Tarzan: The Lost Adventure [Hardcover]

Edgar Rice Burroughs (Author), Joe R. Lansdale (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Dark Horse Comics (December 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569711283
• ISBN-13: 978-1569711286
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,879,538 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joe R. Lansdale is the author of over thirty novels and numerous short stories. His work has appeared in national anthologies, magazines, and collections, as well as numerous foreign publications. He has written for comics, television, film, newspapers, and Internet sites. His work has been collected in eighteen short-story collections, and he has edited or co-edited over a dozen anthologies. He has received the Edgar Award, eight Bram Stoker Awards, the Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the British Fantasy Award, the Grinzani Cavour Prize for Literature, the Herodotus Historical Fiction Award, the Inkpot Award for Contributions to Science Fiction and Fantasy, and many others. His novella Bubba Hotep was adapted to film by Don Coscarelli, starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis. His story "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" was adapted to film for Showtime's "Masters of Horror." He is currently co-producing several films, among them The Bottoms, based on his Edgar Award-winning novel, with Bill Paxton and Brad Wyman, and The Drive-In, with Greg Nicotero. He is Writer In Residence at Stephen F. Austin State University, and is the founder of the martial arts system Shen Chuan: Martial Science and its affiliate, Shen Chuan Family System. He is a member of both the United States and International Martial Arts Halls of Fame. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas with his wife, dog, and two cats.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good Tarzan book, October 27, 2010

By 

don schubert. (Tampa, Fl.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tarzan: The Lost Adventure (Hardcover)

I've read a lot of Tarzan books,and while they vary in quality, they are all worthwhile. So is this one. It is an exciting adventure, and generally true to the Tarzan character and spirit.

If there were another one by this combination of writers, I'd buy it with sone level of confidence. If you haven't read this one and are a Tarzan fan, you should get this book.

There are plenty of James Bond books not written by Ian Fleming that are still quite good. This is a pretty good Tarzan book. And that means very good indeed.

The prices quoted here are crazy, by the way. I bought mine recently for $4 plus postage..elsewhere. Look around on the internet.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not 100% Burroughs, but still a good addition to my Tarzan collection, October 14, 2010

By 

Alain B. Burrese "Author, Speaker, Mediator, ... (Missoula, MT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tarzan: The Lost Adventure (Hardcover)

I was ahead of my class in reading when young, and it was my second or third grade teacher who gave me a copy of "Tarzan of the Apes" by Edgar Rice Burroughs to read. I devoured it, but did not know it was the first of a series. It was a couple years before I found out, and then I read all of the Tarzan tales as well as those about John Carter on Mars, the Venus series, the Pellucidar series and others. I've been a huge Burroughs fan ever since.

Unfortunately, I was living in Asia for part of the 90s, and I did not know about "Tarzan: The Lost Adventure" by Edgar Rice Burroughs and Joe R. Lansdale. It is a new Tarzan tale that was started by Burroughs but left unfinished until Lansdale completed the manuscript for Dark Horse Comics. I happened to find a copy of the hard cover book, which was published after the four-part comic-book version was a success, while perusing the shelves at Powell's Book's in Portland this summer. Obviously, I had to purchase it to add to my Tarzan collection. I worked it into my reading schedule and just finished it. I enjoyed reading a new story about one of my favorite fictional heroes, but did feel that it wasn't exactly the same character that a solely Burroughs tale would have portrayed.

First and foremost, I'm glad this book was published, because I enjoy everything "Tarzan." And it is a good story. Pretty basic and formulaic, but most of the later Tarzan stories were. That does not prevent one from enjoying a hero they like reading about. However, there were little things that seemed a little off about the character, and I felt that Burroughs would not have wrote it that way. For instance, when Jean says, "You are something special, Mr. Tarzan." Tarzan replies, "Yes, I am." She continues, "And modest as well," in which Tarzan replies, "My greatest trait." That just seemed out of character for me. Yes it has been a long time since I've read any of the original series, but it still seemed different at times, the above conversation being one of those times.

While I did enjoy a lot of the story, it is a well paced action tale with some twists and turns here and there, even following a formula, I wasn't as impressed with the ending. Without sharing it here, I'm not sure that Burroughs would have wrapped it up this way. Especially knowing that this is the last tale, I would have liked a different ending.

To give Lansdale credit, he took on an impossible task. I don't think anyone could finish a Burroughs tale exactly like Burroughs, and all fans of the original stories will nit pick at anything coming after. I'm no different, having grown up on Burroughs, no one will be able to take his place when it comes to Tarzan and the other heroes he created. Lansdale did a good job and without knowing exactly what he started with, I applaud his efforts to finish a tale he didn't start and to attempt to stay true to the original source.

Therefore, while it seemed to be more Lansdale than Burroughs, I'm still glad I added this book to my Tarzan collection and read it. For a Tarzan fan, it was great to read a new story about one of my favorite heroes. While not my favorite Tarzan tale, it was still a fun quick read that took me back to years ago when I devoured anything and everything about Tarzan.

Reviewed by Alain Burrese, J.D., author of Hard-Won Wisdom From the School of Hard Knocks.