The Tarzan wave continues! I finished my second book, Tarzan and the City of Gold (#16) two nights ago. Originally, published serially in 1932, this book comes 10 volumes after the last one I talked about. For me it's been nearly two weeks, but for ERB (as a writer), a full 15 years has passed. I have to admit I approached it with some trepidation, really wondering if I would still enjoy Tarzan out of his normal jungle context. And the first sentence wasn't helping any...
"Down out of Tigre and Amhara upon Gojam and Shoa and Kaffa come the rains from June to September, carrying silt and prosperity from Abyssinia to the eastern Sudan and to Egypt, brining muddy trails and swollen rivers and death and prosperity to Abyssina."
What a mouthful! There are six...SIX named places (and one included twice) that I have no idea about or context right off the bat. I really, really struggled with the first chapter or two, and thought about abandoning the book for another one, or ditching the whole Tarzan exercise entirely. However, since I'm a bit of a compulsive completest (about some things), I persisted. And boy, I'm glad I did. It turned out to be a really cool story.
Don't worry, I'm not going to go chapter by chapter this time! This write-up of my latest Vintage Fiction foray should be much shorter.
You know how they break up all stories into different types of literary conflicts?
I had to look it up, thinking there were only four - hey, it's been a long time since I've taken an English Lit class. There might be 5 to 8 nowadays, depending on where you look it up.
I guess you'd say this one is Man vs. Society, or as I would reframe it: Tarzan vs. Lost Civilizations, because we're not talking about normal society here.
I don't know where this story falls chronologically (or where Jane is) but you just need to accept that Tarzan is doing his solo thing, exploring and getting into trouble due to his insatiable curiosity. He rescues a strange man, named Valthor from some shiftas. He's from a hidden city of ivory called Athne, which resides in a secret (pre-Google Earth) valley (Thenar) that is in conflict with the city of gold, Cathne. The Athneans like Elephants, and the Cathneans like lions. The two societies typically raid each other, stealing women and taking heads to mount on walls. Each has a nobility class, hereditary and by appointment; a common class; and they also use slave labor.
Tarzan is helping Valthor get back to his people, when they get separated while fording a river, where Tarzan is swept away toward Cathne. He innocently climbs a wall and drops down onto the palace grounds, which immediately lands him in prison, thinking he's come to assassinate the Queen. He meets a surly, boastful, and annoying fellow prisoner (a palace guard), named Phobeg. Tarzan would normally escape right away but he wants to learn more about these people.
He's introduced to Queen Nemone, who takes a liking to him, mainly because he refuses to bow to her like her normal entourage of slavering suitors and minions. Nemone is quite the looker, but she's also insecure, killing or maiming any potential rival for the "fairest of them all". Due to his insolence, Tarzan is forced to battle it out with Phobeg in an arena. Phobeg is a Lou Ferrigno body builder type, very strong and sure of himself. He suggests that Tarzan let him chase him around a bit for a better show for the Queen, before he twists his neck. You learn that Tarzan has a pretty good dry sarcastic wit, especially when dealing with someone none too smart.
Surprisingly to Phobeg and everyone else, the lean figured Tarzan easily subdues and defeats him; however, Tarzan refuses the command to kill. (You get a lot of nice Tarzan commentary on people, positions, and their society in general along the way.) This earns Tarzan some measure of freedom (although he's forbidden to leave the city), and he is placed in Gemnon's care. He and Gemnon become fast friends, and this keeps Tarzan around for fear of endangering his life, as Nemone will destroy anyone at the drop of a hat or whim.
There is plenty of palace intrigue going on. Nemone is ordered about by the mysterious M'duze, and has a ferocious chained lion, Belthar, in her bed chambers. Both do their best to prevent her charms from successfully seducing Tarzan. Nemone also believes that her life is tied in with the lion's. So M'duze, an ancient black woman, really is the power behind the throne. Nemone's latest plaything, Erot, fears losing his place at her side and seeks to harm Tarzan. And there is a hidden (rightful) king imprisoned in a dungeon beneath the Temple of Thoos (another old Lion).
Tarzan's presence is challenging Nemone to make potential character changes, and while she's ultimately evil and a little mad, she's suffering too. He's both drawn to her and disgusted by her behavior.
Valthor shows up briefly again having been captured (he does that a lot), and they're all planning to watch a lion devour him. Tarzan intervenes, but doesn't let on to the Cathneans that he's already acquainted with him. Then Valthor leaves the story entirely with a promise of a future adventure (fulfilled in Tarzan the Magnificent [#21]).
Tarzan is invited to a Grand Hunt where lions will chase down a black slave. Tarzan rescues the slave secretly in the forest, enriching Gemnon via a wager in the process and humiliating an associate of Erot's, the evil Xerstle. Xerstle tries to get Tarzan "accidentally" killed, but Tarzan defeats the lion that was sent after him. Again, he keeps this secret.
It turns out Gemnon who has sympathies with the king, also has a "Snow White" on the side, Doria. She disguises her beauty to look like a heron-addict supermodel, with hollow cheekbones and sunken eyes. Erot discovers that she really is a hottie, and tells the Queen. Nemone is none too happy, and leads an all-day procession to a volcano to sacrifice the girl. Tarzan rescues the girl the night before, killing Erot before he can rape her. The victim is sewn up in a bag and unseen until they reach their destination. Nemone is really ticked when she orders the "bag" opened and out plops Erot.
Thwarted and scorned with Tarzan still refusing her advances, Nemone has finally had enough. (Other stuff happens too.) She plans on having her lion, Belthar, run down Tarzan, only this time he has no chance to save himself!
I'm not going to give it all away, but the resolution isn't really deus ex machina, because ERB has been hinting at it all along.
It was all quite entertaining, and I'm definitely up for more. ERB is quite good at creating other characters and interesting situations for Tarzan show his prowess and opinions. I started book #17 today, and ordered the rest of the books in a nice eBay lot this afternoon (I needed 14). I don't know if I can ride this wave for all 24 novels, but I'm going to try...
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