Tarzan the Terrible

One of the ape-man's more enthralling adventures, where he follows the lead of a dead German officer to follow his kidnaped wifr to the depths of Pal-ul-don, a prehistoric land forgotten by time. The adventures are top-notch, and Burroughs is adept here at using the primitive society of Pal-ul-don to make pointed comparisons with modern civilization. More often than not, civilized society comes off second best. The reunion of Tarzan and Jane is atypically poignant for these adventures.

I must have read this book aged around 10, and it seemed at the time very 'grown up' and exotic, yet easily read (as long as I used a dictionary to learn new words) and engrossing. This adventure fantasy included lost cultures, dinosaurs - favourite subjects for me, at the time - and even odd subtexts about imperious rulers, slaves and eunuchs.

I didn't finish this and I will not be reading any more in the series. I really enjoyed the earlier Tarzan stories, but they just got weirder and weirder. In Tarzan the Terrible, there are a bunch of lost civilizations and prehistoric creatures and such. It's just too much. ERB jumped the shark (or rather, jumped the Triceratops) on this one IMHO.

Mostly OK Tarzan novel with a revenge plot against the Germans who kidnapped Jane. Sort of violent and racist, but it did not have a big effect on me when I first read it at a young age. I loved most of the series that I read. Books were better than the Hollywood movies.

Jane grows yet more redoubtable and there are heroic figures everywhere. Of its kind, it is the best.

Ok, this one was a bit strange in comparison to the previous seven. It was a bit hard to follow because of all the odd names of people places and things. At times it was hard to remember who was who. Overall the story was great. I love that Korak was reintroduced.

Lieutenant Obergatz had fled in terror from the seeking vengeance of Tarzan of the Apes. And with him, by force, he had taken Tarzan's beloved mate, Jane. Now the ape-man was following the faint spoor of their flight, into a region no man had ever penetrated. The trail led across seemingly impassable marshes into Pal-ul-don - a savage land where primitive Waz-don and Ho-don fought fiercely, wielding knives with their long, prehensile tails - and where mighty triceratops still survived from the dim dawn of time...