Zanthodon
1980 novel by Lin Carter
0-87997-543-1Zanthodon is a science fiction novel by American writer Lin Carter, the second in his series about the fictional "Hollow Earth" land of Zanthodon. It was first published in paperback by DAW Books in June 1980, with an ebook edition following from Gateway/Orion in October 2018.[1] It was also gathered together with the other volumes in the series into the omnibus ebook collection The Zanthodon Megapack (Wildside Press, 2014).
Plot summary
Zanthodon is envisioned as an immense circular cavern five hundred miles wide, one hundred miles beneath the Sahara Desert, a refugium preserving various prehistoric faunas and antique human cultures that have found their way into it throughout the ages.
As the novel opens, protagonist Eric Carstairs, Professor Potter, and their Zanthodonian companions have been separated, and must separately face the menaces of Kairadine Redbeard, corsair captain of the Red Witch, the dwarfish Gorpaks, the Gorpaks' leech-like masters the Sluagghs, and the Neanderthal Drugars. Overcoming these various antagonists, the heroes are reunited in the end only to be taken captive by the Minoans of Zar, while Achmed the Moor makes off with Eric's love interest Darya.
The author provides as an afterword "The People of Zanthodon" at the end of the book, enumerating the various characters and groups appearing therein.
Sources
Previous fictional underground and lost worlds are referenced by the characters in the preceding book, Journey to the Underground World, including those of Jules Verne (Journey to the Center of the Earth), Edgar Rice Burroughs (Pellucidar), Arthur Conan Doyle (The Lost World), and even King Kong (Skull Island), highlighting the author's literary debt to these precursors.[2]
Reception
Robert M. Price finds the book and series "not without their charming moments," but also sees in them "clear evidence of Lin Carter's increasing carelessness as a writer," exhibiting "an increasing tendency toward self-contradiction and incoherent conception—a greater sloppiness coupled with an exhaustion of imagination."[2]
References
- ^ Zanthodon title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- ^ a b Price, Robert M. Lin Carter: A Look Behind His Imaginary Worlds. Mercer Island, WA, Starmont House, 1991, pages 61-63.
External links
- "'Zanthodon' Overview," a survey of the series by Steve Servello in Erbzine.
- "The Pellucidar Connection," a literary comparison of Carter's Zanthodon with Burroughs's Pellucidar by Den Valdron, also in Erbzine.
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Works by Lin Carter
- Jandar of Callisto (1972)
- Black Legion of Callisto (1972)
- Sky Pirates of Callisto (1973)
- Mad Empress of Callisto (1975)
- Mind Wizards of Callisto (1975)
- Lankar of Callisto (1975)
- Ylana of Callisto (1977)
- Renegade of Callisto (1978)
- Under the Green Star (1972)
- When the Green Star Calls (1973)
- By the Light of the Green Star (1974)
- As the Green Star Rises (1975)
- In the Green Star's Glow (1976)
- The Flame of Iridar (1967)
- "The Martian El Dorado of Parker Wintley" (1976)
- The Valley Where Time Stood Still (1974)
- The City Outside the World (1977)
- Down to a Sunless Sea (1984)
- The Man Who Loved Mars (1973)
- The Nemesis of Evil (1975)
- Invisible Death (1975)
- The Volcano Ogre (1976)
- The Earth-Shaker (1982)
- Horror Wears Blue (1987)
- Journey to the Underground World (1979)
- Zanthodon (1980)
- Hurok of the Stone Age (1981)
- Darya of the Bronze Age (1981)
- Eric of Zanthodon (1982)
- The Wizard of Lemuria (1965/69)
- Thongor and the Dragon City (1966/70)
- Thongor Against the Gods (1967)
- Thongor in the City of Magicians (1968)
- Thongor at the End of Time (1968)
- Thongor Fights the Pirates of Tarakus (1970)
- Young Thongor (2012)
- The Sword of Thongor (Robert M. Price) (2016)
| Novels |
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|---|---|
| Short works |
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| Collections |
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- "Exile of Atlantis" (1967)
- King Kull (1967)
- The Warrior of World's End (1974)
- The Enchantress of World's End (1975)
- The Immortal of World's End (1976)
- The Barbarian of World's End (1977)
- The Pirate of World's End (1978)
- Giant of World's End (1969)
- Kesrick (1982)
- Dragonrouge (1984)
- Mandricardo (1987)
- Callipygia (1988)
- The Quest of Kadji (1971)
- The Wizard of Zao (1978)
- Kellory the Warlock (1984)
- Tara of the Twilight (1979)
- The Tired Tailor of Oz (2001)
- The Merry Mountaineer of Oz (2004)
- Beyond the Gates of Dream (1969)
- Lost Worlds (1980)
- The Xothic Legend Cycle: The Complete Mythos Fiction of Lin Carter (1997)
- Lin Carter's Simrana Cycle (2018)
edited
| BAFS and Doubleday anthologies |
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|---|---|
| Flashing Swords! |
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| Year's Best Fantasy |
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| Weird Tales |
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| Other |
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- Tolkien: A Look Behind "The Lord of the Rings" (1969)
- Lovecraft: A Look Behind the "Cthulhu Mythos" (1972)
- Imaginary Worlds (1973)
- Sandalwood and Jade (1951)
- Galleon of Dream (1953)
- Letter to Judith (1959)
- Dreams from R'lyeh (1975)
