The idea that the Earth is a hollow sphere is one that has been tossed around in esoteric circles, and has been the basis of some science-fiction tales.
One early American believed in it and agitated for years for a polar expedition to the opening he believed would lead to the interior world. This lead to others who also believed this idea, as well as those who used it for interesting stories.
Probably the most well known science fiction tales using this idea are Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Pellucidar stories, named after the interior world. The Pellucidar series was Burrough’s third longest running, and one I read after finishing off the Mars/Barsoom series.
The series consists of:
- “At the Earth’s Core” (1914)
- “Pellucidar” (1915)
- “Tanar of Pellucidar” (1929)
- “Tarzan at the Earth’s Core” (1929)
- “Back to the Stone Age” (1937)
- “Land of Terror” (1944)
- “Savage Pellucidar” (1963)
In addition, much later John Eric Holmes was permitted to write official sequels to the series. The first, “Mahars of Pellucidar” came out in 1976. But for some reasons the Burroughs estate blocked the publication of “Red Axe of Pellucidar” when it was ready in 1980. A planned third novel was never completed.
We kick off the series with “At the Earth’s Core.” Here we met the hero of the story, David Innes, who with his inventor friend Abner Perry, has built a tunneling machine called the “Iron Mole.” In it, the two men penetrate the Earth’s crust and find themselves in the hollow interior.
There they find a world lit by a center, stationary sun. Later we learn this world is also accessible by polar openings. Pellucidar is a primitive world of dinosaurs and cave men, most at the level of a stone-age savages. But there is also the menace of the “mahars,” intelligent pterodactyls who rule over the humans and see them as slaves and food.
Innes and Perry upset this “balance.” Innes falls in love with Dian the Beutiful, and with the help of others overthrows the rule of the mahars and establishes a human rule. They have further adventures as they discover the descendants of corsairs, a bronze-age civilization, and get a visit from Tarzan, who comes via a dirigible through the polar opening.
Other media
The only comic-book adaptations were done by DC Comics when they held the rights in the 1970s. They did an adaptation of the first two books that started off in “Korak, Son of Tarzan” #46 before moving to “Weird World” #1-7. An original story appeared in “Tarzan Family” #66. I always wish that someone (Dark Horse) would reprint this in trade paperback.
The only movie adaptation was the one done by UK’s Amicus Productions in the ’70s, the second of three Burroughs movies they did. This one stars Doug McClure as David Innes, Peter Cushing as Abner Perry, and Caroline Munro as Dian the Beautiful. It was a fairly accurate adaptation of the first book, though it didn’t make it clear they were in a hollow earth, making it seem more like deep caverns.
Another enjoyable Burroughs series.
