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The Mysteries of Mars
Down to a Sunless Sea
Fleeing from justice across the ancient dust-oceans of Mars, Brant had no way of knowing that he was running toward the most fantastic adventure any man had ever lived!
174 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 5, 1984
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About the author
Lin Carter
426 books171 followersLin Carter was an American author, editor, and critic best known for his influential role in fantasy literature during the mid-20th century. Born in St. Petersburg, Florida, he developed an early passion for myth, adventure stories, and imaginative fiction, drawing inspiration from authors such as Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, H. P. Lovecraft, and J. R. R. Tolkien. After serving in the U.S. Army, Carter attended Columbia University, where he honed his literary skills and deepened his knowledge of classical and medieval literature, myth, and folklore — elements that would become central to his work.
Carter authored numerous novels, short stories, and critical studies, often working within the sword-and-sorcery and high fantasy traditions. His own creations, such as the “Thongor of Lemuria” series, paid homage to pulp-era adventure fiction while adding his distinctive voice and world-building style. His nonfiction book Tolkien: A Look Behind The Lord of the Rings was one of the first major studies of Tolkien’s work and its mythological roots, and it helped establish Carter as a knowledgeable commentator on fantasy literature.
Beyond his own writing, Carter was a central figure in bringing classic and forgotten works of fantasy back into print. As editor of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series from 1969 to 1974, he curated and introduced dozens of volumes, reintroducing readers to authors such as William Morris, Lord Dunsany, E. R. Eddison, and James Branch Cabell. His introductions not only contextualized these works historically and literarily but also encouraged a new generation to explore the breadth of the fantasy tradition.
Carter was also active in the shared literary universe of the “Cthulhu Mythos,” expanding upon the creations of H. P. Lovecraft and other members of the “Lovecraft Circle.” His collaborations and solo contributions in this genre further cemented his reputation as both a creative writer and a literary preservationist.
In addition to fiction and criticism, Carter was an active member of several science fiction and fantasy organizations, including the Science Fiction Writers of America. He frequently appeared at conventions, where he was known for his enthusiasm, deep knowledge of the genre, and willingness to mentor aspiring writers.
Though sometimes critiqued for the derivative nature of some of his work, Carter’s influence on the fantasy revival of the late 20th century remains significant. His combination of creative output, editorial vision, and scholarly enthusiasm helped bridge the gap between the pulp traditions of the early 1900s and the expansive fantasy publishing boom that followed.
Lin Carter’s legacy endures through his own imaginative tales, his critical studies, and the many classic works he rescued from obscurity, ensuring their place in the canon of fantasy literature for generations to come.
Carter authored numerous novels, short stories, and critical studies, often working within the sword-and-sorcery and high fantasy traditions. His own creations, such as the “Thongor of Lemuria” series, paid homage to pulp-era adventure fiction while adding his distinctive voice and world-building style. His nonfiction book Tolkien: A Look Behind The Lord of the Rings was one of the first major studies of Tolkien’s work and its mythological roots, and it helped establish Carter as a knowledgeable commentator on fantasy literature.
Beyond his own writing, Carter was a central figure in bringing classic and forgotten works of fantasy back into print. As editor of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series from 1969 to 1974, he curated and introduced dozens of volumes, reintroducing readers to authors such as William Morris, Lord Dunsany, E. R. Eddison, and James Branch Cabell. His introductions not only contextualized these works historically and literarily but also encouraged a new generation to explore the breadth of the fantasy tradition.
Carter was also active in the shared literary universe of the “Cthulhu Mythos,” expanding upon the creations of H. P. Lovecraft and other members of the “Lovecraft Circle.” His collaborations and solo contributions in this genre further cemented his reputation as both a creative writer and a literary preservationist.
In addition to fiction and criticism, Carter was an active member of several science fiction and fantasy organizations, including the Science Fiction Writers of America. He frequently appeared at conventions, where he was known for his enthusiasm, deep knowledge of the genre, and willingness to mentor aspiring writers.
Though sometimes critiqued for the derivative nature of some of his work, Carter’s influence on the fantasy revival of the late 20th century remains significant. His combination of creative output, editorial vision, and scholarly enthusiasm helped bridge the gap between the pulp traditions of the early 1900s and the expansive fantasy publishing boom that followed.
Lin Carter’s legacy endures through his own imaginative tales, his critical studies, and the many classic works he rescued from obscurity, ensuring their place in the canon of fantasy literature for generations to come.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 10, 2014
It started strongly, and there's no reason why it shouldn't, considering how Carter was channelling Leigh Brackett nearly word-for-word, with just a bit of tweaking (I thought the humans requiring surgical modification to survive on Mars was a nice touch). Oddly Carter decided to meld this with an A. Merritt 'lost civilization' pastiche, and while the two don't disagree with each other, there's little melding to make them fit together into an organic whole.
Unfortunately after spending some half of the book getting his hero to the lost civilization, Carter seems at a loss to have something interesting happen there. Action becomes limited after encountering the lost people of Mars themselves, and the final conflict only occurs after some characters behave spectacularly stupidly.
In true Lin Carter fashion, he calls special attention to the athletic, beautiful, and willful woman who finds herself in this group. While it is both a trope of the genre to introduce a love interest (especially one initially appearing to be a poor match to the protagonist) and the presence of a growing relationship does add depth to the entire experience, Carter tends to describe her with creepy-old-man attention to her anatomical features. This tendency gets distracting when it conflicts with the mood of the piece.
Unfortunately after spending some half of the book getting his hero to the lost civilization, Carter seems at a loss to have something interesting happen there. Action becomes limited after encountering the lost people of Mars themselves, and the final conflict only occurs after some characters behave spectacularly stupidly.
In true Lin Carter fashion, he calls special attention to the athletic, beautiful, and willful woman who finds herself in this group. While it is both a trope of the genre to introduce a love interest (especially one initially appearing to be a poor match to the protagonist) and the presence of a growing relationship does add depth to the entire experience, Carter tends to describe her with creepy-old-man attention to her anatomical features. This tendency gets distracting when it conflicts with the mood of the piece.
June 14, 2018
Lin Carter was important to my early literary education, such as it was. Were it not for his books Tolkien: A Look Behind ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and Imaginary Worlds: The Art of Fantasy I may have never found some of my favorite books and writers, such as Lord Dunsany, Mervyn Peake and his Gormenghast trilogy, Peter S. Beagle, and the great James Branch Cabell.
But Carter’s own fiction did not beckon my attention. The books of his I saw looked like hackwork, rehashes of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Leigh Brackett. And, what with their garish covers, I avoided them as if they were the Gor books by John Norman.
Well, as if to break a long habit, I bought two Gor novels, not long age. I took a dip its pages. Not exactly my cup of tea, and I did not get very far. Which does not mean I found anything objectionable. They seemed somewhat like throwback fiction, good Burroughsian fun. But of course their reputation is harshly negative, especially along “political correctness” lines. That is, as Jack Woodford might have said, there is no Communism in them, and (I hear tell) Norman does not believe today’s accepted feminist fictions, er, norms. I do not either, so I may return to Gor some day.
Not long after I put down Norman’s Tarnsman of Gor a few months ago, I bought a few Lin Carter fantasy/science fiction paperback on a whim. And I then read the one that seemed to have the most promising beginning, Down to a Sunless Sea, one of his last books, written, I gather, while he was dying of cancer.
The romantic-sexual interest in the book is not too far from what I have heard to be John Norman’s. The hero is masculine, and the two women are distinct and familiar feminine types, though both Martian. There is no political correctness in it, just as there is no Communism. But there is frank sexual talk, and acceptance of the Sapphic practice. Not very far from Woodford territory, after all, though the focus is on the hero, not the heroine — which is where it almost always was with Woodford (who claimed to have written the same book over and over).
This retro-sexuality does not bother me. It seems pitiful and weak to even bring it up. Masculine and feminine are archetypes, and reflect a lot of biological and historical reality. To object to it now is merely to accept current ideological fashion as Eternal Truth, which is of course bilge water.
Carter combines, as he states in his afterword, Brackettian fantasy with a Merrittesque descent into a Lost World. The first half or more of the short novel is adventure; the second half introduces our ragtag band of outlaws to a fantastic underworld civilization that is mainly shown to us in a slightly dramatized utopian format. The point being: the utopia is too good for these depraved, uncivilized Terran and Martian adventurers.
I cannot say that this seems in any way exceptionable — or very exceptional. Except — yes, there is an “except”: the writing, on the sentence level, is superior to popular No Style style writing of current popular fiction.
So, there is more than one way that Down to a Sunless Sea is throwback fiction. And more than one way that this is not at all a bad thing.
But Carter’s own fiction did not beckon my attention. The books of his I saw looked like hackwork, rehashes of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Leigh Brackett. And, what with their garish covers, I avoided them as if they were the Gor books by John Norman.
Well, as if to break a long habit, I bought two Gor novels, not long age. I took a dip its pages. Not exactly my cup of tea, and I did not get very far. Which does not mean I found anything objectionable. They seemed somewhat like throwback fiction, good Burroughsian fun. But of course their reputation is harshly negative, especially along “political correctness” lines. That is, as Jack Woodford might have said, there is no Communism in them, and (I hear tell) Norman does not believe today’s accepted feminist fictions, er, norms. I do not either, so I may return to Gor some day.
Not long after I put down Norman’s Tarnsman of Gor a few months ago, I bought a few Lin Carter fantasy/science fiction paperback on a whim. And I then read the one that seemed to have the most promising beginning, Down to a Sunless Sea, one of his last books, written, I gather, while he was dying of cancer.
The romantic-sexual interest in the book is not too far from what I have heard to be John Norman’s. The hero is masculine, and the two women are distinct and familiar feminine types, though both Martian. There is no political correctness in it, just as there is no Communism. But there is frank sexual talk, and acceptance of the Sapphic practice. Not very far from Woodford territory, after all, though the focus is on the hero, not the heroine — which is where it almost always was with Woodford (who claimed to have written the same book over and over).
This retro-sexuality does not bother me. It seems pitiful and weak to even bring it up. Masculine and feminine are archetypes, and reflect a lot of biological and historical reality. To object to it now is merely to accept current ideological fashion as Eternal Truth, which is of course bilge water.
Carter combines, as he states in his afterword, Brackettian fantasy with a Merrittesque descent into a Lost World. The first half or more of the short novel is adventure; the second half introduces our ragtag band of outlaws to a fantastic underworld civilization that is mainly shown to us in a slightly dramatized utopian format. The point being: the utopia is too good for these depraved, uncivilized Terran and Martian adventurers.
I cannot say that this seems in any way exceptionable — or very exceptional. Except — yes, there is an “except”: the writing, on the sentence level, is superior to popular No Style style writing of current popular fiction.
So, there is more than one way that Down to a Sunless Sea is throwback fiction. And more than one way that this is not at all a bad thing.
August 28, 2017
A fun pulp read. Definitely a product of its time with all the misogynistic, pro-Alpha (straight white) Male stuff, but it was what it was. Now, we get kinder, gentler pulp heroes, and stories that aren't the cream dream of a neckbeard living in his mom's basement waiting for his tendies. Regardless, the action was fun and it was a quick read, a nice peak into the old days of churning out a paperback in a few weeks, and reading it in a few hours.
December 14, 2019
Lin Carter non si è fatto mancare una saga marziana, di cui questo è il quarto volume (i vari volumi non sono collegati tra loro). Non aspettiamoci però la forza delle sue fantasie eroiche più note, e nemmeno l’originalità di “Found wanting”: per tutta la prima parte del romanzo si è trascinati dalla scorrevole penna di Carter, ma l’impressione di Déjà vu è forte: evidentemente Burroughs, ma non solo: la discesa al mondo nascosto richiama “Le miniere di re Salomone”, l’aspetto di questo mondo è proprio da “Viaggio al centro della Terra”, l’anti-eroe è un nipotino del Northwest Smith di C.L.Moore (ma senza amico marziano); nella postfazione, l’autore ammette queste influenze e soprattutto quella di Leigh Brackett (che però non ho letto). Tutto questo bric-à-brac marziano potrebbe essere ravvivato dal tema lesbico, purtroppo affrontato con la goliardia di un film di Porky’s (siamo negli anni ’80..): le donne in questione, una volta trovatesi in presenza di “veri uomini”, non potranno che “convertirsi” al volo! Sorvoliamo sul protagonista che, pur dotato di un suo “codice d’onore” (ai delinquenti non manca mai..), prima di salvare la fanciulla legata da giorni sotto il sole marziano fa un pensierino a come sarebbe ancora interessante uno stupro.
Ma non è il caso di prendere il tutto troppo sul serio: Carter è un bravo narratore, sa mantenere un tono avventuroso senza scene truci (chissà cosa farebbe un autore di oggi della scena in cui il ladro Agila viene messo sul fuoco per essere arrostito a fuoco lento); ma soprattutto dà il meglio di sé a partir dai due terzi del volume, quando irrompe il Popolo del Mare. Carter ama le scene variopinte, è un colorista fantasmagorico, un po’ come lo era la Moore: dalle sfumature della distesa di muschio ai ciottoli multicolori lungo la spiaggia sotterranea, nonché le sfumature e marezzature dei funghi..
Nel popolo del Mare troviamo ancora omosessualità osservata con occhio curioso, e un accenno di rapporti con ragazzine/i, non solo da parte del protagonista ma persino del vecchio scienziato (fino a quel momento asessuato, come si addice a uno scienziato in un romanzo di avventura tradizionale). Ma cadono subito.
Piacevole la narrazione, con la sua patina di arcaismo tipica di questo science fantasy o meglio heroic fantasy appena travestito da fantascienza (come era per gli altri autori marziani): Erelong per “tra poco”, nigh per “vicino”, twain per “due”..
Ma non è il caso di prendere il tutto troppo sul serio: Carter è un bravo narratore, sa mantenere un tono avventuroso senza scene truci (chissà cosa farebbe un autore di oggi della scena in cui il ladro Agila viene messo sul fuoco per essere arrostito a fuoco lento); ma soprattutto dà il meglio di sé a partir dai due terzi del volume, quando irrompe il Popolo del Mare. Carter ama le scene variopinte, è un colorista fantasmagorico, un po’ come lo era la Moore: dalle sfumature della distesa di muschio ai ciottoli multicolori lungo la spiaggia sotterranea, nonché le sfumature e marezzature dei funghi..
Nel popolo del Mare troviamo ancora omosessualità osservata con occhio curioso, e un accenno di rapporti con ragazzine/i, non solo da parte del protagonista ma persino del vecchio scienziato (fino a quel momento asessuato, come si addice a uno scienziato in un romanzo di avventura tradizionale). Ma cadono subito.
Piacevole la narrazione, con la sua patina di arcaismo tipica di questo science fantasy o meglio heroic fantasy appena travestito da fantascienza (come era per gli altri autori marziani): Erelong per “tra poco”, nigh per “vicino”, twain per “due”..
January 13, 2020
Absolutely dreadful. Pretty much irredeemable in every way. This has got to be the absolute low point in Carter’s career.
Lin Carter was never a great writer. But his Thognor and Callisto stories were good fun. They were simple, albeit, derivative adventure novels. Some in the series are weaker than others, but a lot of them are just good dumb fun. His Green Star series is decent too.
So I would think a series derived from Leigh Bracket(and a bit of H. Rider Haggard) would be decent. Man was I wrong. The first book is some of his best writing until the dreadful ending. The second book started out good but got pretty lame. The third books as incredibly cringy, even by 70s standards and basically repeated the same themes as the second but worse.
So the fourth book is a re-write thematically of the 2&3rd but even worse, because he needed to do that? He just wrote the same book over but worse every time. It’s even more cringy but any standard. He contradicts world building from previous books. The writing is so lazy, for example they leave their tents then the next chapter suddenly have tents, he takes Agila’s knife but then Agila has a knife again, then he says he never gave it back. His “eden” has a few ideas that might have been creative but ultimately only Jeffery Epstein would consider it Eden.
It’s really irredeemably terrible. I wish I had never read it. Of the 24 books of his I’ve read its by far the worst. I can’t recommend it to anyone other than dirty old men, and even they deserve something better. If I could give a book zero stars it would be this...
Lin Carter was never a great writer. But his Thognor and Callisto stories were good fun. They were simple, albeit, derivative adventure novels. Some in the series are weaker than others, but a lot of them are just good dumb fun. His Green Star series is decent too.
So I would think a series derived from Leigh Bracket(and a bit of H. Rider Haggard) would be decent. Man was I wrong. The first book is some of his best writing until the dreadful ending. The second book started out good but got pretty lame. The third books as incredibly cringy, even by 70s standards and basically repeated the same themes as the second but worse.
So the fourth book is a re-write thematically of the 2&3rd but even worse, because he needed to do that? He just wrote the same book over but worse every time. It’s even more cringy but any standard. He contradicts world building from previous books. The writing is so lazy, for example they leave their tents then the next chapter suddenly have tents, he takes Agila’s knife but then Agila has a knife again, then he says he never gave it back. His “eden” has a few ideas that might have been creative but ultimately only Jeffery Epstein would consider it Eden.
It’s really irredeemably terrible. I wish I had never read it. Of the 24 books of his I’ve read its by far the worst. I can’t recommend it to anyone other than dirty old men, and even they deserve something better. If I could give a book zero stars it would be this...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 2, 2018
Not terrible, but there’s no real explanation why the main character was on mars to begin with, or maybe I just missed it though. Some fun fantasy stuff in the middle. Not a bad time killer.
May 5, 2025
Girl don’t piss me off … bad in literally every way
January 27, 2015
Down to a Sunless Sea was a fun read. I read quite a few of Carter's books when they came out in the mid and late 70s, as well as most of his earlier work picked up at used book stores. But somewhere alone the line I lost interest; I'm not exactly sure why. Over the intervening years even though I wasn't reading him much I continued to look for and pick up the odd novel of his that I didn't have. Judging from the condition of this one I picked it up new in 1984 and stuck it on a shelf.
According the afterward Carter was going for a Leigh Brackett vibe for this book and I think he succeeded; I was thinking of her SF/Fantasy/Adventure stories, especially her Stark novels, while reading it.
It's been quite a while since I read most of Carter's other books, but I think this is one of his better ones. Looking at my book list it looks like I have 15 or so of his books still to read. I hope the others are much fun as this one.
According the afterward Carter was going for a Leigh Brackett vibe for this book and I think he succeeded; I was thinking of her SF/Fantasy/Adventure stories, especially her Stark novels, while reading it.
It's been quite a while since I read most of Carter's other books, but I think this is one of his better ones. Looking at my book list it looks like I have 15 or so of his books still to read. I hope the others are much fun as this one.
September 28, 2016
This is a great companion to the Mars of Leigh Brackett and Edgar Rice Burroughs.
This book starts out as a guy wondering the wastes of Mars and he soon finds more than he bargained for and ends up in a chase with hostile Martians (probably Burroughsian Red Men). Escape leads him and his crew into a forgotten world.
I wish the book had been longer, but what there was was really well written. A good amount of description and some internal characterization.
Must read for anyone who loves Barsoom. It cand be seen as a continuation of Barsoom while taking us into new territory.
This book starts out as a guy wondering the wastes of Mars and he soon finds more than he bargained for and ends up in a chase with hostile Martians (probably Burroughsian Red Men). Escape leads him and his crew into a forgotten world.
I wish the book had been longer, but what there was was really well written. A good amount of description and some internal characterization.
Must read for anyone who loves Barsoom. It cand be seen as a continuation of Barsoom while taking us into new territory.
July 26, 2010
Here, Carter is following a bit more of Leigh Brackett than ERB or REH. In other words, a little more space operish. Not bad, one of the ones I enjoyed pretty well by Carter, and with one of his better covers.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews