Scan barcode
raehink's review against another edition
4.0
This was one of my favorite Tarzan novels. I loved how he let loose his animal anger at the end to get back Jane and Jack, his son. Good stuff!
lordofthemoon's review against another edition
4.0
I've read very little Burroughs and no Tarzan so when I found this slim volume going cheap at a con I grabbed it. The writing style is fairly simplistic but once you get past that and the casual racism (the assumption that white men are superior to the jungle 'savages' is omnipresent but not pushed down your throat; and a tribe leader that Tarzan befriends is counted as one of the eponymous 'beasts' of Tarzan) it's quite a fun story. Tarzan's arch-nemesis Nikolas Rokoff has escaped from prison and is hell-bent on getting revenge. To this end, he kidnaps Tarzan's wife and child and strands the ape-man himself on a jungle island. Yeah, that's like locking the A-Team in a shed, they're helpless, right? It's not long before Tarzan escapes at the head of a pack formed of a panther, tribe of ape-men and tribe leader to rescue his family.
I sort of wish I'd encountered the Tarzan novels when I was younger, they are perfect teenage boy books with lots adventure and men's men where villains are dispatched in appropriately gruesome ways. In saying that, it is very much of its time and the racism and implicit (and sometimes explicit) suggestion that white men are the supreme form of Humanity doesn't sit well. However, if you can ignore that (and it's a big if), there's a lot of enjoyment to be had from this simple story.
I sort of wish I'd encountered the Tarzan novels when I was younger, they are perfect teenage boy books with lots adventure and men's men where villains are dispatched in appropriately gruesome ways. In saying that, it is very much of its time and the racism and implicit (and sometimes explicit) suggestion that white men are the supreme form of Humanity doesn't sit well. However, if you can ignore that (and it's a big if), there's a lot of enjoyment to be had from this simple story.
rainydaywriter217b2's review against another edition
4.0
Old villains pop up again in this book, which takes place a couple years after The Return of Tarzan. Tarzan and Jane are married, they have a young son, and Rokoff and Paulvitch are back for revenge. Everyone gets kidnapped and separated, and has to fight for survival and escape.
Tarzan ends up on an island with no immediate way off. He takes to his jungle ways and befriends a panther named Sheeta, and an intelligent ape, ruler of his tribe, called Akut.
Man, this was my favorite so far, of the three Tarzan books I’ve read. The animals are clever and beautiful and the way they communicate with Tarzan and he with them is just—wild and awesome. Gives you respect for the animal kingdom, and for Nature. That’s what’s so fascinating about Tarzan anyway, right? How close he is to Nature, to wildness.
This is an excellent read for any fan of Tarzan and of adventure novels. I have to admit, I’ve tried a couple times since to read the next book, The Son of Tarzan. I can’t seem to get through it. I’ll probably give it another go later on, since I love Tarzan so much. But the book is, understandably, given the title, mostly about Tarzan’s son Jack, and therefore not as interesting. Oh well. The Beasts of Tarzan will remain my favorite Tarzan novel for a good long time.
This and other reviews by me can be found at www.annaimber.com
Tarzan ends up on an island with no immediate way off. He takes to his jungle ways and befriends a panther named Sheeta, and an intelligent ape, ruler of his tribe, called Akut.
Man, this was my favorite so far, of the three Tarzan books I’ve read. The animals are clever and beautiful and the way they communicate with Tarzan and he with them is just—wild and awesome. Gives you respect for the animal kingdom, and for Nature. That’s what’s so fascinating about Tarzan anyway, right? How close he is to Nature, to wildness.
This is an excellent read for any fan of Tarzan and of adventure novels. I have to admit, I’ve tried a couple times since to read the next book, The Son of Tarzan. I can’t seem to get through it. I’ll probably give it another go later on, since I love Tarzan so much. But the book is, understandably, given the title, mostly about Tarzan’s son Jack, and therefore not as interesting. Oh well. The Beasts of Tarzan will remain my favorite Tarzan novel for a good long time.
This and other reviews by me can be found at www.annaimber.com
skjam's review against another edition
3.0
John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, and his lovely wife Jane have settled down in London with their infant son Jack. I guess this is the end of the adventures of Tarzan since everyone knows that marriage and children mean that you’re never going to be interesting again. But wait! John’s old friend, Lieutenant D’Arnot, has news! It seems that the archcriminal Rokoff and his henchman Paulvitch have escaped French prison and are on the loose.
Realizing that Rokoff will stop at nothing to get his revenge for his earlier defeat, Lord Greystoke returns to the British capital. But it is too late. The wily Rokoff (aided by the French government keeping his escape a secret) has already succeeded in kidnapping Jack. John and Jane are then captured separately, and the entire family is taken on the same boat (but unaware of each other) to Africa.
Rokoff strands John naked and weaponless on an island well off the coast, boasting that he will have Jack adopted by a tribe of cannibals and indoctrinated into their customs, and will do even worse to Jane. But Rokoff has made an error. For without the trappings of civilization, brought back to the jungle climes that nurtured him, John Clayton becomes again Tarzan, Lord of the Apes!
This is the third of the Tarzan books, originally published in magazine form in 1914. ERB was hitting his stride, this action-packed volume reassured readers that they would get to enjoy many more tales of the jungle hero.
Tarzan soon arms himself and gains the loyalty of not just a band of intelligent apes like those that raised him, led by the exceptionally smart Akut, but Sheeta the panther, and soon the native warrior Mugambi. This allows Tarzan to escape the island with his motley crew and go in pursuit of Rokoff and his minions, who are headed up a river to the cannibal tribe previously mentioned.
The good: Lots of action and peril which moves the story along quickly, and some surprising twists. Jane has learned something of jungle survival since the first book, and while she’s no physical match for her male captors, the moment Jane sees an opportunity, she’s rescuing herself and the child.
Both Jane and Tarzan are gracious people who are kind when circumstances allow, and this comes back to help them in time of need. We also get some interesting minor characters, Sven Anderssen the Norwegian sailor who’s a lot smarter than he lets on, and Tambudza, the cannibal granny.
Not so good: Burroughs was very fond of coincidences, and they run rampant in this book, from the way Tarzan and Jane keep missing each other, to the completely separate group of stranded sailors that shows up at the end.
Also, Rokoff is a weak villain whose plans for revenge are overly elaborate and rely on too many things going just right. Indeed, he would have done much better to simply head straight to Africa without ever having interacted with the Clayton family.
The ugly: Racism. Tarzan slaughters everyone else in Mugambi’s hunting party (in fairness, they tried to kill him first) and Mugambi sheds not a tear nor ever thinks of them again, soon coming to have complete loyalty to the terrifyingly powerful white man. Plus that whole cannibal tribe thing. Parents of younger readers may want to talk to their children about outdated stereotypes of African people.
Overall, this is a rip-roaring pulp adventure in the old style and well worth looking up if you can forgive the period racism. Recommended especially to fans of the movies.
Realizing that Rokoff will stop at nothing to get his revenge for his earlier defeat, Lord Greystoke returns to the British capital. But it is too late. The wily Rokoff (aided by the French government keeping his escape a secret) has already succeeded in kidnapping Jack. John and Jane are then captured separately, and the entire family is taken on the same boat (but unaware of each other) to Africa.
Rokoff strands John naked and weaponless on an island well off the coast, boasting that he will have Jack adopted by a tribe of cannibals and indoctrinated into their customs, and will do even worse to Jane. But Rokoff has made an error. For without the trappings of civilization, brought back to the jungle climes that nurtured him, John Clayton becomes again Tarzan, Lord of the Apes!
This is the third of the Tarzan books, originally published in magazine form in 1914. ERB was hitting his stride, this action-packed volume reassured readers that they would get to enjoy many more tales of the jungle hero.
Tarzan soon arms himself and gains the loyalty of not just a band of intelligent apes like those that raised him, led by the exceptionally smart Akut, but Sheeta the panther, and soon the native warrior Mugambi. This allows Tarzan to escape the island with his motley crew and go in pursuit of Rokoff and his minions, who are headed up a river to the cannibal tribe previously mentioned.
The good: Lots of action and peril which moves the story along quickly, and some surprising twists. Jane has learned something of jungle survival since the first book, and while she’s no physical match for her male captors, the moment Jane sees an opportunity, she’s rescuing herself and the child.
Both Jane and Tarzan are gracious people who are kind when circumstances allow, and this comes back to help them in time of need. We also get some interesting minor characters, Sven Anderssen the Norwegian sailor who’s a lot smarter than he lets on, and Tambudza, the cannibal granny.
Not so good: Burroughs was very fond of coincidences, and they run rampant in this book, from the way Tarzan and Jane keep missing each other, to the completely separate group of stranded sailors that shows up at the end.
Also, Rokoff is a weak villain whose plans for revenge are overly elaborate and rely on too many things going just right. Indeed, he would have done much better to simply head straight to Africa without ever having interacted with the Clayton family.
The ugly: Racism. Tarzan slaughters everyone else in Mugambi’s hunting party (in fairness, they tried to kill him first) and Mugambi sheds not a tear nor ever thinks of them again, soon coming to have complete loyalty to the terrifyingly powerful white man. Plus that whole cannibal tribe thing. Parents of younger readers may want to talk to their children about outdated stereotypes of African people.
Overall, this is a rip-roaring pulp adventure in the old style and well worth looking up if you can forgive the period racism. Recommended especially to fans of the movies.