canon is Burroughs's 24.
What order should I read the John Carter of Mars books?
Read the Barsoom series in publication order, starting with A Princess of Mars. The first three books — A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars, and The Warlord of Mars — form one continuous trilogy with cliffhanger endings, so don't skip around until you've finished those. The remaining eight books are more self-contained.
Do you have to read the Tarzan books in order?
Only the first two, Tarzan of the Apes and The Return of Tarzan, really need to be read in sequence, since together they complete Tarzan's origin and his romance with Jane. After that, most entries stand alone, though reading in publication order lets you follow the growth of Tarzan's family and recurring locations like the lost city of Opar.
Are Edgar Rice Burroughs's books in the public domain?
Most of Burroughs's early novels, including Tarzan of the Apes and A Princess of Mars, are in the public domain in the United States, and free editions are widely available. Later works and the Tarzan trademark itself are still controlled by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., the company the author founded in 1923.