Originally published as a six part serial called Tarzan and the Immortal Men, and released in Blue Book Magazine
through 1935 and 1936, this book would be the last time we see Jane as a
major character. We hadn’t seen much of Jane since her appearance in Tarzan and the Ant Man, and like many of her appearances they often come across as glorified cameos, but in what would later be titled Tarzan’s Quest this
book is more about Jane’s adventures than it is her husband’s. Tarzan
may be on a quest but its Jane’s plot thread that is easily the more
fun.
The book opens with Jane and her old friend Lady Hazel Tennington, who we’d first encountered way back in The Return of Tarzan,
running into another old friend of theirs, Kitty Krause. Only their
friend no longer goes by Kitty as she is now Princess Sborov because she
has recently married Prince Alexis Sborov, and it becomes quite clear
that Kitty married him for the title while Alexis married Kitty for her
millions. Kitty is worried about her age, Alexis is quite a bit younger
than her, and when she learns from American gangster about a
witch-doctor in Africa who has secret formula of youth and longevity,
she decides to bankroll an expedition. As Jane is intending to meet Lord
Greystoke/Tarzan in Nairobi she agrees to accompany them to Africa.
This
expedition consists of the Neal Brown, the American gangster and pilot
for the trip, the vapid Kitty and her gigolo husband Alexis, and along
with them is Kitty’s maid Annette and Alexis’s personal valet Tibbs.
Jane would have been better off joining the crew of the Minnow for a
three hour tour than to spend any time with these misfits. While on
route to Nairobi their plane encounters a ferocious storm and due to the
extra weight, provided by the Sborov’s extensive luggage, the plane is
unable to get above the storm and Brown is forced to crash it on top of
the forest canopy. This is the point in the series that Jane finally
really gets to shine as, much to the shock of her fellow passengers,
Jane nimbly exits the plane and proceeds to move through the treetops
with surprising agility. You don’t spend that much time living with
Tarzan and not pick up a few things. Not only is Jane shown here to be
an amazing athlete and survivalist, but she is also incredibly clever.
She
tells the group that their best bet is to march into the jungle until
they can come across a local tribe that could aid them in finding
civilization, and that it would be best if a man was to lead the group.
When I first read that my reaction was, “Are you bloody kidding me, just because she is a woman Jane can't lead?”
But Jane was actually using clever psychology for when the group
discuss which of the men should take the job it’s clear that it can’t be
either Brown or Alexis because these two had been snarking each other
since they first met. Alexis blames Brown for their current predicament,
even though Jane informs them that without Brown’s incredible piloting
skills they’d most likely be dead, and Brown hate’s the arrogance and
basic dickishness of this supposed prince. When Tibbs is offered the
position he quickly declines and suggests that Jane seems to be the most
capable person to get them out of this predicament, and they all agree.
Jane’s response is basically, “I was hoping you’d all see it that way.”
Jane knew that if she just took charge the two alpha males would have
had their noses bent out of shape, so she let them come to the only
proper conclusion on their own. Jane is just damn awesome in this book.
Not only do we see her travelling through the treetops with a skill only
rivaled by Tarzan, but she also fashions weapons, hunts and provides
the party food, and even holds her ground against a charging leopard. It
was at this point I wanted to read a Jane solo adventure, but alas
Tarzan does make an appearance in this book.
While
Jane and company are trying to find their way through the treacherous
dangers of the African jungle Tarzan is on a quest to find a mysterious
tribe of savage white men known as the Kavuru. This much feared tribe is
known for stealing young women from several different native tribes,
and their grasp has finally reached the home territory of Tarzan’s
Waziri warriors. It’s while investigating these rash disappearances that
Tarzan and Nkima encounter Muviro and nine Waziri warriors, and it’s
from them that Tarzan learns that Muviro’s daughter is the latest victim
of these jungle kidnappers. The key problem with this investigation is
that the local tribes are so terrified of the Kavuru that they won’t
even give the Ape Man a hint as to what direction the Kavuru village
could be in.
What follows is a lot of the standard Tarzan stuff
with the Ape Man entering a hostile native village, getting into a
fight, getting knocked unconscious, tied up and held captive until
eventually being freed or escaping. The biggest departure here is that
upon “escaping” the natives he comes across one of the mysterious Kavuru
and saves him from a lion, but unlike passed times when Tarzan saves a
person this man is grateful, but he does not befriend Tarzan
and lead him to his village. His idea of gratitude is in not killing
Tarzan…as if he could, though to be fair this guy does eventually aid
Tarzan and company when it comes to them escaping the Temple of the
Kavuru high priest.
And
just who are these mysterious white savages that steal women, who wear
human teeth as accessories, and apparently have the secret to
immortality. Well Burroughs doesn’t really get into the origins of these
people; they aren’t some lost outpost of Rome or England, but just a
group of fanatical priests who believe women were put on Earth to tempt
and corrupt men, and they also have the ability to hypnotize their
victims into walking straight into their clutches. So maybe they are a
lost outpost of Franciscan monks.
When Jane is captured by them,
of course she's captured because even as badass as she is in this book
she is destined at some point to become a damsel in distress, she is
shocked to learn that the leader has led this cult of celibate priests
for a thousand yeas, a cult who have achieved immortality with an elixir
made from pollen, spinal fluid of leopards, and the glands and blood of
young women. Though things get shaken up when Jane’s beauty stirs the
loins of the High Priest, her being so hot that he decides that a
thousand years of celibacy has been enough, and he will now take Jane as
his mate. Needless to say things don’t go all that well for him.
Tarzan’s Quest
is top notch adventure storytelling, and seeing Jane as this awesome
jungle girl makes this a standout book in the series. The Tarzan stuff
is fun, and Nkima’s antics are always worth a laugh or two, but it’s
Jane’s story that really grabs you. There is danger, murder, love and
mystery in the jungle and Jane can handle it all. That this was the last
book to feature Jane as a primary character is sad for if given the
chance she could have become an equal to Tarzan in the jungle hero
category.
Note: Our
heroes do acquire a jar of pills that will give the user immortality,
and the survivors of the book divvy them up amongst themselves, but
whether Tarzan and Jane take them is never divulged. This certainly
would have allowed Burroughs to never have to worry about his hero
getting old and feeble, but as the series only went on for five more
books he never had to use it.
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