Tarzan the Invincible – Edgar Rice Burroughs (1931)
In this 14th installment of the Tarzan series, Edgar Rice Burroughs pits his iconic hero against a Soviet-backed conspiracy to plunder the lost city of Opar’s legendary gold reserves. The novel opens with Tarzan uncovering a communist plot led by the ruthless Nikolas Rokoff (a recurring villain) and his accomplice, the cunning Zora Drinov. Disguised as archaeologists, the radicals manipulate a naive American filmmaker, Woodley Clay, to gain access to the jungle—only to reveal their true intent: arming revolutionaries with Opar’s wealth.
Tarzan’s intervention sparks a brutal guerrilla war in the jungle, where he rallies the Waziri warriors against the invaders’ modern weaponry. The conflict escalates when Zora kidnaps Jad-bal-ja, Tarzan’s golden lion, and threatens to unleash the beast on local villages. Burroughs weaves in sharp political commentary, contrasting Tarzan’s code of honor with the Soviets’ ideological fanaticism.
The novel stands out for its high-stakes action—train sabotage, aerial dogfights, and a climactic siege of Opar—and for Zora’s complex characterization as a villain torn between dogma and growing respect for Tarzan.
“A battle where ideology meets instinct—and the jungle proves the true invincible force.”
