Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. Lovecraft

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

) and Grail Undwin. He is best known for his work in the 1970s as editor of the

Ballantine Adult Fantasy The Ballantine Adult Fantasy series was an imprint of American publisher Ballantine Books. Launched in 1969 (presumably in response to the growing popularity of Tolkien's works), the series reissued a number of works of fantasy literature which w ...

series, which introduced readers to many overlooked classics of the fantasy genre.

Life

Carter was born in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Florida. He was an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy in his youth, and became broadly knowledgeable in both fields. He was also active in fandom. Carter served in the United States Army (infantry,

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, 1951–53), and then attended

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and took part in

Leonie Adams Leonie or Léonie is a Latin-origin feminine given name meaning "lioness", from the masculine personal name ''Leon'' (meaning "lion"). Leonie evolved to Léonie in France. It is rare as a surname. People People with the name or its variants inclu ...

's Poetry Workshop (1953–54). He was an advertising and publishers' copywriter from 1957 until 1969, when he took up writing full-time. He was also an editorial consultant. During much of his writing career he lived in Hollis, New York. Carter was married twice, first to Judith Ellen Hershkovitz (married 1959, divorced 1960) and second to Noel Vreeland (married 1963, when they were both working for the publisher Prentice-Hall; divorced 1975). Carter was a member of the

Trap Door Spiders The Trap Door Spiders are a literary male-only eating, drinking, and arguing society in New York City, with a membership historically composed of notable science fiction personalities. The name is a reference to the reclusive habits of the trapdo ...

, an all-male literary banqueting club Asimov, Isaac. ''I. Asimov: A Memoir'', New York, Doubleday, 1994, page 377. . which served as the basis of Isaac Asimov's fictional group of mystery-solvers, the

Black Widowers The Black Widowers is a fictional men-only dining club created by Isaac Asimov for a series of sixty-six mystery stories that he started writing in 1971. Most of the stories were first published in ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'', though a few ...

.Asimov (1994), p.373. Carter was the model for Asimov's character Mario Gonzalo. Carter was also a member of the

Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America The Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America or SAGA was an informal group of American fantasy authors active from the 1960s through the 1980s, noted for their contributions to the "Sword and Sorcery" kind of heroic fantasy, itself a subgenre of ...

(SAGA), a loose-knit group of

Heroic fantasy Heroic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy in which events occur in a world where magic is prevalent and modern technology is nonexistent. The setting may be entirely fictitious in nature or based upon Earth with some additions. Unlike dark fiction ...

authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose work he anthologized in the ''

Flashing Swords! ''Flashing Swords!'' is a series of fantasy anthologies published by Dell Books from 1973 to 1981 under the editorship of Lin Carter. It showcased the heroic fantasy work of the members of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA), a ...

'' series. In the 1970s Carter published one issue of his own fantasy fanzine ''Kadath'', named after H. P. Lovecraft's fictional setting (see ''

The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath ''The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath'' is a novella by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Begun probably in the autumn of 1926, the draft was completed on January 22, 1927 and it remained unrevised and unpublished in his lifetime. It is both the l ...

''). About 3,000 copies were printed; however the printer was in a dispute with the binder, who held the copies. While Carter paid the printer, the printer decamped into California. When Carter went to see the binder, he was told that the copies had been kept for a while, but then most had been thrown out. Carter believed that only about 30 copies of the issue survived, thus the magazine was scarcely circulated. It contained Carter's Cthulhu Mythos story "The City of Pillars" (pp. 22–25). Carter resided in

East Orange East Orange is a city in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 69,612. The city was the state's 20th most-populous municipality in 2010, after having been the state's 14th most-po ...

, New Jersey, in his later years, and drank and smoked heavily. It was probably smoking that gave him oral cancer in 1985. Only his status as a Korean War veteran enabled him to receive extensive surgery. However, it failed to cure the cancer and left him disfigured. Carter held gatherings of writers under the aegis of 'the New Kalem Club' (in tribute to the original Kalem Club) - meetings which were attended by Frank Belknap Long, Robert M. Price and others. In the last year before his death, he had begun to reappear in print with a new book in his Terra Magica series, a long-promised Prince Zarkon pulp hero pastiche, ''Horror Wears Blue'', and a regular column for the magazine ''Crypt of Cthulhu''. Despite these successes, Carter increased his alcohol intake, becoming an alcoholic. His cancer resurfaced, spreading to his throat and leading to his death in Montclair, New Jersey, in 1988.

Robert M. Price Robert McNair Price (born July 7, 1954) is an American New Testament scholar. His most notable stance is arguing in favor of the Christ myth theorythe claim that a historical Jesus did not exist. Price is the author of a number of books on bi ...

, the editor of '' Crypt of Cthulhu'', who had published a Lin Carter special issue (Vol. 5, No 2, whole number 36, Yuletide 1985), was preparing a second all-Carter issue when Carter died. It was turned into a memorial issue (Vol. 7, No 4, whole number 54, Eastertide 1988). Two further issues of the magazine were devoted to Carter alone (see References below). Price was also appointed Carter's literary executor.

Writing career

A longtime science-fiction and fantasy fan, Carter first appeared in print with entertaining letters to ''Startling Stories'' and other

pulp magazines Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...

in 1943 and again in the late 1940s. He issued two volumes of fantasy verse, ''Sandalwood and Jade'' (1951), technically his first book, and ''Galleon of Dream'' (1955) (see Poetry in Bibliography below) His first professional publication was the short story "Masters of the Metropolis", co-written with

Randall Garrett Gordon Randall Phillip David GarrettGarrett, Randall
in ''

Anthony Boucher William Anthony Parker White (August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968), better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher (), was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio d ...

in ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', April 1957. Another early collaborative story, "The Slitherer from the Slime" (''Inside SF'', September 1958), by Carter, as "H. P. Lowcraft", with Dave Foley, is a parody of H. P. Lovecraft. The story "Uncollected Works" (''Fantasy and SF'', March 1965) was a finalist for the annual

Nebula Award for Best Short Story The Nebula Award for Best Short Story is a literary award assigned each year by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy short stories. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a short stor ...

, from the SF and fantasy writers, the only time Carter was a runner-up for a major award. Early in his efforts to establish himself as a writer, Carter gained a mentor in L. Sprague de Camp, who critiqued his novel ''The Wizard of Lemuria'' in manuscript. The seventh novel Carter wrote, it was the first to find a publisher, appearing from Ace Books in March 1965. Due in large part to their later collaborations, mutual promotion of each other in print, joint membership in both the Trap Door Spiders and SAGA, and complementary scholarly efforts to document the history of fantasy, de Camp is the person with whom Carter is most closely associated as a writer. A falling-out in the last decade of Carter's life did not become generally known until after his death. Carter was a prolific writer, producing an average of six books a year from 1965 to 1969. He also wrote a nearly monthly column, "Our Man in Fandom", in '' If'', edited by Frederik Pohl, and was a major writer on ABC's original '' Spider-Man'' animated TV show during its fantasy-oriented second season in 1968–69. Carter frequently cited his own writings in his non-fiction and almost always included at least one of his own pieces in each of the anthologies he edited. The most extreme instance of his penchant for self-promotion is in the sixth novel in his Callisto sequence, '' Lankar of Callisto'', which features Carter himself as the protagonist. Carter was not reluctant to attack organized religion in his books, notably in his unfinished epic '' World's End'', in "Amalric the Man-God" (also unfinished), and in '' The Wizard of Zao''. He portrayed religions as cruel and repressive, and had his heroes escape from their inquisitions. In most of his fiction, Carter was consciously imitative of the themes, subjects and styles of authors he admired. He usually identified his models in the introductions or afterwords of his novels, as well as in the introductory notes to self-anthologized or collected short stories. His best-known works are his sword and planet and sword and sorcery novels in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, and

James Branch Cabell James Branch Cabell (; April 14, 1879 – May 5, 1958) was an American author of fantasy fiction and ''belles-lettres''. Cabell was well-regarded by his contemporaries, including H. L. Mencken, Edmund Wilson, and Sinclair Lewis. His work ...

. His first published book, ''

The Wizard 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 paperbac ...

'' (1965), first of the "Thongor the Barbarian" series, combines both influences. Although he wrote only six Thongor novels, the character appeared in

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

's ''Creatures on the Loose'' for an eight-issue run in 1973–74 and was often optioned for films, although none has been produced. His other major series, the "

Callisto Callisto most commonly refers to: *Callisto (mythology), a nymph *Callisto (moon), a moon of Jupiter Callisto may also refer to: Art and entertainment *''Callisto series'', a sequence of novels by Lin Carter *''Callisto'', a novel by Torsten Kro ...

" and "Zanthodon" books, are direct tributes to Burroughs' Barsoom series and

Pellucidar Pellucidar is a fictional Hollow Earth invented by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs for a series of action adventure stories. In a crossover event, Tarzan, who was also created by Burroughs, visits Pellucidar. The stories initially involv ...

novels, respectively. In other works Carter paid homage to the styles of contemporary pulp magazine authors or their precursors. Some of these, together with Carter's models, include his "Simrana" stories (influenced by Lord Dunsany), his horror stories (set in the " Cthulhu Mythos" of H. P. Lovecraft), his " Green Star" novels (uniting influences from Clark Ashton Smith and Edgar Rice Burroughs), his "Mysteries of Mars" series (patterned on the works of

Leigh Brackett Leigh Douglass Brackett (December 7, 1915 – March 18, 1978) was an American science fiction writer known as "the Queen of Space Opera." She was also a screenwriter, known for '' The Big Sleep'' (1946), '' Rio Bravo'' (1959), and '' The Long Go ...

), and his "Prince Zarkon" books (based on the "

Doc Savage Doc Savage is a fictional character of the competent man hero type, who first appeared in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. Real name Clark Savage Jr., he is a doctor, scientist, adventurer, detective, and polymath who "rights w ...

" series of Kenneth Robeson). Later in his career Carter assimilated influences from

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

and fairy tales, and even branched out briefly into

pornographic Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

fantasy.

Posthumous collaborations with Howard and Smith

Some of Carter's most prominent works were what he referred to as "posthumous collaborations" with deceased authors, notably Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith. He completed a number of Howard's unfinished tales of Kull (see

Kull (collection) ''Kull'' is a collection of Fantasy short stories by Robert E. Howard. It was first published in 1967 by Lancer Books under the title ''King Kull''. This edition included three stories completed by Lin Carter from unfinished fragments and drafts ...

and

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...

, the latter often in collaboration with L. Sprague de Camp. He also collaborated with de Camp on a number of pastiche novels and

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

featuring Conan. The "posthumous collaborations" with Smith were of a different order, usually completely new stories built around title ideas or short fragments found among Smith's notes and jottings. A number of these tales feature Smith's invented book of forbidden lore, the

Book of Eibon Many fictional works of arcane literature appear in H. P. Lovecraft's cycle of interconnected works often known as the Cthulhu Mythos. The main literary purpose of these works is to explain how characters within the tales come by occult or esot ...

(

Cthulhu Mythos arcane literature Many fictional works of arcane literature appear in H. P. Lovecraft's cycle of interconnected works often known as the Cthulhu Mythos. The main literary purpose of these works is to explain how characters within the tales come by occult or esot ...

). Some of them also overlap as pastiches of H.P. Lovecraft's work by utilising elements of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. These stories are uncollected. For further information see Steve Behrends, "The Carter-Smith Collaborations" in

(ed). ''The Horror of it All: Encrusted Gems from the Crypt of Cthulhu''. See also Lin Carter deities.

Pastiches of H. P. Lovecraft and Lord Dunsany

Carter wrote numerous stories in the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft. Many have been collected in '' The Xothic Legend Cycle: The Complete Mythos Fiction of Lin Carter'', edited by Robert M. Price. Despite the title, there are many uncollected Mythos stories by Carter. See also

Xothic legend cycle The Xothic legend cycle is a series of short stories by American writer Lin Carter that are based on the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft, primarily on Lovecraft's stories "The Call of Cthulhu" and "Out of the Aeons". The cycle is centered on a ...

. For further info see Robert M. Price "The Statement of Lin Carter", ''Crypt of Cthulhu'' 1, No 2 (Yuletide 1981), 11–19. Carter wrote two cycles of stories set in "dreamlands," paying tribute to the fantasy of Lord Dunsany, Ikranos, from his fan days, and Simrana, after he became a professional writer. Carter also wrote the introduction to the book, Over the Hills and Far Away.

Unfinished projects

Carter left a number of projects unfinished. He regularly announced plans for future works that never came to fruition, even including some among lists of other works printed in the fronts of his books. His 1976 anthologies ''

Kingdoms of Sorcery ''Kingdoms of Sorcery: An Anthology of Adult Fantasy'' is an anthology of fantasy stories, edited by American writer Lin Carter. It was first published in hardcover by Doubleday in January 1976 as the first of two such anthologies continuing a se ...

'' and ''

Realms of Wizardry ''Realms of Wizardry: An Anthology of Adult Fantasy'' is an American anthology of fantasy stories, edited by American writer Lin Carter. It was first published in hardcover by Doubleday (publisher), Doubleday in December 1976 as the second of two ...

'' both included such phantom books among his other listed works, titled ''Robert E. Howard and the Rise of Sword & Sorcery'', ''The Stones of Mnar'' and ''Jungle Maid of Callisto''. The first of these, presumably a non-fiction study along the lines of his '' Tolkien: A Look Behind "The Lord of the Rings"'' (1969), never saw print; the second seems to be related to ''The Terror Out of Time'', a collection of Cthulhu Mythos tales he had pitched unsuccessfully to Arkham House (the existing material for which was eventually gathered into his '' The Xothic Legend Cycle'' (1997)); the third was apparently a working title for '' Ylana of Callisto'' (1977), published the year after the anthologies. Several of his series were abandoned due to lack of publisher or reader interest or to his deteriorating health. Among these are his "

Thongor Thongor is a character in a series of sword-and-sorcery novels and stories written by Lin Carter, stylized after Conan the Barbarian and set in ancient Lemuria. The character was picked up by Marvel Comics in the 1970s for its series ''Creatures ...

" series, to which he intended to add two books dealing with the hero's youth; only a scattering of short stories intended for the volumes appeared. His "Gondwane" epic, which he began with the final book and afterwards added several more covering the beginning of the saga, lacks its middle volumes, his publisher having canceled the series before he managed to fill the gap between. Similarly, his projected

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...

trilogy was canceled after the first book (''The Black Star''), and his five-volume "Chronicles of Kylix" ended with three volumes published and parts of another (''Amalric''). Another unfinished project was Carter's self-proclaimed ''magnum opus'', an epic literary fantasy entitled ''Khymyrium'', or, to give it its full title, ''Khymyrium: The City of the Hundred Kings, from the Coming of Aviathar the Lion to the Passing of Spheridion the Doomed''. It was intended to take the genre in a new direction by resurrecting the fantastic medieval chronicle history of the sort exemplified by

Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography ...

's ''

Historia Regum Britanniae ''Historia regum Britanniae'' (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called ''De gestis Britonum'' (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. I ...

'' and

Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark ...

's ''

Gesta Danorum ''Gesta Danorum'' ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark an ...

''. It was also to present a new invented system of magic called "Enstarrment", which from Carter's description somewhat resembles the system of magical luck investment later devised by

Emma Bull Emma Bull (born December 13, 1954) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Her novels include the Hugo- and Nebula-nominated '' Bone Dance'' and the urban fantasy '' War for the Oaks''. She is also known for a series of anthologies ...

and

Will Shetterly Will Shetterly (born 1955) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction best known for his novel '' Dogland'' (1997). The novel is inspired by his childhood at the tourist attraction Dog Land owned by his parents. He won the Minnesota Bo ...

for their "

Liavek Liavek is a series of five fantasy anthologies edited by Emma Bull and Will Shetterly set in a shared world. Orson Scott Card found the initial volume to be "an example of what can be accomplished n a shared-world projectwhen almost everything g ...

" series of shared world anthologies. Carter claimed to have begun the work about 1959, and published three excerpts from it as separate short stories during his lifetime – "Azlon" in ''

The Young Magicians ''The Young Magicians'' is an American anthology of fantasy short stories, edited by American writer Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books in October 1969 as the seventh volume of its ''Ballantine Adult Fantasy series ...

'' (1969), "The Mantichore" in '' Beyond the Gates of Dream'' (also 1969) and "The Sword of Power" in ''

New Worlds for Old ''New Worlds for Old'' is an anthology of fantasy short stories, edited by American writer Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books in September 1971 as the thirty-fifth volume of its ''Ballantine Adult Fantasy series''. ...

'' (1971). A fourth episode was published posthumously in ''Fungi'' #17, a 1998 fanzine. His most comprehensive account of the project appeared in '' Imaginary Worlds: the Art of Fantasy'' in 1973. While he continued to make claims for its excellence throughout his lifetime, the complete novel never appeared. Part of the problem was that Carter was forcing himself to write the novel in a formal style more like that of William Morris and quite unlike his own. Carter also spoke about publishing a magazine titled ''Yoh-Vombis,'' which he intended to consist of stories he would have published in his paperback ''Weird Tales'' series had he been permitted to continue editing it. As well as new fantastic stories, he intended to publish stories and verse by Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith; unpublished letters from Smith, H. P. Lovecraft; and art by Smith,

Roy Krenkel Roy Gerald Krenkel (July 11, 1918 – February 24, 1983), who often signed his work RGK, was an American illustrator who specialized in fantasy and historical drawings and paintings for books, magazines and comic books. Influences and stud ...

, Mahlon Blaine, etc. However, this mooted magazine never eventuated.

Career as editor and critic

Carter was influential as a critic of contemporary fantasy and a pioneering historian of the genre. His book reviews and surveys of the year's best fantasy fiction appeared regularly in ''

Castle of Frankenstein ''Castle of Frankenstein'' was an American horror, science fiction and fantasy film magazine, published between 1962 and 1975 by Calvin Thomas Beck's Gothic Castle Publishing Company, distributed by Kable News. Larry Ivie—who also was cover ...

'', continuing after that magazine's 1975 demise in ''

The Year's Best Fantasy Stories ''The Year's Best Fantasy Stories'' is an anthology of fantasy stories, edited by American writer Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by DAW Books in 1975. Despite the anthology's title, it actually gathers together pieces originall ...

''. His early studies of the works of

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

('' Tolkien: A Look Behind "The Lord of the Rings"'') and H. P. Lovecraft ('' Lovecraft: A Look Behind the Cthulhu Mythos'') were followed up by the wide-ranging '' Imaginary Worlds: the Art of Fantasy'', a study tracing the emergence and development of modern fantasy from the late nineteenth century novels of

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

through the 1970s.

Peter Beagle Peter Soyer Beagle (born April 20, 1939) is an American novelist and screenwriter, especially of fantasy fiction. His best-known work is ''The Last Unicorn'' (1968), a fantasy novel he wrote in his twenties, which ''Locus'' subscribers voted the ...

faulted Carter's scholarship, saying "He gets so many facts embarrassingly wrong, so many attributions misquoted, that the entire commentary is essentially worthless." His greatest influence in the field may have been as an editor for Ballantine Books from 1969 to 1974, when Carter brought several then obscure yet important books of fantasy back into print under the "Adult Fantasy" line. Authors whose works he revived included Dunsany,

Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Manitob ...

Smith Smith may refer to: People * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland ** List of people wi ...

Hope Mirrlees (Helen) Hope Mirrlees (8 April 1887 – 1 August 1978) was a British poet, novelist, and translator. She is best known for the 1926 ''Lud-in-the-Mist'', a fantasy novel and influential classic,David Langford and Mike Ashley, "Mirrlees, Hope", i ...

, and

Evangeline Walton Evangeline Walton (24 November 1907 – 11 March 1996) was the pen name of Evangeline Wilna Ensley, an American writer of fantasy fiction. She remains popular in North America and Europe because of her “ability to humanize historical and mytho ...

. David G. Hartwell praised the series, saying it brought "into mass editions nearly all the adult fantasy stories and novels worth reading.""The Making of the American Fantasy Genre", in ''The Secret History of Fantasy'', Peter S. Beagle (ed), Tachyon Publications 2010. He also helped new authors break into the field, such as

Katherine Kurtz Katherine Irene Kurtz (born October 18. 1944) is an American fantasy writer, author of sixteen historical fantasy novels in the '' Deryni'' series, as well as occult and urban fantasy. Resident in Ireland for over twenty years, she moved to Virg ...

Joy Chant Joy Chant (born 13 January 1945) is a British fantasy writer. She is best known for the three House of Kendreth novels, published 1970 to 1983. Her legal name is Eileen Joyce Rutter. Biography Eileen Joyce (nickname, "Joy") Chant was born in Lo ...

, and

Sanders Anne Laubenthal Sanders Anne Laubenthal (December 25, 1943 – May 15, 2002) was an American poet, novelist, historian and textbook writer. Life Laubenthal served the United States Air Force from the time of the Vietnam War, starting writing OJT books for ...

. Carter was a fantasy anthologist of note, editing a number of new anthologies of classic and contemporary fantasy for Ballantine and other publishers. He also edited several anthology series, including the ''

'' series from 1973 to 1981, the first six volumes of ''

'' for DAW Books from 1975 to 1980, and an anthology format revival of the classic fantasy magazine ''

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, pri ...

'' from 1981 to 1983. Together with SAGA he sponsored the Gandalf Award, an early fantasy equivalent to science fiction's Hugo Award, for the recognition of outstanding merit in authors and works of fantasy. It was given annually by the

World Science Fiction Society Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, durin ...

from 1974 to 1981, but went into abeyance with the collapse of Carter's health in the 1980s. Its primary purpose continues to be fulfilled by the initially rival

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

s, first presented in 1975.

Posthumous revival

Wildside Press Wildside Press is an independent publishing company in Cabin John, Maryland, United States. It was founded in 1989 by John Betancourt and Kim Betancourt. While the press was originally conceived as a publisher of speculative fiction in both tra ...

began an extensive program returning much of Carter's fiction to print in 1999. All remain in print, and one original book was issued in 2012, collecting the short stories about Thongor. See the bibliography for Wildside reissues.

Awards

* Nova Award, 1972.

Bibliography

Notes

References

Sources

* * * ''Crypt of Cthulhu'' magazine. No less than five issues of this Lovecraftian fanzine edited by

, all published in Upper Montclair, N.J., were devoted to Lin Carter as special issues: **No. 36 (v. 5, no. 2), Yuletide 1985 **No. 54 (v. 7, no. 4), Eastertide 1988 in Carter memorial issue, titled ''The Fishers from Outside''; Carter died on Feb. 7, 1988, just as this issue had been typeset and laid out. The back cover carries an unsigned obituary**No. 69 (v. 9, no. 2), Yuletide 1989 **No. 70 (v. 9, no. 3), Candlemas 1990 itled ''The Necronomicon: Book One: The Episodes''**No 95 (v.16, no 2) Eastertide 1997. Contains "Cthulhu and Co" (essay on Lovecraft) and "The Light in the East" (essay on the

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn ( la, Ordo Hermeticus Aurorae Aureae), more commonly the Golden Dawn (), was a secret society devoted to the study and practice of occult Hermeticism and metaphysics during the late 19th and early 20th ...

) both by Carter.

External links

*
The Lin Carter Literary Archive
The Ohio State University Rare Books and Manuscripts Collection
In Memoriam Lin Carter 1930-1988
a tribute site by Ken St. Andre
Barbarians of Lemuria
a free role-playing game set in the world of Carter's ''Thongor'' series.

by David Bruce Bozarthl

by Noel Vreeland Carter

* ttp://www.erbzine.com/mag28/2856.html "An Unnatural History of Thongor's Lemuria"by Den Valdron * Stephen J. Servello
"Lin_Carter_and_Clark_Ashton_Smith
".html" ;"title="Clark Ashton Smith">"Lin Carter and Clark Ashton Smith
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Lin Carter Papers
at David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University {{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Lin 1930 births 1988 deaths American fantasy writers American science fiction writers American book editors American speculative fiction editors Conan the Barbarian novelists Science fiction editors Science fiction fans 20th-century American novelists American short story writers Cthulhu Mythos writers Deaths from oral cancer Deaths from cancer in New Jersey American male novelists Lemuria (continent) in fiction American male short story writers Writers from St. Petersburg, Florida Novelists from Florida People from Hollis, Queens H. P. Lovecraft scholars Weird fiction writers Pulp fiction writers Columbia University alumni Tolkien studies 20th-century American male writers