Edgar Rice Burroughs

Va-Nah WorldFAQ | An Introduction to Edgar Rice Burroughs' Va-Nah

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From: Michael Martinez
Subject: WorldFAQ: Edgar Rice Burroughs' Va-nah (Interior of Luna)
Date: 1999/07/12
Message-ID: <7me51t$1ndl@drn.newsguy.com>
X-Deja-AN: 500346133
Organization: The Xenite.Org Domain -- Worlds of Imagination on the Web
Newsgroups: alt.fan.created-worlds,alt.fantasy,alt.books,rec.arts.books,alt.fantasy.er-burroughs,alt.pulp


                            WorldFAQ:
          Edgar Rice Burroughs' Va-nah (Interior of Luna)

-----------------------------------------------------------
1].  Quick Reference

     Va-nah is the interior world of our moon, Luna.
     Julian 5th, a man of the 21st Century, leads an ill-
     fated expedition to Mars that is marooned on Luna,
     where they discover the remnants of an underground
     civilization that has destroyed itself.  Primary
     sources are THE MOON MAID, THE MOON MEN, and THE
     RED HAWK.

         Note:  All of ERB's major series (Tarzan, John
         Carter, Carson Napier, Moon Men, etc.) are set
         in the same universe.
-----------------------------------------------------------
2].  Printed Sources Bibliography

THE MOON MAID, Ace Books, ISBN 441-53702-095.
     This book was written in 1923.  It's been reprinted
     many times.  The cover of the Ace edition I have is
     a Frazetta piece showing Nah-ee-la on the back of a
     Va-ga.

THE MOON MEN, Ace Books, ISBN 0-441-53756-1.
     This is actually two novels in one: THE MOON MEN and
     THE RED HAWK, both originally published in 1925.
     Julian 20th was also called The Red Hawk.  The cover
     of this edition is also done by Frazetta, and it
     shows Julian 20th defending Bethelda from a Kalkar
     giant (who really should have been more human like)
     named Raban.  This imprint claims to be the first
     full printing of Burroughs' original texts.
-----------------------------------------------------------
3].  Visual Sources Bibliography

No known adaptations.
-----------------------------------------------------------
4].  Related Materials Bibliography

There is a biography of ERB, EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS: MASTER
OF ADVENTURE, by Richard A. Lupoff, published by Canaveral
Press in hardcover and then published by ACE in 1965 and
reprinted in 1968.

EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS: AN EXHAUSTIVE SCHOLAR'S AND
COLLECTOR'S DESCRIPTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY, McFarland, 1996.

ERB fan clubs which publish magazines (according to the
1979 ACE imprints and the ERBCOF-L welcome message)
include:

     ERB-dom & THE FANTASTIC COLLECTOR  --   $12 for
     4 issues (only partially related to Burroughs)
     Ed., Caz Cazedessus
     P.O. Box 2340
     Pagosa Springs, CO 81147

     THE BURROUGHS BIBLIOPHILES    --   $28/Year
     George McWhorter  505-852-8729
     BURROUGHS BULLETIN and THE GRIDLEY WAVE
     Ekstrom Library - Burroughs Memorial Collection
     University of Louisville
     Louisville, KY  40492
     GTMCW...@ULKYVM.LOUISVILLE.EDU

     ERBANIA        {old, possibly outdated info)
     8001 Fernview Lane
     Tampa, Florida  33615

     TBN (THE BURROUGHS NEWSBEAT) (old, possible
     outdated info)
     110 South Shore Drive
     Clear Lake, Iowa 50428

     EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS AMATEUR PRESS ASSOCIATION
     Ed., John Martin                   (Limited
     Membership)
     P.O. Box 157
     Galvin, WA 98544

     THE L.A. Sub-ERB NEWSLINE
     From the L.A. Chapter of the Burroughs Bibliophiles
     Ed., James Van Hise*   (619) 365-5836
     57754 Onaga Trail
     Yucca Valley, CA 92264

     ERB-NOTIZEN (in German)
     Ed., Kurt Denkena
     Postfach 750 331
     D-28723 Bremen, Germany

Fan publications include:

     EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS NEWS DATELINE  --  $12 for
     4 issues
     Ed., Mike Conran  616-457-1446
     1990 Pine Grove Drive
     Jenison, Michigan  49428

     ERBANIA                       --   $8 for 4 issues
     Ed., Pete Ogden  813-884-8144
     8410 Lopez Drive,
     Tampa, FL  33615

     FANTASTIC WORLDS OF ERB            --   $17.50 for
     4 issues
     ED., Frank Westwood
     77 Pembroke Road
     Seven Kings, Ilford
     Essex, IG3 8PQ
     England

THE EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS LIBRARY OF ILLUSTRATION, edited
by Russ Cochran and printed by Russ.
    It is three oversized volumes beginning with J. Allen
    St. John (the majority of the surviving St. John works
    are reproduced here), and then John Coleman Burroughs,
    some Frazetta and RG Krenkel, and comic book art.
    These are out of print and rather expensive, running
    from $300 to $600 for the set.

ART OF EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS, Joe Jusko.  (Paperback &
hardback)
    Devoted to reproducing many of the illustrations done
    originally for the card sets.
-----------------------------------------------------------
5].  Online References

     A)   News Groups

          alt.fantasy.er-burroughs.  See section 6-C.

          Also, Burroughs' works can be discussed in
          alt.fantasy, alt.pulp, rec.arts.sf.written,
          alt.books, rec.arts.books, and
          alt.fan.created-worlds.

     B)   Mailing/Discussion Lists

          The Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain Of Friends List
          (ERBCOF-List).  Send email to:

               LISTS...@APSU01.APSU.EDU
               [Note:  That is APSU.]

          Send one or more of these function commands to
          the Listserver in the body of the mail message:

               SUBSCRIBE ERBCOF-L 

          Subscribes you to ERBCOF-L. [Replace
           with your own full name.]

          UNSUBSCRIBE ERBCOF-L 

          Removes you from the list.  [Replace
           with your own full name.]

          To participate in the ERBCOF-LIST discussion,
          send your e-mail "post" [message] to ERBCOF-L
          itself at:

               ERBCO...@APSU01.APSU.EDU
               [Note:  ]


          The Edgar Rice Burroughs List (ERBlist)

          To Subscribe to the ERBlist listserver send
          e-mail with the word SUBSCRIBE as the message
          subject to

                         ERBL...@worldnet.att.net

          Moderated by Tangor
          (bruce.boza...@worldnet.att.net) To
          Unsubscribe: email ERBL...@worldnet.att.net
          put UNSUBSCRIBE in the SUBJECT line


          The TARZAN-L list is devoted to discussion of
          the new TV series TARZAN: THE EPIC ADVENTURES.

          To subscribe, send the word 'subscribe' (without
          quotes) to:

               Tarzan-L-requ...@cuenet.com


     C)   Web sites

          The Edgar Rice Burroughs Website
          http://www.tarzan.com/
          This domain has been sold to ERB, Inc. and apparently
          a reorganization/redesign process is underway.  For
          now, the only content is a message saying the official
          Web site will be coming soon.

          The Barsoomian Blade
          http://www.geocities.com/Area51/5236/
          Although it's main focus is Barsoom parody,
          there is also quite a bit of stuff relating
          other ERB worlds.

          The ERB Web Ring Homepage
          http://www.bolthy.com/erbring/

          The alt.fantasy.er-burroughs Information Page
          http://www.xenite.org/usenet/af_erb.htm
          This site contains the charter for alt.fantasy.er-burroughs,
          links to several Web-based Usenet interfaces that provide
          fast, easy access to the Usenet, and links to a few of the
          major ERB Web sites.

          Talk About Edgar Rice Burroughs: A Guide To Burroughs
          Discussion On The Web
          http://www.xenite.org/talk/erb.htm

          Tangor's Beyond
          http://home.att.net/~bruce.bozarth
          General ERB interest.  Contains copies of the WorldFAQs.

     D)   Online services

          NOTE:  There is now a Message Board Directory
          which provides links to individual Web-based
          boards, message board providers, and large
          indexes of boards.  Some of these indexes
          include Science Fiction and Fantasy boards
          and may contain content of interest to people
          who read the WorldFAQs.  The Message Board
          Directory is located at:

          http://www.xenite.org/mb_direct.htm

     E)   IRC

          None.

          However, Jeff Long ("The Barsoomian Blade") has
          set up a java-based ERBChat at this URL:
          http://members.xoom.com/Elmo_Lincoln/index.htm

     F)   Comprehensive lists of resources

          The ERBCOF-L welcome message, which is sent to
          you after subscribing to the list, contains
          bibliographical information, a brief history
          of the ERB Circle of Friends, and contact
          information for various ERB groups
          and publications.

          Other WorldFAQs posted in alt.fan.created-worlds
          and alt.fantasy.er-burroughs are "Edgar Rice
          Burroughs' Barsoom (Mars)",  "Edgar Rice
          Burroughs' Amtor(Venus)", "Edgar Rice Burroughs'
          Pellucidar (Earth's Core)", and "Edgar Rice
          Burroughs' Caspak".

          The article ONLINE BOOKS: THE WORKS OF EDGAR RICE
          BURROUGHS is posted occasionally to
          alt.fan.created-worlds and alt.fantasy.er-burroughs.
          It may also be cross-posted to other groups like
          rec.arts.sf.written and alt.pulp.  This article
          lists ERB books that can be downloaded from Project
          Gutenberg.

          Tangor has developed the ERBFAQ for ERBList and it
          is posted to alt.fantasy.er-burroughs, alt.fantasy,
          and alt.fan.created-worlds.
-----------------------------------------------------------
6].  Description

     This enchanting saga takes place both on Earth and
     Luna and it covers many generations.  Burroughs injects
     himself into the story (as he does with Napier and
     Carter) as an observer who meets Julian 3rd, who is
     reincarnated into his own family every other generation.
     Julian 3rd tells Burroughs how he, as Julian 5th, leads
     an expedition to Mars that fails in its mission, landing
     instead on Luna, where they discover a Pelucidarean world
     called Va-nah.

     Va-nah is inhabited by fierce, barbaric, flesh-eating
     centaur-like creatures called Va-gas.  The Va-gas
     rome about the landscape in tribal groups, fighting
     with each other and preying on occasional lonely U-gas.
     The U-gas are humans who have become divided into the
     two groups: the Laytheans and the Kalkars.  Julian 5th
     learns that once Va-nah had been ruled by a peaceful
     civilization with 10 kings, called Jemadars.  The
     common folk rose up in rebellion, led by men who called
     themselves the Thinkers, which term in modified form
     became applied to all the rebels (in the native form
     Kalkars).

     The Jemadars were killed by many of the noble families
     fled into hiding.  Eventually one group established an
     underground city called Laythe, but they lost their
     ancient technology.  The Kalkars, poorly educated,
     lost all technology as well, and the domesticated
     Va-gas (bred for meat) revolted against the Kalkars,
     destroying the last vestiges of the ancient civilization
     and driving the surviving Kalkars underground.

     The world discovered by Julian 5th is a savage one
     where the intelligent species are consumed with the need
     to acquire flesh.  The Kalkars stalk the Laytheans, who
     may be the last remnant of the peaceful Jemadar class
     of nobles.  Orthis, one of Julian's crewmen and a
     personal rival since their school days, sides with the
     Kalkars and gives them the technology to find and destroy
     Laythe.  Julian escapes to Earth with the beautiful
     Nah-ee-lah, daughter of the last Jemadar of Laythe.

     Orthis follows Julian 5th to Earth with a Kalkar armada
     and the peaceful civilization on Earth is destroyed.
     Julian's descendants were enslaved by the Kalkar's with
     the rest of humanity, but 100 years later Julian 9th
     (another reincarnation) led the first rebellion against
     the conquerors, now led by the descendants of Orthis'
     only son, Or-tis.  Julian 9th's rebellion was crushed and
     he was executed, but men saw they could resist the Kalkars
     and win back their freedom, and in time the Kalkars were
     themselves overthrown in many places, because they had
     lost once again the technology acquired from Orthis.

     300 years later Julian 20th becomes Chief of Chiefs,
     leader of 50 clans of men who have been slowly winning
     back America from the Kalkars, driving them westward
     toward the Pacific Ocean.  Julian's people ally
     themselves with other tribes and they launch a new war
     against the Kalkars and wins a great victory.  But
     Julian himself is captured by the Kalkars, who take him
     before the Or-tis 16th, their Jemadar, who offers to
     make peace with the Julians.

     Julian refuses to deal with the Or-tis.  He escapes
     and meets another Or-tis who claims to be the rightful
     ruler of the Kalkars, and also a full-blooded American
     (a Yank like Julian).  The True Or-tis and Julian become
     allies, but they are separated.  Julian falls in with
     the Nippons, descendants of American Japanese who were
     never conquered by the Kalkars.  While with the Nippons
     he meets and falls in love with Bethelda, who turns out
     to be the True Or-tis' sister.  Finally, the Or-tis
     clan and the Yanks join with the Nippons and drive the
     Kalkars out of America.
-----------------------------------------------------------
7].  Maintainer Information

FAQ owner: Michael Martinez 
Last Updated:  November 27, 1998

Some information was supplied by:

Pat Adkins 
Jerome Bigge 
Jeff Long 
Mike Resnick 
Alan Sargent (sarg...@gateway.net.hk)
Kyle Silfer 
Jim Thompson 
Bob Zeuschner 
---------------------End of WorldFAQ----------------------

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