Tarzan the Terrible

What It's About

Tarzan's wife Jane has vanished, and he sets out to find her. His search takes him beyond the known jungle and into Pal-ul-don, a hidden land cut off from the outside world. Dinosaur-like beasts roam there, and the people are tailed humans split into rival peoples with their own customs and religion. Tarzan arrives as a stranger, makes uneasy allies, and wins the name "Tarzan-jad-guru," which means Tarzan the Terrible. The cast includes the warriors Ta-den and Om-at and the young woman Pan-at-lee. Along the way he faces the land's fierce creatures, its warring factions and a powerful priesthood.

Key Concepts

This is a lost-world adventure in the tradition of Burroughs' pulp fiction. Pal-ul-don is a place where prehistoric life has survived into the modern age, and its invented languages, names and customs are a large part of the book's appeal. The story also uses the familiar themes of the series: a civilised man at home in the wild, loyalty between unlikely allies, and a hero's endless search for the woman he loves. Like much adventure fiction of its time, it reflects the racial and colonial attitudes of its era, particularly in how it depicts the peoples of Pal-ul-don. Modern readers may find these dated.

About the Author

Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875–1950) was an American writer born in Chicago. He came to writing late, after a string of unsuccessful jobs, and became one of the best-known popular storytellers of the early twentieth century. His fast-moving, imaginative adventures helped shape pulp fiction and the modern adventure genre.