The Dark Heart of Time: A Tarzan Novel

by Philip José Farmer

Book Overview

One of the most famous heroes in literature is back Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, returns with a vengeance in this action-packed adventure by Philip Jos Farmer, Hugo Award winner, Nebula Grand Master, and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345424638
• ISBN13: 9780345424631
• Release Date: June 1999
• Publisher: Del Rey Books
• Length: 278 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Different twist on Tarzan!

Okay being a big fan of Mr Burroughs as a teenager , and buying a few of the novels now, I tried giving Mr Jose Farmer a go, and enjoyed this book no end. It as a slightly modern feel to it compared to Mr Burroughs Novels, and it made me go out and collect a few of the Graphic Novels, and a couple more books written about the Jungle Lord. I only hope with the release of a new Tarzan Movie in 2009 that it will spark interest in the Jungle Lord again, and with the permission of the Burroughs estate that a few other authors may write some new Tarzan material that will appeal to a new younger up and coming Tarzan Fan base. BooksTarzan The First Five Books (Tarzan)

Another great Tarzan-inspired book by Farmer

Farmer's sanctioned Tarzan novel "Dark Heart of Time" appeared decades after its ideal publishing time, during the Krenkel-inspired revival of Burroughs novels. This adventure story fits into what is probably the best of the Tarzan saga, when Tarzan returns to the jungles of Africa and pursues WWI-era German villains. This story is one of Farmer's better novels, packed with action and unique characters (including some cardboard stereotypes). It's a shame that this and "Nothing Burns in Hell" do not appear to have grown Farmer's present fan base, because these two novels are quality examples of Farmer style, pacing and imagination. Fans of Farmer probably know that his Tarzan pastiches represented some of his best work, and "Dark Heart of Time" does not disappoint. The author clearly has approached this episode as the only Tarzan novel he would ever write, and packs an entire lost world inside the pages. A series of improbable but well-described escape sequences and cast of bizarre jungle tribes make up the meat of the book, with Tarzan's quest to find Jane pushed to the background. Fatalism is a pervasive theme, as Tarzan meets what he calls a ben-go-utor, one of the very last of its kind who is resigned to an end without a legacy. The creature shares a tremendous will to live, however, a product of many centuries of evolution in a wild and harsh environment. There is also a tribal musician who battles his cowardice in hopes of rescuing his wife - Tarzan, the ben-go-utor and the musician all are trying to rescue their captured and probably dead mates - in a choice of plotting one can assume Farmer uses to divorce the reader from the usual faux-logic of adventure novels. The Burroughsian and Farmerian laws are in effect, and its plausible here that such (seeming) coincidences happen in a setting evocative of Riverworld or Joseph Conrad. The villains are not surprising to those familiar with Farmer's work: greedy, ambitious and very capable. They are villains because they choose to pursue immortality and deny Death, a fundamental law of the jungle - they will be punished, as is Tarzan, for overstaying their welcome. "The Dark Heart of Time" ranks with "Lord Tyger" and "Tarzan Alive" as the best of his Tarzan-inspired work. It deserves to be as least as familiar as the Disney-fied version of Tarzan.

Good effort

In "Tarzan Alive", Farmer writes: "During the two year's search for Jane, [Tarzan] had found himself in the neighbourhood indicated on the map by the bones of the sixteenth-century Spaniard. [...] Unfortunately, we don't know of this adventure. While I could easily make up a story to fill the gap, I am sticking stricly to biographical facts."Well, it seems that almost 30 years later, Farmer has decided to tell that story after all. It all starts very promising. There are a lot of mysteries that make this a very compelling page-turner: how is Helmson able to track Tarzan so well; what is this mysterious creature Tarzan calls the Ben-go-utor; and why is the old businessman Stonecraft so obsessed by capturing Tarzan alive? But once some of those mysteries are solved (a bit too soon for my taste) Farmer seems to lose the thread of the story a bit. Not that it's bad, but it's nothing more than a slightly above-average action/adventure novel. The climax is a bit chaotic and the ending is very abrubt. Quite good, but after brooding on it for God knows how many years, we might have expected Farmer to produce something a bit more special.Let's hope this is just the first of a whole series of new Tarzan novels. A couple of good writers could make up interesting stories, that would keep Tarzan alive, in a much better way than recent products have (Lost City, Epic Adventures,...).Tarzan needs to be recognized by a new audience; the recent Disney adaptation makes this a good time for new and exciting adventures to appear. The audience is there... now all we need is new adventures. Let's hope they don't waste that opportunity...BTW, it is true that Farmer's timeline concerning Korak is not correct (as one reviewer noted) but then this was a mistake Burroughs himself already made - Farmer is only working in Burroughs' timeline.

Excellent reading

It's hard to continue other authors' works with honor, but Philip Jose Farmer has a better track record than most. This is the exciting sequel to the loose threads in Burroughs' TARZAN THE UNTAMED, and I eagerly read it in one sitting. For the record, Farmer does not characterize Tarzan the way Burroughs did, but rather treats him as the infrahuman that Farmer believes him to be. Farmer's use of collective ape language nouns (like "Kando" for ants) with plural verb conjugations was a bit unBurroughsian (for example, "Kando were..."), but that's probably nit-picking. Also, the end of the book contained more science fiction than any previous Tarzan story by ERB. But the book is quite entertaining, and surprisingly, Farmer DID surpress a bit of his own style in favor of more Burroughs-like dialogue and plot devices. If you liked this one, find copies of Farmer's Opar books and TIME'S LAST GIFT and wonder if there's a double meaning behind Tarzan's moniker as "the Uncaused Causer"...

Farmer's long awaited Tarzan novel worth the wait!

This is Farmer's first 'offical' Tarzan novel, but not his first time writing about the Lord of the Jungle. Those of you familiar with A FEAST UNKNOWN, LORD OF THE TREES, LORD TYGER, THE PEERLESS PEER and of course TARZAN ALIVE (Farmer's biography of Lord Greystoke), know that only ERB himself knows Tarzan better. And lets not forget TIME'S LAST GIFT, HADON OF ANCIENT OPAR, FLIGHT TO OPAR and IRONCASTLE, all with connections to Tarzan.THE DARK HEART OF TIME takes place between TARZAN THE UNTAMED and TARZAN THE TERRIBLE. It picks up a thread left by Burroughs (but never explored) as events cause Tarzan to temporarily abandon his search for Jane, who has been kidnapped. This book is non-stop action, has one of the toughest escape scenes that even Farmer has written, and no one except Tarzan could have pulled it off. A definite read for fans of Farmer or ERB and the many fans of both.