"Next generation Tarzan" re-imagines the Greystoke legacy

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A new children's book series featuring a "next generation Tarzan" is set to be published beginning in 2011, announced UK trade resource The Bookseller on June 29. Supported by the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan, the series will be an updated version of the classic story aimed at kids aged 11 and up.

Set in modern Africa and written by children's action/adventure author Andy Briggs, Tarzan: The Greystoke Legacy follows a re-imagined Tarzan who is, according to UK publisher Faber,"edgier, untamed and feral while remaining the iconic hero, raised by apes and protector of the wild."

Among the 21st-century difficulties the new Tarzan will face: warring guerrillas, poaching of endangered animals, illegal logging and the decline of the environment.

The story's original characters will appear in slightly different form: Jane is a 14-year-old gir accustomed to technology, Robert Canler is a runaway with a mysterious past, and cannibal tribes are replaced by rebel guerrillas.

The fictional character of Tarzan was created by Edgar Rice Burroughs and first appeared in the 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes. Also known as John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, Tarzan is an orphan who is raised by apes and later return to civilization, then rejects it to return to the wild. The original book led to more than 25 follow-up books, 89 films, numerous live-action and animated TV shows, a Broadway play, a Disney adaptation, and several video and computer games.

The first title will be released in 2011, with the second book launched during Tarzan centenary celebrations in 2012.