"Best Tarzan Books written by E. R. B. were?" Topic

Which of the "canon" books by Edgar Rice Burroughs are the best reads? (published dates) -

1) Tarzan of the Apes (1912) – not your Disney ending

2) The Return of Tarzan (1913) – a "happy" ending

3) The Beasts of Tarzan (1914)

4) The Son of Tarzan (1914)

5) Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar (1916)

6) Jungle Tales of Tarzan (1919) – 12 short stories

7) Tarzan the Untamed (1920)

8) Tarzan the Terrible (1921)

9) Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1922/23)

10) Tarzan and the Ant Men (1924)

11) Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle (1927/1928)

12) Tarzan and the Lost Empire (1928)

13) Tarzan at the Earth's Core (1929) – cross-over into Pellucidar stories

14) Tarzan the Invincible (1930/1931)

15) Tarzan Triumphant (1931)

16) Tarzan and the City of Gold (1932)

17) Tarzan and the Lion Man – (1933/34)

18) Tarzan and the Leopard Men (1935)

19) Tarzan's Quest (1935/1936) – Jane is back as a key figure and Immortality is involved

20) Tarzan and the Forbidden City (1938)

21) Tarzan the Magnificent (1939) – return tothe City of Gold

22) Tarzan and the Foreign Legion (1947) – WW2 pilot John Clayton, the French Foreign legion, and Japanese held Sumatra

23) Trazan and the Madman (1964) – impostor #3

24) Tarzan and the Castaways (19650 – three short stories

Definitely not included on this list:

The Eternal Lover and The Mad King (1914-1915, 1925, 1926)

The Adventures of Tarzan (1921, 2006)

Tarzan and the Tarzan twins (1927/1936) – written for Children

Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (1966) – By Friz Leiber fer heaven's sake! Not ERB…

The two Endless Quest Books by TSR

Tarzan the Lost Adventure (1995) – "coauthored" by Joe R. Lansdale (not ERB)

Tarzan: The Epic Adventures (1996) – TV adaptation by R. A. Salvatore (not ERB)

The Dark Heart of Time (1999) – written by Philip Jose Farmer (not ERB)

Tarzan: the Greystoke Legacy (2011) – "Young-Adult" fiction AND a re-boot, gag.

Tarzan: The Jungle Warrior (2012) – gag redux

Tarzan: The Savage lands (2013) – stop, please!

After a childhood and adult years in the Jungle/Europe, adult Tarzan Fights Germans in WW1 East Africa – after fathering a young adult Jack ("Korak") Clayton, fights off Russian Communists in the 1930s, and serves in the R. A. F. in World War 2 fighting the Japanese.

Guess that immortality drug (Tarzan's Quest) came at a good time in his life for Western Civilization, no?

Tarzen and the Lost Empire was the first Tarzen book I ever read – and I have a nostalgic affection for it.

Strange I never read any of them. Watched all of the movies though.
Read the Carter of mars series and always wished for more books.

Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar

Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar
ditto!

I read them so long ago. Could go with #5 Jewels of Opar. Was going to say #9 Golden Lion. But I can recall memorable moments from all of the first dozen or 14.

Opar here, too.

I read a fair few back in the days of my youth, but the only one that immediately springs to mind is the aforementioned Jewels of Opar. I dimly seem to recollect Jungle Tales wasn't bad.

Tarzan at the Earth's Core. It has an airship!

First Tarzan story is so great opar is wonderful also

I always liked Tarzan and the Lion Man for it's send-up of Hollywood.

Opar must be mine as well. Although ERB was such a self-plagiarizer that the quality is quite constant.

Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar, a fast paced story in exotic environments and shows how much a well written villain drives the story.

"Beasts" was the 1st Tarzan book I read myself so it has a nostalgic value but as I recall my favourite was "The Terrible". Prolly because it had dinos (sort of anyway). Was rather partial to John Carter as a wee 'un tho. Read "Princess" lately and discovered that memories have grown sweeter with time so I suppose it's best not revisit Tarzans…

Tarzan? Always preferred John Carter of Mars and Carson of Venus, myself.

Strange I never read any of them. Watched all of the movies though.

I suspect many of us, myself included, have read few of any of the books, but have a deep gratitude to ERB for much that followed, from films to games.

A friend tried Princess of Mars recently, as well, found it a bit of a struggle. 'so I suppose it's best not revisit Tarzans…' probably would include the whole body of work.

Doug

Disagree, some of them are read and return to Library quality, yes, but I enjoy the ones where he stick to " family" adventures most: 1-4 (5 maybe fits that) plus 19. The Lost City thing pales quickly I admit. Great concept (not original) but derivative the umpteenth time around, perhaps? I need to read the WW1 stuff to be sure but that seems overly drawn out, maybe he was thinking Novelette?

Have bought off Ebay the Foreign Legion one – should be interesting to see an older Tarzan in action?

Edit:

Yes, Opar was a good read and frees Tarzan from a lot of dealing with economic power of the colonial thing.

1) Tarzan of the Apes (1912) – not your Disney ending

2) The Return of Tarzan (1913) – a "happy" ending

3) The Beasts of Tarzan (1914)

4) The Son of Tarzan (1914)

5) Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar (1916)

19 was where the immortality drug is involved. Be careful what you wish for?