Plot summary
A force of four airships bearing Jonathan Dark (Jandar) and his allies explores the unknown far side of the Jovian moon of Callisto (or Thanator), to seek and destroy Kuur, the secret stronghold of the evil Mind Wizards. The fleet is attacked by a flock of flying creatures called Zarkoons, and Jandar and the cabin boy Tomar are captured.
Flown to the Zarkoons' lair, they meet another captive, the jungle girl Ylana, with whom they manage to escape. A flier piloted by Jandar's allies Lukor and Koja spots and retrieves them, but damaged by the pursuing Zarkoons it subsequently crash lands. The five find themselves in the Cor Az, forest home of the Cave People, Ylana's tribe, where all but Ylana are again imprisoned, the Cave People being under the thumb of the enemy. With Ylana's assistance they escape once more, only to be retaken and held for the Mind Wizards.
Their ultimate fate is a mystery. An airship from the fleet later finds the memoir Jandar composed in captivity and hid as pursuit closed in. The manuscript is flown back to the civilized hemisphere of Thanator, whence with additional annotation it is afterwards teleported to Earth to become the basis of the present volume. The other three ships continue the quest for Kuur, but nothing has been heard from them as of the time of the last notation on the manuscript. With this cliffhanger the novel ends.
Reception
Den Valdron, assessing the series in ERBzine, calls the book "one of the best, or better of the Callisto books, with enough novelty and action, and genuine sexiness to keep things fresh all the way," though noting "for the record, not a single damned Mind Wizard actually shows up anywhere in this book." He pairs it with its predecessor, Mad Empress of Callisto as a high point in the series, a "rousing, fast paced adventure . . . filled with genuine tension and strangeness, and the cliff hanger ending as Jon Dark conceals his notes even as his pursuers close in on him is genuinely gripping." [2]
Linwood Vrooman Carter 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 and Grail Undwin. He is best known for his work in the 1970s as editor of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, which introduced readers to many overlooked classics of the fantasy genre.
Sword and planet is a subgenre of science fantasy that features rousing adventure stories set on other planets, and usually featuring humans as protagonists. The name derives from the heroes of the genre engaging their adversaries in hand-to-hand combat primarily with simple melée weapons such as swords, even in a setting that often has advanced technology. Although there are works that herald the genre, such as Percy Greg's Across the Zodiac (1880) and Edwin Lester Arnold's Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation, the prototype for the genre is A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs originally serialized by All-Story in 1912 as "Under the Moons of Mars".
The Callisto series is a sequence of eight science fiction novels by Lin Carter, of the sword and planet subgenre, first published by Dell Books from 1972-1978. They were written in homage to the Barsoom and Amtor novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Llana of Gathol is a collection of four science fantasy stories by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, which were originally published in Amazing Stories in 1941. The first collected edition of Llana of Gathol was published in 1948 with an apparently new foreword. It is the penultimate book in the Barsoom series and the last to be published during Burroughs's lifetime.
Lankar of Callisto is a science fantasy novel by American writer Lin Carter, the sixth in his Callisto series. It was first published in paperback by Dell Books in June 1975. It is noted for the author writing himself into the story.
Renegade of Callisto is a science fantasy novel by American writer Lin Carter, the eighth and last in his Callisto series. It was first published in paperback by Dell Books in August 1978, and reprinted once, in November of the same year. A tribute to Edgar Rice Burroughs's The Chessmen of Mars, the book introduces the game of Darza, Carter's equivalent of Jetan. An appendix details the rules.
Ylana of Callisto is a science fantasy novel by American writer Lin Carter, the seventh in his Callisto series. It was first published in paperback by Dell Books in October 1977. Its working title was evidently Jungle Maid of Callisto, as announced in Locus #198, January 30, 1977; the title used appears to be a nod to that of Edgar Rice Burroughs's Llana of Gathol, a book in the Barsoom series that inspired Carter's Callisto books. The character of Ylana, however, was established in Mind Wizards of Callisto, an earlier volume in the series. The novel includes an appendix collating background information from this and previous volumes.
Mad Empress of Callisto is a science fantasy novel by American writer Lin Carter, the fourth in his Callisto series. It was first published in paperback by Dell Books in February 1975. It includes an appendix collating background information from this and previous volumes.
Sky Pirates of Callisto is a science fantasy novel by American writer Lin Carter, the third in his Callisto series. It was first published in paperback by Dell Books in January 1973, and reprinted twice through April 1974. The first British edition was published by Orbit Books in 1975. It includes an appendix collating background information from this and previous volumes.
Black Legion of Callisto is a science fantasy novel by American writer Lin Carter, the second in his Callisto series. It was first published in paperback by Dell Books in December 1972, and reprinted twice through January 1974. The first British edition was published by Orbit Books in 1975. It was later gathered together with Jandar of Callisto into the omnibus collection Callisto: Volume 1 (2000). The book includes an appendix collating background information from this and the previous volume.
Jandar of Callisto is a science fantasy novel by American writer Lin Carter, the first in his Callisto series. It was first published in paperback by Dell Books in December 1972, and reprinted twice through September 1977. The first British edition was published by Orbit Books in 1974. It was later gathered together with Black Legion of Callisto into the omnibus collection Callisto: Volume 1 (2000). The book includes a map of Callisto as envisioned in the story.
The Man Who Loved Mars is a science fantasy novel by American writer Lin Carter, the first in his Edgar Rice Burroughs- and Leigh Brackett-inspired series The Mysteries of Mars. It was first published in paperback by Fawcett Gold Medal in March 1973. The first British edition was published in hardcover by White Lion in August of the same year. It was reissued by Wildside Press in December 1999. The novel has also been translated into German.
The Valley Where Time Stood Still is a science fantasy novel by American writer Lin Carter, the second in his Edgar Rice Burroughs- and Leigh Brackett-inspired series The Mysteries of Mars. It was first published in hardcover by Doubleday in December 1974 and in paperback by Popular Library in February 1976. It was reissued by Wildside Press in April 2008.
The City Outside the World is a science fantasy novel by American writer Lin Carter, the third in his Edgar Rice Burroughs- and Leigh Brackett-inspired series The Mysteries of Mars. It was first published in paperback by Berkley Medallion in October 1977 and in reissued in trade paperback by Wildside Press in December 1999. The first hardcover edition was published by Wildside Press in February 2011.
Down to a Sunless Sea is a science fantasy novel by American writer Lin Carter, the fourth in his Edgar Rice Burroughs- and Leigh Brackett-inspired series The Mysteries of Mars. It was first published in paperback by DAW Books in June 1984 and reissued in hardcover and trade paperback by Wildside Press in February 2008.
Bibliography of science fiction, fantasy, and nonfiction writer Lin Carter:
Journey to the Underground World is a science fiction novel by American writer Lin Carter, the first in his series about the fictional "Hollow Earth" land of Zanthodon. It was first published in paperback by DAW Books in November 1979, with an ebook edition following from Gateway/Orion in August 2018. It was also gathered together with the other volumes in the series into the omnibus ebook collection The Zanthodon Megapack.
Zanthodon is a science fiction novel by American writer Lin Carter, the second in his series about the fictional "Hollow Earth" land of Zanthodon. It was first published in paperback by DAW Books 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.
Hurok of the Stone Age is a science fiction novel by American writer Lin Carter, the third in his series about the fictional "Hollow Earth" land of Zanthodon. It was first published in paperback by DAW Books in February 1981, 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.
Eric of Zanthodon is a science fiction novel by American writer Lin Carter, the fifth and last in his series about the fictional "Hollow Earth" land of Zanthodon. It was first published in paperback by DAW Books in May 1982, 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.
