Customer Reviews

The Dark Heart of Time: A Tarzan Novel

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

 

 

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"...

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.

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.

Mr Farmer's effort in The Dark Heart of Time is not wasted. I, too, wondered what story was represented by the dead Spanish giant. Its nice to see that story told...Perhaps the Spanish giant will *live* out his story in another of Farmers works. Mr Farmer also presented some very good answers to questions such as "Tarzan couldn't swing on vines, they are covered with biting insects." Tazan is a little more real in this work...and unfortunately, realism can be a little frustrating...but I liked it. Its a good, non-ERB Tarzan. This work, like most of the recent Tazan series and things seems to have been influenced by an as yet unpublished, underground book that was written in the 50's called "Tarzan on Mars" that was written under a pen name (That and the authors real name escape me at the moment..Blood, Bloodstone perhaps?). I spoke to the author of "Tarzan on Mars" in June at the 38th annual DumDum in LA (Tarzan con) and got to handle and look at one of the only two official copies that exist. The book is beautiful and strewn throughout with wonderfull artwork...that alone will be worth the cost, and if "The Dark Heart of Time" does well, "Tarzan on Mars" will be published next. "TOM" has Jane kidnaped to Mars and Tarzan follows...A great number of loose ends on Mars and (In) Earth get tied up in this one.

When I first heard about this book, I was quite excited and could not wait to purchase it. It is a non stop action adventure worthy of the best Burroughs tradition and with a distinct Farmerian slant. The only flaw that I had with the book was that the end seemed rather abrupt.

Okay being a big fan of Mr Burroughs as a teenager , and buying a few of the novels now, I tried giving Mr Jose Farmer a go, and enjoyed this book no end. It as a slightly modern feel to it compared to Mr Burroughs Novels, and it made me go out and collect a few of the Graphic Novels, and a couple more books written about the Jungle Lord. I only hope with the release of a new Tarzan Movie in 2009 that it will spark interest in the Jungle Lord again, and with the permission of the Burroughs estate that a few other authors may write some new Tarzan material that will appeal to a new younger up and coming Tarzan Fan base. BooksTarzan The First Five Books (Tarzan)

Farmer's sanctioned Tarzan novel "Dark Heart of Time" appeared decades after its ideal publishing time, during the Krenkel-inspired revival of Burroughs novels. This adventure story fits into what is probably the best of the Tarzan saga, when Tarzan returns to the jungles of Africa and pursues WWI-era German villains. This story is one of Farmer's better novels, packed with action and unique characters (including some cardboard stereotypes). It's a shame that this and "Nothing Burns in Hell" do not appear to have grown Farmer's present fan base, because these two novels are quality examples of Farmer style, pacing and imagination. Fans of Farmer probably know that his Tarzan pastiches represented some of his best work, and "Dark Heart of Time" does not disappoint.

The author clearly has approached this episode as the only Tarzan novel he would ever write, and packs an entire lost world inside the pages. A series of improbable but well-described escape sequences and cast of bizarre jungle tribes make up the meat of the book, with Tarzan's quest to find Jane pushed to the background.

Fatalism is a pervasive theme, as Tarzan meets what he calls a ben-go-utor, one of the very last of its kind who is resigned to an end without a legacy. The creature shares a tremendous will to live, however, a product of many centuries of evolution in a wild and harsh environment. There is also a tribal musician who battles his cowardice in hopes of rescuing his wife - Tarzan, the ben-go-utor and the musician all are trying to rescue their captured and probably dead mates - in a choice of plotting one can assume Farmer uses to divorce the reader from the usual faux-logic of adventure novels. The Burroughsian and Farmerian laws are in effect, and its plausible here that such (seeming) coincidences happen in a setting evocative of Riverworld or Joseph Conrad. The villains are not surprising to those familiar with Farmer's work: greedy, ambitious and very capable. They are villains because they choose to pursue immortality and deny Death, a fundamental law of the jungle - they will be punished, as is Tarzan, for overstaying their welcome.

"The Dark Heart of Time" ranks with "Lord Tyger" and "Tarzan Alive" as the best of his Tarzan-inspired work. It deserves to be as least as familiar as the Disney-fied version of Tarzan.

Having read most of Farmer's pastiches, I had high hopes for this, his first official Tarzan novel.

It's an interesting story, but ends far too abruptly, and is not quite up to the par of Farmer's earlier works.

Still, it's a fun, exciting read, and nobody alive does this kind of stuff better than Farmer.

If you're a fan, it's definitely worth a look.

This adventure took us about as deep into the heart of Burrough's jungle as we've been in many a year. I can't say it was either my favorite Tarzan or Farmer novel but it was well put together, fast paced, and kept me interested. I have long admired Farmers work and his reverance for the classic adventure authors like ERB and Jules Verne. This novel made me realize how much I missed the steel grey eyed Lord of the Jungle and I hope Farmer will do it again!

Avoid this confused, poorly paced, ineptly plotted mess. The characters are wooden and one-dimensional (even their names are largely silly and unbelievable), and the "action" is as dull as can be. Farmer misses the boat by such a wide margin that you'd think that he never read one of Burroughs' books himself. A read through this dreck certainly reinforces the respect and admiration for Burroughs and the characters and worlds that he created.