After rescuing a stranger, Tarzan learns of the hidden rival cities of Athne and Cathne. In Cathne, the City of Gold, Queen Nemone is fascinated by him while political rivalries and the city’s use of trained lions place him in repeated danger.
The adventure carries the interwar traveller into an entirely invented world of rival kingdoms, court intrigue and ritualised violence. Cathne's wealth, trained lions and volatile queen give Tarzan a new kind of danger, one in which survival depends as much on reading political loyalties as on physical strength.
Athne and Cathne are organised around rival values and traditions, giving Tarzan another encounter with a supposedly lost civilisation whose splendour conceals violence. Nemone’s fascination with him provides protection only so long as her interest lasts, while court intrigue makes physical strength less useful than judgement. The novel contrasts monumental wealth with the instability of rule based on fear and spectacle.
Louis L’Amour
97 books
Christopher Nicole
49 books
Colin Falconer
22 books