Tarzan and the Valley of Gold

Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe

by Fritz Leiber

The burning wreck of a passenger jet with a missing cargo of gold and a desperate plea from a friend lead Tarzan of the Apes deep into intrigue in the jungles of Brazil. Soon the ape-man finds himself facing his most deadly nemesis yet: a criminal mastermind named Vinaro, whose enemies perish in mysterious explosions of gold and flame. But that may be only the beginning of Tarzan's challenges. For if he is to defeat Vinaro, Tarzan must confront him in the legendary golden city of Tucumai, from where no outsider has ever returned.

Genres: Fiction, Adventure, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fantasy, Action, Pulp

317 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1966

About the author

Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. was one of the more interesting of the young writers who came into HP Lovecraft's orbit, and some of his best early short fiction is horror rather than sf or fantasy. He found his mature voice early in the first of the sword-and-sorcery adventures featuring the large sensitive barbarian Fafhrd and the small street-smart-ish Gray Mouser; he returned to this series at various points in his career, using it sometimes for farce and sometimes for gloomy mood pieces--The Swords of Lankhmar is perhaps the best single volume of their adventures. Leiber's science fiction includes the planet-smashing The Wanderer in which a large cast mostly survive flood, fire, and the sexual attentions of feline aliens, and the satirical A Spectre is Haunting Texas in which a gangling, exo-skeleton-clad actor from the Moon leads a revolution and finds his true love. Leiber's late short fiction, and the fine horror novel Our Lady of Darkness, combine autobiographical issues like his struggle with depression and alcoholism with meditations on the emotional content of the fantastic genres. Leiber's capacity for endless self-reinvention and productive self-examination kept him, until his death, one of the most modern of his sf generation.

Used These Alternate Names: Maurice Breçon, Fric Lajber, Fritz Leiber, Jr., Fritz R. Leiber, Fritz Leiber Jun., Фриц Лейбер, F. Lieber, フリッツ・ライバー

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tarzan and the Valley of Gold is a novelization of a film script that was written by Clair Huffaker that Leiber was hired to write. The book was published in 1966, and Ballantine even numbered it as #25 in the Tarzan series, with the apparent blessing of the Burroughs family estate. (ERB himself passed in 1950; this was the first authorized Tarzan book not credited to ERB.) It is the first of three Tarzan movies that starred Mike Henry (former linebacker at U.S.C. who went on to play for the Steelers and the Rams) in the title role. (Fun fact: he also played Hot Lips Houlihan's husband Donald Penobscot on M*A*S*H.) It's a competent translation of the film into the prose format, but there were some dumb things in the film... so, Leiber did what he was hired to do and did it pretty well, but there are both good sides and bad sides to that. The main bad guy, Vinaro, is a James Bond villain, and Tarzan seems stuck in a contemporary Bond film rather than in a Tarzan movie. And it's set in Brazil.... what? They ran out of room in Africa, so they had to move to South America? A car chase instead of vine swinging? Leiber obviously knew the subject very well and threw in a lot of background details straight from Burroughs' originals. (You'd think it was a Philip Jose Farmer pastiche, with Jack Vance footnotes even!) Tarzan is an educated and cultured savage in this one, not the "Me Tarzan, you Jane" ape man of so many earlier films. It's an interesting read, but not a great Tarzan adventure or a great Leiber book. It's a shame Leiber never got to write an original of his own; it might have been fantastic.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty fun book that is apparently an adaptation of a '60s movie that updated Tarzan for the James Bond era. This sounds awful but is actually pretty fun; Leiber at his worst is always enjoyable anyway.

What's interesting is that the story behind this book/movie -- ruthless Bond-villain-esque Vinaro searching for a lost city in the Brazilian Amazon -- seems to be based on the true story of the Fawcett expedition for the Lost City of Z. Unsurprisingly, Tarzan and his friends, both human and animal, manage to prevent him from conquering a mystical hidden land of peaceful peoples descended from ancient Incas who fled Pizarro to the Amazon.

There is nothing terribly original here, but it is evocative and enjoyable. Leiber could have done a good job updating Tarzan with a slightly more modern style, if he had gotten the green light from the Burroughs estate.

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The great fantasist Fritz Leiber's adaptation, with the Burroughs' family's agreement, of the Mike Henry movie. Leiber makes it more than just a novelization, fashioning a novel that can take it's place alongside the original novels. In fact, it was numbered 25, which makes it part of the canon.

Tarzan comes to central America at the behest of a friend to solve the mystery of the young boy that walked out of the jungle, telling of his home in a hidden valley and wearing a medalluion of gold around his neck, it incites the wrong people and Tarzan is in a race to get the boy home and help his people stop the army of looters headed their way with a tank.

A lot of fun for a longtime fan of both Burroughs and Leiber.

[John Marr · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's always tough for a new writer to take over a beloved series, and even harder to bring the character into modern times. Fortunately, Fritz Leiber's attempt to pit Tarzan against a James Bond-style megalomaniac (what passed for contemporary in 1965) is for the most part successful. First, he absolutely nails the Tarzan character. Leiber's Tarzan may be new and improved for 1965, but he retains the feel of the original character. Likewise, the action sequences are terrific and accurately incorporate modern armaments. Other improvements include the elimination of the dopey love sequence and the done-to-death two warring lost cities trope. (Has Tarzan discovered a lone lost city since Opar?) Unfortunately, where this book fails is in length. 300+ pages is just too long for a Tarzan adventure. Leiber can't resist showing of his research by having characters spout off long lectures on South American history, and the stuff between the excellent action sequences move slowly and ponderously, like Tantor on a hot day. Too bad. It just would have taken one editor with a machete to make this the first in a successful reboot.

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who loves Leiber's work, but whose familiarity with the Tarzan character was limited to absorption of popular culture, this was kinda fun. I could imagine watching this movie on a summer Saturday afternoon.

[Jack Teague · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tarzan

[Norman Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leiber is clearly an expert about Tarzan and his exploits, referencing many past adventures within this one. So good is this story compared to many of the Tarzan novelizations and adaptations over the years, that the Burroughs estate has deemed this to be within the official canon. Leiber definitely captures the sense of Tarzan as an intelligent, athletic man at home in the jungle, certainly, but also in the halls of "sophisticated" government and businesses. The story takes Tarzan to the depths of Brazil where he must fight to save a hidden civilization descended from the Incas. The cast of characters is diverse and interesting, including an obligatory lion and chimpanzee, although the villain is a two-dimensional psychopath obsessed with gold and death. I've never seen the movie this novelization is based on, but I suspect Leiber includes a lot of extra detail, as well as smoothing out some of the inconsistencies and plot holes movies like this inevitably have. This is a book that I think Burroughs would have enjoyed.

[Jeff J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of the Tarzan novels not written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Fritz Lieber was a talented contemporary of Burroughs but was saddled to having to adapt a mediocre film script (Tarzan in a car chase?). Nevertheless Lieber does a great job of fleshing out the storyline with numerous references to earlier novels, including footnotes.

[Becky · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book doesn't deserve a review. It certainly didn't deserve to carry the name of Tarzan.

[Rus Wornom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leiber's writing was excellent. Just a shame it was based on a 1960s screenplay filled with Hollywood cliches.

[Joel Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

The villain of the piece resembles a Bond villain so the book has a somewhat different tone than an Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan book, but it is quite good.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't quite have that Burroughs feel to it.