"The Land that Time Forgot"

"The Land That Time Forgot"
Review written by Diana Iozzia


I hadn’t known much about this trilogy before I had picked up a copy at Barnes and Noble (a year ago). I decided to read it this past week, because I absolutely love science fiction, but I don’t read it often enough. I was much more impressed with this than I thought. With this being a series of three stories from the 1910s decade, I expected verbose, beautiful imagery and descriptive narratives. I did not realize I would be able to read such a wonderfully written trilogy, with many perspectives, characters, and a terrifying and interesting lost island. To speak about the series, I will write about each book in the series. Near the end of the full review, you will read the notes I took and opinions I formed, as marked by post-it note page tag as I read through the book. They will be written in the order of the book’s progression, so if you feel they may spoil you in any way, please don’t read the notes section. Thank you and please continue on.

“The Land That Time Forgot” (LTF)

“LTF” begins the series, kicking off with a fascinating series of events involving its first main character, Bowen Tyler and his dog, Nobs, as they encounter German u-bombs and rival ships in the Great War. The two must battle for survival in the water, mutiny on the ship, and deception. Bowen is starting to fall in love with a woman, Lys, he rescues in the water. To be honest, he’s really quite creepy towards her in the beginning. It’s very “why doesn’t she love me? I’m so interesting and intelligent. Oh, and I’m not great with social cues, blah.” Tyler, Nobs, Lys, the Englishmen, and the Germans land on the island of Caprona, which is called Caspak by the ape-people who live on the island.

In LTF, we learn about the interesting evolutionary patterns of the ape-people who live on the island. From my understanding, it seems to follow the ape evolution chart, that image we’ve all seen of monkeys progressing into the human. LTF sets up the island, introducing us to the dangerous dinosaurs, the pterodactyls, and the much larger and more dangerous predator animals (lions, bears, tigers, lizards, etc.). 

As I mentioned, we learn a little of the ape dynamic, not actually seeing typical apes that we know in our lifetime. The ape-people progress in the evolutionary pattern. The lesser apes use primitive tools, higher ones use spears, ropes, and more. 


“The People That Time Forgot”

“PTF” is much more of an interesting novel in the trilogy. It is set up to describe Tom Billings and his crew that he brings to the island to find Bowen Tyler and Lys. Tom Billings meets a Galu, named Ajor, who is of the breed that is closest to humans. She also is very fearful of Wieroos. They are almost God-like, but we learn much more about them in the third novel. Ajor was the daughter of a Galu, Jor, who was hidden from birth. Wieroos take Galu females to capture them, make them into wives, and sacrifice them to the god, Luata. 

Tom teaches Ajor his language, and she teaches hers, which is a wonderful scene by a campfire, with (guess who?!) Nobs laying and sleeping beside them. I really like this coupling. Tom and Ajor are sweet and loving and protective of each other, in comparison to the other couples in the trilogy, in which the man seems to be more obsessed than loving.

I think the most interesting aspects of PTF is not the rescue story, but the learning of the Luata / Wieroo religion, the language, and the evolutionary patterns of the ape-men on the island. Ajor, Tom, and Nobs fight many different tribes, make some friends and enemies, and continue on. I don’t want to spoil the end of their story, but it iiiiss a rescue story.


“Out of Time’s Abyss”

“OTA” follows Bradley and his team as they try to find Tom Billings, Bowen Tyler, and Lys. They were the team that had originally came with Tom, but they were separated at the beginning of PTF. Bradley is a tough, no-nonsense survivalist, who has a very hot temper. He kills anything in his way and hardly tries to learn about the island. He meets (of course) a Galu named Co-Tan, but throughout the book, he views it more as a protective relationship than romantic (until the end). Bradley has unfortunately found his way into the city of Ooh-Oh, which is where the Wieroos live, worshipping Luata. Their leader is He/Him Who Speaks for Luata. Bradley meets Co-Tan’s brother in their prison, and eventually sets him free. Bradley attempts to find his way back to Fort Dinosaur, which seemed to be the meeting place where Bowen Tyler and crew had set up a small fort of houses. I think the Wieroos are very interesting, the cult-like dynamic of these winged humans. (Yes, humans!) They are the true closest relatives of the human characters we follow. However, they are the cruelest. 



Now, I will be listing my notes and possible spoilers, so please do not read on if you worry you may be spoiled by anything.

“The Land that Time Forgot”

• The humor in this trilogy is pretty good, but Bowen Tyler himself can be over the top, seeming to think that he is very funny. 
• As I mentioned before, Bowen is very creepy and “friend-zone”-y to Lys. He tries to dissuade Lys from being interested in any of the crewmen, but of course this is justified because the crewmen betray him. Bowen Tyler has the fantastic ability to do exactly what will work out in the end. Ugh. Many of these male characters have this ability as well. Sorry, but I think a hero should have at least a small struggle, that he’s not completely skilled and successful in every attempt.
• The first time they see the island. Just all of the initial descriptions are beautiful and so realistic. I’m very reminiscent of Jurassic Park and King Kong during these opening chapters.
• The creatures of the island. It’s interesting to see how our main characters interact with not-so-extinct-anymore creatures. I just really like dinosaurs and prehistoric animals so…
• There are too many close calls where it seems Nobs will die. 
• I understand that hunting animals for survival is necessary, and I’m really glad the moments are not gratuitous and too detailed. I think I’d be disheartened to read graphic hunting scenes.
• There are some great moments in LTF where our characters walk into a precarious position, rather than the action occurring once they arrive. I like these types of scenes, because they seem realistic. (pg. 68)
• I’m not a fan of lines that describe what will happen in the future, if the narrative is written in past tense. For example, if a character says that something bad will happen at the end of the chapter. I have a big rant about that in my review of Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita” on Goodreads, if you’re interested in a further explanation.
• Cheesy dialogue: “Tell me in words how much you love me.” “I love you beyond all conception”.
• YES. We understand that it’s strange we don’t often see young children or older ape people. It doesn’t have to mention this confusion every chapter. Clearly, if it’s going to be explained in the future, there is no need to continue on about it.
• So many moments of deux ex machina throughout the books.


“The People That Time Forgot”

• The endings of LTF and PTF confused me. It took me a couple of times reading the pages to understand how Bowen’s manuscript arrived and that Tom Billings and team were coming to rescue.
• Why send so many people if you know the first time splitting up went poorly?
• Also, whoever is narrating the first chapter of PTF is clearly unknown. I looked it up on Wikipedia, and people surmised it’s a cameo from the author.
• I think it’s very interesting how each main character (Bowen Tyler, Tom Billings, and Bradley) all describe the same things on the island differently. All of the characters are very different and well-written even if I only care for Tom Billings.
• As I mentioned earlier, the dynamic between Tom Billings and his beloved Ajor is really great. It’s not creepy or uncomfortable. You can tell that Tom Billings really respects her, and she trusts him so deeply.
• Edgar Rice Burroughs clearly put so much thought into the evolutionary patterns of the apes, how certain apes would need certain weapons, and their evolved bodies. For example, Alus are beaded, Bo-Lu women don’t have beards, and Stolu-men have stubble, and Band-Lu do not have hair.
• Naturally, this trilogy can be a little sexist in places, but I like that Tom encourages Ajor to learn how to defend herself. Also, I like that she doesn’t always listen to his instructions to stay in one place, or to stay quiet. She’s a great character.
“Out of Time’s Abyss”
• Honestly, this is my least favorite of the books, but I still really enjoy them all. I just think that I enjoyed the second so much, I think I was just a little let down.
• Bradley is the epitome of the character who does whatever he can to survive: stealing weapons, murder, escaping prison, killing ape-people without a second thought. I understand the mentality, but he comes off as cruel and cold. He’d be a good Arnold Schwarzenegger character.
• The Wieroos’ city is creepy and eerie. It’s a great “villain’s den” / “badlands” / Hell landscape.
• Bradley has hardly any difficulty understanding the Galus and Wieroos, so where did those groups originally learn the English language? Hmmm.
• An-Tak’s sendoff was sad, but it showed heart in Bradley that seemed to be nonexistent.
• I’m glad the last show-down in the book where the Englishmen re-met the Germans happened the way it did. I sort of forgot about the Germans, so I’m glad it was addressed well with a good conclusion.
• This note is for all of the books. My copy has a great glossary of all the terms, language, places, and characters. There’s a nice map that Edgar Rice Burroughs had drawn. It’s hard to read, but it’s much cooler than a computer generated map.


Honestly, I haven’t read a book in a very long time, at least six months, where I had realized that the book would become a new favorite book. It was great reading through and realizing how much I liked it. It’s very rare that one of the books I read receives a 5 star review. A 5 star review is usually reserved for one of my favorite books that I will keep in my collection and read in the future. I’m so glad I took the time to read this. I also own “Tarzan of the Apes” and “Hollow Earth” by Edgar Rice Burroughs, so I plan to read them as well soon.

Thank you for reading my review! 

*I purchased my own copy of this book.*