Ironcastle. Philip Jose Farmer

Ironcastle claims to be more than a translation of an original French fantasy novel by J. H. Rosny. It is retold by the award-winning author Philip Jose Farmer, a person who has written his own variations on Tarzan and Doc Savage African adventures.

In this book Hareton Ironcastle gets a message from an explorer who is in a little explored region of Africa and has found plants and animals fantastically different than any others on Earth. Ironcastle gathers together a small group of adventurers to check out the fantastic claims and his only daughter convinces him to take her along.

In their attempts to find the lone explorer and to discover the eerie secret of this remote land, they face strange hostile tribes as well as domineering plants and hairy reptiles. It is a well-written adventure that moves along with well crafted characters and settings. A good read for anyone interested in this genre.