Lin Carter & His Pastiches

On Facebook somebody said why doesn’t somebody do a list of all the authors that inspired Lin Carter’s many pastiches? Well kids, let’s give it a try. We’ll try to be chronological about it. And with any luck we will answer another question: Did Lin Carter ever write an original book?

The Thongor Series (1965-1980)

The Wizard of Lemuria (later retitled Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria (1965) was the first of six novels and seven short stories ending in 1980 with “Demon of the Snows” (Year’s Best Fantasy 6, 1980) The series was continued by Robert M. Price but we aren’t concerned with the pastiches of pastiches here, so just Lin.

The sources of Thongor are not hard to see: Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Carter wrote in Flashing Swords #1 (1973):

Six of those thirty-two books have been volumes of the adventures of a barbarian warrior hero known as Thongor the Mighty. Thongor’s world of the Lost Continent of Lemuria is not terribly different from the savage, splendid world of Howard’s Conan, although it contains traces of the Barsoom invented by Edgar Rice Burroughs; neither is Thongor himself essentially different from a sort of blending of Conan and King Kull (another of Howard’s characters) with elements of Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars.

Later on Carter revealed that the series arc is based on a traditional Indian myth cycle called the Puranas. Even the flying boat can be found there and not just in Edgar Rice Burroughs. He also incorporated Helena Blavatsky’s weird mysticism.

The Great Imperium (1966-1971)

This four volume science Fiction series begins with The Star Magicians (1966) and ends with Outworlder (1971). This series begins very SF then becomes more Sword & Planet. Leigh Brackett is here as well as the rest of Planet Stories.

Hautley Quicksilver (1968-1969)

This short Science Fiction series appeared in The Thief of Thoth  and The Purloined Planet (two Belmont Doubles) with a short sequel in Astro-Adventures #1 (1987).   The feel is the quirky SF of Jack Vance’s Magnus Riddolph but Harry Harrison’s The Stainless Steel Rat (1961) seems more likely.

The Godwane Epic (1969-1978)

This series is reminiscent of Jack Vance’s Dying Earth, A. E. van Vogt’s The Book of Ptath and Clark Ashton Smith’s Zothique as well as his own Tower of Medusa. The first of five novels was The Warrior of World’s End (1974) to The Pirate of World’s End (1978). For more on this series, go here.

Simrana Dreamlands (1969-1988)

These short stories appeared in random anthologies beginning with “The Whelming of Oom” in The Young Magicians (1969) to “How Doom Came Down at Last on Adrazoon” in Crypt of Cthulhu, no. 57, 1988. The mix is both H. P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands and the fantasy of Lord Dunsany that HPL copied. A kind of a pastiche of a pastiche….

Jandar of Callisto Series (1972-1978)

This series begins with Jandar of Callisto (1972) and ends with The Renegade of Callisto (1978) most of them bearing Vincent di Fate covers. This time Carter is wholeheartedly writing in a John Carter of Mars/Burroughs mode.

The Kylix Series (1971-1984)

This series of three books included The Quest of Kadji (1971), The Wizard of Zao (1978) and Kellory the Warlock (1984). Lin dedicated the series to Moorcock:

The Quest of Kadji
Is for that fine
Sword & Sorcery writer
MICHAEL MOORCOCK
my colleague in S.A.G.A.

Kellory the Warlock was written thirteen years after The Quest of Kadji but the sorcerer Kellory is still very much in the Moorcockian vein. Lin dedicated this book to several women writing Sword & Sorcery: C. J. Cherryh, Tanith Lee, Grail Undwin and Pat McIntosh. Cherryh, Lee and McIntosh appeared in Lin’s Years’ Best Fantasy 1975-1980. Grail Undwin is a pseudonym of Carter’s, so he is was dedicating the book to himself(?) I can only assume this was intended to build credence for his alter ego or some kind of a jest.

The Great Star Rises (1972-1976)

This series of five paperback began with Under the Green Star (1972) and ended with In the Green Star’s Glow (1976). Obviously ERB’s Venus but with some elements of A. Merritt and and Clark Ashton Smith.

In his Afterword to Under The Green Star (1972), Lin explains the difference between a good pastiche and bad:

The difference, I think, is that which lies between imitation and influence. Some writers have tried to imitate Burroughs and they have usually fallen flat on their faces, or on another portion of the anatomy. Other writers have more wisely permitted themselves to be influenced by Burroughs, and such experiments have often paid off by producing remarkably good books, as I think John Norman’s “Gor” books are remarkably good books, and Philip Jose Farmer’s The Wind Whales of Ishmael. When he turned the screenplay of Tarzan and the Valley of Gold into a novel, Fritz Leiber did not in the least try to imitate Burroughs, especially not in the matter of prose style; and, again, the result was a remarkably good book that can stand on its own feet. I would like to think that Under the Green Star belongs in this same category; I hope so, anyway.

The Black Star Trilogy (Incomplete) (1973)

This one sounds like a cross between REH, Tolkien and old Atlantis novels. The entire jumble reminds me of Terry Goodkind and other post-post-bestsellers. The first one must have tanked because Dell didn’t ask for the two contracted sequels.

The Man Who Loved Mars (1973-1984)

This series begins with The Man Who Loved Mars (1973) and ends with Down to a Sunless Sea (1984) for a total of four books. J. G. Huckenpohler explains: “Additionally, there is a prequel of sorts, taking place on Mars ten million years in the past. This ninety-nine page novella is entitled The Flame of Iridar (1966) and reads more like a Thongor story than the four other Martian tales.” (ERB-APA #75, Fall 2002)

The dedication of The Valley Where Time Stood Still (1974) says:

For Leigh Brackett
because it’s her kind, of story.

Huckenpohler goes on to explain the inspiration:

In his Author’s Note at the end of Down to a Sunless Sea, Carter pays tribute to Leigh Brackett’s inspiration. And certain elements of the stories certainly reflect Brackett’s Mars, in particular, the divergence between Low-Clans and High-Clans and the struggle of both to survive under harsh Terran colonialism. But the books also reflect considerable influence of Edgar Rice Burroughs. This should come as no surprise, as Brackett was herself a lifelong Burroughs fan, a member of the Burroughs Bibliophiles, and the recipient of the Golden Lion award at the 1977 Dum-Dum in Miami Beach, Fla.

Amalrik the Man-God (1973-1976)

This two story series appeared in different editions of the Flashing Swords anthologies. “The Higher Heresies of Oolimar” (Flashing Swords #1) and “The Curious Custom of the Turjan Seraad” (Flashing Swords #3). the titles sound like Jack Vance’s The Dying Earth but they read like L. Sprague de Camp’s Pusad comedies. The de Camp stories that appeared along side these weren’t much different.

Zarkon (1975-1987)

The Zarkon 3000 series features five novels: The Nemesis of Evil (1975) to Horror Wears Blue (1987) Carter dedicated each of the Zarkon books to a different Hero Pulp writer and their creations. In order: Lest Dent (Doc Savage), Walter Gibson (The Shadow), Kendall Foster Crossen (The Green Lama), Paul Ernst (The Avenger) and Edmond Hamilton (Captain Future).

People of the Dragon (1976-1977)

This short, two story series is a very much like Robert E, Howard’s James Allison stories. I did an entire piece on it here.

Tara of the Twilight (1979-1985)

Novel and three stories series beginning with Tara of the Twilight (1979) and ending with “Pale Shadow” (1985). “According to Carter’s introductory note, Tara of the Twilight represents his attempt to combine the genre of sword and sorcery with pornographic fantasy.” Was Lin going after the Gor market? There was supposed to be a sequel that wasn’t written.

Zanthodon (1979-1982)

Having done Mars and Venus it was only natural that Lin would do a prehistoric world. This one resembles ERB Pellucidar with sex.

Terra Magica (1982-1988)

This four book series begins with Kesrick (1982) and ends with Callipygia (1988). Each cover bore the sub-title “An Adult Fantasy”, so more porn. The tone of the titles reminds me of James Branch Cabell but the plots sound more like L. Sprague de Camp. By 1982, heroic fantasy has become more generic so it gets harder to tell. perhaps a bit like his Flashing Swords stuff?

Anton Zarnak (1988-2007)

These stories were Cthulhu Mythos tales about occult detective Zarnak. They appeared in Robert M. Price’s Crypt of Cthulhu and similar small press books. These stories were collected along with tales by other writers in Lin Carter’s Anton Zarnak: Supernatural Sleuth in 2002 with The Black Pharaoh in 2007. Being Mythos, H. P. Lovecraft is a given as an inspiration but the occult detective part is from somewhere else as Lovecraft never really chased that theme. Randolph Carter, a little, I suppose. Michael R. Brown surmises:

It’s clear from the trio of stories that like many of Carter’s work, he took inspiration from several other occult detectives, though created something more original. One can clearly see the influences of Jules de Grandin, Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Strange, and others, even Robert E. Howard‘s occult detective Steve Harrison (another occult detective I’ve recently learned of, which I need to obtain and read).

Singles (1966-1985)

Destination Saturn (1967) I think we have forget about this one as it was written with Donald A. Wolheim. It would be pretty hard to know what was Carter and what was Wolheim.

Tower at the Edge of Time (1968) Jack Vance

Lost World of Time (1969) REH

Tower of the Medusa (1969) Leigh Brackett

Time War (1974) A. E. van Vogt

 

Found Wanting (1985) I can find almost nothing about this book besides a short description. Was this Lin Carter’s “original novel”? Did he write something at the end that was truly his own? the sub-title says “In the rat-maze of the ultimate city”. About all I can find out about it is that nobody seems to have read it. So there is my quest for this summer. Find a copy of Found Wanting and figure this out. If anyone has read it, please don’t keep us in the dark…