Look, I have a soft spot for classic pulp sci-fi. Like, a really embarrassing soft spot. So when I saw Pellucidar pop up - the second book in Burroughs' Hollow Earth series - I figured why not? Six hours of dinosaurs, underground civilizations, and good old-fashioned adventure nonsense. Perfect for a Monday morning when my brain is basically running on coffee fumes and spite.
And honestly? The story delivers exactly what you'd expect from Burroughs. It's pulpy, it's ridiculous, it's got David Innes running around a prehistoric world inside the Earth fighting everything that moves. Confessor has that same straightforward action vibe, though with more magic and less dinosaurs. There's something weirdly comforting about these old adventure tales - no moral ambiguity, no complex character arcs, just a dude punching his way through problems. It's basically John Carter but underground with more dinosaurs. The pacing clips along nicely, never really drags, and at under six hours it doesn't overstay its welcome.
But here's where things get complicated.
Ralph Snelson's narration is... fine? Like, technically fine. Clear enunciation, consistent pacing, clean audio quality. No weird volume spikes or background noise. The production is solid. But - and this is a big but - the whole book is written in first person from David Innes' perspective. This guy is supposed to be a young, hot-blooded adventurer constantly getting into life-or-death situations. And Snelson sounds like he's reading a quarterly earnings report.
I don't mean to be harsh, but the emotional flatness really pulled me out of the story at key moments. There's a scene where Innes is literally fighting for his life against some prehistoric beast, and the narration has all the urgency of someone describing their commute. (And trust me, I know boring commutes.) The voice also sounds way too mature for the character - like someone's distinguished uncle decided to reminisce about his wild youth rather than actually living it.
Here's the thing though: at 6AM on the Caltrain, surrounded by other half-conscious tech workers, did it matter that much? Honestly... kind of not? The clear enunciation meant I never lost the plot thread even when my brain was operating at maybe 40% capacity. And the steady, unemotional delivery is actually pretty easy to follow when you're zoning in and out. It's weird - the narration's biggest weakness (lack of emotional punch) becomes almost a feature for commute listening. You're not going to miss crucial emotional beats because there basically aren't any in the delivery.
I finished this in about three commutes, listened at 1.5x because the pacing was already pretty measured. Could've probably pushed to 1.75x but I was enjoying the old-timey prose style and didn't want to rush it. Burroughs writes in this wonderfully dated way that's just fun to experience - all "I knew not what dangers awaited" and dramatic declarations. It's nostalgic in a way that modern sci-fi rarely captures.
The world-building is classic Burroughs - imaginative, internally consistent within its own bonkers logic, and surprisingly detailed for pulp fiction. Pellucidar operates under a perpetual noon sun (it's inside the Earth, don't think too hard about the physics), which creates this timeless quality that Burroughs actually uses cleverly for the plot. The prehistoric creatures, the various tribes, the whole ecosystem - it's creative stuff for something written in 1915.
Who Should Listen (And Who Should Skip)
If you're a Burroughs completist or you love classic pulp adventure, you'll probably enjoy this despite the narration issues. It's free on some platforms too, which definitely affects the value calculation. Skip this if you need immersive, emotionally gripping narration - that's not what you're getting here.
Perfect for: train, gym, household chores. Skip for: anything requiring emotional investment in the narration.
Bottom Line
I wish Ray Porter had narrated this. Can you imagine? Ugh. The missed potential. Porter's work on Project Hail Mary is exactly the kind of emotionally engaged performance this needed. But for what it is - a serviceable reading of a classic adventure tale - it gets the job done. Just don't expect fireworks.
