Did Edgar Rice Burroughs, author of Tarzan, also create an anti-hero?
After writing the heroic tales of Tarzan and John Carter of Mars, did Edgar Rice Burroughs slip up and write an anti-hero?
As a kid, I sampled what was, even then, a set of dusty antique tomes with titles such as Tarzan of the Apes, The Jungle tales of Tarzan, and The Beasts of Tarzan. Though they never earned the top shelf in my bookcase, I enjoyed the books- rousing tales of heroic adventure and unabashed male chivalry. At least the earlier books in the series were, though I remember a few scenes from later books . . .
At any rate, one day while perusing the precariously stacked and mouldering offerings in a musty old used bookshop, I found another of Burroughs’s novels. One I’d never heard of. And likely one you’ve never heard of, either, though in the opinion of my teenage self, this story outshone the rest of the Tarzan and John Carter books combined. I still agree with that estimation, even today. This is the best of Burroughs’s works, and one you shouldn’t miss.
The Mucker was originally published as several separate stories from 1913 to 1916. The very large novel I happened upon was what we’d now call the Omnibus, including the entire series, and an epic tale it was.
My young heart thrilled at the adventure, and if it’s not too much of a spoiler, at the progression of the main character from nave to nobleman, from predator to protector. The kind of tale a man of any age can appreciate.
And even though my tastes lean toward the Speculative, there’s still something about this tale that draws me, even now, to revisit it. Perhaps it’s the epic scope of the story, perhaps it’s the non-stop action, but more likely it’s owing to the happily and unrepentantly extreme testosterone level- which is so high from first page to last that, even now, it’s oozing, running like molasses down the tattered old leather spine where it sits on my bookshelf.
Maybe it’s time to pull it down again, though several outlets now offer it in audio. Choices, choices.
So- our search for great fantastical fiction that Christian men can enjoy, though yet lacking a plethora of modern offerings, can as always, find satisfaction in the greats of the past. Like The Mucker.
May we soon bring you many new releases equally great.