''Zanthodon'' is a

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 second in his series about the fictional "

Hollow Earth The Hollow Earth is a concept proposing that the planet Earth is entirely hollow or contains a substantial interior space. Notably suggested by Edmond Halley in the late 17th century, the notion was disproven, first tentatively by Pierre Bougue ...

" land of Zanthodon. It was first published in paperback by

DAW Books DAW Books is an American science fiction and fantasy publisher, founded by Donald A. Wollheim, with his wife, Elsie B. Wollheim, following his departure from Ace Books in 1971. The company claims to be "the first publishing company ever devoted ...

in June 1980, with an ebook edition following from Gateway/Orion in October 2018. It was also gathered together with the other volumes in the series into the omnibus ebook collection ''The Zanthodon Megapack'' (

Wildside Press Wildside Press is an independent publishing company in Cabin John, Maryland. 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 trade and limite ...

, 2014).

Plot summary

Zanthodon is envisioned as an immense circular cavern five hundred miles wide, one hundred miles beneath the

Sahara Desert The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

, 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 Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...

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 Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

(''

Journey to the Center of the Earth ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (), also translated with the variant titles ''A Journey to the Centre of the Earth'' and ''A Journey into the Interior of the Earth'', is a classic science fiction novel written by French novelist Jules Ve ...

''),

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American writer, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best known for creating the characters Tarzan (who appeared in ...

(

Pellucidar Pellucidar is the fictional internal surface of a 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 ...

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

('' The Lost World''), and even

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

( Skull Island), highlighting the author's literary debt to these precursors.Price, Robert M. ''Lin Carter: A Look Behind His Imaginary Worlds''. Mercer Island, WA, Starmont House, 1991, pages 61-63.

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 ...

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."

References

External links

'Zanthodon' Overview
" a survey of the series by Steve Servello in ''Erbzine''.

" a literary comparison of Carter's Zanthodon with Burroughs's Pellucidar by Den Valdron, also in ''Erbzine''. {{Lin Carter (books) 1980 American novels 1980 science fiction novels Novels by Lin Carter DAW Books books