From the Bookshelf of Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy"…
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I’m instantly reminded of the famous quote from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off:
“life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you’ll miss it”
Things happen at break neck speed in Thongor stories. In the first 50 pages (and there are only 135), Thongor fights a dinosaur, is attacked by man-eating plants, captured by cannibals and captured by an old nemesis (Thongor is captured at least three times throughout the short novel—Carter loves having his protagonists captured).
Som ...more
“life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you’ll miss it”
Things happen at break neck speed in Thongor stories. In the first 50 pages (and there are only 135), Thongor fights a dinosaur, is attacked by man-eating plants, captured by cannibals and captured by an old nemesis (Thongor is captured at least three times throughout the short novel—Carter loves having his protagonists captured).
Som ...more
Carter envisions a prehistoric Lemuria that acts like a sword-and-planet world that tells a sword-and-sorcery story. The fantastic elements are weird science and mesmerism and the like, but the inhabitants have a low-technology mindset. It's an intriguing concept but one incidental to the action, as the author drives the story from set piece to set piece.
Despite the title, the writer of the back cover of the Berkley edition correctly identified the highlight of the book: the vampire-king-scienti ...more
Despite the title, the writer of the back cover of the Berkley edition correctly identified the highlight of the book: the vampire-king-scienti ...more
Look we all know Lin Carter isn't very good as a writer. He was trying to imitate his heroes and usually failed. Even so, he does have some almost-bangers when he does Dreamlands type stuff. And the first Thongor book, while extremely dumb, was entertaining enough.
Sadly, the second is not. Its a chore. Worse even, it waits until the end to finally introduce a really interesting and compelling almost Jack Vance-like villain...only to immediately kill him offscreen a chapter and a half later.
BUT! ...more
Sadly, the second is not. Its a chore. Worse even, it waits until the end to finally introduce a really interesting and compelling almost Jack Vance-like villain...only to immediately kill him offscreen a chapter and a half later.
BUT! ...more
I have the Tandem edition.
The vile Dragon Kings have been defeated and their plans for ruling Lemuria and the entire known world by setting free the Chaos Gods of the Outer Dark has been foiled by the heroic barbarian Thongor and his compatriots; Prince Karm Karvus of Tsargol, Princess Sumia of Patanga, and the ancient wizard Sharajsha. While setting out once more in their airship/floater, The Nemedis, Thongor, Karm Karvus, and Sumia are attacked by fearsome dueling water dragons on the open sea and are shipwrecked upon
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The Thongor stories are a cross between the sword and planet fiction of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and the sword and sorcery of Robert E. Howard. That sounds great, but Carter didn't pull it off as well as I would have liked. Still, these are interesting reads and I enjoyed them.
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If you've read any other of Carter's Thongor books, you've kind of read this one, too. It's fun, quick to read, but nothing you can take seriously in any way.
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Jan 31, 2015
Mike
marked it as to-read
Nov 14, 2015
Jase
marked it as to-read
Feb 09, 2019
Arley Dial
marked it as to-read
May 09, 2019
Colin Leidner
marked it as to-read
Feb 08, 2023
Dartharagorn
marked it as to-read
Dec 05, 2024
Gábor
marked it as to-read
Aug 31, 2025
Jeff
marked it as to-read
May 06, 2013
Michael Fierce
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
sword-and-sorcery
Jun 05, 2020
Michael Fierce
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
own-paperback,
sword-and-sorcery
