Rating: 
Summary: The third and fourth Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan novels
Review: This volume brings together the third and fourth of the Tarzan novels written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and as was the case with the first pair of novels, "The Beasts of Tarzan" and "The Son of Tarzan" works as two halves of a whole. "The Beasts of Tarzan" finds the ape lord settled in civilized London as Lord Greystoke. But he becomes the target of his enemy, Nikolas Rokoff, and his henchman Alexis Paulvitch. The pair abducts Tarzan's Jane and their son Jack. Tarzan is stranded on a desert island, but with the help of Sheeta the panther and Akut the great ape he makes it back to the mainland. There he meets Mugambi, the giant chief othe Wagambi tribe, who becomes Tarzan's lifelong friend and ally. The group heads after the kidnappers into the deep jungle and when Tarzan finds them he lets his inner beast come up with ways of making them pay. "The Son of Tarzan" finds that Paulvitch survived the vengeance of Tarzan and now wants toe ven the score. Luring young Jack Clayton away from London, Paulvitch's plan is foiled when Jack escapes with the help of Akut, the great ape. Fleeing to the African jungle where Tarzan was raised the son of Tarzan becomes Korak the Killer, taking on the great apes as his father had before him. Along the way Korak rescues Meriem, a beautiful young woman, from a band of Arab raiders (she turns out to be the daughter of Armand Jacot a Foreign Legion Captain who is also Prince de Cadrenet). "The Son of Tarzan" has the same sort of relationship with the original novel "Tarzan of the Apes" that you find between Jack London's "White Fang" and "The Call of the Wild," although I would be loath to accuse Burroughs of taking a stand on social Darwinism instead of just telling an adventure yarn. The only complaint, such as it is, would be that already Burroughs is starting to cover the same ground of the previous novels, although this time around it is his son who needs to be rescued and then becomes the rescuer in turn.
Rating:
Summary: The third and fourth Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan novels
Review: This volume brings together the third and fourth of the Tarzan novels written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and as was the case with the first pair of novels, "The Beasts of Tarzan" and "The Son of Tarzan" works as two halves of a whole. "The Beasts of Tarzan" finds the ape lord settled in civilized London as Lord Greystoke. But he becomes the target of his enemy, Nikolas Rokoff, and his henchman Alexis Paulvitch. The pair abducts Tarzan's Jane and their son Jack. Tarzan is stranded on a desert island, but with the help of Sheeta the panther and Akut the great ape he makes it back to the mainland. There he meets Mugambi, the giant chief othe Wagambi tribe, who becomes Tarzan's lifelong friend and ally. The group heads after the kidnappers into the deep jungle and when Tarzan finds them he lets his inner beast come up with ways of making them pay. "The Son of Tarzan" finds that Paulvitch survived the vengeance of Tarzan and now wants toe ven the score. Luring young Jack Clayton away from London, Paulvitch's plan is foiled when Jack escapes with the help of Akut, the great ape. Fleeing to the African jungle where Tarzan was raised the son of Tarzan becomes Korak the Killer, taking on the great apes as his father had before him. Along the way Korak rescues Meriem, a beautiful young woman, from a band of Arab raiders (she turns out to be the daughter of Armand Jacot a Foreign Legion Captain who is also Prince de Cadrenet). "The Son of Tarzan" has the same sort of relationship with the original novel "Tarzan of the Apes" that you find between Jack London's "White Fang" and "The Call of the Wild," although I would be loath to accuse Burroughs of taking a stand on social Darwinism instead of just telling an adventure yarn. The only complaint, such as it is, would be that already Burroughs is starting to cover the same ground of the previous novels, although this time around it is his son who needs to be rescued and then becomes the rescuer in turn.
Rating: 
Summary: The fifth and sixth of Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan novels
Review: This volume is the third in a series offering reprints of two early Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan novels. "Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar" is the fifth book in the Tarzan series and is generally considered one of the better of ERB's tales of the Lord of the Jungle. Tarzan once again returns to Opar, the source of the gold for lost colony of fabled Atlantis. Ever since Atlantis sank beneath the waves, the workers of Opar have continued to mine the gold. Tarzan follows a greedy Belgian and Arab into the jungle, where the evil pair manages to stumble upon the lost city, at which point our hero loses his memory after a fight. This is good news for La, the beautiful high priestess who serves the Flaming God, because she has had that big crush on the ape man since their first encounter. However, while his amnesia opens the door for her amorous advances, her high priests are vowing that Tarzan will not escape their sacrificial knives a second time. Meanwhile, Jane is in trouble back at their African homestead. As you read "Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar," you will pick up on the fact that Burroughs liked the character of La a lot more than he did that of Jane Clayton Greystoke (who he would attempt to kill off in a few books). Of course, this second visit to the land of Opar is not as exciting as the first and the amnesia bit is pretty old hat, even for Burroughs. This is definitely one of the author's pot-boilers and for the pulp fiction era it is pretty solid stuff. Things get a bit predictable, but the tension between Tarzan and La gives the book a bit of bite. You just need to make sure you go through the first four Tarzan books before you read this one, or you are going to be a bit lost. "Jungle Tales of Tarzan" is the sixth volume in the series and pretty much goes back to the beginning for a collection of short stories when Tarzan still lived among the great apes. Tarzan has learned how to read from the books he has found and it is opening his young mind to new questions, like where do dreams come from and where he can confront Goro, the supreme being that is the moon. There is also the love triangle between Tarzan, his first love Teeka, and their rival Taug, as well as his adventures tormenting the people of the local Mbonga tribe. "Jungle Tales of Tarzan" is actually a nice companion volume to the original "Tarzan of the Apes," provide more depth and detail to the early years of the Lord of the Jungle. It also marks a coda to what we would now consider the original story arc of the Tarzan novels. Burroughs would write another 21 Tarzan novels but they would become increasingly formulaic. In many ways this is the last time we would see the original Tarzan.
Rating:
Summary: The fifth and sixth of Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan novels
Review: This volume is the third in a series offering reprints of two early Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan novels. "Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar" is the fifth book in the Tarzan series and is generally considered one of the better of ERB's tales of the Lord of the Jungle. Tarzan once again returns to Opar, the source of the gold for lost colony of fabled Atlantis. Ever since Atlantis sank beneath the waves, the workers of Opar have continued to mine the gold. Tarzan follows a greedy Belgian and Arab into the jungle, where the evil pair manages to stumble upon the lost city, at which point our hero loses his memory after a fight. This is good news for La, the beautiful high priestess who serves the Flaming God, because she has had that big crush on the ape man since their first encounter. However, while his amnesia opens the door for her amorous advances, her high priests are vowing that Tarzan will not escape their sacrificial knives a second time. Meanwhile, Jane is in trouble back at their African homestead. As you read "Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar," you will pick up on the fact that Burroughs liked the character of La a lot more than he did that of Jane Clayton Greystoke (who he would attempt to kill off in a few books). Of course, this second visit to the land of Opar is not as exciting as the first and the amnesia bit is pretty old hat, even for Burroughs. This is definitely one of the author's pot-boilers and for the pulp fiction era it is pretty solid stuff. Things get a bit predictable, but the tension between Tarzan and La gives the book a bit of bite. You just need to make sure you go through the first four Tarzan books before you read this one, or you are going to be a bit lost. "Jungle Tales of Tarzan" is the sixth volume in the series and pretty much goes back to the beginning for a collection of short stories when Tarzan still lived among the great apes. Tarzan has learned how to read from the books he has found and it is opening his young mind to new questions, like where do dreams come from and where he can confront Goro, the supreme being that is the moon. There is also the love triangle between Tarzan, his first love Teeka, and their rival Taug, as well as his adventures tormenting the people of the local Mbonga tribe. "Jungle Tales of Tarzan" is actually a nice companion volume to the original "Tarzan of the Apes," provide more depth and detail to the early years of the Lord of the Jungle. It also marks a coda to what we would now consider the original story arc of the Tarzan novels. Burroughs would write another 21 Tarzan novels but they would become increasingly formulaic. In many ways this is the last time we would see the original Tarzan.
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