Reviews

Tarzan the Terrible by Edgar Rice Burroughs

franklyfrank's review

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adventurous tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

kathyscottage's review

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adventurous tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

Good jungle adventure story!

jordandeanbaker's review against another edition

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4.0

This book was wild. I don’t even know where to start. Tarzan pretends to be “The Son of God”, and a German officer does what can only be described as his best impression of The Great Cornholio.

Tarzan, is all of a sudden thrust into a world of Dinosaurs and monkey people… two things that seemed really out of place for a series that had, up to this point, been a lot more grounded than that. The version I read was the “Authorized Library” edition which explained some of the book’s history. Apparently ERB was completely out of ideas for a new Tarzan story until he saw newspaper articles about the Mokele-Mbembe Sauropod sighting in the Congo. I remember being a kid and hearing about Mokele-Mbembe. I was entranced by the possibility of dinosaurs still living in the deep interior of Africa. This connection makes ERB’s sudden jump into the fantastical a little less shocking.

This could have been YET another Tarzan novel focusing on a hidden city and its strange inhabitants but somehow, despite this overused Tarzan trope the book wound up being a lot better than I expected.

Every time I start a Tarzan book I say “alright, this will be the last one”, but I can’t stop myself from going back for more.

gentlemanjeff's review against another edition

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4.0

One of the most fun and outrageous Tarzan tales with familiar themes and a more thoroughly developed lost society than in previous volumes. The ending is somewhat less glorious than usual but just as tidy and satisfyingly sentimental.

skjam's review against another edition

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4.0

I liked how not just Tarzan, but all the good guy characters (including Jane!) are pretty darn awesome.

I felt Burroughs got a little too cutesy with concealing the identity of the man with the rifle until the end; people who have read the rest of the series will know who it is immediately, first-timers won't get it at all.

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