Tarzan and the Castaways / Edgar Rice Burroughs

Tarzan and the Castaways
by Edgar Rice Burroughs

fantasy, adventure

copyright 1965
read in July 2015

rated 7/10: well worth reading

The last of the "real" -- ERB -- adventures of Tarzan ! Still non-stop action, still solid cliche, still a lot of fun :-)

It's actually three stories, three novellas. Or one novella and two short stories. Or... whatever :-)

The first -- Castaways -- is soooo clichéd ! Complete with village of people who have been isolated for centuries. The village is on a tropical island... So Tarzan has to bring his own elephants to ride, lion to kill and great apes -- well, orangutans -- to keep him company in the jungle. Mind you, ERB probably invented this entire set of clichés...

The white woman also, of course, falls in love with Tarzan. In a small nod to more modern attitudes, Tarzan actually notices that the woman loves him... Hmmmm... wonder where Jane had been for the last few books ?!

The second story, much shorter, is interesting. A strong emphasis on the superior "morals" of animals, which do not kill for sport. Even the cannibals are better than the white hunters, since these cannibals only kill humans in order to eat them. Yet there is a thoughtless thug who does realise -- eventually -- that he should not be so keen to slaughter animals.

The final, short, story is a murder mystery, a whodunit. A new direction for Tarzan. Also, a completely new attitude to his life in the jungle... Tarzan admits that he is pleased to have spent some time visiting with some more "civilised" people. In the previous five books he was clearly glad to be "alone" in the jungle.

But still no mention of Jane...

I've just read six Tarzan novels, one after the other. I've enjoyed every one of them ! This last one, though, is just a little bit better...

The clichés are there. The action is still, largely, jumping from frying pan to fire. But the story -- stories, are just a little bit more interesting. The stories are still very old-style. Yet there are minor changes, as the author changes with the times...

Or... perhaps I'm just finding more enjoyment, as I reach the end of the series !

"If your plan is for 1 year, plant rice. If your plan is for 10 years, plant trees. If your plan is for 100 years, educate children." Confucius

   

Tarzan's Quest and others / Edgar Rice Burroughs

Tarzan's Quest (1935)
Tarzan the Magnificent (1936)
Tarzan and the Forbidden City (1938)
Tarzan and the Foreign Legion (1947)
Tarzan and the Madman (1964)

by Edgar Rice Burroughs

fantasy, adventure

copyright 1935 to 1964, read in June, July 2015

rated 6/10:  read to pass the time

Read to pass the time. Or... read these stories because Tarzan is a classic hero... Even if the stories are just a bit dated. Just a bit ? Well...

Well, just read Tarzan stories because they are a lot of fun :-)   A lot of fun. Plenty of action. Very little literary merit.

It's almost stream of consciousness writing... A series of actions, one after another. Captured by savages, rescued from savages, captured by great apes, rescued from great apes, captured by... Well, you know what I mean. Never a dull moment.

Even the romantic triangles tend to be solved rather simply: by a spear or a gun or a charging lion ! Not even by a heroic sacrifice.

The native villages all have a palisade which is easily scaled. There is always a large tree beside the chief's hut, a large enough tree to hide Tarzan so that he can mysteriously throw stones at the chief... Except that in Malaysia the native huts are up on stilts... Still the palisade to be climbed but Tarzan has to hide in the shadows underneath the chief's hut...

Every jungle path has a stalking lion -- or tiger, in Malaysia. And a tree from which Tarzan can leap onto the back of the lion... or tiger.

In the depths of every jungle is a mysterious tribe of primitive white men. Though in the later books, they range from white to pale brown... Mixed marriages !

In these later books, Burroughs has moved with the times. In one book he recognises the social issues of a white man marrying a black woman. (Luckily enough it turns out that she is actually white.) There are primitive natives -- and there are primitive but intelligent natives.

Burroughs also edges into simple social commentary. Such as marital relations with the light humour of, say, The Flintstones.

One point that is made -- regularly and heavily -- is that Burroughs... sorry, Tarzan... is disgusted by human behaviour. Animals may kill but they kill for a good reason, for survival. They do not start wars. Nor do animals lie and cheat.

Foreign Legion is set in World War II. It is very much an anti-Japanese pro-American story. Lions leap out of the bushes in an attempt to kill the beautiful girl. Yet it is very much a "human" story. There are heroic humans... yet overall, the humans fare very badly. Burroughs is willing to support American heroism -- but he still points out that humans have the capacity for evil which does not exist in animals.

There's cliche, there's sameness, there's weak writing... But these are still very enjoyable books !

Tarzan is magnificent. Heroes win, baddies lose. And it's action, from go to whoa.

Great character. Great adventure. Great fun :-)

"If your plan is for 1 year, plant rice. If your plan is for 10 years, plant trees. If your plan is for 100 years, educate children." Confucius

Tengu / Graham Masterton

Tengu
by Graham Masterton

horror

copyright 1983
read in July 2015

rated 6/10:  read to pass the time

Violence, sex, grue. Secret organisation with all power and no morals. Good guys, bad guys, bad guys who turn good. Hard working police and just one "old" man who knows the secret...

Cover to cover cliche.

Not that that's bad :-)

The gruesome deaths happen to people that we barely know. Or that we don't really care about. There is a small group of sympathetic characters and they survive... Until the big bang at the end, anyway...

A somewhat disappointing end. Almost as though Masterton thought, that's enough, now I'll just. Finish.

"If your plan is for 1 year, plant rice. If your plan is for 10 years, plant trees. If your plan is for 100 years, educate children." Confucius

The Voyage of the Sable Keech / Neal Asher

The Voyage of the Sable Keech
(Spatterjay #2)
by Neal Asher

copyright 2006
read in July 2015

rated 8/10: really quite good

I'm torn... Eight out of ten or nine out of ten ? I think I'm right, at eight...

Remember, I rate books on my own reading enjoyment. Well written books may rate highly but not necessarily. Though, admittedly, a poorly written book will usually lower my reading enjoyment.

Voyage is great fun. I love the space opera science. I love -- after some mental adjustment -- the over the top violence. I love it that the AIs have as much character as the humans (and other characters).

My rating problem is, that I recently scored a book at the hard to achieve nine... And I'm not sure that that book is really better than Voyage.

No, not better. I just enjoyed it more... in a different way.

Voyage is book two of a series. At the start, I don't know the characters. At the end, I am not overwhelmed by the character reveal. To me, the revealed character was still a stranger.

The other book -- Red Rising -- was self-contained. There was no expectation that I would already know any of the characters. Also... Red Rising was more like a movie: big action scenes interspersed with some character introspection. I'm still happy with my relative ratings... Just interested in testing my own reasoning.

Red Rising could have been influenced by How to Write a Blockbuster. Voyage is solid space opera. Rising is exciting and involving. Voyage is imaginative and non-stop.

What I would like to do -- what I recommend you do: read Spatterjay one. Then read Voyage. That, I believe, would be a nine out of ten reading experience.

"The problem with the future is that it keeps turning into the present." -- Hobbes via Watterson

World War Z / Max Brooks

World War Z
by Max Brooks

fantasy thriller ?

copyright 2006
read in July 2015

rated 8/10: really quite good

This book is now, also, a movie. When I spotted the book I hesitated... Is it a book which became a movie... or a movie which became a book...?

This is a book which became a movie.

I just cannot imagine that a movie could do it justice.

The story is told as a series of interviews, told after the fact of the zombie apocalypse. A series of anecdotes, each adding to the war history.

And it is a war history... not a novel. There is no hero. Lots of different people doing lots of different things. Each adding to the overall picture. See why I don't believe that a movie could do it justice ?

There are good people and bad people. Overall, however, the history is positive. It is, perhaps, tending towards the old style of "humanity uber alles" of some old science fiction. Still, if the zombies had won -- this history would not have been written :-)

On the down side, the book is a collection of stereotypes, of almost clichés... Each nation plays to its stereotype. Or is that a strength of the book rather than a weakness ?!

This is a history of the world response to the zombie apocalypse. If the Americans acted with a stiff upper lip... the Germans faced zombies with a she'll be right attitude... the Italians marched in lockstep at the enemy... who would believe it ?!

The zombies, too, are stereotypes. Or did Max Brooks invent the now-stereotype ??

Zombies stand or shamble. Till they detect a human... Then it's arms out, stumble at the humans, moaning... Okay, just moaning. Not mumbling, Braaains...

Forget the stereotypes, this book is not about people, nor about zombies. It's about individual and national response to the threat of the end of humanity.

And it is really quite good.

====

Though I am left with one problem.

Is that, World War Zed ? Or World War Zee...

"The problem with the future is that it keeps turning into the present." -- Hobbes via Watterson

The Godless / Ben Peek

The Godless
(1 of ...?)
by Ben Peek

fantasy

copyright 2014
read in June 2015

rated 7/10: well worth reading

Warning: this is book one of who knows how many. Yes, it is... intended to be... the introduction to a continuing saga in a new world.

Not enough warning on the cover. And the book ends with several cliffhangers... No real conclusion.

The story itself is entertaining. The characters -- the main characters, anyway -- are quite likeable. The writing is very confusing.

There's a lot of history to this world. Unique history. The author provides a lot of that history, to help us understand what is happening "now".

Unfortunately, he used flashbacks. Short flashbacks. Mixed in with the "now" action within the chapters.

It is sometimes difficult to decide whether something is happening now... or ten thousand years ago. And yes, there was relevant action, that long ago.

The Godless are really, provably, godless. Their gods killed each other, way, way back. Dig deep enough, in clearly identified spots -- and you will find the rotting body of a dead god... Nothing mystic, nothing allegorical... The Godless are really godless.

It's a good concept.

Since the gods died, various people have absorbed... god essence? Long life, enormous power and, as often as not, bad attitude.

It's an interesting world !

It's a good book... but...

At the end, there is no conclusion.

I hope there are more Godless books on the way.

I also hope that the next book actually reaches a conclusion.

"The problem with the future is that it keeps turning into the present." -- Hobbes via Watterson

Red Rising / Pierce Brown

Red Rising
(Red Rising Saga #1)
by Pierce Brown

science fiction

copyright 2014
read in June 2015

rated 9/10: really, really good

Wow !

I've not even read to page fifty and I'm blinking back tears. How could this happen ? Such planned, cold, vicious cruelty ! Not through detailed blood and gore...

I am already empathising with key characters. Enough so that a single loss has me upset. This loss drives the hero. But it does not drive the book.

From humble beginnings... Okay, it's a cliché. Humble hero becomes superman so that he can beat the oppressors at their own game. It's a cliché that is told so very well.

The hero is young, yet he learns hatred. And then he learns more.

The bulk of this book is sword and science action. Cunning, treachery, violence and suffering. Mixed in effective proportions with heroism, friendship, hatred and personal growth.

Okay, the plot is a straightforward flow, from A to Z. Once the hero knows what he should do, it never fails. Simplistic ? Bloody good fun !

Through all the boys' own adventures, characters are interacting. Friendship, jealousy, sacrifice, loyalty. Totally unbelievable. Totally acceptable.

The hero is driven by the need for revenge. Then he learns that revenge is not as sweet -- not as satisfying -- as he expected. The oppressors are evil. Then he learns that there is good amongst the evil.

The hero's goal is to overthrow the oppressors, to bring the slaves out to rule their brave new world. I'm betting... I'm hoping... that by the end of the trilogy the hero will have done better than that. The way he's going, the hero will not just overthrow the oppressors... He will lead oppressors and oppressed -- together -- to build a better world.

I would not be surprised. He's that sort of hero.

I raced through this book. Finished... and thought, Wow !

Put it down. Forced myself to wait a week. Read it again... And, again, thought, Wow !

This book, is really, really good.

I hope I don't have to wait too long to read the next.

===

03mar20:

I've just reread this book. It is as good as it was on the first (and second) readings. I completely agree with my original review, above: Wow!

This time, I'm more aware of the prepared links into the next books in the series. It's not just, Win the game. There is also, Win the game and make some friends and enemies for the future. I must get the next book :-)

I also made a minor change to the above. It's no longer "1 of 3". The trilogy is complete, a follow-on series seems to have started. But -- good news -- the fourth book is introduced as, It is ten years later... So I am happy that the "trilogy" will, indeed end. But the adventure will continue.

Weltanschauung: A comprehensive conception or image of the universe and of humanity's relation to it.