TARZAN TRIUMPHANT (Tarzan)

Rating:
Summary: Joseph Stalin tries to have Tarzan of the Apes killed
Review: "Tarzan Triumphant" is the 15th novel in the Tarzan series by Edgar Rice Burroughs. There were two basic plot lines ERB used in these books: either the bad guys invaded Tarzan neck of the woods or he followed them to some lost city. "Tarzan Triumphant" actually combines both of these approaches. No less a person than Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin has ordered John Clatyon, Lord Greystoke a.k.a. Tarzan to be killed and sent Leon Stabutch to take out the Lord of the Apes. Stabutch and his henchmen cut a path of looting and killing through the land of Tarzan and he takes off in pursuit, which leads to the valley near the Ghenzi Mountains where there are the people of North Midian and South Midian. Led by their respective prophets, Abraham and Elijah, they are religious fanatics who have perverted the faith passed down from their Roman Christian ancestors. Just to make things really interesting in addition to the killer Soviets there is also the English aviatrix Lady Barbara Collins who is going to be sacrificed by the Midians, meaning that once again Tarzan has to come to the rescue as well as ushering the bad guys to their just reward. "Tarzan Triumphant" is a standard ERB yarn but still one of the better ones in the series, especially with the take on the perverted notion of Christianity practiced in Midian. The supporting cast is particularly colorful, such as Dan "Gunner" Patrick the small-time Chicago mobster, along with the traditional European bad guys, and the only apes are a tribe of baboons rather than the great apes that raised Tarzan. So, all in all, this is an ERB potboiler but a solid one in the series. But from hereafter things get totally formulaic with one new "lost" city after another.

Rating:
Summary: Joseph Stalin tries to have Tarzan of the Apes killed
Review: "Tarzan Triumphant" is the 15th novel in the Tarzan series by Edgar Rice Burroughs. There were two basic plot lines ERB used in these books: either the bad guys invaded Tarzan neck of the woods or he followed them to some lost city. "Tarzan Triumphant" actually combines both of these approaches. No less a person than Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin has ordered John Clatyon, Lord Greystoke a.k.a. Tarzan to be killed and sent Leon Stabutch to take out the Lord of the Apes. Stabutch and his henchmen cut a path of looting and killing through the land of Tarzan and he takes off in pursuit, which leads to the valley near the Ghenzi Mountains where there are the people of North Midian and South Midian. Led by their respective prophets, Abraham and Elijah, they are religious fanatics who have perverted the faith passed down from their Roman Christian ancestors. Just to make things really interesting in addition to the killer Soviets there is also the English aviatrix Lady Barbara Collins who is going to be sacrificed by the Midians, meaning that once again Tarzan has to come to the rescue as well as ushering the bad guys to their just reward. "Tarzan Triumphant" is a standard ERB yarn but still one of the better ones in the series, especially with the take on the perverted notion of Christianity practiced in Midian. The supporting cast is particularly colorful, such as Dan "Gunner" Patrick the small-time Chicago mobster, along with the traditional European bad guys, and the only apes are a tribe of baboons rather than the great apes that raised Tarzan. So, all in all, this is an ERB potboiler but a solid one in the series. But from hereafter things get totally formulaic with one new "lost" city after another.