Tarzan and Jane have lost their vast fortune, so Tarzan journeys to Opar to plunder the treasure troves of that lost civilization. But his journey is perilous, and a treacherous friend brings ruin and betrayal that will bring down even strong Tarzan. Jane is left to defend herself against the marauding Arabs, and Tarzan will have to call once again on his animal friends of the jungle to save the day.

I always like the pace of a Burroughs novel. No frills or tangents, just straightforward action and plot that moves briskly. With very few words, Burroughs paints a vivid picture of the setting, the characters, and the action.

In this book though, it felt like the plot just twisted around on itself too often. Everybody gets kidnapped too many times, and then they escape only to be taken prisoner by yet another evil group. Warring African tribes, Arabs, witch doctors, Belgian military, wild Opar priests; there are too many villains! I just wish something different would happen, rather than constantly being kidnapped and escaping again.

Tarzan and Jane are good solid characters, and there's a few good supporting characters. I was especially impressed with the Belgian Werper's character changes. He's always a villain, but he goes from being an accidental villain to a purposeful villain, and greedy villain to a remorseful villain, and back to greedy again. His internal mental processes were always interesting; how he would lie to himself in the midst of all his scheming. Good writing!

Loved this book! Such a classic adventure story and so devastatingly marvelous!

marvelous classic

A perfect classic.

Full of adventure and swash-buckling pirates! (What is a "swash" and what is it "buckled" to?) The writing is very dry and rambles along, but the plot swings forward merrily. The characters are colorful, but also dry. We never really get to know their insides, except for the main character, Philip. We do see more of his thoughts, feelings, and intentions than any of the others.

The action picks up more towards the middle and end, and I was on the edge of my seat for awhile. I was surprised that so many characters died!

The writing is a little disjointed in style; some parts of the story are described in the barest words, and others are given extra unnecessary description. I'm actually surprised that this won a Newberry Award, but it is a good rousing story.

Another brilliant book!

Wonderful adventure story! I was a bit confused and bored with the politics of the War of Roses, but it was manageable, and the rest of the writing more than made up for it. I adore the characters and the sharp dialogue.
It's hardly believable though that a character could march all around the countryside doing battle for days and days and not collapse from exhaustion! ha ha! Also amazing that our main character has the bad luck to fall into enemy hands in every chapter, and also the good luck to miraculously escape every time by some device or other. It's all in the grand high style of adventure though, so I love love love it!
I love the writing style and all.

I am so very pleased with this book! This is just the sort of sweet, simple story that made me fall in love with reading when I was a child. (Reminds me of Little Women and Anne of Green Gables.) The writing is so funny and charming! I came away with a lovely feeling of satisfaction, as though the story has fed something in my soul that I needed.
Of course, it is obvious from almost the beginning who "Daddy-Long-Legs" is, (no surprises there) but it is sweet watching Judy discover it for herself.

The philosophy of the writer made me really sad and even angry. Judy declares that she is a Socialist and doesn't seem to believe in God, but also thinks that women are not citizens since they aren't allowed to vote. (Typical beliefs of the time (1913), but upsetting to read about.) Then contrariwise, she asserts her independence when others try to control her. A puzzling inconsistent character, which makes for an interesting read!