Tarzan: The Lost Adventure

Edgar Rice Burroughs died in 1950, but a story fragment was completed by Joe R Lansdale (he was apparently chosen by the Burroughs family). The important thing I suppose is "Is this successful as a Tarzan novel"? My answer is yes, but not as a Burroughs' Tarzan novel. This is just an OK story, but I was entertained. It doesn't feel like the Tarzan I remember at all. It seems to have all the elements that a reader of earlier Tarzan novels would expect ... damsel in distress, bad guys, lost cities/civilization/treasure, lots of fights, lots of spoor, vine swinging, great apes, little monkey antics, lion fight ...

but I never really got excited and this wasn't a page turner until near the end. Still, I did enjoy this if I didn't think too show more hard.

There are a number of very nice pen and ink illustrations throughout the book. They were a real plus.

To be fair I don't recall that Burroughs own later Tarzan stories were as good as his early stuff. 2 1/2 - 3 stars show less

Don't remember where I came across this but was intrigued that there was a manuscript that was found and completed 50 years later. And they had it sitting there for 30 years before they decided on someone to complete it. I personally think they could have waited even longer in order to find someone that would have done it justice though. Joe's writing style didn't impress me and I really feel he portrayed Lord Greystoke rather poorly in several places in the book, not at all in the way that E.R.B. would have done it. The story basically had all the elements of a typical Tarzan novel with a lost city, fantastic creature, mad king and the damsel in distress so it satisfied from that aspect. The ending definitely needed something more show more being entirely lackluster. show less

Sometime after his death, a "half-finished" Tarzan novel was discovered in Edgar Rice Burroughs' effects. It took many years to work out the logistics, but an author was selected to complete it. I suspect that Burroughs left a bare outline; certainly the style is quite different from any of Burroughs' Tarzan writings, and could never be mistaken for him. Not that that is a bad thing; Lansdale has amplified the ape-man's personality in a believable fashion, giving him more human qualities (he has, after all, been in civilization many years now), and more deeply explaining the animal characteristics that yet survive in him. Tarzan even laughs and smiles at several points! The novel is quite a bit more graphically gory than Burroughs' work show more (not necessarily a bad thing either). I do have mixed feelings about Lansdales's final denouement of Tarzan, which I feel certain Burroughs never scripted. I won't give it away, but it is oddly satisfying and disturbing at the same time. It is, however, quite an abrupt ending to the book. Burroughs was never fond of drawn-out endings either. show less

Don't remember where I came across this but was intrigued that there was a manuscript that was found and completed 50 years later. And they had it sitting there for 30 years before they decided on someone to complete it. I personally think they could have waited even longer in order to find someone that would have done it justice though. Joe's writing style didn't impress me and I really feel he portrayed Lord Greystoke rather poorly in several places in the book, not at all in the way that E.R.B. would have done it. The story basically had all the elements of a typical Tarzan novel with a lost city, fantastic creature, mad king and the damsel in distress so it satisfied from that aspect. The ending definitely needed something more show more being entirely lackluster. show less

http://fireandsword.blogspot.com/2006/12/tarzan-lost-adventure-by-edgar-rice.htm...

ERB was a thorough writer. He left behind little in the way of unfinished manuscripts, but he did leave one. In 1995 Joe Lansdale turned that partially completed tale into a full novel. The result is perhaps more Lansdale than Burroughs, something that may grieve some, but frankly I find Lansdlae’s contributions highly entertaining.

"For nearly fifty years, Edgar Rice Burroughs's last Tarzan manuscript lay untouched and unfinished, locked away in a vault. It was the stuff of legend until, finally, the magnificent tale was completed, with the help of award-winning author Joe R. Lansdale.

Once again the roar of Tarzan resounds through Africa as the Lord of the Jungle battles the savage creatures of the wild and helps a beautiful woman search for ancient Ur, lost city of gold. But Tarzan discovers they aren't alone in their quest. For evil follows in his path, and terror awaits him and his fierce lion Jad-bal-ja. Incredible treasures lie in the ancient city, and horrors even more awesome hunger to destroy the mighty hero."

Not published in over 50 years, ERB's final Tarzan manuscript has not been released from the vault and is now finally released.
Beautifully illustrated by Charles Vess, M. kaluta, T. Yeates, M Sheldon, G. Gianni, and S. O. Burroughs.