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A review by jordandeanbaker
Tarzan the Untamed: Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library by Edgar Rice Burroughs
2.0
The two star rating is more a reflection of my disappointment, than it is a reflection of the book’s quality in comparison to the other Tarzan books. All-in-all, it’s on par with the last few of its predecessors.
I got really excited for a Tarzan book set during WWI, and the book teases the reader with a little bit of Tarzan in the trenches of a northern African battlefield (did they really do trench warfare in the Northern African theater of war?). Unfortunately this plot line is quickly abandoned for a rehash of the lost city of Opar. I made the mistake of thinking that we were about to get more of the “Indiana Jones meets James Bond meets Sherlock Holmes” Tarzan from the second book, but nope, we get “woe is me, escape from reality” Tarzan instead.
The lost city and it’s inhabitants feel like they were ripped straight out of one of ERB’s John Carter novels.
Lastly, we learn that Tarzan’s racism isn’t reserved for the “gomangani” (great black apes AKA African natives). He’s also violently racist towards all Germans in this one.
I got really excited for a Tarzan book set during WWI, and the book teases the reader with a little bit of Tarzan in the trenches of a northern African battlefield (did they really do trench warfare in the Northern African theater of war?). Unfortunately this plot line is quickly abandoned for a rehash of the lost city of Opar. I made the mistake of thinking that we were about to get more of the “Indiana Jones meets James Bond meets Sherlock Holmes” Tarzan from the second book, but nope, we get “woe is me, escape from reality” Tarzan instead.
The lost city and it’s inhabitants feel like they were ripped straight out of one of ERB’s John Carter novels.
Lastly, we learn that Tarzan’s racism isn’t reserved for the “gomangani” (great black apes AKA African natives). He’s also violently racist towards all Germans in this one.