On Earth, life held for him only the fate of a recluse--confined to daydreams and the lore of ancient wonders but apparently destined never to share them--until he found the formula that let him cross space to the world of the Green Star. There, appearing in the body of a fabled hero, he is to experience all that his heroid fantasies had yearned for. A princess to be saved . . . an invader to be thwarted . . . and otherworldly monsters to be faced! A thrilling adventure in the grand tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs, as only Lin Carter can tell it! This edition includes an afterword by Lin Carter.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Under The Green Star
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle.
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Short, fun, cheap,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Under the Green Star (Paperback)
Under the Green Star is Lin Carter's homage to Edgar Rice Burroughs and it's a quick, fun, exciting adventure with some terrific scenery. Our hero (who's telling the story in first person) was crippled by polio when he was a child and, as an adult, he's confined to a wheelchair. He's wealthy, though, so he has managed to get hold of an ancient scroll that describes the lost Tibetan science of eckankar -- soul travel. After years of studying, he manages to free his soul from his crippled body so that he can explore the Earth... and beyond!It's not long before he finds himself on a green star which supports a beautiful land where people live in the trees and ride dragonflies. When he gets too close to the crystal-encased tomb of one of their ancient heroes, his soul is sucked into the hero's body which then comes back to life, fulfilling one of their prophecies. He is now the protector of their beautiful princess and, in his new and vigorous body, he has adventures. Under the Green Star will likely feel derivative to readers who've read a lot of Edgar Rice Burroughs. I haven't, but it did remind me of several other works I'm familiar with: Abraham Merritt's The Moon Pool (both the story and the writing style are very similar), John Norman's Gor stories (Earth man becomes a hero on another planet) and Stephen R. Donaldson's Thomas Covenant series (diseased Earth man become a hero in a beautiful land). The best part of Under the Green Star is the setting: a spectacular shady world with trees that have branches as wide as highways (or maybe the trees are normal-sized and the people are tiny -- our hero never learns which is true). The people live in cities high up in the trees because dangerous monsters live on the floor of the forest. The story is fast-paced and exciting and easily read in a day. Although it was really fun, there are a couple of problems with Under the Green Star. Foremost is the severely exhausting infuriating redundant extreme overuse of adjectives and descriptors: "Her face was fine-boned, heart-shaped, exquisite. Beneath delicately arched brows, her eyes were enormous wells of depthless amber flame wherein flakes of gold fire trembled. Thick jetty lashes enshadowed the dark flame of her eyes, but her hair, elaborately teased and twisted and coiffed, was startlingly white: a fantastic confection of frosted sugar, and exquisite construction of spun silver. Her mouth was a luscious rosebud, daintily pink, moistly seductive. A delicate flower of superb and breathtaking loveliness was Niamh the Fair, when first I looked upon her there on the gilt throne, bathed in shafts of somber and ruby light from the hollow dome above." That makes me want to gag and effortlessly brings me to my next point: that's about all there is to the princess when our hero decides he's in love with her. She looks like cotton candy (and her personality's about as substantial as cotton candy, too). But, what did I expect? I've read enough old SFF to know not to expect much more from this type of story. It wasn't written for me, anyway. The Kindle version of Under the Green Star is only $2.69 (at this writing) and I was pleased with its quality. I gave the book only a 3 star rating, but because it's short, fun, and cheap, I recommend it to anyone who wants to further their education in old SFF.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Swashbuckler in the Burroughs tradition,
By wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (TOP 500 REVIEWER)
This review is from: Under the Green Star (Mass Market Paperback)
Carter presents this story as open tribute to Edgar Rice Burroughs, the most popular writer of fantasies set on distant planets. Seen in that way, it follows the formula closely. We start with the Earth-bound hero - in this case, a life-long cripple of brilliant intellect. Proceed with the magical transport to that distant land: here, that comes from Tibetan secrets of meditation that free the soul for astral travel. Then, on to the adventure proper. That includes the usual mighty thews, imperilled princess, swordfights, giant spiders, and general manliness and bravery.OK, it's been done, as Carter freely admits. But writers keep doing it because it can still be done well, and because it still thrills readers. So, go ahead, enjoy, and don't even think of this as a guilty pleasure. Even if you generally read "better" books, or especially if you do, you can still find a little fun in titles like these. -- wiredweird
4.0 out of 5 stars
Suspenseful + Campy (in a good way),
By
This review is from: Under the Green Star: Green Star, Book 1 (Audible Audio Edition)
I listened to Under the Green Star as an audiobook, and I thought it was perfect for that!While the book lacks the depth of some of my other favorite sci-fi books, it is still fun, and very action packed. At times it was extremely suspenseful, I couldn't stop listening, I had to find out what happened next. Also, I liked the beginning. Astral projection is interesting and I feel like the author made it believable (or at least believable enough). The occult combined with space adventure is pretty awesome. I was not impressed with the portrayal of the princess, though. I mean, she just seems like this weak woman with little personality and I have no idea why the main character is so into her. But I guess this was written in the 70s, so whatever. Overall, a fun escapist read. Perfect if you are looking for something to take you away.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
