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kathyscottage's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
gentlemanjeff's review against another edition
3.0
Only one victory cry, Korak barely mentioned, and not so triumphant an ending as the Greystokes have brought us in the past. Villains' absurdly affected vernacular, repeated mistaken-identity gags and still more lost city ape-men have become tedious.
blchandler9000's review against another edition
3.0
Pulpy fun.
Tarzan raises an orphaned lion and trains it to heel, fetch, and kill. By the book's title, one might think that was the book's entire premise, but it's not. The book also includes a visit to the ancient Atlantean colony of Opar; a lost city of intelligent, diamond-mining gorilla men; evil priests; a band of craven European treasure hunters; a Tarzan impersonator; tribes of cannibals and slavers; and the disappearance of Jane. You get the impression that ERB was cramming every idea he could muster into the story. And he juggled it all well, actually. The denouement is a little hasty and there are a few moments where one wonders why ERB decided to cut off certain threads before they grew into interesting ideas, but I suppose there must be a return to the status quo come book's end.
On a personal note, this was especially fun to read because I decided to read one of the older books in my collection instead of an electronic copy. It was a red cloth Grosset & Dunlap from the 1920s. When I devoured ERB during my adolescence, I read entirely from used books, either copies I inherited from family or found in used book shops, these red G&Ds and the Ace paperbacks being my favorite editions. It was fun to smell the must of the thing, feel the coarseness of the paper, note foxing and stains on the pages and spots where the printing was imperfect (a little triangle of black often appeared above the lower case d where the type was over-inked). I almost gave the book 4 stars based on the pleasure I had in reading the thing. It was so nice to lie on a bed on a quiet afternoon, the window open, gentle breeze and birdsong leaking through it, and just plow through a book like I used to 30 years ago.
Tarzan raises an orphaned lion and trains it to heel, fetch, and kill. By the book's title, one might think that was the book's entire premise, but it's not. The book also includes a visit to the ancient Atlantean colony of Opar; a lost city of intelligent, diamond-mining gorilla men; evil priests; a band of craven European treasure hunters; a Tarzan impersonator; tribes of cannibals and slavers; and the disappearance of Jane. You get the impression that ERB was cramming every idea he could muster into the story. And he juggled it all well, actually. The denouement is a little hasty and there are a few moments where one wonders why ERB decided to cut off certain threads before they grew into interesting ideas, but I suppose there must be a return to the status quo come book's end.
On a personal note, this was especially fun to read because I decided to read one of the older books in my collection instead of an electronic copy. It was a red cloth Grosset & Dunlap from the 1920s. When I devoured ERB during my adolescence, I read entirely from used books, either copies I inherited from family or found in used book shops, these red G&Ds and the Ace paperbacks being my favorite editions. It was fun to smell the must of the thing, feel the coarseness of the paper, note foxing and stains on the pages and spots where the printing was imperfect (a little triangle of black often appeared above the lower case d where the type was over-inked). I almost gave the book 4 stars based on the pleasure I had in reading the thing. It was so nice to lie on a bed on a quiet afternoon, the window open, gentle breeze and birdsong leaking through it, and just plow through a book like I used to 30 years ago.
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