The eighth novel in the Tarzan series is really best read as part two of the previous novel, [b:Tarzan the Untamed|338580|Tarzan the Untamed (Tarzan, #7)|Edgar Rice Burroughs|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1239015548s/338580.jpg|1203987]. It was first published as a serial in the pulp magazine Argosy All-Story Weekly in the February and March issues of 1921. The first book edition was published in June 1921.

Tarzan is hot on the trail of Jane who we found out at the end of the previous novel, survived her ordeal with her German kidnappers. His journey takes him to another lost city in a hidden corner of Africa, a plot device that will be more and more relied upon as Tarzan’s adventures continue.

Pal-ul-don is one of the more fleshed out of these lost civilizations and Burroughs even includes a glossary of their language at the end of the book as well as instructions on how it developed. Pal-ul-don is a strange place filled with dinosaurs, (including an omnivorous version of Triceratops) and is also home to two different human-like creatures: the hairless and white skinned Ho-don who live in cities and the furry black-skinned Waz-don who live in the hills. These two groups are adversaries and this forms the main plot of the story.

There are a couple of surprises in store but fans of the series will most certainly recognize the identity of one mysterious character who is trailing after Tarzan. There are a few too many characters with weird names (Ja-Don, Ko-tan, Om-At, Es-sat, Mo-sar, and many more) as well as similar place names (Kor-ul-gryf, Kor-ul-ja, Kor-ul-lul, etc.) and that makes this story a bit harder to absorb than most. But if the reader references the glossary, the names do make logical sense and that makes it easier.

Next up: [b:Tarzan and the Golden Lion|828196|Tarzan and the Golden Lion (Tarzan, #9)|Edgar Rice Burroughs|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1256853752s/828196.jpg|2171037].

This book was wild. I don’t even know where to start. Tarzan pretends to be “The Son of God”, and a German officer does what can only be described as his best impression of The Great Cornholio.

Tarzan, is all of a sudden thrust into a world of Dinosaurs and monkey people… two things that seemed really out of place for a series that had, up to this point, been a lot more grounded than that. The version I read was the “Authorized Library” edition which explained some of the book’s history. Apparently ERB was completely out of ideas for a new Tarzan story until he saw newspaper articles about the Mokele-Mbembe Sauropod sighting in the Congo. I remember being a kid and hearing about Mokele-Mbembe. I was entranced by the possibility of dinosaurs still living in the deep interior of Africa. This connection makes ERB’s sudden jump into the fantastical a little less shocking.

This could have been YET another Tarzan novel focusing on a hidden city and its strange inhabitants but somehow, despite this overused Tarzan trope the book wound up being a lot better than I expected.

Every time I start a Tarzan book I say “alright, this will be the last one”, but I can’t stop myself from going back for more.

One of the most fun and outrageous Tarzan tales with familiar themes and a more thoroughly developed lost society than in previous volumes. The ending is somewhat less glorious than usual but just as tidy and satisfyingly sentimental.

I liked how not just Tarzan, but all the good guy characters (including Jane!) are pretty darn awesome.

I felt Burroughs got a little too cutesy with concealing the identity of the man with the rifle until the end; people who have read the rest of the series will know who it is immediately, first-timers won't get it at all.

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