This gets an extra star for the amazing readability, especially for something written in 1919.

Don Diego Vega is the spoiled son of Don Alejandro Vega, the richest landowner in California and favorite of the governor. He’s a real dandy and despises anything that might be construed as work or that would require some amount of effort on his part. We know him better, of course, as Zorro, defender of commoners and indigenous peoples of California against corrupt and tyrannical officials and other villains. The early days of the Pueblo of Los Angeles was a cauldron of competing politics and devious motives. Dressed all in black and wearing a mask, Zorro relishes opportunities to one-up the mostly inept public officials who endlessly attempt to capture him.

This volume opens with the very first novel in the Zorro cannon, “The Mark of Zorro.” This has been retitled after its original debut when it was known as “The Curse of Capistrano” first appearing in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley. Interestingly, it was meant to be a stand-alone novel but the Douglas Fairbanks film adaptation in 1920 prompted more stories over some four decades. This volume collects two additional short stories: “Zorro Saves a Friend” and “Zorro Hunts a Jackal”.

I enjoyed these stories more than I expected I would. Many times, I find stories from that era can be difficult to read due to the style differences from more modern works, but McCulley writes in an easy, flowing, campfire-story-telling way that encourages the reader to keep turning the pages. The Mark of Zorro is a complete account of Zorro’s adventures culminating in his success by exposing the corruption and winning the girl and even going so far as to reveal his identity to all. Subsequent stories make it clear that only a select few, after all know that he is really Don Diego Vega.

A nice essay is included at the end of the book, written by Ed Hulse, wherein he takes a good look at how the Douglas Fairbanks film was conceived and its impact on the future of Zorro.

The stories differ from the movies and television series that readers may have seen but it was fun to read the original stories upon which they were based. Looking forward to more Zorro stories to come.

Delightfully unintentionally campy. A lot of fun in audio. It is a shame not too be able to read it fresh, but knowing Zorro's identity allows for a different kind of fun experience.

Such fun to read clean, classic adventures.

Overall, fun to read. I mean, sure it's hokey, but c'mon, it was written in 1919! We can forgive the heroine named "Senorita Lolita" (no, really) and the "surprise" ending. Zorro!

I finally read one of the early Zorro books. Generally, those old adventure classics are pretty great (The Prisoner of Zenda is fantastic, as is Captain Blood). Anyway, The Mark of Zorro was great! While it was one of those books where the hero never even gets wounded, still it was a fun romp. I definitely recommend it to classic adventure fans.

It is only while reading this that I thought about how much Batman in particular and masked heroes in general owe to Zorro - the similarities of masks, twin identities and black costumes used to hide in darkness aside; Bruce Wayne was watching a theatrical adoption of Zorro when his parents were killed in the original version of atman. McCulley also apparently wrote in another book about another person who was inspired by a bat to fight against crimes. As if this wasn't enough, he also seem to have laid seeds of contribution toward creation of Joker in another book where he apparently wrote about a villian who leaves a mark behind. And all this from a writer who doesn't even have a profile picture on goodreads!

As for actual reading experience, you will have to look past racism of the book. Apart from that it is even funny at times. You will probably guess from very early on who Zorro is but thats hardly the point after decades of masked hero genre inspired by the work,