The Dark Heart of Time: A Tarzan Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

Philip Jose Farmer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 29, 1999

At last--after decades--one of the most famous heroes in literature is back! Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, returns with a vengeance in this brand-new, action-packed adventure by Philip José Farmer, Hugo Award-winning author of the incredible Riverworld saga.

Tarzan's beloved mate, Jane, has been kidnapped, and the furious ape-man will let nothing stand in the way of rescuing her--not even a sinister safari whose target is Tarzan himself. With fierce Masai trackers leading the chase, a trio of white hunters are hellbent on capturing the Jungle Lord. But as the pursuers, and their uncanny half-human tracker, close in from behind, Tarzan races toward even greater danger ahead.

For the trail leads to a bizarre, long-forgotten land boasting a multitude of strange and terrifying mysteries: the City Built by God, the Hideous Hunter, the One to Avoid, and most shocking of all, the Crystal Tree of Time--whose seductive powers could ultimately spell Tarzan's doom . . .

Philip José Farmer, a descendant of the actual Greystoke family, is famous for his adventure novels starring Tarzan characters. Now, for the first time, he lends his vast imagination to the authorized legend of the Lord of the Apes himself!

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

At last--after decades--one of the most famous heroes in literature is back! Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, returns with a vengeance in this brand-new, action-packed adventure by Philip José Farmer, Hugo Award-winning author of the incredible Riverworld saga.

Tarzan's beloved mate, Jane, has been kidnapped, and the furious ape-man will let nothing stand in the way of rescuing her--not even a sinister safari whose target is Tarzan himself. With fierce Masai trackers leading the chase, a trio of white hunters are hellbent on capturing the Jungle Lord. But as the pursuers, and their uncanny half-human tracker, close in from behind, Tarzan races toward even greater danger ahead.

For the trail leads to a bizarre, long-forgotten land boasting a multitude of strange and terrifying mysteries: the City Built by God, the Hideous Hunter, the One to Avoid, and most shocking of all, the Crystal Tree of Time--whose seductive powers could ultimately spell Tarzan's doom . . .

Philip José Farmer, a descendant of the actual Greystoke family, is famous for his adventure novels starring Tarzan characters. Now, for the first time, he lends his vast imagination to the authorized legend of the Lord of the Apes himself!

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 278 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey; 1st edition (May 29, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345424638
• ISBN-13: 978-0345424631
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #963,430 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reading, October 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dark Heart of Time: A Tarzan Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

It's hard to continue other authors' works with honor, but Philip Jose Farmer has a better track record than most. This is the exciting sequel to the loose threads in Burroughs' TARZAN THE UNTAMED, and I eagerly read it in one sitting. For the record, Farmer does not characterize Tarzan the way Burroughs did, but rather treats him as the infrahuman that Farmer believes him to be. Farmer's use of collective ape language nouns (like "Kando" for ants) with plural verb conjugations was a bit unBurroughsian (for example, "Kando were..."), but that's probably nit-picking. Also, the end of the book contained more science fiction than any previous Tarzan story by ERB. But the book is quite entertaining, and surprisingly, Farmer DID surpress a bit of his own style in favor of more Burroughs-like dialogue and plot devices. If you liked this one, find copies of Farmer's Opar books and TIME'S LAST GIFT and wonder if there's a double meaning behind Tarzan's moniker as "the Uncaused Causer"...

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Farmer's long awaited Tarzan novel worth the wait!, May 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dark Heart of Time: A Tarzan Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

This is Farmer's first 'offical' Tarzan novel, but not his first time writing about the Lord of the Jungle. Those of you familiar with A FEAST UNKNOWN, LORD OF THE TREES, LORD TYGER, THE PEERLESS PEER and of course TARZAN ALIVE (Farmer's biography of Lord Greystoke), know that only ERB himself knows Tarzan better. And lets not forget TIME'S LAST GIFT, HADON OF ANCIENT OPAR, FLIGHT TO OPAR and IRONCASTLE, all with connections to Tarzan.

THE DARK HEART OF TIME takes place between TARZAN THE UNTAMED and TARZAN THE TERRIBLE. It picks up a thread left by Burroughs (but never explored) as events cause Tarzan to temporarily abandon his search for Jane, who has been kidnapped.

This book is non-stop action, has one of the toughest escape scenes that even Farmer has written, and no one except Tarzan could have pulled it off. A definite read for fans of Farmer or ERB and the many fans of both.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good effort, November 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dark Heart of Time: A Tarzan Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

In "Tarzan Alive", Farmer writes: "During the two year's search for Jane, [Tarzan] had found himself in the neighbourhood indicated on the map by the bones of the sixteenth-century Spaniard. [...] Unfortunately, we don't know of this adventure. While I could easily make up a story to fill the gap, I am sticking stricly to biographical facts."

Well, it seems that almost 30 years later, Farmer has decided to tell that story after all. It all starts very promising. There are a lot of mysteries that make this a very compelling page-turner: how is Helmson able to track Tarzan so well; what is this mysterious creature Tarzan calls the Ben-go-utor; and why is the old businessman Stonecraft so obsessed by capturing Tarzan alive? But once some of those mysteries are solved (a bit too soon for my taste) Farmer seems to lose the thread of the story a bit. Not that it's bad, but it's nothing more than a slightly above-average action/adventure novel. The climax is a bit chaotic and the ending is very abrubt. Quite good, but after brooding on it for God knows how many years, we might have expected Farmer to produce something a bit more special.

Let's hope this is just the first of a whole series of new Tarzan novels. A couple of good writers could make up interesting stories, that would keep Tarzan alive, in a much better way than recent products have (Lost City, Epic Adventures,...).

Tarzan needs to be recognized by a new audience; the recent Disney adaptation makes this a good time for new and exciting adventures to appear. The audience is there... now all we need is new adventures. Let's hope they don't waste that opportunity...

BTW, it is true that Farmer's timeline concerning Korak is not correct (as one reviewer noted) but then this was a mistake Burroughs himself already made - Farmer is only working in Burroughs' timeline.