Edgar Rice Burroughs Books in Order
Browse Edgar Rice Burroughs books in order, with quick summaries of Tarzan, John Carter of Mars, and more, plus series guides and where to start.
Last updated: December 27, 2025
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Publication Order
82 books
John Carter: The Movie Novelization
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
2012
Based on the film, this novelization follows John Carter from the American West to Mars, where he’s pulled into a conflict between rival factions. It retells the story with scene-by-scene detail and added context.
The Cave Man
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
2008
This continuation of The Cave Girl follows its characters beyond the island and into new dangers. Wilderness survival gives way to modern threats, forcing hard choices about love, identity, and where they truly belong.
Brother Men
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
2005
A collection of letters between Edgar Rice Burroughs and Herbert T. Weston that traces their friendship and daily lives over many years. The correspondence offers a candid look at writing, business, family worries, and the era they lived through.
You Lucky Girl!
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1999
A three-act romantic comedy in which a young woman dreams of the stage while the people around her try to steer her into a quieter life. A tangle of schemes and surprises tests relationships and forces characters to reveal what they really want.
I Am a Barbarian
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1967
A warrior from the Germanic tribes is swept into the violent politics of ancient Rome and ends up in the orbit of an emperor. Court intrigue, survival, and culture clash drive a story that feels like Burroughs doing historical adventure.
Tarzan and the Castaways
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1965
This late Tarzan collection sends him into remote coasts and sudden rescues, where castaways and criminals collide. The stories lean into short, fast plots, with Tarzan solving problems quickly and leaving before trouble can settle.
The Wizard of Venus
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1964
Carson Napier encounters a strange figure who uses superstition and “magic” to control others on Venus. To free captives and survive, Carson must expose the trick, and face the very real danger behind it.
Tarzan and the Madman
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1964
Tarzan encounters a man who looks like him, and the double becomes the center of a dangerous scheme. Confusion, captivity, and a fight for identity push Tarzan into a mystery where brute force is not enough.
Beyond the Farthest Star
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1964
Two linked science-fiction adventures follow an Earthman who is transported to a distant world and forced into war and survival. Strange cultures, alien dangers, and a drive to get home keep the story moving at pulp speed.
Return to Mars
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1962
An omnibus-style volume that gathers several mid-series Barsoom adventures in one place. Expect kidnappings, strange cities, and perilous journeys across Mars, with the spotlight shifting between different heroes and corners of the planet.
Tarzan and the Foreign Legion
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1947
During World War II, Tarzan becomes involved in a rescue and sabotage mission alongside a foreign legion. Jungle skills meet modern warfare as he fights to save captives and outmaneuver enemies in a conflict larger than any one man.
Land of Terror
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1944
David Innes returns to Pellucidar and is drawn into a perilous expedition toward an unknown region rumored to be deadly. Strange peoples, treachery, and the harsh logic of survival turn exploration into a fight to come back alive.
Skeleton Men of Jupiter
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1943
John Carter is abducted by eerie skeletal beings from Jupiter and drawn into an interplanetary threat aimed at Mars. This late tale reads like a cliffhanger-driven fragment from the outer edges of the Barsoom saga.
Escape on Venus
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1942
On Venus, Carson Napier and his allies are forced into flight again as enemies close in from multiple directions. The escape becomes a series of desperate bargains and battles, with Duare’s fate tied to the outcome.
Savage Pellucidar
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1941
Pellucidar’s struggle for freedom continues as new threats and rival factions rise in the endless daylight. Exploration and warfare collide, pushing the rebels into strange territories where the Mahars’ shadow still reaches.
Llana of Gathol
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1941
A set of linked Barsoom adventures follows Llana of Gathol as she faces kidnappers, monsters, and lost civilizations. Each tale drops her into danger fast, then forces a clever escape before the next trap snaps shut.
John Carter of Mars
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1941
This collection returns to Barsoom for late-era John Carter adventures, including a clash with a synthetic enemy and a threat that reaches beyond Mars. It works best once you know the world and its long-running rivalries.
John Carter and the Giant of Mars
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1940
A later Barsoom adventure pits John Carter against a synthetic enemy who unleashes a gigantic white ape as a living weapon. With Dejah Thoris in danger, Carter must outfight brute force and outthink a plot built on fear.
Deputy Sheriff of Comanche County
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1940
A drifter takes on the job of deputy sheriff in Comanche County and quickly learns that the badge makes him a target. Outlaws, corrupt power, and a hard moral choice force him to decide what kind of lawman he will be.
Tarzan the Magnificent
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1939
Tarzan escorts a dangerous prisoner through hostile territory and discovers that justice is rarely simple in the jungle. Betrayal, pursuit, and unexpected alliances turn a straightforward mission into a test of Tarzan’s judgment and restraint.
Synthetic Men of Mars
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1939
John Carter investigates a new menace, synthetic warriors built for conquest. As plots unfold in hidden cities and strange laboratories, he must protect Helium while uncovering who is turning science into a weapon.
Carson of Venus
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1939
Carson Napier continues his fight to survive on Amtor while navigating rival kingdoms and the fallout of earlier battles. With Duare’s safety still in doubt, he pushes deeper into Venus’s patchwork world of pirates, priests, and warlords.
Tarzan and the Forbidden City
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1938
Tarzan enters a forbidden city where outsiders are not meant to return and finds a web of politics and danger inside its walls. Rescue becomes harder than the journey in, and Tarzan must fight smart as well as hard to get out.
Back to the Stone Age
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1937
A man from the surface is stranded in Pellucidar and forced to live by stone-age rules, learning survival one brutal lesson at a time. Captivity, pursuit, and shifting tribal politics make every step toward freedom uncertain.
Tarzan's Quest
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1935
Jane is kidnapped, and Tarzan follows her trail into remote country where legends of a life-extending secret draw ruthless men. The quest becomes a race through hidden valleys and brutal fights, with Tarzan unwilling to lose his family again.
Tarzan and the Leopard Men
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1935
A secretive leopard-men cult spreads fear through the jungle, and Tarzan must track the killers without knowing who wears the mask. The hunt becomes a tense mix of mystery and action as Tarzan closes in on enemies hiding in plain sight.
Swords of Mars
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1935
Tan Hadron pursues a kidnapping and a wider conspiracy that threatens the balance of power on Mars. With enemies closing in, he must fight his way through betrayals and uneasy alliances across Barsoom’s harsh frontier.
Lost on Venus
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1935
Carson Napier’s troubles on Amtor deepen as he’s captured and dragged into new regions of Venus, each with its own laws and dangers. Separated from allies, he must improvise escapes while searching for Duare across a hostile world.
Tarzan and the Lion Man
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1934
Tarzan crosses paths with a Hollywood expedition and a mysterious “lion man,” and what starts as a stunt turns into real danger. He must untangle deception, rescue the vulnerable, and restore order in a jungle that does not forgive mistakes.
Tarzan and the City of Gold
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1932
Tarzan returns to a hidden land of strange tribes and lost riches when danger threatens friends and allies. The journey forces him into brutal contests, uneasy alliances, and a fight to keep power from falling into the wrong hands.
Pirates of Venus
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1932
Carson Napier crash-lands on Venus, Amtor, and immediately meets pirates, rival cities, and a princess named Duare. With no way home, he fights to survive and to keep Duare out of the hands of those who treat people like prizes.
The Land of Hidden Men / Jungle Girl
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1931
An American adventurer in Cambodia stumbles into a hidden kingdom and a “jungle girl” living between worlds. As outsiders close in, he must navigate secret politics and dangerous terrain to protect what the lost land is trying to hide.
Tarzan Triumphant
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1931
Tarzan becomes entangled in a struggle over power in a remote African region, where slavers and warlords exploit fear. A rescue turns into a larger campaign, and Tarzan must outthink enemies who count on intimidation to win.
Tarzan the Invincible
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1930
Tarzan uncovers a dangerous plot involving foreign agents, hidden strongholds, and people willing to sell out entire communities. To stop the scheme, he must fight through traps that are more political than animal, and just as lethal.
A Fighting Man of Mars
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1930
Cast out and sold into slavery, Tan Hadron fights to reclaim his honor and freedom on Barsoom. His journey runs through arenas, warlords, and shifting identities, where a single mistake can cost a life, or a kingdom.
Tarzan at the Earth's Core
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1929
Tarzan is pulled into Pellucidar, the savage world inside the Earth, where dinosaurs and telepathic rulers prey on humans. Cut off from the surface, he joins the fight for freedom and survives by instinct and relentless action.
Tarzan and the Lost Empire
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1928
Tarzan’s search for missing friends leads him to a hidden realm in Africa that feels like a surviving fragment of an ancient empire. To escape its politics and dangers, he must outfight enemies who have ruled in secret for generations.
Tanar of Pellucidar
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1928
A new protagonist is drawn into Pellucidar’s brutal inner-earth politics and forced to survive among rival tribes and slavers. As alliances shift, he must fight for freedom and learn what leadership costs in a world without night.
Apache Devil
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1928
Shoz-Dijiji’s story continues as outside forces tighten and internal feuds turn deadly. With his reputation growing and enemies multiplying, he must protect his people while facing the personal costs of becoming a living symbol on the frontier.
The War Chief
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1927
Shoz-Dijiji rises as a fierce Apache warrior in the American Southwest, caught between tribal expectations and the pressures of a changing frontier. Raids, rivalries, and a personal romance thread build toward hard choices about loyalty and survival.
The Tarzan Twins
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1927
Two adventurous youngsters, known as the Tarzan Twins, get separated from safety and must survive deep in the African jungle. Cannibals, wild animals, and hidden dangers test their courage until Tarzan tracks their trail.
The Mastermind of Mars
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1927
A wounded airman from Earth awakens on Barsoom and is drawn into the work of a brilliant, dangerous scientist. When bodies and identities can be traded, survival depends on knowing who to trust and what you can live with.
Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1927
This volume pairs two late Tarzan adventures, one involving a film crew and a “lion man,” and another featuring a deadly leopard-men cult. Together they show Tarzan dealing with human deception as much as jungle danger.
The Mad King
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1926
Barney Custer, an American who looks exactly like a European king, is swept into palace intrigue and revolution. Hunted by enemies on all sides, he must rely on nerve and quick thinking to survive a role he never wanted.
The Red Hawk
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1925
Far in the future, civilization has shifted into new tribal powers, and a later Julian, the Red Hawk, becomes a leader in the long war against the Moon’s descendants. The struggle mixes rebellion, raids, and the hard work of building unity.
The Moon Men
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1925
Centuries after the first lunar contact, Earth has been conquered by invaders from the Moon, and Chicago lies in ruins. A new Julian fights to survive in a brutal world and sparks a resistance against the Kalkars’ rule.
The Cave Girl
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1925
After a shipwreck, a sheltered man survives on a remote island and meets a fierce young woman raised outside civilization. Together they face predators, hostile intruders, and the question of what “home” should mean once rescue becomes possible.
The Bandit of Hell's Bend
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1924
In this western tale, a quiet ranchland is shaken by a feared bandit and the rumors surrounding him. A man caught between law and outlaw life must navigate ambushes, loyalty tests, and a showdown under a wide desert sky.
Tarzan and the Ant Men
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1924
Tarzan is drawn into a bizarre miniature civilization, where size and strength mean something new. Cut off from his usual advantages, he must survive captivity and political intrigue while trying to return to the wider world.
Marcia of the Doorstep
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1924
A baby left on a doorstep grows up into a young woman whose life refuses to stay simple. From high society to sudden danger, the story throws her into blackmail, travel, and unexpected twists that keep her scrambling to stay in control.
The Moon Maid
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1923
Julian 5th sets out for Mars in a pioneering spacecraft, but betrayal forces a crash on the Moon, where strange powers rule hidden societies. Survival turns into a struggle between factions, and the consequences echo for generations.
Tarzan and the Golden Lion
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1923
Tarzan befriends a rare golden lion and is pulled into a conflict that mixes jungle danger with human treachery. Protecting the animal and the people around him means facing hunters and enemies who want power at any cost.
The Girl from Hollywood
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1922
A man from the countryside is drawn into Hollywood’s bright lights and darker corners, where ambition and corruption sit side by side. As a young actress’s life spins out of control, he must decide how far to go to help her.
The Chessmen of Mars
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1922
Tara of Helium is abducted, and warrior Gahan of Gathol tracks her into Manator, a strange realm where captives are used as pieces in a lethal living chess game. Saving her means beating rules designed to kill.
The Efficiency Expert
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1921
A young man takes a job as an efficiency expert and tries to bring order to a chaotic business, with mixed results. Misunderstandings, workplace politics, and unexpected romance turn a simple assignment into comic trouble.
Tarzan the Terrible
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1921
Tarzan ventures into a hidden land beyond the known jungle, where strange tribes and ancient rivalries shape daily life. To survive and escape, he must learn new rules fast and outthink enemies who know the terrain.
Tarzan the Untamed
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1919
During wartime, Tarzan is driven into a relentless hunt that takes him across dangerous territory and into human conflicts he never wanted. Revenge, rescue, and survival collide as he fights enemies who do not play by jungle rules.
Jungle Tales of Tarzan
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1919
A collection of short adventures from Tarzan’s early years, showing how he learned jungle skills, made enemies, and built his own code. Each story adds texture to his legend without slowing the pace.
The Rider
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1918
A mysterious rider with a hidden past arrives in a hard country where loyalty is bought and sold. As violence closes in, he must decide whether to keep running or stand and fight for a life he never thought he deserved.
The People That Time Forgot
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1918
The castaways’ story continues as new survivors are drawn into the island’s deeper regions, where dangers are not just prehistoric. With human rivals and unfamiliar societies ahead, escape becomes harder, and trust becomes rarer.
The Land That Time Forgot
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1918
A wartime voyage ends in shipwreck on a mysterious island where dinosaurs still roam. Trapped with former enemies, the survivors must explore inland, learn the island’s strange rules, and find a way out before the jungle claims them.
Out of Time's Abyss
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1918
Set deeper in the Caspak saga, this adventure pushes into the island’s most dangerous zones, where intelligent enemies and brutal customs replace simple monster hunting. Survival depends on courage, cunning, and alliances made under pressure.
The Oakdale Affair
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1917
Bridge, a streetwise outsider, arrives in a quiet town hoping for a clean start and finds the opposite. A local scandal erupts into danger, and his underworld instincts become the only tools he can trust.
The Lad and The Lion
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1917
A young man is thrown into danger far from home and forms an unlikely bond with a lion. Pursued by ruthless men, he must survive the wild, protect his companion, and untangle the human plot that put him in peril.
Thuvia, Maid of Mars
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1916
Princess Thuvia vanishes and Martian prince Carthoris is blamed for her kidnapping. To clear his name, he hunts the real culprits across hostile cities and deserts, where a rescue mission can ignite a war.
The Son of Tarzan
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1916
Tarzan’s son is kidnapped and grows up in the jungle under a new name, learning hard lessons about trust and violence. His path crosses that of Meriem, another lost child, as both fight to survive and find home.
The Return of the Mucker
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1916
Billy Byrne tries to build a new life, but the past keeps finding him. Back in civilization, he faces criminals, misunderstandings, and tests of character that force him to prove he has truly changed.
The Girl From Farris's
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1916
A chance encounter outside a Chicago eatery pulls an ordinary man into a fast-moving tangle of danger and deception. As he tries to protect a young woman in trouble, he finds himself up against criminals who do not forgive interference.
Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1916
Tarzan becomes entangled with the lost city of Opar, its treasure, and the dangerous priestess who rules its rituals. With lives at stake, he must balance duty, temptation, and a brutal struggle for control in the jungle.
Beyond Thirty / The Lost Continent
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1916
In a future where travel beyond the 30th meridian is forbidden, a Pan-American expedition crosses the line and finds a shattered, brutal Europe. Exploration quickly turns into a fight to survive, make allies, and get home.
Pellucidar
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1915
David Innes returns to Pellucidar and takes on a larger mission than escape. To challenge the Mahars’ rule, he must unite scattered tribes, survive treachery, and build a rebellion in a world where time and distance work against him.
The Warlord of Mars
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1914
The fight for Barsoom escalates as John Carter closes in on Dejah Thoris and the forces holding her. Rival cities, betrayals, and desperate alliances push him toward a showdown that could reshape Mars.
The Outlaw of Torn
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1914
In medieval England, a young noble becomes an outlaw known as the Outlaw of Torn, leading a secret war against powerful enemies. Court intrigue, disguises, and rebellion collide as he fights for justice and the woman he loves.
The Mucker
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1914
Billy Byrne, a tough Chicago brawler, is kidnapped and carried far from home, where street instincts are no longer enough. Forced to survive among criminals and strangers, he discovers loyalty and a chance to become someone better.
The Eternal Savage / The Eternal Lover
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1914
Victoria Custer is pulled into a story of reincarnation and a love that seems to return across ages. The novel shifts between modern life and a prehistoric world, blending romance with survival and the fear of being trapped in the wrong time.
The Beasts of Tarzan
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1914
Jane and Tarzan’s young son are taken, and Tarzan gathers an unlikely band of animal allies to track them down. The chase moves from jungle paths to criminal plots, testing Tarzan’s family, and his ruthless determination.
At the Earth's Core
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1914
David Innes and inventor Abner Perry test a burrowing machine and break into Pellucidar, a sunlit world inside the Earth. Dinosaurs, rival tribes, and the telepathic Mahars turn their return trip into a fight for survival.
The Return of Tarzan
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1913
Tarzan follows a trail that leads from Africa to Europe and back again, discovering hidden identities and new enemies. The adventure expands his world, adds allies, and sets up recurring threats that will follow him for years.
The Monster Men
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1913
On a remote island, a scientist creates living “monster men,” and his daughter becomes the target of the creatures and the men hunting them. The story mixes mad science, jungle danger, and a fight to escape before the experiment collapses.
The Gods of Mars
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1913
John Carter returns to Barsoom after years away and finds his search for Dejah Thoris tangled in a deadly religion and a cruel hidden world. To reach her, he must survive enemies who wear holiness like a mask.
Tarzan of the Apes
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1912
An orphaned child is raised by apes in Africa and grows into Tarzan, a fearless hunter who learns to navigate both jungle law and human society. When Jane Porter arrives, Tarzan must choose between two worlds.
A Princess of Mars
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
1912
John Carter, a Civil War veteran, wakes on Mars, Barsoom, where low gravity makes him a formidable fighter. Caught between warring peoples, he risks everything to save Princess Dejah Thoris and find a place to belong.
Where should I start?
If you want classic Mars adventure: A Princess of Mars → The Gods of Mars → The Warlord of Mars
If you want the original Tarzan arc: Tarzan of the Apes → The Return of Tarzan → The Beasts of Tarzan
If you want inner-earth lost-world pulp: At the Earth's Core → Pellucidar → Tanar of Pellucidar
If you want dinosaurs and survival: The Land That Time Forgot → The People That Time Forgot → Out of Time's Abyss
If you want a shorter, grounded adventure: The Mucker → The Return of the Mucker → The Oakdale Affair
Author bio
Edgar Rice Burroughs was born in Chicago, Illinois, on September 1, 1875, and he grew up on the city’s West Side. Today he’s most closely tied to two names, Tarzan and John Carter, but his path to writing was anything but direct. He spent years trying on jobs, failing, starting over, and learning what made ordinary days feel like a grind and big risks feel worth it.
As a young man, Burroughs was sent to military schools, including the Michigan Military Academy, and he tried to enter the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. When that didn’t work out, he enlisted and served with the 7th U.S. Cavalry in the Arizona Territory. The wide spaces of the American West, and the reality of rough living, would show up later in his fiction, even when he moved the action to far stranger places.
After leaving the army, he bounced through work that ranged from ranch life in Idaho to office jobs and sales. He married his childhood sweetheart, Emma Hulbert, in 1900, and the pressure to provide for a growing family was constant. His early adulthood reads like a long series of restarts, with just enough success to keep going, and just enough disappointment to make him hungry for a different plan.
He didn’t start writing fiction until he was in his mid-thirties.
Around 1911, Burroughs began reading the popular adventure magazines of the day and decided he could write stories that moved faster and hit harder. His first big breakthrough came with the Mars tale that became A Princess of Mars, introducing John Carter and the dying, dangerous world of Barsoom. Not long after, he launched Tarzan of the Apes, and the wild boy raised by apes quickly took on a life of his own.
Once the floodgates opened, he kept building new worlds.
Over the next decades he wrote a steady stream of adventure fiction, from the inner-earth perils of At the Earth's Core to lost-world stories like The Land That Time Forgot. Even when the settings shift, his interests stay recognizable: strangers forced to adapt fast, small groups trying to survive the unknown, and heroes who win as much by stubborn will as by strength.
Burroughs was also unusually hands-on about the business side of storytelling. In the 1920s he moved to Southern California, bought a ranch in the San Fernando Valley, and used Tarzan’s name to brand the place. The area around it eventually took on that name as well, a real-world reminder of how far his fiction traveled.
His personal life had its own turns. He and Emma divorced in 1935, and he later married Florence Gilbert Dearholt, a former actress, though that marriage ended too. He loved new technology, including aviation, and he encouraged his family to fly. Then, during World War II, he found himself in Honolulu at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack and became a war correspondent, reporting on the Pacific despite being in his sixties.
Burroughs died on March 19, 1950, in Encino, California, and was buried in what is now Tarzana. Readers still come to him for the same reasons they did a century ago: clear stakes, big settings, and the promise that the next chapter will move.
Edited by
Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.
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