Young Thongor (2 page)

Young Thongor
brings together for the first time the short stories that Lin Carter wrote about Thongor, published between 1974 and 1980. He had intended to write more Thongor material, referring to “…
the first and second volumes of the completed saga, which I plan to call Thongor of Lost Lemuria and Thongor in the Land of Peril
…”
⁷
but other projects occupied him up until his death in 1988 so that he never fulfilled that ambition. Like one of his idols, Robert E Howard, Lin Carter left a number of notes and plots among his papers and, perhaps ironically, we have used these to round out this book, which we hope will serve as an appetizer for the rest of the saga.

During his heyday in the 70s, Thongor featured in a comic book series, albeit a brief 8-issue run,
⁸
and there was even some serious discussion about a film.
⁹
The latter, though, never got made, which may be as well, as sword and sorcery never translated to the big screen very well in those days!

Robert Price, joint executor of the Lin Carter estate, himself a worthy scribe and editor, has written “Silver Shadows” from a title Lin coined for a Thongor tale he never got around to writing and has written “The Creature in the Crypt” from an abandoned Thonor synopsis. There is an even deeper irony here, for this story was published by Lin Carter as “The Thing in the Crypt,” a Conan yarn and part of the
Conan
volume,
¹⁰
although it actually began life as a plot for the Thongor saga! And to round out the collection, Robert Price has written “Mind Lords of Lemuria,” a stirring yarn that captures both Carter’s style and not a little of the mighty Valkarthan’s panache. It also more than hints at the bizarre deep past of Lemuria, linking it to the Mythos cycles in a way that I am certain Lin Carter would heartily have approved of.

What follows, then, is the beginning, an appetizer for even greater exploits, a feast of heroic fantasy on the grand scale.

—ADRIAN COLE

1
The Wizard of Lemuria
, first published by Ace Books (NY) 1965, revised and reprinted by Berkeley (NY) as
Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria
in 1970.

2
From Lin Carter’s own introduction to the Thongor stories in Lost Worlds, published by DAW Books (NY) 1980.

3
Imaginary Worlds
, published by Ballantine (NY) 1970

4
The Hyborian Age
was originally published in book form in
Skull-Face and Others
by Robert E Howard, Arkham House (Sauk City), 1946 and part one was reprinted in
Conan
, Lancer Books (NY) in 1967, edited by Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp.

5
Edmond Hamilton’s
The Star Kings
, 1949 and A.E. Van Vogt’s
The Book of Ptath
, 1953 in
Unknown Worlds
.

6
The five Kothar novels (Belmont/Tower, NY, 1969-1970) and four Kyrik novels (Leisure Books, NY, 1975-1976) are from the busy pen of Gardner Fox, Kandar’s only novel (Paperback Library, NY, 1969) from Ken Bulmer, Kavin’s two novels (Lancer, NY, 1969 and 1972) from David Mason and Kellory from Lin Carter himself (Doubleday, NY, 1984).

7
Imaginary Worlds
, published by Ballantine (NY) 1970.

8
Thongor was the main feature in Marvel’s
Creatures on the Loose
, issues 22 through 29, March 1973 to May 1974. Issues 22 and 23 saw an adaptation of
Thieves of Zangabal
, with a script by George Alec Effinger that was true to Carter’s original and with artwork by Val Mayerik. Issues 24 to 29 ran the complete
The Wizard of Lemuria
, again scripted by Effinger and with excellent art by Vincente Alcazar, who worked at various times on some of the more prestigious Conan comics.

9
Milton Subotsky, who co-produced with Max Rosenberg movies such as
At the Earth’s Core
and
The Land That Time Forgot
, both from the work of Edgar Rice Burroughs, wrote to me for some information about Thongor in the 1970s. This was for a potential Thongor movie he was considering for Amicus Productions, so there were at least some basic plans on the drawing table! Movie rights to the Thongor books were licensed by a different production company in 2001, so hope for a film version lives on.

10
Conan
, published by Lancer (NY) 1967, edited by Lin Carter and Sprague de Camp.

INTRO TO LEMURIA

The following originally appeared as part of the introduction to
Thongor and the Dragon City
, which is now chronologically the third volume in the series about the Valkarthan warrior. A section of it is reprinted here as a fitting opening to Thongor’s saga, setting the stage for the dramatic adventures that unfold.

LEMURIA

Half a million years ago the first and most glorious civilization arose on the Lost Continent of Lemuria amidst the blue vastness of the Pacific.

This was the middle of the Pleistocene epoch, a division of geological time which began
circa
one million BC and extended to about 25,000 BC. The continents of Eurasia, Africa and the Ameri cas were very different then. Mammoth and mastodon and sabretooth tiger fought for the mastery of the earth, while tall, stalwart Cro-Magnon man and his hulking, ape-like predecessor, Neanderthal man, fled from the remorseless advance of the towering glaciers. The age of the mighty reptiles was long over: it had ended with the birth of the Cenezoic Era seventy five million years ago.

But amidst the steaming jungles and fetid swamps and thundering volcanoes of primal Lemuria, the colossal saurians yet lived. They had come close to dominating the earth itself, and they would have trampled the first, small, timid mammals into the quaking slime.

But the Nineteen Gods Who Watch The World intervened. Seldom does The Unknown One permit the Nineteen Gods to influence the flow of time—only in moments of cosmic peril may they take action on the physical plane. But the future history of the planet trembled in the balance, and the unwritten chronicles of age upon age hovered in the mists of the Might-Have-Been. Thus the Nineteen Gods were permitted to act, and Man arose upon the earth to challenge the might of the Dragon Kings in war.

It is written in the age-old pages of
The Lemurian Chronicles
that this war lasted for one thousand years.

Man triumphed, the Dragons fell, and the Age of Men began. But, from beyond the Universe itself, the dark forces of Chaos and Old Night schemed and plotted against the Lords of Creation. Evil cults of demon-worshippers arose in primal Lemuria: dark druids sworn to the service of Chaos, who subtly undermined the nine young cities of the World’s West. King was pitted against king, and city against city, in ruinous wars. Soon the bright torch of that first civilization would be crushed out, and Man would descend into the red murk of howling savagery…

DIOMBAR’S SONG OF THE LAST BATTLE

1.

With dawn we rode from Nemedis

in all her pomp and pride.

The white road thundered beneath our tread

and the white sea at our side.

The wild waves broke on the naked rocks

and returned to break once more

Where the grim black walls of the Dragon Keep

loomed on the grim black shore.

2.

The foam-maned lions of the sea

drove madly against the strand.

On a desolate stretch of wet black rock,

the heroes took their stand.

Above, against a storm-torn sky

of whirling crimson smoke,

The jagged walls of the Keep rose sheer

from the rocks where white waves broke.

3

And Thungarth, son of Jaidor, urged

his mount to the grim black gate

That rose above him like a cliff,

death-cold and dark as fate.

Ah, he was young as morning,

a hero to behold;

His mighty thews like ruddy bronze,

his mane like ruddy gold.

4

The challenge was his alone to claim,

by clan-law and blood-right,

For the Dragon Kings had slain his sire

in treachery by night.

He set his war horn to his lips—

the thunder of its cry

Aroused the Dragon warriors forth

to conquer or to die.

5.

And from the ebon citadel

the Dragon Warriors came,

And they were mailed in adamant,

and armed with evil flame.

The heroes rode against them

and strove with sword and shield

To fight and fall—if fall they must

—to die, but never yield!

6.

And Khorbane fell, and proud Konnar,

and gallant Yggrim too;

Yet still we strove with the Dragon Kings

and the great war trumpets blew.

And for every hero of Phondath’s breed

who upon that black shore fell

We sent a dozen Dragons down

the scarlet throat of hell!

7.

From wild red dawn to wild red dawn

we held our iron line

And fought till the blades broke in our hands

and the sea ran red as wine.

With arrow, spear and mighty mace,