The Wizard of Lemuria

1965 novel by Lin Carter

The Wizard of Lemuria

Cover art of the first edition.

Author| Lin Carter
Cover artist| Gray Morrow
Language| English
Series| Thongor series
Genre| Fantasy
Publisher| Ace Books

Publication date

| 1965
Publication place| United States
Media type| Print (Paperback)
Preceded by| Young Thongor
Followed by| Thongor of Lemuria

The Wizard of Lemuria is a fantasy novel by American writer Lin Carter, the first book of his Thongor series set on the fictional ancient lost continent of Lemuria. The author's first published novel, it was initially issued in paperback by Ace Books in 1965. The author afterwards revised and expanded the text, in which form it was reissued as Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria, first published in paperback by Berkley Books in 1969. This retitled and revised edition became the standard edition for later reprintings.[1] The novel was also adapted into comic form, appearing in eight issues of Marvel's Creatures on the Loose.

## Plot and storyline

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Cover art from the first edition of the retitled and revised version, Berkley Books, 1969.

The tale of Thongor of Valkarth, barbarian warrior in the prehistoric continent of Lemuria, who becomes humanity's champion in their pivotal struggle against the Dragon Kings who had previously dominated the world. As the serpent men devise a plan in restoring their empire, all that stands in their way are the courage of Thongor, his comrades, and the magic of the wizard Sharajsha.

## Setting

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Map of Lemuria by Lin Carter Map of Patanga, "City of the Flame", by Lin Carter

The Thongor series is Carter's prime entry in the Sword & Sorcery genre, serving as a tribute for both the Conan series by Robert E. Howard and the Barsoom novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs. He pictures the lost continent of Lemuria as a prehistoric kingdom located in the Pacific Ocean during the ice age, where Mesozoic wildlife persisted after a cataclysm wiped them out from the rest of the world. An intelligent race of reptilian humanoids, which evolved from dinosaurs, once reigned supreme over Lemuria in a vast empire, before being driven off by barbarian tribes who invaded the continent via a land bridge. Culturally, Lemuria is a mixture of civilization and barbarism. However, the human inhabitants have advanced beyond a Bronze Age level, boasting magic-based technology which even includes flying machines. The Thongor series relate the struggle of the titular protagonist as he unites the various tribes into a single army and complete his overthrow of the "dragon kings".

## Reception

[edit]

Robert M. Price writes "[t]he Lemurian books pulse with a color and vitality that we miss in many of Lin Carter's later works. ... Yet to his relative inexperience we may also lay the blame for certain inconsistencies and failures to reckon with the implications of what he has written." Among these he notes "Thongor eating dates from the East as if he were in Europe" and "hail[ing] from [Lemuria's] wintry North," when, with the continent "south of the Equator, it would get hotter the further north you went!"[2]

The novel was also reviewed separately by Archie Mercer and Harry Harrison in Amra v. 2, no. 36, September 1965, J. Cawthorn in New Worlds SF, February 1966, Charlie Brown in Locus no. 44, December 17, 1969, and Richard P. Brisson in Sword & Fantasy no. 8, October 2006.[1]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b The Wizard of Lemuria title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
2. ^ Price, Robert M. "Thongor's Saga." Chapter in Lin Carter: A Look Behind His Imaginary Worlds. Mercer Island, WA, Starmont House, Inc., 1991, pages 13-22.

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Works by Lin Carter

Callisto|

* 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)

Green Star|

* 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)

Mars|

* The Flame of Iridar (1967)
* The Man Who Loved Mars (1973)
* The Valley Where Time Stood Still (1974)
* "The Martian El Dorado of Parker Wintley" (1976)
* The City Outside the World (1977)
* Down to a Sunless Sea (1984)

Zarkon|

* The Nemesis of Evil (1975)
* Invisible Death (1975)
* The Volcano Ogre (1976)
* The Earth-Shaker (1982)
* Horror Wears Blue (1987)

Zanthodon|

* Journey to the Underground World (1979)
* Zanthodon (1980)
* Hurok of the Stone Age (1981)
* Darya of the Bronze Age (1981)
* Eric of Zanthodon (1982)

Near Stars|

* The Star Magicians (1966)
* Tower at the Edge of Time (1968)
* Tower of the Medusa (1969)

Great Imperium|

* The Man Without a Planet (1966)
* Star Rogue (1970)
* Outworlder (1971)

Thongor|

* 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)

Conan|

| Novels|

* Conan of the Isles (1968)
* Conan the Barbarian (1982)
* Conan the Buccaneer (1971)
* Conan the Liberator (1979)

|

Short
works|

* "Black Sphinx of Nebthu" (1973)
* "Black Tears" (1968)
* "The Castle of Terror" (1969)
* "The City of Skulls" (1967)
* "The Curse of the Monolith" (1968)
* "Death-Song of Conan the Cimmerian" (1972)
* "The Gem in the Tower" (1978)
* "The Hand of Nergal" (1967)
* "The Ivory Goddess" (1978)
* "The Lair of the Ice Worm" (1969)
* "Legions of the Dead" (1978)
* "Moon of Blood" (1978)
* "Red Moon of Zembabwei" (1974)
* "Shadows in the Dark" (1978)
* "Shadows in the Skull" (1975)
* "The Snout in the Dark" (1969)
* "The Thing in the Crypt" (1967)
* "The Witch of the Mists" (1972)

Collections|

* Conan (1967)
* The Conan Chronicles (1989)
* The Conan Chronicles 2 (1990)
* Conan of Aquilonia (1977)
* Conan of Cimmeria (1969)
* Conan the Swordsman (1978)
* Conan the Wanderer (1968)
* Sagas of Conan (2004)

Kull|

* "Exile of Atlantis" (1967)
* King Kull (1967)

Gondwane|

* 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)

Terra Magica|

* Kesrick (1982)
* Dragonrouge (1984)
* Mandricardo (1987)
* Callipygia (1988)

Kylix|

* The Quest of Kadji (1971)
* The Wizard of Zao (1978)
* Kellory the Warlock (1984)

Other|

* Time War (1974)
* Tara of the Twilight (1979)
* The Tired Tailor of Oz (2001)
* The Merry Mountaineer of Oz (2004)

Collections|

* 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)

Anthologies
edited|

| BAFS and
Doubleday
anthologies|

* Dragons, Elves, and Heroes (1969)
* The Young Magicians (1969)
* Golden Cities, Far (1970)
* New Worlds for Old (1971)
* The Spawn of Cthulhu (1971)
* Double Phoenix (1971)
* Discoveries in Fantasy (1972)
* Great Short Novels of Adult Fantasy I (1972)
* Great Short Novels of Adult Fantasy Volume II (1973)
* Kingdoms of Sorcery (1976)
* Realms of Wizardry (1976)

|

Flashing
Swords!|

* Flashing Swords! #1 (1973)
* Flashing Swords! #2 (1973)
* Flashing Swords! #3: Warriors and Wizards (1976)
* Flashing Swords! #4: Barbarians and Black Magicians (1977)
* Flashing Swords! #5: Demons and Daggers (1981)
* Lin Carter's Flashing Swords! #6 (2020/21)
* Lin Carter's Flashing Swords! #7 (2023)
* Lin Carter's Flashing Swords! #8 (2023)

Year's Best
Fantasy|

* The Year's Best Fantasy Stories (1975)
* The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 2 (1976)
* The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 3 (1977)
* The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 4 (1978)
* The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 5 (1980)
* The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 6 (1980)

Weird Tales|

* Weird Tales #1 (1980)
* Weird Tales #2 (1980)
* Weird Tales #3 (1981)
* Weird Tales #4 (1983)

Other|

* The Magic of Atlantis (1970)

Nonfiction|

* Tolkien: A Look Behind "The Lord of the Rings" (1969)
* Lovecraft: A Look Behind the "Cthulhu Mythos" (1972)
* Imaginary Worlds (1973)

Poetry|

* Sandalwood and Jade (1951)
* Galleon of Dream (1953)
* Letter to Judith (1959)
* Dreams from R'lyeh (1975)

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