A solo flight ends in disaster when Tarzan crashes beyond the Great Thorn Forest. He encounters the Alali and then the miniature people of Trohanadalmakus, only to become a captive in a war between rival Ant Men communities and be reduced to their size by their science.
Aircraft and expeditionary travel place Tarzan in the interwar world of the 1920s before the story plunges into one of Burroughs's most extravagant lost civilisations. The clash between modern aviation and the miniature kingdoms of the Ant Men gives the novel its distinctive mixture of technological adventure, captivity and fantasy warfare.
The miniature societies allow Burroughs to construct a satirical version of warfare, hierarchy and technological difference inside an otherwise fantastic adventure. Tarzan’s size gives him an immediate advantage but not complete control, because he is repeatedly forced to understand unfamiliar customs and alliances. The novel uses scale itself as a way of making ordinary assumptions about strength and civilisation unstable.
Louis L’Amour
97 books
Christopher Nicole
49 books
Colin Falconer
22 books