The novel is the second entry in the three-book Dead Moon Super-Arc, following the first book, Korak at the Earth's Core. It follows the adventures of Korak's grandson, Rahnak, and a Waziri warrior princess, Kyrianji, in the Hollow Earth known as Pellucidar, as they search for Rahnak's mother who disappeared in the vicinity of the mysterious Land of Awful Shadow! The gorgeous wraparound cover artwork is by renowned fantasy artist Daren Bader.
I'm understandably thrilled about my third novel in the Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe, and will share pre-ordering information here when it becomes available!
Being a big Tarzan fan, and having read all of his adventures, the original 24 novels, other stories, comic books, and everything else I can get my hands on, I loved this book. Love Korak the Killer. Didn't know it existed, but picked it up as soon as I heard about it. Can't wait for the sequel. Will order it as soon as it is out.
My two Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe novels, as well as two Burroughs books to which I contributed introductions, are all on sale in the Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. webstore for Black Friday!
Today I chat with author and friend Win Scott Eckert, as a part of my ongoing series featuring creative folks who will be appearing at Pulpfest 2025. Win is the editor of Myths For the Modern Age and three volumes of short stories featuring The Green Hornet, co-author with Philip Jose Farmer of The Evil in Pemberley House and The Monster on Hold, and author of Crossovers: A Secret History of the World, The Scarlet Jaguar, and the authorized Edgar Rice Universe canonical novels Tarzan: Battle for Pellucidar, and Korak At The Earth’s Core. He has also written short stories featuring classic characters like The Green Hornet, the Lone Ranger, the Avenger, the Phantom, Sherlock Holmes, the Domino Lady, Honey West, T.H.E. Cat, and Irma Vep. Win is a member of the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers, holds a B.A. in anthropology and a Juris Doctor.
Hi,
Win! Thanks for taking some time to chat. I know you’re busy working on
the second book in your Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe trilogy, the Dead
Moon Super-Arc.
WSE: Hi, Anthony! Yes, Pellucidar: Land of Awful Shadow.
We’ll
talk about the new book shortly, but my first question is more general.
You’ve had a wonderful career writing in the worlds of Edgar Rice
Burroughs, Philip José Farmer, the Green Hornet, The Avenger, Honey
West, the Lone Ranger, and others. Talk to me a bit about your earliest
memories of wanting to write these characters/in these worlds.
To
be honest, I didn’t consider writing fiction until after I started my
metafictional Wold Newton Universe site in 1997. My first forays were
non-fiction (or rather, metafiction) essays which were writing about
characters’ chronologies and family trees, rather than traditional
fiction stories. It was only when Jean-Marc Lofficier suggested that I
try my hand at straight fiction for his annual Tales of the Shadowmen anthologies that I considered it. This was in 2004.
What
is your current writing process like? That is, are you a plotter, a
“pantser,” etc.? Do you set daily wordcount goals? And has that process
changed at all throughout your career?
I
am not a “pantser.” I definitely outline, but at a high level. I know
the beginning, middle, and most importantly, the end. Part of this is
because it is generally required when writing for licensed properties
(although requirements for licensed properties are on the spectrum of
detail from “almost no detail, just a pitch” to a strict
chapter-by-chapter outline). Even with a strict chapter outline, there
is a lot of room for creativity as I actually write the chapters, as
additional inspiration inevitably hits while I am writing. And sometimes
the chapters end up getting moved around as I write, and so forth. So,
the outline is not a strict contract, but rather a demonstration that I
know where I’m going in the end, even if the path of getting there
deviates from the outline. As for your other questions, when I am deep
in a writing project, I do set wordcount goals. My process has not
changed much in the last twenty years, with the exception that within
the last five years or so I occasionally dictate some portions of a
novel; it speeds up my writing, but I’ve also noticed that more errors
are introduced which I sometimes fail to catch despite intense proofing,
so I am a bit gun shy right now about dictating too much.
You’re on your third novel for the Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe (the first being Tarzan: Battle for Pellucidar in the “Swords of Eternity Super-Arc” that launched the Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe (ERBU), and the second being Korak at Earth’s Core,
the first book in your “Dead Moon Super-Arc”). I’d love to hear a bit
about how you came to write for ERB Inc., and how you crafted your pitch
for the “Dead Moon Super-Arc.”
Shortly
before Christopher Paul Carey joined ERB, Inc. as Director (now VP) of
Publishing, I pitched a Korak novel to CEO Jim Sullos, which was
accepted. Once Chris joined, and outlined his plans for the ERBU, to be
kicked off with the “Swords of Eternity Super-Arc,” it was a no-brainer
that a Tarzan novel was needed for that launch. I reworked my Korak
pitch into a Tarzan pitch which became Tarzan: Battle for Pellucidar.
After that, Chris and I still really wanted to do a Korak novel. I
explained my idea to him in person at PulpFest, to which he burst out
laughing, and said, “Let’s do it!”
Philip José Farmer wrote an article originally published in ERB-dom No. 57, April 1972. His ideas were worked into his mock biography, Tarzan Alive. The article has also been republished in my collection Myths for the Modern Age: Philip José Farmer’s Wold Newton Universe (MonkeyBrain Books), Pearls from Peoria (Subterranean Press), and The Man Who Met Tarzan
(Meteor House). The article is entitled “The Great Korak-Time
Discrepancy” and deals with how Korak, the son of Tarzan, impossibly
ages about eight-ten years between the ERB books The Beasts of Tarzan and The Son of Tarzan.
Farmer proposes an explanation, and there is another branch of fandom
that proposes a different explanation. You can read the article online here. The “Dead Moon Super-Arc” will present a third, in-universe explanation.
We
also wanted to explore as-yet untouched (or relatively untouched parts)
of Pellucidar, the hollow world at the Earth’s core, and decided that
the Dead World and the Land of Awful Shadow would be great settings for
this trilogy.
What
challenges have you encountered in moving Burroughs’ classic characters
forward in time and in expanding the ERBU while still remaining true to
his spirit and Burroughs’ original timeline and characters?
Honestly
. . . not many. The biggest challenge is ensuring that all the writers’
stories remain consistent with each other, with no contradictions. That
is one of the big selling points of the ERBU: the novels, stories, and
comics are consistent both in continuity and in character with what ERB
wrote, but they are all also consistent with each other. It’s
not difficult to portray these characters as honorable and heroic.
Perfect? No, of course not. I had a good time portraying Korak as less
than perfect, and yet still heroic.
Without spoilers, what can you tell us about the upcoming second “Dead Moon Super-Arc” novel, Pellucidar: Land of Awful Shadow?
Yes! It takes place mostly concurrently with Korak at the Earth’s Core (this was a technique Burroughs used; for examples, see the Pellucidar novels Tarzan at the Earth’s Core and Back to the Stone Age),
in which it is mentioned that Rahnak and Kyrianji have set off into the
Land of Awful Shadow in search of Rahnak’s mother, Suzanne Clayton. So,
Pellucidar: Land of Awful Shadow is the tale of their
adventure. Rahnak the Daring is the grandson of Korak, and thus the
great-grandson of Tarzan! Kyrianji is a great Waziri warrior princess.
Along the way, they have many adventures in this weird Land of Awful Shadow as they struggle to get back to their friends and allies, including David Innes, with some important information. We’ll also get some insight into what happened to Suzanne (Tarzan’s granddaughter), who was mentioned in Korak at the Earth’s Core (her disappearance set off the events of that book).
It's
a lot of fun because the book is probably eighty or more percent
focused on characters I was privileged to create: Rahnak, Kyrianji, and
Suzanne.
All the plotlines will come crashing together in the third book, Tarzan Unleashed. (You see … there’s really no way to “pants” this. 😊)
You also had a short story in the anthology Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2025, edited by Robert Greenberger. Tell us a little bit about that story and what inspired it.
It
was an honor to be invited to contribute to that anthology, with such
an awesome lineup of authors, and it was great to flex my short story
muscles. My entry was a weird menace tale, bordering on occult, called
“She-Devil of Paris.” It was very much a Sax Rohmer homage, and featured
Irma Vep, the anti-heroine of a 1915–16 French serial in ten chapters
called Les Vampires. (The Vampires are a criminal gang who
terrorize Paris, not actual vampires.) But, as with most Rohmer stories,
the main character isn’t really the one who appears more “on camera,”
Irma Vep, but rather her antagonist, who in 1923 Paris is calling
herself Astarte.
Finally, do you have anything else upcoming that you’re able to tell us about?
I do! After Tarzan Unleashed, I plan to write the fifth and final Secrets of the Nine novel, as yet untitled. You may recall that the fourth book, The Monster on Hold
(cowritten with Philip José Farmer from his outline and including large
sections of his prose), most of Doc Caliban’s plotlines were wrapped
up. Caliban was the POV character, and Phil’s outline and plot did not
include anything regarding Lord Grandrith. Therefore, we still have
dangling plotlines regarding Grandrith going all the way back to A Feast Unknown, Lord of the Trees, and The Mad Goblin.
Phil’s estate and agent have granted me permission to write a Lord
Grandrith-centric novel (I’m sure Caliban will also make an appearance,
but its Grandrith’s book) resolving all the plotlines. I want to be
clear that we do not have anything in Phil’s files (“The Magic Filing
Cabinet”) regarding a fifth book, so this will be solely by me. Believe
me, I wish we did have notes or hints. The book will be published by
Meteor House, with consistent trade dress, art, and design as seen on
the other Secrets of the Nine books.
I also plan to finally return to Patrica Wildman and write more novella-length follow-ups to The Evil in Pemberley House and The Scarlet Jaguar.
I’d like to write more Sherlock Holmes short stories, following up on
“The Adventure of the Fallen Stone.” And I want to do a series of novels
featuring Astarte in different time periods, from the Victorian era, to
the 1930s, and perhaps even into the 1960s and ’70s.
Finally, Anthony, I want to thank you for the interview. It’s been quite a while since we’ve done this (2017!), and I appreciate it. I’m looking forward to seeing you at PulpFest 2025 / FarmerCon XX in August 2025!
It
was my pleasure, Win! Always fun discussing writing and Phil and
Burroughs and Star Trek and The Man From U.N.C.L.E and everything else
we have in common. See you in a few weeks!
Readers, it is not too late to register for and attend Pulpfest 2025 (THE pulp magazine-focused convention in the Northeast) and the other three conventions it hosts: FarmerCon (dedicated to the works of Philip Jose Farmer), ERBFest (dedicated to the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs) and DocCon (dedicated to all things Doc Savage related). Check out the Pulpfest website.com/ for registration and hotel information!
Come to this year’s ERBFest to learn all of the latest news and ideas coming from the fertile minds at Edgar Rice Burroughs, Incorporated.
Join Vice President of Publishing Christopher Paul Carey and Vice
President of Operations Cathy Mann Wilbanks, live from the stage at PulpFest
2025, for the latest updates from Tarzana. Joining Chris and Cathy in
Barsoom, Pennsylvania, will be Chris L Adams, the author of Gauntlets of Mars, and Win Scott Eckert, author of Pellucidar: Land of Awful Shadow, the forthcoming sequel to Korak at the Earth’s Core.
From its headquarters in Tarzana, California, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.,
administers the intellectual property of American author Edgar Rice
Burroughs, one of the twentieth century’s most prolific and enduring
writers. Burroughs’ 80+ novels and 40+ short stories have been adapted
into sixty films and 250 television episodes, and have been featured in
comic books, video games, apparel, and other merchandise.
The ERB, Inc. team will also be exploring some of their recent and
upcoming book releases. These include the next two volumes in the
original Barsoom saga by ERB, with cover art by Joe Jusko; Mike
Wolfer’s The Land That Time Forgot: Fearless graphic novel and The Land That Time Forgot: Fortress Primeval; and the new edition of The Monster Men and its chilling sequel, The Return of the Monster Men, written by Scribe Award-winning author Josh Reynolds.
Chris and Cathy will also talk about the Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe animated TV series
now in development with Flying S Films LLC, a Seattle-based studio
dedicated to producing unique feature films and episodic properties for a
worldwide audience. They’ll also have some great door prizes. But
remember, you need to be in attendance at their presentation to win! Many thanks to Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., for their generous donations.
Our “The Universe According to Edgar Rice Burroughs” panel presentation is all part of ERBFest 2025, our fourth salute to the Master of Adventure, Edgar Rice Burroughs. Co-hosted by Henry G. Franke III — the editor of The Burroughs Bibliophiles — ERBFest was started in 2021 when it seemed as if a second summer was going to pass without both of the usual Burroughs conventions — The Edgar Rice Burroughs Convention (formerly known as the Dum-Dum) and the Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) gathering.
The
general public is welcome to attend our afternoon programming events
free of charge. To learn more about our programming, please click the 2025 Schedule button at the top of this page.
For those who also want to enjoy our dealers’ room, you can join PulpFest by clicking the register button at the top of this page. And don’t forget to book a room. The DoubleTree is essentially sold out, but you can click here for nearby hotels. If you’re looking for a roommate, write to Jack Cullers at his email address below.
Remember, in addition to your membership in PulpFest 2025, you’ll also be a member of Doc Con XXI, ERBFest 2025, and Farmercon XX. That’s four conventions for one price! You can’t beat that deal.
If you’re interested in selling at PulpFest, our dealers’
room is full. However, we are considering adding tables in the
pre-function hallway outside of the dealers’ room. These tables will
cost $125 each and will be guarded by security overnight. If you are
interested, please write to Jack Cullers at jack@pulpfest.com to be added to our waiting list.
For more on Edgar Rice Burroughs and his creations, please visit our YouTube Channel.
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Our featured image is excerpted from Joe Jusko’s dust jacket art for Edgar Rice Burroughs’ The Chessmen of Mars, the fifth volume in the author’s Barsoom Saga, part of the Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library.
Our lead image was adapted by William Lampkin from Douglas C. Klauba’s dust jacket art for Gauntlet of Mars, written by Chris L Adams. It’s the fourteenth volume in the Wild Adventures of Edgar Rice Burroughs series.
Our final image is the dust jacket art for Win Scott Eckert’s Korak at the Earth’s Core, the opening segment of the “Dead Moon Super-Arc,” part of the Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe. The dust wrapper was created by E. M. Gist.
Norman Bean is an Edgar Rice Burroughs fan who joined our
staff of volunteer post-writers in August 2023. Norm has written about
conventions, “pulp paleontology,” our dealers, and, of course, ERBFest and ERB himself. We look forward to his continued contributions.
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Tarzan of the Apes®, Jane Porter®, Korak™, John Carter®, John Carter of
Mars®, A Princess of Mars®, Barsoom®, Pellucidar®, David Innes™, Carson
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Pleased to announce that I'll be an attending author at Read Between the Stars (a sci-fi/fantasy book fair) on Saturday, October 4 at the Stanley Marketplace in Aurora, CO!
Korak is back in his first novel-length adventure since 1916’s The Son of Tarzan
Tuesday, October 24, 2023 (Tarzana, California) A brand-new Super-Arc in the groundbreaking Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe series launches with Korak at the Earth’s Core by Win Scott Eckert! All three novels of the Dead Moon Super-Arc will be written by Eckert and encompass an epic, interconnected saga featuring the daring family members of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ legendary Lord of the Jungle in the savage inner world of Pellucidar.
Preorders of Korak at the Earth’s Coremay now be placed directly from ERB, Inc. Softcover and hardcover editions, as well as a limited Collector’s Edition with a signed bookplate, will be available in a simultaneous release. Korak at the Earth’s Core features gorgeous wraparound cover art by the renowned artist E. M. Gist.
The novel is expected to ship to customers in February 2024.
The Dead Moon Super-Arc Begins...
Korak the Killer, jungle-raised son of Tarzan of the Apes, sets off into the wilds of the prehistoric world at the Earth’s core to rescue his daughter Suzanne Clayton, who has gone missing in the mysterious Land of Awful Shadow. But when the airship O-220 is hijacked, Korak and his Mangani friend Akut are stranded and must fight their way across the perilous lands and seas of Pellucidar. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, Korak’s mate Meriem, also racing to save Suzanne, risks everything in a perilous gambit to quickly reach the inner world.
And what of the enigmatic Dead Moon, the pendant world that hangs eternally above the Land of Awful Shadow and is taboo to the Stone Age peoples of Pellucidar? Will the Dead World give up its secrets as Korak and Meriem search for Suzanne—or will it spell their doom?
When citizens on the far frontier of the Federated Kingdoms of Pellucidar begin to go missing, a lone warrior with nothing left to lose sets off to investigate. But the dark secret he finds lying in the Charnel Caves beneath the Forest of Death will lay bare the past he seeks to escape and awaken that for which he could never be prepared.
It's official! Announced at San Diego ComicCon 2022!
Book One of The Dead Moon Super-Arc, KORAK AT THE EARTH'S CORE by Win Scott Eckert, releasing 2023 from Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.! A brand-new Pellucidar trilogy, and the first Korak novel since Edgar Rice Burroughs' THE SON OF TARZAN!
I'm so excited to be writing this trilogy! Thanks to Christopher Paul Carey, Cathy Mann Wilbanks, Jim Sullos, and the whole team at Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.! Book One is coming out next year from Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., the company Mr. Burroughs established to publish his own work.
The novel, part of the company’s “Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe” line of canonical tales, is a follow-up to my novel TARZAN: BATTLE FOR PELLUCIDAR, and will send Tarzan’s son Korak to the inner world at the Earth’s core, a land Burroughs wrote about in seven novels of his Pellucidar series.
Book One will also heavily feature Meriem, Korak's wife.
Book Two: PROVISIONAL title: PELLUCIDAR: LAND OF AWFUL SHADOW - starring Suzanne Clayton (Korak's daughter), Korak's grandson (a new character), and a major new Waziri character
Book Three: PROVISIONAL title: TARZAN UNLEASHED - starring Tarzan and Jane
Sign up for the Edgar Rice Burroughs email newsletter (top right corner of main page on www.edgarriceburroughs.com) to keep up with the latest release information!
Yesterday morning, I was pleased to chat with the fine folks at KNOE 8 News here in Monroe, LA, about the upcoming 2018 Edgar Rice Burroughs Dum Dum & Tarzan Celebration, in Morgan City, LA, August 2-5, 2018. Click here to watch video As a part of this television interview, I was given permission by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., to announce that I will be an authorized Burroughs writer! The working title for my novel is Korak at the Earth's Core, and is tentatively slated for late 2019, as I am first working on my collaborative novel with Philip José Farmer, The Monster on Hold. To say I'm over the moon about writing an authorized Burroughs novel is a vast understatement--the world at the Earth's Core is my favorite ERB series, and I'm thrilled that I'll be able to contribute to it.
The Dum Dum event, celebrating 100 years since the 1918 release of the first Tarzan movie, which was filmed in Morgan City, is co-sponsored by the Cajun Coast Visitors & Convention Bureau and the Burroughs Bibliophiles. At the Dum Dum, I'll be giving a talk about Burroughs' influence on another famous science fiction author, Philip José Farmer, on Friday, August 3, at 2:00 PM. And I'll have a table in the Dealer's Room at which I'll be selling the new Meteor Houseedition of Farmer's authorized novel Tarzan and the Dark Heart of Time(available for the first time in hardcover!), as well as some of my other books. It will be a fun time, with guest speakers, dinners, a dealer's room, a swamp tour, and self-guided movie location driving tour. Check it out!
As I mentioned in a prior post, Sunday-style color comic strips are available on www.edgarriceburroughs.com. I've read the Korak the Killer strip, written by well-known comic book scribe Ron Marz. This is a new, original tale in which Korak agrees to help Princess Nemu, whom he encounters in the jungle as she searches for Tarzan. Tarzan is away from Africa, and so Korak agrees to help her by returning with her to her hidden city of Memnon to free it from usurpers/slavers. Memnon first appeared in Batman/Tarzan: Claws of the Cat-Woman (Dark Horse Comics /DC Comics, 2000), which took place in November 1939. Princess Khefretari of Memnon was the titular “Cat-Woman” of the title. I noted this crossover at http://www.pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/Chron7.htm and in my book Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World, Volume 1 (Black Coat Press, 2010). Batman/Tarzan was also written by Ron Marz. The Korak tale reveals that Princess Nemu is the daughter of now-Queen Khefretari. Nemu appears to be about 16 or 17, although this is purely a guess based on how she is depicted (although she is surely not younger than 16 or 17). Confoundingly, the usurpers are led by a soldier of the Reich—presumably the Third Reich. Batman/Tarzan undisputedly takes place in November 1939. The Korak tale cannot take place in the time range 1939-1945. The very earliest Nemu could have been born would be Sept 1940 (there was no evidence that Khefretari was pregnant in the Batman/Tarzan tale). Nemu is absolutely not four or five years old in the Korak tale; in fact, she and Korak almost share a romantic kiss. (We’ll come back to that.) A creatively mythographical explanation for the timing is that the usurpers are of a type seen frequently in stories, holdover Nazis trying to rekindle former glories and establish a new Reich. With this interpretation, the Korak story could take place in 1956, ’57, ’58, etc. (depending on whether we readers ever learn more definitively that Nemu’s age is). Now, about that kiss. This story absolutely cannot take place before Korak met Meriem in The Son of Tarzan [Third Reich story elements]. If the story takes place in the mid- or late-1950s, is Meriem dead by this time? Have they divorced? Was Korak about to “step-out” on Meriem? (The kiss was not completed; however, the storyline is not complete, so who knows what Mr. Marz has in store for Korak and Nemu.) Perhaps injecting a potential romance between Korak and Nemu was a misstep on the part of Mr. Marz. I should say I’m a fan of his work, such as the Batman/Tarzan series and his run on Witchblade.
The really cool parts… in strip #26, there is a panel in which the prior adventure in Memnon is discussed, stating that a treasure hunter was defeated by Korak’s father, including an “aided by a man who dressed like a bat.” (Nemu states that this took place before she was born, reinforcing the chronological discussion above.) In strip #33, the prior events are again discussed; Khefretari tells Korak shat she knew his father “years ago,” when Tarzan came to Memnon with “…another hero, an American”; in this panel, a Batman shadow-silhouette is seen, just like in the ’40s Golden Age Batman comics.
Cool stuff indeed. Despite the chronological conundrums and the uncharacteristic romantic interlude, I recommend this strip and have great hopes that Mr. Marz will not leave us hanging.
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Come to this year’s ERBFest to learn all of the latest news and ideas coming from the fertile minds at Edgar Rice Burroughs, Incorporated.
The
general public is welcome to attend our afternoon programming events
free of charge. To learn more about our programming, please click the .png)
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