Customer Reviews

Callisto Volume 1 (The Classic Science Fiction Fantasy Series)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the 1970s one of the foremost writers of action packed heroic fantasy was Lin Carter. This book collects the first two volumes of what was perhaps Carter's best series. The Jandar of Callisto books were written very much in the tradition of the John Carter of Mars novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs, but without Burroughs' semi victorian language. I read the Callisto books when I was a kid and still find them to be a lot of fun. This book is full of pageantry, romance and swordplay. Callisto, or Thanator as the natives call it, is a wondrous world of flying ships and dense jungles teeming with danger. Anyone who enjoys a fast paced adventure story set on an exotic alien world should definitely give Callisto a try. In addition to his writing, Lin Carter was one of the most influential editors of fantasy fiction. He is remembered today primarily for getting many classics of the genre back into print. But Carter could spin a wonderful yarn, and it's great to see his work available again for new readers to discover.

Lin Carter, of course, didn't write this book; he was merely the editor, transcribing the peculiar parchment delivered from overseas and lands unknown. As an editor, he contributes numerous footnotes and appendixes that help the reader's understanding of this weird alternate-universe Callisto, whose sky is golden during the day, and at night filled with the great orb of Jupiter and its racing moons. If this document were a piece of fiction, one could say it was derivative of Burrough's Barsoom; but there is a verisimilitude to these memoirs of the downed pilot John Dark, who stumbles upon a lost city in Cambodia and is transported to Callisto (called Thanator by the natives). His adventures are vivid and various, full of strange creatures, swordplay, mind control, Romance, super science; perhaps they can only be appreciated by an eleven-year-old boy who has yet to read the Burroughs books, and who wishes to encounter a planetary romance, for once, as it *really* happened. I have always remembered Koja, the insectoid Yathoon warrior; Darloona, the beautiful real-life Dejah Thoris; grizzled Lukor the master swordsman; the nefarious Sky Pirates in their floating galleons, the terrible Mind Wizards; and of course the wise Lankar, who is none other than Lin Carter himself, transported to Callisto in Book Six (the locals have difficulty with complex Earth names; John Dark becomes Jandar, Lin Carter, Lankar). My only regret in this neccessary reissue is the cover, which is grim and dark, and surely depicts nothing on Callisto. The original Dell covers, by Vincent DiFate, were both vividly colorful, pulpish and, of course, accurate.

I first read the Calisto series twenty-five years ago when I was a teen ager. I am currently re-reading the books to my twelve year old son (he's a remarkably good reader, but he still loves to be read to --who doesn't) and am delighted to say that he is as enthralled by the adventures of Jonathan Andrew Dark as I was so long ago. These books aren't high art or particuarly thought provoking, but if you allow yourself to suspend your disbelief a bit, the pay off these books will give you is well worth the effort. A princess to be rescued and a kingdom to be won! Who could ask for more from a read.

I'm a fan of Lin Carter's, but I think it needs to be said that along with his positives, there are serious minuses.

Carter is not very original, he is very good at putting together Edgar Rice burroughs, Robert Howard, Fritz Leiber, and others. I enjoy his books because he does it well, and he made his books short, (using the series format to continue the stories).

The Callisto series is one of his best, (I also recommend the Green Star series).

These are fast, exciting reads that highly imitate earlier, and better authors. I enjoy them for my casual reading on the commute to work.

So why the 4 stars for such a tepid review ? Simple: Carter was head and shoulders above the others of his time, or now, who attempt to do the same thing. It's not as easy as it may seem. Give "Jandar of Callisto" or "Under the Green Star" a try.

There's a reason Carter had so many books published ca. 1967-1980: He was good at what he did. Give him a try if you like the genre.

I have never heard of Lin Carter until I stumbled onto a copy of "Callisto" at my favorite bookstore six months ago. For the past month, I have started reading it and to my amazement, enjoyed it. Before this, I never read sword-and-sorcery based fantasies such as this, but was overwhelmed by Carter's Thanator world. What I enjoyed about "Callisto" are the characters, the effective use of first-person narration, and the settings. Carter, as well as Jonathan Dark, have done an outstanding job at conceiving this classic. I just hope that a new generation of readers will embrace "Callisto."

One of the best books that I have ever read! I can't say enough good things about "Callisto!" No sci-fi collection could be complete without at least one of Carter's books, and this one is magnificent.

I've enjoyed several of Lin Carter's series--Gondwane, Green Star, Zanthodon, and Callipygia--but found Callisto to be underwhelming. This collects the first two in the series, and they do have their high points. Sadly the low points outpace those. Where Edgar Rice Burroughs--a hefty influence on these books--could make us overlook the flaws presented by his hefty reliance on coincidence and heroic stupidity, Carter lacks the literary skills to do so and causes his (admittedly vividly written) novels to creak under his overt attempt at imitating Burroughs. John Dark and Darloona never grab the writer's attention as John Carter and Dejah Thoris do, and Carter seems unable to infuse his world with the depth necessary to truly grip the reader. That said, these novels are crisply paced and occasionally exceed their standard of mediocrity to draw the reader in. Sadly these times are all too few. I wish I could rate this, Carter's longest series, higher, but there just wasn't enough to it to justify my doing that.