Bunduki

Bunduki
For the planet from the Star Wars franchise, see List of Star Wars planets (A–B)
Bunduki
First appearance Bunduki
Last appearance Mark Counter's Kin
Created by J. T. Edson
Information
Aliases James Allenvale Gunn
Gender Male
Spouse(s) Dawn Drummond-Clayton
Relatives Tarzan (adoptive father)
Jane (adoptive mother)
Korak (adoptive brother)

James Allenvale 'Bunduki' Gunn is the title character in J. T. Edson's novel Bunduki and the series of novels and short stories that followed. He was adopted by Tarzan and Jane Porter at the age of two, after his parents were murdered by rebels during the Mau Mau Uprising. Bunduki is married to Tarzan's great-granddaughter Dawn.

Bunduki's birth father was a descendant of Sir Henry Curtis who explored Africa with Allan Quatermain. His mother—Allison Dawn 'Tex' Gunn—was the granddaughter of Texan Mark Counter. Bunduki's parents served with Dawn's parents in 'Group Thirteen', a Special Missions Organization of the Secret Intelligence Service during World War II.

Contents

Dawn

Dawn Drummond-Clayton
Created by J. T. Edson
Information
Gender Female
Spouse(s) James Allenvale Gunn
Relatives Korak (grandfather)
Meriem (grandmother)
Bulldog Drummond (granduncle)
Nationality English

Dawn Drummond-Clayton is the daughter of Sir John Armond Drummond-Clayton (himself the son of Korak and Lady Meriem) and Lady Hazel Drummond-Clayton. Through Korak, Dawn is also the grandniece of Capt. Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond.

Dawn is a graduate of the Roedean School, and an expert in martial arts, wilderness survival, athletics, gymnastics, swimming, and fencing. Like her husband, she is unaging and immune to tropical diseases and parasitic infections, thanks to a treatment received courtesy of her great-grandfather Tarzan. In the 1970s she was transported along with her mate to the planet Zillikian by aliens known as 'Suppliers'. She uses a Ben Pearson Marauder Take-Down hunting bow and a Randall Model 1 fighting knife.

Zillikian

Zillikian is a counter-Earth planet (i.e. located at the L3 Lagrange point which is opposite the Sun in the same orbit as Earth). The planet is very similar to Earth in climate and wildlife, albeit without the industrialization of Humans that Earth has.

Book series

All of Edson's Bunduki stories were published in England by Corgi Books:

  1. Bunduki. April 1975. ISBN 0-552-09768-3. 
  2. Bunduki and Dawn. January 1976. ISBN 0-552-10061-7. 
  3. Sacrifice for the Quagga God. October 1976. ISBN 0-552-10272-5. 
  4. Fearless Master of the Jungle. June 1980. ISBN 0-552-11405-7. 
  5. Amazons of Zillikian (unpublished)[1]
Short story prequels (set on Earth)
  • "The Mchawi's Powers" – J.T.'s Hundredth. March 1979. ISBN 0-552-10995-9. 
  • "Death to Simba Nyeuse" – J.T.'s Ladies. February 1980. ISBN 0-552-11223-2. 
  • "Accident – or Murder?" – More J.T.’s Ladies. February 1987. ISBN 0-552-12899-6. 
  • "A Good Time Was Had by All" – Mark Counter's Kin. February 1990. ISBN 0-552-13541-0. 

Publication

The first three novels were published with permission from both Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. and Philip José Farmer for the biographical connections between Edson's Bunduki & Dawn, Burroughs' Tarzan characters, and Farmer's Wold Newton family.[1]

Sometime after 1976, ERB Inc. withdrew Edson's permission to use the Tarzan name in future volumes and as a result, the fourth novel and the short stories do not mention Tarzan or Jane by name.[1]

See also

Book collection.jpg Novels portal
  • Tarzan Alive: A Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke
  • Tarzan (book series)

References

  1. ^ a b c Dunn, Laurence (April 30, 1999). "J. T. Edson and Bunduki". ERBapa (61). http://www.erblist.com/erbmania/dunn/ldbunduki.html. 


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