Customer Reviews

The Beasts of Tarzan

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I like tarzan books. This one was great as well. Tarzan finally got to see some of his enemies die, which was satisfying for me. Also, I enjoyed the "lord of nature" aspect of the book. Anyone that can control a pack of apes and a panther is pretty cool. After I read this book, I just wanted to fight another animal to the death. After I killed it, I would stand above it with the blood running down my throat and scream like tarzan does. I recommend this book for any father who is worried his son might grow up to be weak. Once again, great book.

This is as addictive as previous Tarzan's stories. In this one the archenemy of Tarzan finally gets his desserts. You have to read it!

Although this is not my favourite of the Tarzan books, it is definitely an excellent story. I just started to read about the adventures of Tarzan and can barely put the books down. Edgar Rice Burrougs is an amazing author. "The Beasts of Tarzan" is no exception.

After Jane and their son Jack are kidnapped, Tarzan has to return to the jungle. Once more he has to rely on his wits and his above-human strength and physique to survive in the jungle. Making several new friend (not all of them human) he has to track down Jane, his son and the men who captured them.

"The Beasts of Tarzan" is an excellent adventure story and well worth the read.

this third installment in the tarzan series does not in the least dissapoint. the new characters plot and setting make this book a must read for tarzan fans.

"The Beasts of Tarzan" is the third novel about the Lord of the Jungle by Edgar Rice Burroughs. "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 infant son Jack. Tarzan ends up 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 of he Wagambi tribe, a character who goes on to become Tarzan's lifelong friend and ally (a welcome relief after the way virtually all of the natives were just a different sort of jungle animal for Tarzan to torment and kill). This odd group heads off together after the kidnappers into the deep jungle and when Tarzan finds them he lets his inner beast come up with creative ways of making them pay for the mistake of taking his wife and son. If you start reading the Tarzan novels in particular, or the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs in general, in the same order that they were written, then "The Beasts of Tarzan" is pretty much around the time that it becomes clear that the storyline is usually the same. Our hero is separated from the woman he loves and spends most of the book getting her back. You can throw a baby into the mix, change the impediments placed in the way, or alter the locale from Africa to Mars, Pellucidar or the Land That Time Forgot (far and away the best part of the recipe), but the basic plot remains the same. Burroughs was also getting tired of having to write about Tarzan, which he would prove in the next book in the series, "The Son of Tarzan," where baby Jack grows up to become Korak the Killer. Unfortunately there were more than twenty more Tarzan novels to come, which would rely more and more of a formulaic approach.

While this novel was well written, I still often found myself bored silly reading it.

The tale of Tarzan, Lord Greystroke, was wonderfully told and concluded within the first two novels ("Tarzan of the Apes" and "The Return of Tarzan")...but in all honesty, I really felt it should have ended there. A third novel (and I'm sure the 20 or so sequels that followed this one) was not needed at all.

As mentioned in the title, I found this third novel really disappointing. I stopped reading it a couple of times because I found it so tedious and dull (which was never the case with the first two novels), and was glad it was over when I finally finished it!

Honestly, the only good part about it was seeing Tarzan's determination to save his family, and the long over-due conclusion to a particular character. Other than that...I really felt it was a waste of my time.

Which is a shame, because Mr. Rice Burroughs is quite a fine writer, and the first two books were fantastic.

This was an excellent play on words. I really enjoyed the concept of this book. I have always wanted to live in the jungle, and swing with monkeys.I can't wait for the sequal.

Burroughs is a fantastic writer, and his details of everything from characters to settings are vividly descriptive. Unlike the first two stories in the series, TARZAN OF THE APES and THE RETURN OF TARZAN, I didn't feel this story moved well. There was a lot of action and great characters, but much of the story seemed redundant. I read over and over about Tarzan eating raw meat by preference despite his being "civilized." I didn't think that added to the plot. Plus, there were several instances in which both Tarzan and Jane misjudged other characters or made poor decisions that put themselves or others in peril. Once or twice would've been believable; but when it kept happening, the story became less appealing.

Don't get me wrong, THE BEASTS OF TARZAN is still worth the read. It has all the adventure and danger that you expect from a Tarzan story, and, for me, the dimension added by animal characters was extremely interesting. If the first two hadn't been so fantastic, I probably would have given this one a higher rating. I'm looking forward to reading the other Tarzan stories. If you're a Burroughs fan, definitely DON'T skip this one. Just don't let yourself be disappointed when it isn't as good as the first two.

"The Beasts of Tarzan" by Edgar Rice Burroughs was published in May and June of 1914 in "All-Story Cavalier". The better known details of Tarzan and Jane are handled in the first two books, but this book seems to get less of a mention than those two, or even then the following book in the series. For myself, I think this book contributes a key factor to the legend of Tarzan, that of his mastery over many animals, and his ability to call them to his aid.

At the start of this book, we learn that Rokoff has escaped, and by the end of the first chapter he has kidnapped Tarzan and Jane's son, as well as Tarzan and Jane, though Tarzan doesn't know that Jane has been taken. Rokoff takes Tarzan to a tropical location by boat, and forces him to sign over his fortune, before letting him off. Tarzan believes he is getting off in Africa, and so he believes he will quickly be able to make his way back to society and chase down Rokoff, but he soon learns that he is on an island.

For a while, it looks like this book will somewhat mimic "The Return of Tarzan" in it being a series of events depicting Tarzan vs. Rokoff, or Tarzan vs. some kind of wild animal, but that is not the completely the case. Burroughs puts his wonderful imagination to use and puts forward the idea of Tarzan being able to force his will over some beasts, and indeed some humans as well, and that he can then call them to aid him, and that they can call him as well. So, while it is true that the book essentially deals with those same kinds of events, Burroughs manages to make them much less repetitive to the reader than they were in the first two books.

Many of the weaknesses of the first two books still exist here, but to a lesser extent, and that is why I found this to be the best of the first three Tarzan novels. One of the oddities of this book is that it ends with our heroes being in much the same position as they were before. We do meet some new characters, such as Akut, the leader of a tribe of apes, and Sheeta, a panther which Tarzan manages to master, and a villain or two are eliminated, but other than that their situation is much the same when the story ends. Ultimately, the story isn't as repetitive as the previous two books, and Burroughs' new ideas help it feel fresh and new, so I am giving this a higher rating than the first two books of the series.

Tarzan faces a fathers greatest fear, the loss of his child, still just a baby. Tarzan's enemy Nikolas Rokoff the Russian is holding his son hostage. Rokoff plans to turn the boy over to local cannibals to be raised in their tribe. He also schemes to steal Tarzan's wife Jane, and give her to the cannibals as well, while he lays a trap for Tarzan. Tarzan returns to the jungle and gathers his animal allies to gain back his family and revenge. This story probably did more to fuel the Tarzan movies than any other, and it is nice to see Tarzan return home to reclaim his title of Lord of the Jungle. The first edition of the book was written in 1916, the Ace edition on this page was published in 1962 by ACE, and is very collectible due to the Frank Frazetta cover illustration. Interior art is by J. Allen St. John.