WORLDS OF EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS EDITED BY MIKE RESNICK AND ROBERT T. GARCIA

Copyright 2013 except The Forgotten Seas of Mars 1965.

TARZAN AND THE GREAT WAR by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Tarzan is in the Kasbah looking for leads to his wife Jane who was taken by Germans. After meeting a man who had no information he is contacted by French intelligence. They want to use him in exposing a group of traitors selling secrets to the Germans. Soon after the head of intelligence is murdered and Tarzan is battling the traitors with the help of an Englishman who had come to strip Tarzan of his title and fortune for the war effort.

THE FALLEN A TALE OF PELLUCIDAR by Mercedes Lackey

A story told by Mok who is an intelligent Sagoth in the service of David Innes. Mok was experimented on by the Mahars and is the only intelligent Sagoth. While visiting Kolk the king of Thuria in the Land of Awful Shadow a woman with wings falls from the sky. She is an inhabitant of the Dead World. Her people are under attack by the Mahars who have fled to the moon after being defeated. Mok is the only one who can communicate with her since she uses the same language as the Mahars. They have an adventure with a storm and hostile island natives. The woman falls in love with the kings son.

SCORPION MEN OF VENUS by Richard A. Lupoff

Carson and Duare are under attack by scorpion men and flying snakes when they are rescued by a mysterious flying ship. It takes them to a complex run by Dr. Bodog and his daughter and son. Bodog comes from Earth and the continent that sank in the Pacific ocean centuries ago. He is also insane and plans to take over the Earth. He goes back with Carson and his daughter who Carson has fallen in love with and land in Los Angeles during a football game.

THE FORGOTTEN SEA OF MARS by Mike Resnick

The writer is in an Arizona cabin that was used by Edgar Rice Burroughs. He meets John Carter and convinces him to tell the story after he defeated Hin Abtol. So Carter starts the search for Tan Hadron who disappeared when mutineers took him. From criminals in Zodanga he learns of another underground sea at the north pole. In the city of Ayathor he finds Hin Abtol continuing his plans of world conquest with another large army of men frozen. He finds Tan Hadron and with another rebel manage to overthrow him.

APACHE LAWMAN by Ralph Roberts

Shoz-Djiji the Apache Devil has settled down in the white man’s world. He manages the ranch of his love Wichita Billings. One day Marshal Fast Sam Dawson comes and offers Shoz a job as a deputy sheriff. Seems another renegade Apache has learned from the white-eyes and plans to take over the territorial government. He manages to stop his plans.

MOON MAID OVER MANHATTAN by Peter David

The story of Nah-ee-lah when she came to Earth. At first she is a celebrity and hounded by the press. Later the Kalkars those commie moon men invade. When her husband dies while killing Orthis she and her young son hide out in Canada. They are pursued by Orthis’s woman and her son for revenge.

TARZAN AND THE MARTIAN INVADERS by Kevin J. Anderson and Sarah A. Hoyt

Tarzan is at his English manor when he comes across writing from his ancestor who sailed with Drake. He finds out that Martians are coming to invade in Africa where he was born and raised. He goes back and gathers the apes and other animals to fight these tentacled invaders who can control the minds of men.

THE TWO BILLYS A MUCKER STORY by Max Allan Collins and Matthew Clemens

Billy Byrne has made the ultimate sacrifice by leaving his love Barbara Harding. He soon after gets a message from her that her fiance was kidnapped. So Billy goes off into the Chicago underworld to get him back.

TO THE NEAREST PLANET as told to Todd McCaffrey

The author buys an old typewriter and Edgar Rice Burroughs used. It starts typing and tells the story of Tangor and his trip from Poloda to find another world free of Kapars. The first world they come to Tonos. This world was destroyed in a war and now run by a computer. The remaining people are dying off until he educates them on how to run the machines on the world.

THE DEAD WORLD as related by David Innes to F. Paul Wilson via Gridley wave

David Innes is visiting Thuria when a meteor strikes. It releases a deadly spore that soon takes over the Land of Awful Shadow and starts spewing poisonous gas. David with Perry and Koort the young son of the king of Thuria go by balloon to the Dead World. They find out that the moon is really an artificial ship created by ancient aliens that created Pellucidar. Now they are returning and terraforming Pellucidar. David and friend have to battle cleaning robots to stop the plan.

TARZAN AND THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT by Joe R. Lansdale

Tarzan is coming back from Pellucidar in the O-220 when a story blows the ship to the southern hemisphere and crashes into the ocean. The only survivors are Tarzan, Captain Zuppner and a young Pellucidarian girl named Zamona. The make it to Caspak and battle cannibals that fly pterodactyls. Zuppner and Zamona decide to stay as Tarzan searches for a way home.

This was a cool idea for an anthology. Getting a bunch of writer together and put out stories from the worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs. They manage to cover all the base with not only Tarzan and John Carter but Pellucidar and Venus. They also get stories from Burrough’s lesser know works like the Moon Men, Apache Devil the Mucker and Caspak. They even had the continuing story from Beyond the Farthest Star. Many of the writers did a good job of emulating Burroughs. Even using the various first person narratives. Some like the martian invaders or the second Pellucidar story did not feel like something Burroughs would have written but were still entertaining.

The only story I didn’t care for was Lupoff’s Carson story. It was very un-Burroughs like to have Carson and Duare so quickly fall out of love. The romance that Burroughs wrote was one of the strong points to his writing and he just casually has them switch partners. It also just ended like it was only halfway through the story. I suppose there might be a continuation but I found it a complete waste of time. In spite of this story the others made this book a worthy effort.

THE TARZAN TWINS BY EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS

Dick and Doc are fourteen year old cousins born on the same day. One in England and the other in America. They both look alike so are called twins. When it is discovered that they are distantly related to Lord Greystoke otherwise known as Tarzan the two are called the Tarzan Twins.

When they are fourteen the two are invited to visit their relative Tarzan bungalow in Africa. While traveling in East Africa their train breaks down. Being teenage boys they wander off exploring and get lost. They get captured by a tribe and must use their own wits and cunning to escape.

This is technically not a Tarzan book. Tarzan only makes an appearance at the end and has nothing to do with the story. This was Burroughs attempt at writing a children’s book. There really is not much to the story. I don’t even think children would find it that exciting. Unless your a Burroughs completest like me I’d pass on this book.

TARZAN: THE LOST ADVENTURE BY EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS AND JOE R. LANSDALE

It is after World War II and there are two safari’s searching for the lost city of Ur. One is lead by an archeologist and his daughter. The other is made up of deserters from the French Foreign Legion. The deserters are able to overpower the safari lead by Dr. Eugene Hanson.

Luckily Tarzan is back after his service in the RAF. He manages to safeguard the Hansen safari and the survivors reach Ur. There they are captured and Tarzan must battle a giant preying Mantis. Tarzan ends up trapped in the lair of the mantis who is hinted as coming from Pellucidar. Tarzan decides to follow the tunnel down to the earth’s core and leave the modern world.

Burroughs did leave an unfinished manuscript at the time of his death. Back in 1995 Dark Horse Comics with permission from the Burroughs estate contracted Joe Landsdale to complete the novel. It was serialized in four parts with an old John Carter strip done by Burroughs grandson and some articles.

I remember being real excited at the prospect of a new Tarzan story. While the story was good it just wasn’t what I was hoping for. I guess I was expecting something a lot more exciting. I also didn’t care for the ending. It didn’t seem like the right ending for Tarzan’s final story. Below is a link to the changes by Lansdale.
http://www.erblist.com/erblist/tzlostsum2.html

My final thoughts on the Tarzan series. Tarzan is obviously Burrough’s most famous creation. He’s one of a handful of characters like Superman or Sherlock Holmes that is recognized the world over. I was a fan as far back as I can remember. I loved watching the old Weismuller movies on a Saturday afternoon and eagerly looked forward to the comics written and drawn by Joe Kubert. Tarzan has lived on in countless books, movies, comics, a Saturday morning cartoon, several TV series and a Disney movie. Tarzan will live on far after my life has ended.

TARZAN AND THE CASTAWAYS BY EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS

This book also includes two short Tarzan stories.

Tarzan and the Castaways

Tarzan is captured by poachers. An injury robs him of speech and the poacher sells Tarzan with the animals. Krause the buyer plans to take him to America and exhibit Tarzan as a wild man in the circus. Somewhere in the south Pacific the crew mutinies and during a storm Tarzan escapes. The storm grounds the ship on a reef off an uncharted island.

After freeing the animals Tarzan exiles the mutineers and explores the island. He finds a lost civilization of Mayans. Captured he escapes the sacrificial altar and with the help of his elephant and orangutan friends convince the Mayans he is a god.

Tarzan and the Champion

“One Punch” Mulligan has just won the world’s heavyweight championship. He decides to take a trip to Africa. Mulligan is arrogant and a bully thinking his great size and strength will allow him to get away with anything. Armed with a Thompson sub-machine gun he drives around in a jeep machine gunning herds of zebra and elephants.

This disgusts Tarzan and he confronts Mulligan. Before the two can settle it a savage tribe captures them. After they escape Tarzan teaches Mulligan a lesson in humility and who the real world champion is.

Tarzan and the Jungle Murders

Two men murder a scientist and steal plans for a device that can knock out internal combustion engines. They plan to sell it to Italy. The plans are in turn stolen by a British agent and he takes off for Cape Town. The two pursue in a plane and a gun battle forces both down in the jungle.

Tarzan discovers both planes and tracks the survivors to a safari. Two of the survivors are found murdered and suspicion falls on Tarzan. Tarzan uses his jungle craft to expose the real killer.

The Castaways was a good solid story. It takes Tarzan out of Africa to find a new civilization in the pacific. It had an interesting setup and supporting characters.

The Champion was a very good short story. Mulligan was a villain that you just wanted to get what was coming to him.

The Jungle Murders was my least favorite. It was dull and predictable. It was also very short so it had something good about it.

This was the Twenty-fourth book in the series. It was published after Burroughs death using three short stories that were published previously in a magazine. This is the last book that was fully written by Burroughs. It used to be the last Tarzan book until the 1990’s which I will explore in a future post.

TARZAN AND THE MADMAN BY EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS

The drums sound out a message across the jungle. Tarzan has become an enemy stealing young women from their tribe. A young English woman who is the daughter of a millionaire has also been kidnapped. The millionaire has offered a huge reward for the capture of Tarzan and the return of his daughter.

Tarzan is not responsible but real pissed that an imposter is ruining his reputation. So he embarks on a quest to bring to justice the imposter. He tracks him to a lost city of descendants of Portuguese explorers.

The twenty-third book in the series is OK. It was interesting but nothing really memorable. This story was found in Burroughs years after his death. Maybe he had plans to improve on it. If you read the first twenty-two you might as well read this one.

TARZAN AND THE FOREIGN LEGION BY EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS

An American B-17 bomber is on a reconnaissance mission over Japanese occupied Sumatra in 1944. It is shot down and the crew are forced to bail out. It looks grim for the survivors. To make matters worse the English Colonel who was an observer seems to go mad. He strips down to a loincloth and throws his pistol away. But this English colonel is John Clayton, otherwise known as Tarzan.

Tarzan’s woodcraft and survival skills help the survivors overcome their situation. Now he must lead this group through a hostile jungle filled with savage beasts and men plus the Japanese occupation troops. Joined by a young Dutch girl and her Chinese servant they make for the coast to find a boat and freedom.

The twenty-second book in the series is a unique idea. Burroughs was in Hawaii as a war correspondent during the war. The oldest in his sixties. It would be logical that he would have his hero Tarzan fight the Japanese. The title comes from the multi national makeup of the group. This would be the last book published in Burrough’s lifetime.

This book also attempts to explain Tarzan’s seeming immortality. By now he would be in his sixties but still looks thirty. One story is of a witchdoctor that performed a ritual on him in gratitude for saving him from a lion. The other is the pills he took from the Kavuru in Tarzan’s Quest.

TARZAN THE MAGNIFICENT BY EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS

Tarzan is roaming the jungle when he comes upon a half-dead American wandering alone. He is Stanley Wood and relates a strange tale to Tarzan. He has just escaped captivity from a tribe of warrior women. The women are divided into two tribes the Zuli and Kaji. Both are controlled by twin brothers who can control people’s minds with a large gem stone, a diamond and emerald respectively. The woman are obsessed with becoming white so they capture safaris with white men so they can breed with them.

The power of the emerald is too great for Stanley to resist and escapes Tarzan to return to captivity. Tarzan follows and finds out that he is immune to the power of the gemstones. He defeats the wizards and frees Stanley and his love Gonfala the Queen of the Kaji.

Later in the second part Stanley and Gonfala wander into the land of Athne the city of ivory from Tarzan and the City of Gold. Now Tarzan gets involved in overthrowing the corrupt rulers of both Athne and Cathne.

The twenty-first book in the Tarzan series is actually two separate short stories that are combined with one. I found it interesting with a slightly different twist in the lost civilization. He also revisits the Land of Othnat which is the only time except for Opar that Tarzan would revisit a lost civilization.

TARZAN AND THE FORBIDDEN CITY BY EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS

Tarzan comes to the major settlement after receiving a message from his good friend D’Arnot. D’Arnot asks Tarzan to help look for Brian Gregory. Brian was lost while looking for a lost civilization that contains the Father of Diamonds. Tarzan agrees to help and finds out that he looks exactly like Brian.

Alan Thome is a shady character obsessed with finding the Father of Diamonds. He sees Tarzan and thinks that he is Brian. His agents try to capture Tarzan but finds out that is not something one does with ease. He easily defeats Thome’s minions and heads off with the Gregory safari. Thome follows with an agent placed in the Gregory safari.

Both safaris end up in a secret valley inhabited by a lost civilization of Phoenicians. There are two warring cities and Brian is held prisoner in an underwater temple. After fighting many foes Tarzan rescues his friends and Brian. They then discover the secret of the Father of Diamonds.

Well this is another Tarzan that finds a lost civilization. It’s also the second time that another character was a Tarzan lookalike. Still the story works. Its told in a different way with different characters. I thought it was another solid Tarzan book.

TARZAN’S QUEST BY EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS

Tarzan begins the book on a mission of rescue or revenge if needed. The daughter of Muviro the chief of the Waziri has been kidnapped by the Kavuru. The Kavuru are a race of white savages that abduct young women.

While this goes on Jane is traveling on an airplane with her best friend and a Russian count and countess. The plane develops engine trouble and crashes in the jungle. Now the survivors have to make a trek back to civilization. All the while having the deal with the whining countess and the pompous arrogance of her husband.

The story takes both parties to the hidden city of the Kavuru city and their secret of immortality.

The nineteenth book in the series is another solid story. It was nice to see Jane again and she has grown to be a tough independent woman who takes charge of the survivors. She has learned much jungle craft from Tarzan and it comes in handy. Too bad this was her final appearance in the series. She was starting to develop into an interesting character.

TARZAN AND THE LEOPARD MEN BY EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS

Tarzan is injured in a storm and has amnesia. He is found by Orando of the Utengi. Orando convinces Tarzan that he is Muzimo a spirit of his dead ancestors. He enlists Tarzan in his quest for revenge against the Leopard Men.

The Leopard Men are a cult among the local tribesmen. They dress as Leopards and with steel claws ambush lone travelers and dismember them in their rituals. Orando’s brother fell to the Leopard Men and so begins the quest against the Leopard Men. A subplot has a girl whose safari abandoned her and being rescued by a poacher. Their paths cross with Tarzan and the Leopard Men.

The eighteenth book is the series is a welcome change of pace. No lost civilizations just the local African setting for this story. The Leopard Men are an interesting idea. A 1946 movie Tarzan and the Leopard Woman used idea. Otherwise it has no other link to the book. It is though a classic Weismuller movie.