The novel picks up where Tarzan of the Apes left off. The ape man, feeling rootless in the wake of his noble sacrifice of his prospects of wedding Jane Porter, leaves America for Europe to visit his friend Paul d'Arnot. On the ship he becomes embroiled in the affairs of Countess Olga de Coude, her husband, Count Raoul de Coude, and two shady characters attempting to prey on them, Nikolas Rokoff and his henchman Alexis Paulvitch. Rokoff, it turns out, is also the countess's brother. Tarzan thwarts the villains' scheme, making them his deadly enemies. Later, in France, Rockoff tries time and again to eliminate the ape man, finally engineering a duel between him and the count by making it appear that he is the countess's lover.

バローズが描く本作の真髄は、文明という偽りの密林で葛藤する王者の高潔な精神性にあります。都会の策謀に翻弄されつつ、野性と理性の狭間で揺れるターザンの姿は、人間の本質を鋭く問いかけます。洗練された社会の醜悪さと、原始の地に宿る気高い魂の鮮烈な対比こそが、時代を超えて読者を惹きつける文学的白眉です。 映像版がアクションを強調する一方、原作は彼の孤独や文明への違和感を緻密に描写します。視覚的な迫力と、テキストが紡ぐ心理描写。この両者を味わうことで、野性児が真の貴族へと昇華する魂の軌跡をより深く体感できるはずです。冒険を超えた人間賛歌の深淵を、今こそ紐解いてください。