Customer Reviews

Thongor at the End of Time (Tandem science fantasy)

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Or sword in this case. Presented for the first time in Thongor of Lemuria this is another in the series of sword `n' sorcery pulp fiction novels written by Lin Carter as part of a series. The main character of Thongor is based fairly closely on Conan the Barbarian and Carter had in fact written several Conan stories based upon notes left by that series creator Robert E. Howard.

As such the novels are short, as were most of the genre at this time, and fairly generic in terms of foundation and the way in which our heroes go about making the world right again by deft destruction born of their straight forward barbarian nature. This novel sees Thongors reign over his kingdom threatened by evil - including magic. Which of course is something your average barbarian doesn't have much defence against. But Thongor is not your average barbarian - oh no my friend, he can be distinguished by his muscles being WAY bigger than average.

But all jibes aside this is a fair enough entry in the ranks of dated pulp fiction and while it's hard to figure out who would actually track down these books now I'm sure that there are similar books doing the rounds these days helping young pups take their first steps into the wider world of fantasy fiction. The simple writing style, the brevity of the book and the lack of character development won't trouble younger readers nor pulp fiction devotees, but of the wider fantasy community only completists need delve into the Thongor chronicles of Lin Carter. Or the kind of people who have every single issue of Savage Sword of Conan comic books - you know who you are...

The Black Magician Mardanax of Zaar returns to Thongor's city at a holiday time, and using a weak local lord in a plot, strikes Thongor down.

The book takes a bit of a Moorcockian turn as Thongor, assumed dead, journey's in the land of shadows and talks to gods and travels through all the world's history.

Back in the land of the living, Charn Thovis, keeping a cool head, realises something has happened to the queen's state of mind, and takes her son away.

His airbot is downed by a giant flying lizard, and he ends up in the hands of Barim Redbeard and his pirates, bound for Tarakus.

An interesting appendix tells why Carter chose Lemuria as a setting, and where some of his information and characters came from. Apparently at a second hand book sale he found a rare volume about the Upa-Puranas, and also used some of Blavatsky's writing. He adapts the names to make them a bit more reader friendly.

This book concludes the thongor cycle of Lin Carter. After defeating the magicians and the evil gods into the 2 precedent books (T.in the city of magicians,T.versus the gods) our hero must face his last battle from wich he will exit as the final winner. The end of this book remind the end of the Stormbringer saga