Ah, Lin Carter! Many a boring Summer day I was glad to find out another book by him. Especially after I finished all my Edgar Rice Burroughs books . Very interesting to think how his service in Korea may have affected his approach to things. He may have been an alcoholic, but he certainly accomplished a lot in the field that he was interested in.
Thanks Michael! And that would be an interesting project. The best person to have interviewed for it would have been De Camp. But unfortunately, we've lost him as well.
Thanx for the shout out to Lin Carter. He is a MAJOR figure as a preservationist of genre literature. The Martin Scorsese of pulp and 19th century fantasy romantic adventure fiction! He did much to bridge the pulp era of the first half of the 20th century w/ the paperback one of the second, when science fiction and fantasy began its major shifts, first, into youth culture, and from there into the mainstream of today. I'll aways be glad that I read the first two Thongor books as a teenager, before my critical faculties had developed. I was able to enjoy them as a red blooded boy should - fun, fun, fun! They will always have a special place in my heart. In fact, years later, I researched and wrote an article for the magazine Little Shoppe of Horrors on the unmade Thongor movie, interviewing the director -- before it was cancelled -- Harley Cokeliss, who was the second unit director on The Empire Strikes Back.
I remember Lin Carter as mainly an enthusiastic superfan who was always eager to show those not so in-the-know to interesting pathways. His "Imaginary Worlds" and "Looks Behind" Tolkien and Lovecraft, while not always strictly accurate, were like having a good chat with a fellow enthusiast; this was before the more magisterial works on Tolkien and Lovecraft had come out, before they were even seen as a serious subject by most people. I have a book about him, "Apostle of Letters: The Life and Works of Lin Carter" edited by Steven J. Servello, not a real biography but essays and memoirs about him. There is a somewhat rare book, "Lin Carter: A Look Behind His Imaginary Worlds" by Robert M. Price, that I would dearly love to have. And his editorship of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series!
Great video! Agreed, Lin Carter does deserve credit. His work is fun, though not always good. In a strange way, the fact that he isn’t the best writer in the world, yet he still worked at it with passion and had such a huge effect on the genre makes him all the more inspiring.
I read a boatload of Carter as a kid. Trash? Assuredly. He had the occasional highlight, but largely his prose was unremarkable. That said, I value those stories. He offered me hours of escape, and for that, I will always appreciate him.
Without Lin Carter's love of Sword and Sorcery we wouldn't have had those iconic book covers of Frazetta, Krenkle, and Vallejo, who I would contend attracted a massive audience to the genre. It's hard to overstate the gravitational pull of those paperback covers. Another super fan, someone who loved comics, and went on to professionally have a significant role and influence is RoyThomas. Those early Marvel Conans with art by Barry Windsor Smith expanded the genre exponentially.
Thank you for this. I love his efforts. Not because they are good ~ most are a bit odd not bad but not great either. A lot are fun. Most seem bad then get good for a chapter or two then are return to mediocre. Honestly I dont find them that much worse then most of the Barsoom cannon for example or Wolves of the Steppes (recommended . Harold Lamb). I enjoy it for what it is. Like I enjoy a lot of the sword and sandal and sword and sorcery pulp. Or Battletech or other pulpy genre efforts. I enjoy it for pure fun times. Honestly he was "fanfic" before that subgenre even existed. As an editor in the 70's and later he is a true Icon of the business for fantasy in general before it had the love it does today.
Kudos to you for doing this appreciation of an author who loved the fantastic genres and did much to expand and promote them. He was a writer like many of the pulp writers who wanted to tell a fantastic story, and often did. I read many of his books and enjoyed them. He was always put down by people with their noses in the air but never wrote a word. You did a good job on this video, he deserves to be remembered and his better books should be reprinted. As an editor he was very influential and important. All best to you.
Thanks Gary and thank you for checking out the video. A collection of Lin Carter works would be an interesting project for a publisher...and a help to fans.
Very interesting! The only thing I knew about Lin Carter was that he put together my favorite Clark Ashton Smith anthologies on Ballentine. A couple of weeks ago, I did find a Lin Carter book locally and just picked it up out of curiosity. I looked, "The Man Who Loved Mars" is the one I have.
He was what I referred to as a cotton candy author. Tastes good while you are eating it, but doesn't have any real impact, and you forget almost all of it pretty soon. Have the Green Star series, sort of book you knock off in an evening. Did like a character name, stole it for my first D&D character, and my Hotmail password when I got email. So that character has had a life of 25+ years for me
I'd have to attribute my early interest in Sword and Sorcery at least in part to Lin Carter. It seemed that he was some how involved in half the books I read. It is worth noting that he actually inserted himself into the Callisto series, transporting himself to the moon in Lankar of Callisto. His contributions to this realm of fiction are definitely worth noting.
This was an awesome video! You are doing the booktube community a service putting out an informative video like this. I will be sharing this anytime someone asks about Lin Carter. Keep up the good work!
I really thought I was the last Lin Carter fan on earth. His book Tolkien a look behind the lord of the rings, is very important. The bibliography alone is enough for a life time of reading. I know since I tried to read them. I was never able to find a copy of the elder edda. My college library claimed to have it. But they couldnt locate it :)
I like Lin Carter, because that was what I could get my hands on when I was growing up! I like the scale. I think he wrote what he wanted to read, not particularly original or insightful of the human condition. Most of it is entertaining -- except at the bottom end of the scale.
Exactly Zulda! It was what you could get your hands on. Because in the sixties and early 70s he was one of a very few authors writing in this sub genre.
Very good. I recall Lin Carter not as an excellent author, but as a sort of brand, a tag, and an introduction to fantasy worlds. The Tor book with a Lin Carter blurb on the back cover. I appreciate him, all part of life's rich pageant.
But I liked the Nemesis of Evil! Well, I was 14 at the time...🙄 Zarkon was on the shelves of my public library in Hawaii. I enjoyed those books when I didn't know better, but thankfully the Witches of Karres, Dune, Dune Messiah were also on the shelves. 🎉🚀🛸
@@GrammaticusBooks What you said about Lin Carter's rationale for the Green Star novels...of explaining how John Carter ended up on Mars... Asimov agreed to write the novelization of Fantastic Voyage because he was bothered by the massive plot hole in the movie. The wreckage of the Proteus should have killed the scientist, regardless that everyone else made it out of the body. So he wrote the novelization with the white blood cell that ate the miniaturized ship, being attacked by the protagonist, so it chased the survivors to the eye, allowing the surgical team to extract every bit of the miniaturized matter. 🤓🐶😂
The man was a writing machine! Even if he was mostly "quantity over quality", I definitely respect the work ethic. Darn, I need to get back to MY manuscript...😅
@@GrammaticusBooks I have a few self-pub books out already. My short story collection "Sand & Steel" came out earlier this year. This one's a novel I'm trying to finish before the end of the year.
I've heard the name in the past but Carter wasn't on my radar. My TBR is already dozens long (currently reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, next up might be Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet.) I checked my friend's shelf and he has 4 Lin Carter books: The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 2. Journey to the Underground World. Kesrick (An adult fantasy.) The City Outside the World. Got any thoughts on those?
Lin Carter helped modernize the rather stilted language of ERB through his fan fiction. LIn had a command of English and was not a slouch in terms of swords and sorcery and magical fantasy.
I Picked up a copy of Thongor of Lemuria a while back, I have been holding off on reading it since it is apparently a #2 in a series. Would you say it can be read out of order?
Most likely. But Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria is the first. Is that the one you have? In that case you're good to go (I'm not seeing a Thongor of Lemuria). And even if it's a different book, there's not a whole lot to fill in between novels.
@@GrammaticusBooks Definitely Thongor of Lemuria, no mention of a wizard, though there is an enticing 'network of evil'. Goodreads even has my cover; green with a steroid male type wresting aliens... Well, if you are confident I might just go ahead and read it without waiting for the alleged #1.
Coincidentally, I just finished de Camp and Carter's 'Conan the Buccaneer' yesterday. It was okay, but I must admit I almost gave up on it when Sigurd turned up and the dialogue took a bit of a nautical turn, fry my guts for a lubber if I didn't (sorry). While on the subject, at one point Conan says 'ahem', which would seem somewhat atypical. I just don't imagine Conan ever saying 'ahem'. Overall, though, not awful, and given the goings-on with Queen Nzinga, perfect for Garbaugust. The bit with Tsathoggua is rather reminiscent of Clark Ashton-Smith's 'The Tale of Satampra Zeiros'. The U.K. editions of the Thongor books had nice covers by Les Edwards. Very interesting video.
I have a copy of Robert M. Price's 1991 study "Lin Carter: A Look Behind His Imaginary Worlds" from the long-defunct Starmont House. (Poorly bound and falling apart.) Has some biographical information, quotes from a few letters (as well as from De Camp), which fills out a little more on the personal side of things. Price became the executor of Carter's estate after Carter's death. Don't know if there are any copies of this floating around for sale, although I don't know how deeply you want to go into "Carteriana."
Well, it's not a deep dive or anything, but it has footnotes! Can lend it to you if you want to do further research. Plus Carter's papers are held at two institutions, so you can fill your retirement years pretty quickly. Carter was the only author I sent a fan letter to (most authors I read were dead). Hope to Crom that letter is no longer around! I blame Michael Vaughan for getting me on this Carter kick, what with his talk of pastiches. I really should be reading something else!
I have only read the Callisto books and The Man who loved Mars. I thought the Man who loved Mars was a lot better than the Callisto series. Lin also wrote a few episodes of the Cartoon Spiderman series from the 70"s
I did not know Carter wrote Spiderman episodes! Good info. And I have the 'Man Who Loved Mars' around here somewhere. I'll have to dig it up and read it!
Posthumous collaborations 🤭 Hmmm, I'm still not happy with pastiche, but he served in Korea so he gets a pass. I'm always curious about authors who served in conflicts. I wonder if he attended Colombia on a GI bill ?
I suppose it's possible he did have a GI bill. Another commenter said he was awarded a purple heart in Korea as well. Also, on another topic, I should have my top-10 Movie list out either tomorrow or next week DDB.
I'm a proud owner of a first edition of "Tara of the Twilight." This was his attempt at an erotic swordswoman tale. It is not a good book by any means, but it is compulsively readable. It's elements include pedophilia, rape, and copious nudity and a heroine who, rather implausibly, remains a virgin throughout. The promiseed sequels never appeared. Is that a good thing? I obviously don't know.
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Ah, Lin Carter!
Many a boring Summer day I was glad to find out another book by him. Especially after I finished all my Edgar Rice Burroughs books .
Very interesting to think how his service in Korea may have affected his approach to things. He may have been an alcoholic, but he certainly accomplished a lot in the field that he was interested in.
Plus, I love the idea of ranking him on his own scale. That really makes a lot of sense to me.
He was great for a fun summer popcorn read Sleepy!
This video is fantastic! Lin Carter deserved it. A bibliography would be an interesting project to undertake.
Thanks Michael! And that would be an interesting project. The best person to have interviewed for it would have been De Camp. But unfortunately, we've lost him as well.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 "Bibliography" or "Biography"?😂
I probably said Bibliography in the video....
@@GrammaticusBooks You did. 😂🤣 No worries, we all knew what you meant. 🐶☺️
Thanx for the shout out to Lin Carter. He is a MAJOR figure as a preservationist of genre literature. The Martin Scorsese of pulp and 19th century fantasy romantic adventure fiction! He did much to bridge the pulp era of the first half of the 20th century w/ the paperback one of the second, when science fiction and fantasy began its major shifts, first, into youth culture, and from there into the mainstream of today. I'll aways be glad that I read the first two Thongor books as a teenager, before my critical faculties had developed. I was able to enjoy them as a red blooded boy should - fun, fun, fun! They will always have a special place in my heart. In fact, years later, I researched and wrote an article for the magazine Little Shoppe of Horrors on the unmade Thongor movie, interviewing the director -- before it was cancelled -- Harley Cokeliss, who was the second unit director on The Empire Strikes Back.
That must have been a fun, entertaining interview Micah!
Great video! Lin Carter's work on the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series was absolutely incredible. He republished so many forgotten masterpieces!
Thanks Liminal! He made a lot of things happen!
I remember Lin Carter as mainly an enthusiastic superfan who was always eager to show those not so in-the-know to interesting pathways. His "Imaginary Worlds" and "Looks Behind" Tolkien and Lovecraft, while not always strictly accurate, were like having a good chat with a fellow enthusiast; this was before the more magisterial works on Tolkien and Lovecraft had come out, before they were even seen as a serious subject by most people. I have a book about him, "Apostle of Letters: The Life and Works of Lin Carter" edited by Steven J. Servello, not a real biography but essays and memoirs about him. There is a somewhat rare book, "Lin Carter: A Look Behind His Imaginary Worlds" by Robert M. Price, that I would dearly love to have. And his editorship of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series!
Thank you for the heads up on those books Kameron! I will see if I can track those down.
Great video! Agreed, Lin Carter does deserve credit. His work is fun, though not always good. In a strange way, the fact that he isn’t the best writer in the world, yet he still worked at it with passion and had such a huge effect on the genre makes him all the more inspiring.
I think you hit the nail on the head Tim. He worked with passion. Well put.
Lin Carter. Thank you for all you did. Thanks for this video.
Thank you for checking it out Charles!
I read a boatload of Carter as a kid. Trash? Assuredly. He had the occasional highlight, but largely his prose was unremarkable. That said, I value those stories. He offered me hours of escape, and for that, I will always appreciate him.
Absolutely, I'm reading the Thing in the Crypt right now from the first Lancer Conan paperback series. And it's actually quite good.
Without Lin Carter's love of Sword and Sorcery we wouldn't have had those iconic book covers of Frazetta, Krenkle, and Vallejo, who I would contend attracted a massive audience to the genre. It's hard to overstate the gravitational pull of those paperback covers. Another super fan, someone who loved comics, and went on to professionally have a significant role and influence is RoyThomas. Those early Marvel Conans with art by Barry Windsor Smith expanded the genre exponentially.
Not too mention Roy Thomas and Big John Buscema's collaboration on Savage Sword of Conan. Good stuff Buck!
Thank you for this. I love his efforts. Not because they are good ~ most are a bit odd not bad but not great either. A lot are fun. Most seem bad then get good for a chapter or two then are return to mediocre. Honestly I dont find them that much worse then most of the Barsoom cannon for example or Wolves of the Steppes (recommended . Harold Lamb). I enjoy it for what it is. Like I enjoy a lot of the sword and sandal and sword and sorcery pulp. Or Battletech or other pulpy genre efforts. I enjoy it for pure fun times. Honestly he was "fanfic" before that subgenre even existed. As an editor in the 70's and later he is a true Icon of the business for fantasy in general before it had the love it does today.
Fanfic before fanfic...that's a great analogy Epone!
@@GrammaticusBooks Thanks!
Kudos to you for doing this appreciation of an author who loved the fantastic genres and did much to expand and promote them. He was a writer like many of the pulp writers who wanted to tell a fantastic story, and often did. I read many of his books and enjoyed them. He was always put down by people with their noses in the air but never wrote a word. You did a good job on this video, he deserves to be remembered and his better books should be reprinted. As an editor he was very influential and important. All best to you.
Thanks Gary and thank you for checking out the video. A collection of Lin Carter works would be an interesting project for a publisher...and a help to fans.
I hadn't known anything about Lin Carter, so this was a good introduction. Thank you.
Thank you for checking it out Time Traveler!
Lin Carter is certainly important as an editor and someone who kept alive a lot of the pulp material we could have lost otherwise.
I agree completely and some of his novels are actually good fun summer popcorn fare.
I view Lin Carter as a journeyman like a MLB pitcher who, while not a star, can reliably eat innings in the middle of the game.
Not a bad analogy Craig!
Very interesting! The only thing I knew about Lin Carter was that he put together my favorite Clark Ashton Smith anthologies on Ballentine. A couple of weeks ago, I did find a Lin Carter book locally and just picked it up out of curiosity. I looked, "The Man Who Loved Mars" is the one I have.
You'll have to let me know how the book is!
He was what I referred to as a cotton candy author. Tastes good while you are eating it, but doesn't have any real impact, and you forget almost all of it pretty soon. Have the Green Star series, sort of book you knock off in an evening. Did like a character name, stole it for my first D&D character, and my Hotmail password when I got email. So that character has had a life of 25+ years for me
Absolutely, I think of Carter as light summer popcorn fare.
He had a "Purple Heart" awarded
Good info! Thank you for that Thomas!
I'd have to attribute my early interest in Sword and Sorcery at least in part to Lin Carter. It seemed that he was some how involved in half the books I read. It is worth noting that he actually inserted himself into the Callisto series, transporting himself to the moon in Lankar of Callisto. His contributions to this realm of fiction are definitely worth noting.
Inserted himself as in directly wrote Lin Carter into the novel? That would be interesting!
This was an awesome video! You are doing the booktube community a service putting out an informative video like this. I will be sharing this anytime someone asks about Lin Carter.
Keep up the good work!
Glad you enjoyed it Joseph! BTW ~ I'm currently working my way through the first Black Company novel.
@@GrammaticusBooks I hope you enjoy it! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on it(if you decide to share them).
This video is a 9 on the Grammaticus Books scale.
Thank you sir!
I really thought I was the last Lin Carter fan on earth. His book Tolkien a look behind the lord of the rings, is very important. The bibliography alone is enough for a life time of reading. I know since I tried to read them. I was never able to find a copy of the elder edda. My college library claimed to have it. But they couldnt locate it :)
He can be a lot of fun to read when he's on his game Mike! Whenever I come across his novels in the wild, I always pick them up.
I like Lin Carter, because that was what I could get my hands on when I was growing up! I like the scale. I think he wrote what he wanted to read, not particularly original or insightful of the human condition. Most of it is entertaining -- except at the bottom end of the scale.
Exactly Zulda! It was what you could get your hands on. Because in the sixties and early 70s he was one of a very few authors writing in this sub genre.
Mate, I love your channel. You review all of the authors and books I love. Have you ever thought of reviewing the Dying Earth series by Jack Vance?
In fact I have thought of reviewing Dying Earth. I have the large collected volume and have read it...but you might not like my take on it!
Very good. I recall Lin Carter not as an excellent author, but as a sort of brand, a tag, and an introduction to fantasy worlds. The Tor book with a Lin Carter blurb on the back cover. I appreciate him, all part of life's rich pageant.
Thanks Daniel, I think we do owe him a lot!
But I liked the Nemesis of Evil! Well, I was 14 at the time...🙄
Zarkon was on the shelves of my public library in Hawaii. I enjoyed those books when I didn't know better, but thankfully the Witches of Karres, Dune, Dune Messiah were also on the shelves. 🎉🚀🛸
Dune ~ a much better choice User!
@@GrammaticusBooks What you said about Lin Carter's rationale for the Green Star novels...of explaining how John Carter ended up on Mars...
Asimov agreed to write the novelization of Fantastic Voyage because he was bothered by the massive plot hole in the movie. The wreckage of the Proteus should have killed the scientist, regardless that everyone else made it out of the body. So he wrote the novelization with the white blood cell that ate the miniaturized ship, being attacked by the protagonist, so it chased the survivors to the eye, allowing the surgical team to extract every bit of the miniaturized matter. 🤓🐶😂
I vaguely remember watching that movie ages ago. I'll bet that's one where the novelization is better than the film!
@@GrammaticusBooks No, not really. The book doesn't have Rachel Welch in a white wetsuit... 😳🤩😍🥰🤤
The man was a writing machine! Even if he was mostly "quantity over quality", I definitely respect the work ethic. Darn, I need to get back to MY manuscript...😅
You're writing a book SFB?!?! I would love to read it when you're done sir!
@@GrammaticusBooks I have a few self-pub books out already. My short story collection "Sand & Steel" came out earlier this year. This one's a novel I'm trying to finish before the end of the year.
Well done. How about doing a similar video about Lin’s partner in crime L. Sprague deCamp?
That is an excellent idea!
I've heard the name in the past but Carter wasn't on my radar. My TBR is already dozens long (currently reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, next up might be Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet.) I checked my friend's shelf and he has 4 Lin Carter books:
The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 2.
Journey to the Underground World.
Kesrick (An adult fantasy.)
The City Outside the World.
Got any thoughts on those?
Pillars of the Earth is a fantastic book Douglas...stick with that one sir!
Lin Carter helped modernize the rather stilted language of ERB through his fan fiction. LIn had a command of English and was not a slouch in terms of swords and sorcery and magical fantasy.
He had many very entertaining novels!
I Picked up a copy of Thongor of Lemuria a while back, I have been holding off on reading it since it is apparently a #2 in a series. Would you say it can be read out of order?
Most likely. But Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria is the first. Is that the one you have? In that case you're good to go (I'm not seeing a Thongor of Lemuria). And even if it's a different book, there's not a whole lot to fill in between novels.
@@GrammaticusBooks Definitely Thongor of Lemuria, no mention of a wizard, though there is an enticing 'network of evil'. Goodreads even has my cover; green with a steroid male type wresting aliens... Well, if you are confident I might just go ahead and read it without waiting for the alleged #1.
Coincidentally, I just finished de Camp and Carter's 'Conan the Buccaneer' yesterday. It was okay, but I must admit I almost gave up on it when Sigurd turned up and the dialogue took a bit of a nautical turn, fry my guts for a lubber if I didn't (sorry). While on the subject, at one point Conan says 'ahem', which would seem somewhat atypical. I just don't imagine Conan ever saying 'ahem'. Overall, though, not awful, and given the goings-on with Queen Nzinga, perfect for Garbaugust. The bit with Tsathoggua is rather reminiscent of Clark Ashton-Smith's 'The Tale of Satampra Zeiros'.
The U.K. editions of the Thongor books had nice covers by Les Edwards. Very interesting video.
Thanks Para and I hear you on Sigurd. It was like DeCamp was trying to turn him into an English pirate.
I have a copy of Robert M. Price's 1991 study "Lin Carter: A Look Behind His Imaginary Worlds" from the long-defunct Starmont House. (Poorly bound and falling apart.) Has some biographical information, quotes from a few letters (as well as from De Camp), which fills out a little more on the personal side of things. Price became the executor of Carter's estate after Carter's death. Don't know if there are any copies of this floating around for sale, although I don't know how deeply you want to go into "Carteriana."
I'm just amazed there's a book on Carter that exists! I will take a look for it. Thank you for brining it to my attention!
Well, it's not a deep dive or anything, but it has footnotes! Can lend it to you if you want to do further research. Plus Carter's papers are held at two institutions, so you can fill your retirement years pretty quickly.
Carter was the only author I sent a fan letter to (most authors I read were dead). Hope to Crom that letter is no longer around!
I blame Michael Vaughan for getting me on this Carter kick, what with his talk of pastiches. I really should be reading something else!
Sky Pirates of Callisto was my favorite of the Callisto novels. (I liked the Green Star books more than Callisto.)
I just started the Green Star series and so far so good.
I have only read the Callisto books and The Man who loved Mars. I thought the Man who loved Mars was a lot better than the Callisto series. Lin also wrote a few episodes of the Cartoon Spiderman series from the 70"s
I did not know Carter wrote Spiderman episodes! Good info. And I have the 'Man Who Loved Mars' around here somewhere. I'll have to dig it up and read it!
Posthumous collaborations 🤭 Hmmm, I'm still not happy with pastiche, but he served in Korea so he gets a pass. I'm always curious about authors who served in conflicts. I wonder if he attended Colombia on a GI bill ?
I suppose it's possible he did have a GI bill. Another commenter said he was awarded a purple heart in Korea as well. Also, on another topic, I should have my top-10 Movie list out either tomorrow or next week DDB.
@@GrammaticusBooks Cool ! Looking forward to it
I'm a proud owner of a first edition of "Tara of the Twilight." This was his attempt at an erotic swordswoman tale. It is not a good book by any means, but it is compulsively readable. It's elements include pedophilia, rape, and copious nudity and a heroine who, rather implausibly, remains a virgin throughout. The promiseed sequels never appeared. Is that a good thing? I obviously don't know.
Hmmm....sounds like quite the book. Hopefully it wasn't painting pedophilia and rape in a positive light!
@@GrammaticusBooks Unfortunately, he does.