science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
novel by American writer
Lin Carter
Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. Lov ...
, the third his "Zarkon, Lord of the Unknown" series. It was first published in hardcover by
Doubleday
Doubleday may refer to:
* Doubleday (surname), including a list of people with the name
Publishing imprints
* Doubleday (publisher), imprint of Knopf Doubleday, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House
* Doubleday Canada, imprint of Penguin Random ...
in 1976, with a paperback edition following from Popular Library in November 1978. It was reissued by Wildside Press in 1999. An ebook edition was issued by Thunderchild Publishing in October 2017.
Summary
Prince Zarkon and his Omega Crew investigate a legendary island monster on the South Pacific atoll of Rangatoa, a flaming creature that rises from the mouth of a living volcano to spread terror and death. To learn the truth about the menace, they must descend into its fiery lair deep within the bowels of the Earth.
Reception
Robert M. Price
Robert McNair Price (born July 7, 1954) is an American New Testament scholar who argues 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 biblical studies and the hi ...
characterizes the Zarkon series as "five delightful novels ... Lin Carter's loving homage to
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 polymathic scientist, explorer, detective, and warrior who "right ...
and his creator
Lester Dent
Lester Dent (October 12, 1904 – March 11, 1959) was an American pulp-fiction writer, best known as the creator and main writer of the series of novels about the scientist and adventurer Doc Savage. The 159 Doc Savage novels that Dent wrote ove ...
." They celebrate "'the gloriously fourth-rate,' the pulps, radio, comics, and movies he loved as a kid." He notes that " e novels manage quite successfully to walk the tightrope between salute and parody," and "the humor never seems to impede or undermine the action." While " is not difficult to pick out a flaw here and there" and the series is "not entirely free from Carter's later-career sloppiness ... on the whole these books are vastly superior to much of what else he was writing during the same period. The Zarkon novels all command a crisp, snappy prose, sometimes reminiscent of Lester Dent's."Price, Robert M. ''Lin Carter: A Look Behind His Imaginary Worlds''. Mercer Island, WA, Starmont House, 1991, pages 75-79.
The book was also reviewed by
Don D'Ammassa
Donald Eugene D'Ammassa (born April 24, 1946) is an American fantasy, science fiction and horror critic and author.
Relationship to other works
The setting of the atoll of Rangatoa was lifted by the author from the 1933 Doc Savage novel '' Pirate of the Pacific''. Carter's introduction claims the lava-devil is an actual regional legend, but cites as authority the fictional work ''Polynesian Mythology'' by Harold Hadley Copeland (protagonist of his own
Cthulhu Mythos The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American Horror fiction, horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, t ...
story " The Dweller in the Tomb."Price, Robert M. ''Lin Carter: A Look Behind His Imaginary Worlds''. Mercer Island, WA, Starmont House, 1991, page 78.