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Lost Worlds
A collection of 8 stories, primarily by Lin Carter, although three are collaborations with Clark Ashton Smith (2) and Robert E. Howard (1). The idea was a sort of "tour" of the imaginary worlds such as Atlantis, Lemuria, Mu, etc.
The Introduction: Lost Worlds of Time • essay by Lin Carter
The Scroll of Morloc • (1975) • shortstory by Clark Ashton Smith and Lin Carter
The Stairs in the Crypt • (1976) • shortstory by Clark Ashton Smith and Lin Carter
The Thing in the Pit • shortstory by Lin Carter
Thieves of Zangabal • [Thongor] • (1969) • novella by Lin Carter
Keeper of the Emerald Flame • [Thongor] • (1970) • novella by Lin Carter
Riders Beyond the Sunrise • [Kull of Valusia] • (1967) • shortstory by Robert E. Howard and Lin Carter
The Twelve Wizards of Ong • (1976) • shortstory by Lin Carter
The Seal of Zaon Sathla • (1970) • shortstory by Lin Carter
The Afterword: Lost Worlds to Come • essay by Lin Carter
The Introduction: Lost Worlds of Time • essay by Lin Carter
The Scroll of Morloc • (1975) • shortstory by Clark Ashton Smith and Lin Carter
The Stairs in the Crypt • (1976) • shortstory by Clark Ashton Smith and Lin Carter
The Thing in the Pit • shortstory by Lin Carter
Thieves of Zangabal • [Thongor] • (1969) • novella by Lin Carter
Keeper of the Emerald Flame • [Thongor] • (1970) • novella by Lin Carter
Riders Beyond the Sunrise • [Kull of Valusia] • (1967) • shortstory by Robert E. Howard and Lin Carter
The Twelve Wizards of Ong • (1976) • shortstory by Lin Carter
The Seal of Zaon Sathla • (1970) • shortstory by Lin Carter
The Afterword: Lost Worlds to Come • essay by Lin Carter
176 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 5, 1980
3 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
Lin Carter
420 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 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 27, 2021
A real intersection point between Lin Carter The Anthologist and Lin Carter The Writer. The stories are grouped according to the "Lost Worlds" themes, for Hyperboria, Mu, Lemuria, and so on (and his potshots at Blavatsky and Churchward are hilarious). The groupings show a method to his madness, and that's nice and I wish more anthologists had that presence of mind, but of course Lin Carter The Writer can't help but churn out a series of very same-looking stories that try to draw in the surface elements of some other writer but not the deeper presence.
Even when working in his own element--Thongor--it's surprising that Carter would generate a story that riffs heavily on Howard's "The Tower of the Elephant" (Burgle a wizard's sanctum? What could go wrong?) and off-handedly add the most interesting idea ("there are ancient tunnels beneath the city, nobody knows who made them, but explorers/experts have trailblazed paths using secret markers") and then not have the presence of mind to identify it as something other than a plot convenience.
"The Twelve Wizards of Ong" devolves into Carter's usual failings (there is one woman, presented as little more than a romantic interest, and she spends most of the time barely dressed), he reaches for a cosmic fantasy of planetary travel and super-powerful magics and Vancian bickering wizards without the fin de siècle of the Dying Earth series. He went for this in a couple of stories but never refined the concept.
Even when working in his own element--Thongor--it's surprising that Carter would generate a story that riffs heavily on Howard's "The Tower of the Elephant" (Burgle a wizard's sanctum? What could go wrong?) and off-handedly add the most interesting idea ("there are ancient tunnels beneath the city, nobody knows who made them, but explorers/experts have trailblazed paths using secret markers") and then not have the presence of mind to identify it as something other than a plot convenience.
"The Twelve Wizards of Ong" devolves into Carter's usual failings (there is one woman, presented as little more than a romantic interest, and she spends most of the time barely dressed), he reaches for a cosmic fantasy of planetary travel and super-powerful magics and Vancian bickering wizards without the fin de siècle of the Dying Earth series. He went for this in a couple of stories but never refined the concept.
April 11, 2019
I got hooked on sword & sorcery early on in life. I remember picking up some Conan comic books when I was around 8 or 9 years old, and by the time I was 12 I had graduated to Robert E. Howard’s source material itself. That’s where I got my pulp chops and I’m much the better fan for it.
Fritz Leiber originally coined the term “sword & sorcery,” in order to differentiate a subgenre of high fantasy that focused more on action and relied heavily on some sort of a supernatural element. The tales typically revolved around a mythical hero of muscular proportions, usually a brawny, barbarian sort of fellow who was as good with the women as he was with the blade. Moorcock would of course go on to tear that stereotype down with his immortal “Elric” series, adding a heavy dose of Joseph Campbell-inspired hero archetype along the way, but the basic elements of sword & sorcery fiction have generally been pretty straightforward as a rule. Boy meets girl meets skull-faced demon meets wizard meets enchanted sword meets….well, you certainly get the idea.
Wizards and magic-workers of varying stripes have also always been players on the S&S stage. Usually these tales involve intrigue and a deft weaving of plot, involving some sort of an enchanted MacGuffin that must be stolen or quested after. It’s also not unusual to encounter scantily-clad (if they are clad at all) damsels in your standard swords & sorcery tale. Most of the time, but not always, these ladies serve as romantic interests for our heroes. S&S is a generally fun and not overly serious subset of fantasy, and when it’s done right, it can be an awesome reading experience.
Author and editor Lin Carter began his writing career in the 1940s, working primarily for the pulp magazines of the era. Mentored by L. Sprague de Camp, Carter became a prolific and reasonably popular writer of sword & sorcery and science-fiction, his work often appearing in a wide variety of the genre periodicals through the decades of the '50s, '60s, and '70s. By the mid-'80s, his quality of life suffered greatly as a result of cancer and alcohol abuse, and he died in 1988 at the age of 57. His biggest legacy was as a writer of pastiches, as most of his professional output was written in styles that mimicked his favorite and most influential authors. Carter was particularly adept at imitating the works of other classic-era fantasy writers such as H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Clark Ashton Smith. Carter also produced a series (“Prince Zarkon”) that was heavily in debt to Kenneth Robeson’s “Doc Savage.”
Though his style was heavily derivative, Lin Carter was fairly well respected by other fantasy authors of his era. Carter would be the first one to credit his inspirations and never went out of his way to steal an idea that he didn’t attribute to the original author. He still rates as one of my favorite fantasy and speculative fiction authors to this day, and I still find myself combing the paperback racks at used book stores looking for missing volumes for my library.
In 1980, DAW books published a collection of Carter’s work under the title “Lost Worlds.” The book is a slender volume of short stories that all pay tribute to the lands and lore of ancient, imaginary civilizations such as Lemuria, Atlantis, and the fabled Mu. Reading this book some 38 years after I first encountered it left my adult me with much the same impression as it did my teenage me. Dear reader, if EVER you want a small sampling of what classic sword & sorcery can and should be, then this book is a must for you. The stories in this edition are varied and fun, and read like S&S brain candy, satisfying my base urges for tales of reckless action and epic scale. Honestly, though, it’s best to let Carter speak for himself, through a passage from “Riders Beyond the Sunrise,” written from notes left behind by Robert E. Howard:
“The sun stood bold on the mysterious horizon of the utmost east, like a ball of red fire. The mist that mantled the grassy land seemed to catch that fire and become a crimson haze into which Kull rode, a black figure, horse and rider merged into one, like a black basalt statue set against the Gates of Dawn.”
There are eight stories in this anthology, spread across six legendary lost lands.
HYPERBORIA: Hyperborea was imagined as a remote Arctic civilization often discussed in Greek myths and referenced by poets such as Pindar. It was again popularized in the late 1800s by Madame Blavatsky, and writer Clark Ashton Smith picked up on the legend for a series of short stories starting in the 1930s. Carter was asked to take Ashton’s notes for several unfinished stories and complete them for publication. Two of those stories appear here.
“The Scroll of Morloc” - A fun story about why you really should not profane against the Great Old Ones, lest you become what you fear most.
“The Stairs in the Crypt” - A sorcerer turned lich goes on a blood-spree to keep his carcass alive, but falls prey to the unlikeliest of fates.
MU: Invented in the 1920s by British eccentric James Churchward, Mu is a pretty standard lost-continent myth that lends itself well to speculative fiction.
“The Thing in the Pit” - Carter here offers an H. P. Lovecraft pastiche that works pretty well. Wizard priests, cursed magic scrolls, abominable Great Old Ones awakened from eons of slumber….what could possibly go wrong?
LEMURIA: Lemuria was more an invention of science than occultists, as it was a way to explain how similar fossils and species could be found on opposite ends of various oceans. Long discredited as a scientific theory, it nonetheless gave writers another convenient lost land to explore.
“Thieves of Zangabal” - The first of two stories involving Carter’s homage to Conan, Thongor the Mighty. Both tales take place early in Thongor’s career. In this one he takes on the guise of thief in order to snag a magic mirror from a powerful sorcerer. But things don’t exactly work out so easily….beware of magic mirrors that harbor the souls of demon princes.
“Keeper of the Emerald Flame” - Thongor goes deep into the jungle to discover a cursed land, a native girl who has all sorts of native….charms….and the lich of a long-lost wizard who doesn’t like it when you play with his toys.
VALUSIA: Valusia was invented by Robert E. Howard for his other primal barbarian character, Kull. Kull was from Atlantis, but as that was still a barbaric land, he traveled to Valusia for the bulk of his adventures. The story in this collection was completed by Carter from notes left behind by Howard after he committed suicide.
“Riders Beyond the Sunrise” - Kull gets dissed by a low-level prince of mischief and vows revenge. Turns out it was a trick by Kull’s arch-foe Thulsa Doom. This is just pure escapism, classic, gut-level sword and sorcery at its finest.
ANTILLIA: Antillia was a myth that arose as a result of pre-Columbian expeditions that may have discovered what is known today as Cuba. This myth is why Cuba and its neighboring island chain is called “The Antilles.” Carter co-opted this mythical isle for one of the more fun stories in this book.
“The Twelve Wizards of Ong” - A gently humorous tale of a group of wizards who wish to recruit another to the fold so that they may become a full coven. The problem is that the prospective thirteenth member has just stolen a powerful magic artifact and may not be so interested in joining forces. I loved this story.
ATLANTIS: The most well-known of all of the mythical lost lands. Plato first wrote about it in 355 B.C., and writers have been throwing words at it ever since. Carter places the last tale in the book here.
“The Seal of Zaon Sathla” - Never try to steal from powerful and crafty old wizards….just don’t do it. I love it when a villain gets his right comeuppance.
And there it is, short and sweet at an economical 176 pages of fun and fancy. Lin Carter was on the downside of his career when “Lost Worlds” was published, but for my money it still stands as one of his best anthologies. Grab it for those times when you want a quick dose of solid, pulpy S&S goodness.
Fritz Leiber originally coined the term “sword & sorcery,” in order to differentiate a subgenre of high fantasy that focused more on action and relied heavily on some sort of a supernatural element. The tales typically revolved around a mythical hero of muscular proportions, usually a brawny, barbarian sort of fellow who was as good with the women as he was with the blade. Moorcock would of course go on to tear that stereotype down with his immortal “Elric” series, adding a heavy dose of Joseph Campbell-inspired hero archetype along the way, but the basic elements of sword & sorcery fiction have generally been pretty straightforward as a rule. Boy meets girl meets skull-faced demon meets wizard meets enchanted sword meets….well, you certainly get the idea.
Wizards and magic-workers of varying stripes have also always been players on the S&S stage. Usually these tales involve intrigue and a deft weaving of plot, involving some sort of an enchanted MacGuffin that must be stolen or quested after. It’s also not unusual to encounter scantily-clad (if they are clad at all) damsels in your standard swords & sorcery tale. Most of the time, but not always, these ladies serve as romantic interests for our heroes. S&S is a generally fun and not overly serious subset of fantasy, and when it’s done right, it can be an awesome reading experience.
Author and editor Lin Carter began his writing career in the 1940s, working primarily for the pulp magazines of the era. Mentored by L. Sprague de Camp, Carter became a prolific and reasonably popular writer of sword & sorcery and science-fiction, his work often appearing in a wide variety of the genre periodicals through the decades of the '50s, '60s, and '70s. By the mid-'80s, his quality of life suffered greatly as a result of cancer and alcohol abuse, and he died in 1988 at the age of 57. His biggest legacy was as a writer of pastiches, as most of his professional output was written in styles that mimicked his favorite and most influential authors. Carter was particularly adept at imitating the works of other classic-era fantasy writers such as H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Clark Ashton Smith. Carter also produced a series (“Prince Zarkon”) that was heavily in debt to Kenneth Robeson’s “Doc Savage.”
Though his style was heavily derivative, Lin Carter was fairly well respected by other fantasy authors of his era. Carter would be the first one to credit his inspirations and never went out of his way to steal an idea that he didn’t attribute to the original author. He still rates as one of my favorite fantasy and speculative fiction authors to this day, and I still find myself combing the paperback racks at used book stores looking for missing volumes for my library.
In 1980, DAW books published a collection of Carter’s work under the title “Lost Worlds.” The book is a slender volume of short stories that all pay tribute to the lands and lore of ancient, imaginary civilizations such as Lemuria, Atlantis, and the fabled Mu. Reading this book some 38 years after I first encountered it left my adult me with much the same impression as it did my teenage me. Dear reader, if EVER you want a small sampling of what classic sword & sorcery can and should be, then this book is a must for you. The stories in this edition are varied and fun, and read like S&S brain candy, satisfying my base urges for tales of reckless action and epic scale. Honestly, though, it’s best to let Carter speak for himself, through a passage from “Riders Beyond the Sunrise,” written from notes left behind by Robert E. Howard:
“The sun stood bold on the mysterious horizon of the utmost east, like a ball of red fire. The mist that mantled the grassy land seemed to catch that fire and become a crimson haze into which Kull rode, a black figure, horse and rider merged into one, like a black basalt statue set against the Gates of Dawn.”
There are eight stories in this anthology, spread across six legendary lost lands.
HYPERBORIA: Hyperborea was imagined as a remote Arctic civilization often discussed in Greek myths and referenced by poets such as Pindar. It was again popularized in the late 1800s by Madame Blavatsky, and writer Clark Ashton Smith picked up on the legend for a series of short stories starting in the 1930s. Carter was asked to take Ashton’s notes for several unfinished stories and complete them for publication. Two of those stories appear here.
“The Scroll of Morloc” - A fun story about why you really should not profane against the Great Old Ones, lest you become what you fear most.
“The Stairs in the Crypt” - A sorcerer turned lich goes on a blood-spree to keep his carcass alive, but falls prey to the unlikeliest of fates.
MU: Invented in the 1920s by British eccentric James Churchward, Mu is a pretty standard lost-continent myth that lends itself well to speculative fiction.
“The Thing in the Pit” - Carter here offers an H. P. Lovecraft pastiche that works pretty well. Wizard priests, cursed magic scrolls, abominable Great Old Ones awakened from eons of slumber….what could possibly go wrong?
LEMURIA: Lemuria was more an invention of science than occultists, as it was a way to explain how similar fossils and species could be found on opposite ends of various oceans. Long discredited as a scientific theory, it nonetheless gave writers another convenient lost land to explore.
“Thieves of Zangabal” - The first of two stories involving Carter’s homage to Conan, Thongor the Mighty. Both tales take place early in Thongor’s career. In this one he takes on the guise of thief in order to snag a magic mirror from a powerful sorcerer. But things don’t exactly work out so easily….beware of magic mirrors that harbor the souls of demon princes.
“Keeper of the Emerald Flame” - Thongor goes deep into the jungle to discover a cursed land, a native girl who has all sorts of native….charms….and the lich of a long-lost wizard who doesn’t like it when you play with his toys.
VALUSIA: Valusia was invented by Robert E. Howard for his other primal barbarian character, Kull. Kull was from Atlantis, but as that was still a barbaric land, he traveled to Valusia for the bulk of his adventures. The story in this collection was completed by Carter from notes left behind by Howard after he committed suicide.
“Riders Beyond the Sunrise” - Kull gets dissed by a low-level prince of mischief and vows revenge. Turns out it was a trick by Kull’s arch-foe Thulsa Doom. This is just pure escapism, classic, gut-level sword and sorcery at its finest.
ANTILLIA: Antillia was a myth that arose as a result of pre-Columbian expeditions that may have discovered what is known today as Cuba. This myth is why Cuba and its neighboring island chain is called “The Antilles.” Carter co-opted this mythical isle for one of the more fun stories in this book.
“The Twelve Wizards of Ong” - A gently humorous tale of a group of wizards who wish to recruit another to the fold so that they may become a full coven. The problem is that the prospective thirteenth member has just stolen a powerful magic artifact and may not be so interested in joining forces. I loved this story.
ATLANTIS: The most well-known of all of the mythical lost lands. Plato first wrote about it in 355 B.C., and writers have been throwing words at it ever since. Carter places the last tale in the book here.
“The Seal of Zaon Sathla” - Never try to steal from powerful and crafty old wizards….just don’t do it. I love it when a villain gets his right comeuppance.
And there it is, short and sweet at an economical 176 pages of fun and fancy. Lin Carter was on the downside of his career when “Lost Worlds” was published, but for my money it still stands as one of his best anthologies. Grab it for those times when you want a quick dose of solid, pulpy S&S goodness.
May 21, 2016
a splendid collection of old-fashioned fantasies, enlivened by Carter's lavish purple prose and his unerring misuse and misunderstanding of various words and phrases. for example a consomme of oyster would never be served with a cream sauce, even in ancient Hyperborea. how exactly would a cream sauce go on a broth anyway? or, for that matter, is it even possible to make a clarified broth from oysters? well I suppose you could just boil them down and then strain the oysters out. that sounds disgusting.
Carter divides up his stories into sections featuring different lost lands like Lemuria, Mu, Atlantis, Valusia, Antillia, and of course my favorite, Hyperborea. not that the separation means much. they all pretty much sound the same: places full of lush jungles and dank crypts and airy palaces and dark manses and magic and murder and undead monstrosities and sinister sorcerers and bare-breasted damsels and bare-chested warriors. wonderfully strange and archaic places made popular by Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, et al.
nearly each tale is tremendous fun. Carter may criminally overwrite his stories but I don't care, that's a big part of the appeal for me. while he may lack the weird poetic flourishes of CAS or the exciting narratives of REH, he makes up for it with a surplus of delectable descriptive passages. I was constantly smiling at his obvious pleasure in writing about these worlds (as well as at his charmingly egocentric introductory passages for each lost world). even better, a good number of these stories are from the perspective of various villainous creatures. reading about an undead lich in "The Stairs in the Crypt", rising from his tomb and admiring his new appearance then contemplating feasting on a yummy, chubby priest... that was a special pleasure. although his Conan tale "Riders Beyond the Sunrise" was surprisingly dull, I thoroughly enjoyed his pastiche of H.P. Lovecraft in "The Thing in the Pit" (bad priest realizes that the Old Ones are even more bad than he realized and he probably shouldn't attempt to open their gates because, you know, end of the world and stuff). my favorite was the Vancean "The Twelve Wizards of Ong": a light and ironic tale featuring a bunch of amusing magic-users who would normally be the villains of any other story, attempting to woo a 13th person into their group so that they can finally form the coven of their dreams. delightful!
Carter divides up his stories into sections featuring different lost lands like Lemuria, Mu, Atlantis, Valusia, Antillia, and of course my favorite, Hyperborea. not that the separation means much. they all pretty much sound the same: places full of lush jungles and dank crypts and airy palaces and dark manses and magic and murder and undead monstrosities and sinister sorcerers and bare-breasted damsels and bare-chested warriors. wonderfully strange and archaic places made popular by Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, et al.
nearly each tale is tremendous fun. Carter may criminally overwrite his stories but I don't care, that's a big part of the appeal for me. while he may lack the weird poetic flourishes of CAS or the exciting narratives of REH, he makes up for it with a surplus of delectable descriptive passages. I was constantly smiling at his obvious pleasure in writing about these worlds (as well as at his charmingly egocentric introductory passages for each lost world). even better, a good number of these stories are from the perspective of various villainous creatures. reading about an undead lich in "The Stairs in the Crypt", rising from his tomb and admiring his new appearance then contemplating feasting on a yummy, chubby priest... that was a special pleasure. although his Conan tale "Riders Beyond the Sunrise" was surprisingly dull, I thoroughly enjoyed his pastiche of H.P. Lovecraft in "The Thing in the Pit" (bad priest realizes that the Old Ones are even more bad than he realized and he probably shouldn't attempt to open their gates because, you know, end of the world and stuff). my favorite was the Vancean "The Twelve Wizards of Ong": a light and ironic tale featuring a bunch of amusing magic-users who would normally be the villains of any other story, attempting to woo a 13th person into their group so that they can finally form the coven of their dreams. delightful!
May 20, 2019
A collection of fantasy of the Weird-Tales genre loosely related by the theme of lost continents and islands, such as Hyperborea, Mu, Lemuria, Anlantis. The prose occasionally gets a little cheesy, but mostly I enjoyed this.
February 2, 2020
Clark Ashton shows that reading unidentified scrolls is always an issue ,
November 26, 2015
If you are in the mood to read some extra stories that were lying around, you are in luck, because Lin Carter published some stories that were lying around. The two of you should be fine. :-)
Seriously, organized by the world in which they occur, these stories are nothing to get excited about. Not bad, but not good either.
There is so much other good pulp era fantasy to read, that even if it takes you a long time (like never) to get to this one, you can rest easy knowing you haven't missed much. :-)
Seriously, organized by the world in which they occur, these stories are nothing to get excited about. Not bad, but not good either.
There is so much other good pulp era fantasy to read, that even if it takes you a long time (like never) to get to this one, you can rest easy knowing you haven't missed much. :-)
December 31, 2008
Most of these stories are by Carter, with three collaborations, two with Clark Ashton Smith and one with Robert E. Howard. Wasn't a terribly compelling collection but was interesting. Maybe two and a half stars.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews