The Boats of the “Glen Carrig”Being an account of their Adventures in the Strange  places of the Earth, after the foundering of the good ship Glen Carrig through striking upon a hidden rock in the unknown seas to the Southward. As told by John Winterstraw, Gent., to his Son James Winterstraw, in the year 1757, and by him committed very properly and l egibly to manuscript.

GK Chesterton's 1908 masterpiece is an intriguing mix of thriller, farce and gothic romance. In his 1901 essay Dreams, GK Chesterton rapturously advocates works of literature that "present such a picture of literary chaos as might be produced if the characters in every book from Paradise Lost to The Pickwick Papers broke from their covers and mingled in one mad romance". Few novels could quite match Chesterton's description but his own 1908 masterpiece, The Man Who Was Thursday, comes admirably close. The novel is a raucous carnival of genres: thriller, farce, detective story, dystopia, fairy tale and gothic romance. It can be read as a philosophical treatise or a fraught expression of religious conviction but above all it is gloriously entertaining. It begins conventionally enough, at a suburban garden party, but an argument soon whisks Gabriel Syme away on a phantasmagorical romp through London and beyond. We follow Syme – a poet-turned-detective – as he infiltrates a group known as the Central Anarchist Council and struggles to derail a terrorist plot. Chesterton makes a habit of pulling the rug from under us – the quotidian perpetually morphs into the extraordinary, the surreal turns back into the sensible. Syme begins to feel that "the cosmos had turned exactly upside down, that all trees were growing downwards and that all stars were under his feet". The novel increasingly revels in the disorder of dreams. Chesterton's great achievement is to imbue the everyday world with wonder; everything becomes exotic and fantastical. His portrayal of London in particular is an enchanting evocation of the modern metropolis – the city is rendered as a psychedelic wonderland, as both an ocean and a mountain range, as both the depths of hell and the unexplored surface of a foreign planet.

Omnibus edition containing: The Man Who Loved Mars by Lin Carter The Valley Where Time Stood Still by Lin Carter Lin Carter - The City Outside the World by Unknown Author Lin Carter - Down to a Sunless Sea by Lin Carter

Epub (my conversion)Book Contains the following: + About Zothique, and Clark Ashton Smith: When the World Grows Old - essay by Lin Carter + Zothique - [Zothique] - (1951) - poem by Clark Ashton Smith + Xeethra - (1934) - novelette by Clark Ashton Smith + Necromancy in Naat - (1936) - novelette by Clark Ashton Smith + The Empire of the Necromancers - (1932) - short story by Clark Ashton Smith + The Master of the Crabs - (1934) - short story by Clark Ashton Smith + The Death of Ilalotha - (1937) - short story by Clark Ashton Smith + The Weaver in the Vault - (1934) - short story by Clark Ashton Smith + The Witchcraft of Ulua - (1934) - shortstory by Clark Ashton Smith + The Charnel God - (1934) - novelette by Clark Ashton Smith + The Dark Eidolon - (1935) - novelette by Clark Ashton Smith + Morthylla - (1953) - short story by Clark Ashton Smith + The Black Abbot of Puthuum - (1936) - novelette by Clark Ashton Smith + The Tomb-Spawn - (1934) - short story by Clark Ashton Smith + The Last Hieroglyph - (1935) - short story by Clark Ashton Smith + The Isle of the Torturers - (1933) - short story by Clark Ashton Smith + The Garden of Adompha - (1938) - short story by Clark Ashton Smith + The Voyage of King Euvoran - (1933) - novelette by Clark Ashton Smith + Epilogue: The Sequence of the Zothique Tales - essay by Lin Carter

Their fate was high adventure - with an ending none of them could foresee.Dom Manuel - the high Count of Poictesme, who was everywhere esteemed the most lucky and the least scrupulous rogue of his times - had disappeared out of his castle at Storisende without any reason or forewarning, upon the feast day of St. Michael and All the Angels, much to the confusion and dismay of his subjects...

In this superb, full-bodied fantasy of glorious adventure in mysterious, immemorial Egypt, a great storyteller and a world famous classicist combine forces to write a sequel to the Odyssey—bringing Odysseus to Egypt in search of the immortal Helen of Troy and involving him in the intrigue and necromancy of the Egyptian court and its powerful and beautiful queen Meriamun. These three, Helen, Meriamun and Odysseus, are linked together by a curse of the ancient Gods, moving toward an inexorable destiny which not even the mighty Queen of Egypt can stay—indeed, it is her passion which drives them toward an ultimate terrible union.

Many are the tales that have been written of Elfland. Surely few have realized that cold, calculating halfworld with as much sympathy and reality as The Broken Sword. Indeed, if Sir Béla were not such a doughty knight himself, one might suspect him of kinship with those impersonal, clever, gay, powerful and careless immortals who people the twilight world of elves.Something there certainly is of elven richness and perverse humor, an antic way of looking at the world, an excitement that pervades and illuminates the prose of Poul Anderson.

Major fantasy novellas by two newly-rediscovered masters of the genre, Ernest Bramah and Eden Phillpotts, are herein included, and yet another haunting novella by Robert W. Chambers, as well as a long-forgotten tale by the great George Macdonald—a tale so utterly obscure that I sometimes wonder if anyone in the world ever really noticed it before.

There is, perhaps, no reading matter so flagrantly devoted to pure pleasure as adult fantasy.It has appeared in written form now for at least several hundred years, but the tradition of joy in the tales of man’s more impossible adventures and endeavors goes back far beyond written history. No country in the world is without its myths, its magic, its epic legends, its gods and heros of monumental stature.Lin Carter writes with infectious enthusiasm about the origins and sources of the glittering array of fantasies he has collected in this volume—indeed, his joy in the discoveries he has made is at least as much fun to follow as the reading of each selection itself. And this joy is perhaps why these stories live, and have lived for centuries—in every age there have been those who loved the tales of the past and had the ability to share their love and to perpetuate the grand and glorious history of fantasy.

MAGICKS AND WONDERSBeing a compendium of various magicks and wonders, whereof one not having been encountered in these lands heretofore, and divers others being rare and unknown, it is earnestly hoped that this fourth arrangement of marvels will provide a merrie entertainment, and thereby prepossess the reader to the enjoyment of a fuller repast to be provided each himself by the magicians and wizards herein…OR, TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAYThe fourth of Lin Carter’s anthologies of fantasy designed to bring to readers new names or little known works by famous writers. Included in this volume are unexpected delights from Oscar Wilde, George Sterling, Robert Howard and many others, together with a previously unpublished work of Mervyn Peake.

H. P. Lovecraft, like his compatriot, Edgar Allan Poe (both gentlemen were from Providence, R.I.) was fascinated by the world of the macabre—but it was Lovecraft who was eventually to create an entire mythos based on a bleak world of decay and terror that was entirely his own invention.His early writing: was not so much involved with this obsession for the supernatural, and gathered in this volume is a progression of stories showing his development from the early Dunsanian tales to the flowering of the first monstrous fruits that eventually became the Cthulhu Mythos.He was an extraordinary writer in every sense of the word, and his place in American letters is not only assured, but unique.

It is seldom indeed that a series which starts with the eclat and acclaim occasioned by the first volume, THE ISLAND OF THE MIGHTY, continues to be as well received and as powerful as its start. But the second of Miss Walton’s books, THE CHILDREN OF LLYR, with its gaunt prose expressive of high tragedy, was just as strong as the first. And this, the third volume, is again remarkable—as much for the gentle humanity of its principal figures as for the massive strength and awesome dignity they display when their magic powers are invoked. In THE SONG OF RHIANNON, Manawyddan, brother to the mighty Bran the Blessed, and one of the seven survivors of the tragic expedition to Ireland, unites with his long beloved Rhiannon. But much stands in the way of their happiness. Dread of the seeds of evil planted by the overthrow of the Old Ways, fear for the youthful recklessness of Pryderi, and something darker yet—for Rhiannon is not of this world, and somewhere, somewhen, the Gray Man waits to take his vengeance and claim his own.

“It is very rarely that a middle-aged man finds an author who gives him, what he knew so often in his teens and twenties, the sense of having opened a door. One had thought those days were past. Eddison’s heroic romances disproved it. Here was a new literary species, a new rhetoric, a new climate of the imagination.Its effect is not evanescent, for the whole life and strength of a singularly massive and consistent personality lies behind it. Still less, however, is it mere self-expression. In a word, these books are works, first and foremost, of art. And they are irreplaceable. Nowhere else shall we meet this precise blend of hardness and luxury, of lawless speculation and sharply realised detail, of the cynical and the magnanimous.”

Welsh Mythology—and the long-neglected Books of the Mabinogi— When Evangeline Walton’s book THE ISLAND OF THE MIGHTY first appeared, it was greeted by reviewers all over the country with almost ecstatic acclaim. The Times described it as “a brilliant and diverting work of fiction that Arthur Machen .would read with pleasure and praise; and one that might call forth the envy of James Branch Cabell…Drawn from the Second Book of the Mabinogi, THE CHILDREN OF LLYR is a part of the first great work. In stark, gaunt prose, it chronicles the years of Bran the Blessed—he who was so vast a man that no house could hold him nor ship bear his bulk—and of the tale of his beloved sister Branwen, his brother Manawyddan, and of his half-brothers Nissyen and the ghastly Evnissyen. It is a tale of change and storm, of love beyond death, of high courage, of the end of an era—and the beginning of another.It is epic fantasy in its purest form—marvelous in its compass and power.

LIN CARTER WRITES:“Of all the worlds of fantasy literature,I seem most deeply fascinated by the lost lands of legend—by t hose far and mysterious realms and continents presumed by dreamers to have flourished in remote, prehistoric ages.“I think it is the unsolved mystery of these ’evening isles fantastical’ that teases my curiosity and captivates my imagination. Did the oceans drink down the shining cities of Atlantis?Did mighty Mu founder beneath the waves before history began? Was there ever a lost polar paradise of Hyperborea? Did the Seven Isles of Antiilia ever exist…?“Since we cannot look to science or history or archeology for the age-lost annals of Atlantis or Ultima Thule or Lemuria, we must turn to fantasy fiction to satisfy our thirst for their marvels…

SUPPOSE, FOR A MOMENT, THAT WITCHES WERE REAL . . . Well, as a matter of fact, of course, they are. There was a time, indeed (although not in our own timestream), when witchcraft was the recognized repository of scientific knowledge—when witches wielded a power, nowever reluctantly, which, if it did not threaten other sciences, certainly frightened established religion. There was this about the science of witchcraft, that it could not be taught to anyone who had not inherited the ability to learn, and inheritance came through the female line only. Thus Lalette Aster-hax, daughter of the witch Leonalda, could not escape either the power or her destiny. She was well aware that this made her a target, indeed, that being a witch would put her life in danger. And moreover there were the onerous duties which she would like to have escaped. Nothing would have pleased Lalette more than to have been a simple maiden, loved and loving. She did her best to achieve this unworthy end— and thereby wound herself into a contortion of adventures that even a witch was not equipped to deal with . . .

 What an enchantment it is to rediscover the work of a writer like Ernest Bramah! No one today is writing with the studied, elegant wit, the adroit humor, and above all, the superbly controlled English that this lesser-known writer of the early ’twenties used with such obvious pleasure. But it is hardly fair to imply that his talent was commonplace. On the contrary, like Cabell, he was a gifted man who developed, disciplined, and then used his talent with joyous mastery.The mannered, polished irony of Bramah’s style is as unique as the fictitious creation of a remarkable mind—for certainly no “China” remotely like Bramah’s existed outside his imagination. Yet his work is spiced with wry humor and studded with earthy realities. The ultimate test of adult fantasy is that it speaks to us of ourselves. And this Ernest Bramah does through the delicious medium of his anti-hero, Kai Lung.

It was a time when each man’s world was limited to what he could reach on foot or on horseback. Most men were content to stay within the fields we know, listening to the tales of the restless ones who travelled and brought back visions of strange places and stranger times. All was possible and true for none but the travellers had seen with their own eyes—eyes that were always filled with the dazzle of stars and wonder.So all men knew of Elfland—indeed, many had seen its misty beginnings that bordered on the fields we know—never getting too close, of course, for all also knew the special powers of elves. Nevertheless, the good burghers of the peaceful Vale of Erl were eager to benefit from this special magic; consequently they were happy indeed when Alveric, Prince of Erl, ventured off through the mists and brought back with him Lirazel, the shining daughter of the King of Elfland.This was an auspicious beginning. But Lirazel was elf, not mortal. There was no malice in her but neither was she suited to the limited ways of man. No elf could ever be content. And certainly not in the fields we know…

As in the notable companion volume to this work, dragons, elves, and heroes,these are tales of fantasy, of wonder, myth, glory—heroic chronicles in the tradition of the ancient legends. These are the tales by contemporary writers that prove magic has not left the world, that mysterious powers and epic deeds still hold the fascination for mankind that they did when stories were told by word-of-mouth. So the young magicians of the tide carry on the tradition in tales that charm, terrify, enchant, embolden and reassure. For it it is true that the reading world is turning more and more to fantasy to escape the awesome realities of our world, it is equally true that man models himself on that larger-than-life figure, that Cod, or gods, that heroic knight or seductive enchantress, that being with the extra power to dare what mere mortals cannot—but whose courage is very mortal indeed. And always there is the reinforcing knowledge that it is men who weave these tales… So here are magnificent works by Morris, Eddison, Cabell, Merritt, Dunsany, Lovecraft, Smith, Carter, Howard, de Camp, Kuttner, Vance, Lewis and finally, new poems by that magician without whom no anthology of contemporary fantasy would be complete—J. R. R. Tolkien.

Orlando Furioso is a masterpiece, a great book, a seminal work of very high order. And most important, it is not one of those classics more admired than actually read. When it was first published in 1516, it reached, almost immediately, a vast audience and became astonishingly popular throughout Europe. The book appeared in nearly a dozen translations within its first fifty years. Spenser imitated it; Goethe admired it; Cervantes praised it and quoted from it in his own masterpiece of chivalric romance,Don Quixote; even Voltaire admitted himself fascinated by Ariosto. Scott learned Italian in order to read it in the original, while Byron learned much from Ariosto.Orlando Furioso attained such popularity because it is lively and exciting and fun to read. Now this new prose translation can delight and thrill readers of the twentieth century as readers of earlier eras were once delighted.

Like Lin Carter’s other splendid “look behind” volumes (on J. R. R. Tolkien and H. P. Love-craft), this book examines the background and creation of the imaginary worlds of some of the most famous writers to appear in the field of Adult Fantasy, of which Ballantine Books is the leading publisher.IMAGINARY WORLDS is a book about fantasy, about the men who write it, and how it is written. It is a joyful excursion by a man who himself loves fantasy, into the origins and the magicks of such writers as Duns any, Eddison, Cabell: it examines the rise of fantasy in the American pulp magazines and delights in the sturdy health of “sword and sorcery”: it looks with pleasure on the works of some modern masters and knowledgeably explores the techniques of world-making.It is, in short, a happy exploration of worlds, and men, and writers, and writings, by an author whose enthusiasm for his subject is boundless—and is thus a joyous guide for fantasy lovers everywhere.

There is magic in the grand old tales that have survived through centuries of time. Even the names of the books have a ring that sets the blood pounding—THE VOLSUNGA SAGA, THE SHAH-NAMAH, THE MABINOGIAN.From all over the world, from all periods of ancient time, the great myths and heroic tales thunder down through the ages. Each country, each region has its legends. Somewhere, sometime, somehow, some often unknown scribe has set the tales down in permanent form.In this volume Lin Carter has gathered together samplings from this richest of all sources of adult fantasy and although their original names may sometimes be anonymous, there surely has never been such a pride of taletellers together at one time as we have in DRAGONS, ELVES, AND HEROES

Among the great imaginative artists of the nineteenth century, MacDonald’s unusual talents were recognized even in his own lifetime. And in fact, although he died nearly seventy years ago, his reputation has retained all its luster and shows no signs of dimming.Evenor represents the last of the Adult Fantasy he wrote—three shimmering tales, brought together here for the first time.“George MacDonald was a Scot of genius as genuine as Carlyle’s; he could write fantasy that made all experience a fairytale. He could give the real sense that everyone had the end of an elfin thread that must at last lead them into Paradise.”G. K. Chesterton

For centuries the Deryni had been outcast— their supranormal powers dreaded and their race anathema. But with the accession to the throne of a young half-Deryni king, the likelihood of Deryni once again ruling Gwynedd seemed possible.Now the Church moved every strength it had to combat this possibility, conniving and encouraging a fanatic anti-Deryni leader who threatened to split the country into open conflict, throwing the land into civil war in his effort to rid it of Deryni. No disaster was too great for the priesthood to contemplate, provided they held their power—they would willingly endanger even their King. And in fact, they obviously wanted to compromise his position.In the circumstances, the Duke of Carwyn, Lord General Alaric Anthony Morgan,himself half Deryni and now excommunicate, no longer felt he could be protector to King Kelson. Yet the more Morgan was threatened the more vulnerable the King’s cause—and even his life—might be.

This book contains thirty of the finest stories written by the man many connoisseurs—including myself—consider the greatest fantasy writer of all time.

ntasy writing. Indeed, it would be difficult to group such a widely disparate pride of authors as Pratt, de Camp, Anatole France, Robert Chambers and William Morris, except in the worlds of the fantastic.For here the minds of many men dwell together, each contributing his unique gift of imagination. Here is writing talent displayed —indeed, joyously showing off—in the playground of minds that revel in unfettered flights of marvels and wonders and magicks.That is what makes adult fantasy so rich and so rewarding—both to its creators and to its appreciators.

Jewels of sly humor gleam through the iridescent prose of this Oriental classic, appearing originally in the middle of the nineteenth century as, incredibly, the first novel to be penned by George Meredith. The richness of the writing is exceeded only by the fecundity of his imagination as the heroic (but practical) barber, Shibli Bagarag, strides through adventure after adventure in a magical world that surely should exist somewhere as brilliantly as it does in these pages."Meredith has not simply imitated Arabian pictures, he has been inspired by them. In exuberance of imagery, in picturesque wildness of incident, in significant humour, in wisdom, THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT is a new Arabian Night.

Kendrenh, the Starlit Land, lay glimmering in the shadow of the Powers of Darkness: for Fendarl, fallen Enchanter of the Star magic and banished Lord of Black Mountain, had in his long exile grown strong—strong enough to challenge the rule of the Starbora.Fendarl’s power waxed with the rising of the Red Moon, and nowhere in all the stricken land was there a champion who could stand against him.Oliver, Nicholas and Penelope Powell seemed to be mere pawns in the savage conflict developing between the frozen horror of Fendarl’s power and the waning strength of the White Moon. But Oliver was called Tuvoi—Chosen One—and as the Night of the Red Moon drew close he learned that victory and safety for his beloved Starlit Land depended on him. But even that was not the end, for conquest does not mean victory. Much more was needed from Tuvoi—Chosen One—before the old prophecies could be fulfilled.

Epub (my conversion)Contains:About Xiccarph and Clark Ashton Smith: Other Stars and Skies • essay by Lin Carter1 To the Daemon: an Invocation The Maze of Maal Dweb The Flower-Women Vulthoom The Dweller in the Gulf The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis The Doom of Antarion The Demon of the Flower The Monster of the Prophecy Sadastor From the Crypts of Memory

True to the tradition of fantasy, The Last Unicorn is the story of a quest, the search by the unicorn—immortal, infinitely beautiful—for her lost fellows. She is assisted in her mission by Schmendrick the Magician, a kind of poor man’s Merlin whose devotion to the exquisite creature he follows is exceeded only by his mediocrity in magic. A third traveler, fiercely loyal Molly Grue, tries to bring some semblance of order and practicality into the lives of her two mad charges in this wonderfully imaginative and touching tale.

The Sun has gone out: the Earth is lit only by the glow of residual vulcanism. The last few millions of the human race are gathered together in a gigantic metal pyramid, the Last Redoubt, under siege from unknown forces and Powers outside in the dark. These are held back by a Circle of energy, known as the "air clog," powered from the Earth's internal energy. For millennia, vast living shapes - the Watchers - have waited in the darkness near the pyramid: it is thought they are waiting for the inevitable time when the Circle's power finally weakens and dies. Other living things have been seen in the darkness beyond, some of unknown origins, and others that may once have been human.To leave the protection of the Circle means almost certain death, or worse, but as the story commences, the narrator establishes mind contact with an inhabitant of another, forgotten, Redoubt, and sets off into the darkness to find her.

The works of William Morris have long been out of print—which is all the more strange since he combines the finest imaginative prose with warmly subtle humor. For instance, Golden Walter, the young hero of The Wood Beyond the World, is motivated to travel off to parts unknown by a railing, nagging wife…Throughout, these odd and human touches bring the world of magic alive.

In any time, the writing of George MacDonald would be remarkable, even brilliant. But for his own time, in his century, the depth of his inner vision is nothing less than extraordinary. Somewhere in this conservative ex-Minister of seemingly genial disposition there lurked a daemon of negation. LILITH is proof that he was able to express this in evocative and visionary prose for it is the tale of man in a nightmare, forever reaching for the unspeakably beautiful, eternally elusive dream.

George MacDonald was no mere teller of tales—therein, perhaps, lies the strength of this novel, and of LILITH: for these two fantasies are expressions of the contradiction and paradox in his own life. MacDonald, an ordained Scottish Minister, turned the direction of his life away from the Kirk. Just as much of his life was spent in a search—albeit a happy one—so with his heroes, wandering enchanted, beset by nightmare, glorying in eventual triumph. Lucky indeed that George MacDonald turned from the Ministry to being a writer of fantasy!

Domnei is full of magnificent adventures, chivalrous and gallant personages, smooth lawns and fragrant orchards, with forests and mountains ripe with color. The crossroads of history meet in this world, and space no less than time comes to a focus here.

“VATHEK is a tale of the grandson of the Caliph Haroun, who, tormented by an ambition for super-terrestrial power, is lured by an evil genius to the subterranean throne of the mighty and fabulous pre-Adamite sultans in the fiery halls of Eblis, the Mahometan devil …”—H. P. Lovecraft It is also the best Oriental fantasy ever written, a living monument to a remarkable man whose only literary work it proved to be.William Beckford’s personal life was certainly no less extraordinary than the fantasy lives of the heroes he learned to worship in the volumes of The Arabian Nights he pored over.Perhaps this is why his own fanciful effort displays such a rich understanding of the essence of imaginative writing.

The internationally famous author of She and King Solomon’s Mines writes a glittering adventure set in ancient Africa—a marvellous tale of peoples hidden in a valley cut off from the rest of the world, their primitive and savage culture harking back before the mists of time.Haggard possesses the gift not only of making his tales seem totally authentic, but of stretching out suspense to its outside limits—and surely no adventure has had as breathtaking a climax as the hurtling ride over a trembling icepath that occurs in PEOPLE OF THE MIST!

William Morris was a staggeringly talented man. He was architect, sculptor, author, musician, artist and translator extraordinary; he designed fabrics, glass, and furniture, musical instruments and, undoubtedly, many a labor-saving device around the house. For he believed in the wholeness of life, he admired the simplicity of an earlier day and deplored the industrial revolution of which he saw only the beginning.In his writing he attempted to hark back to a simpler, wiser time, to values that seemed to be disappearing from his own world.THE WELL AT THE WORLD’S END, his literary masterwork, is a commentary on life. The Well itself is a chimera, a test, indeed, the final deadly test for those few who find it. But it is the Journey that matters, the Road to the Well, the quest that encounters all the diversions of life itself and gets there despite the adventures, the threats, the dangers and the temptations. The Well is a grand tale, fully worthy of one of the nineteenth century’s most creative artists.

ack of none, is at his brilliant best in this tale of shining waters and shrouded magic.His gentle and spirited heroine, Birdalone, steps forth into the world as freshly and gaily as when Morris first committed her to the written page. Her courage carries her into a remarkable series of all too human adventures despite the wonders and marvels that abound in her enchanted world.Morris uses the honest reality of human relationships and emotions to point up the magicks with which his rich imagination em' broiders the story. Equally, the loves and an" gers, the longings and jealousies of his people are thrown into sharp relief by the somber threat of the Sending Boat in which Bird" alone travels or the mad witchery of the Isle of Unsought Increase. Throughout he main" tains that mark of the master storyteller—the need to keep turning the page to find out what is going to happen next . . .

THE GREEN HILL OF NEW ENGLAND……would seem to be a most unlikely spot for a visitation of horror. Yet, through the creative fertility of H. P. Lovecraft, an area of this lovely section has become known to thousands—indeed, possibly hundreds of thousands—as the scene of the regeneration of ghastly beings, the revival of a whole fluidly connected mythos spanning time, space, and most particularly, the depths of the Earth.So compelling and realistic is this creation that other writers have felt impelled to add their contributions to the arcane and macabre possibilities of the Cthulhu Mythos—hence this remarkable volume of stories and poems generated by the nightmare worlds of H. P. Lovecraft, a musty and mystic collection in which the master, one cannot help but believe, would have reveled.

I suggest that you read SOMETHING ABOUT EVE. It is perhaps the crowning achievement of a man who is undoubtedly the ablest writer of the present age.”    —Robert E. Howard

Among the great writers of fantasy, Lord Dunsany was one of the first: not merely innovative, he was a stylist whose prose has been echoed but never imitated. As Baird Searles has remarked, “His constant repetition of ’the fields we know,’ for instance, is not just a clever phrase. Through it and its ramifications, there is a constant pointing up of the difference between the mundane and the twilit depths of Elfland, where time stands still.”And L. Sprague de Camp says: “Dunsany’s stories are a priceless possession for any lover of fantasy. Like first-rate poetry, they are endlessly rereadable. Those who have not read them have something to look forward to, and an assortment of Dunsany is the foundation stone of any fantasy collection.” The publishers are pleased to announce that this collection includes the entire contents of THE GODS OF PEGANA, unavailable since its original publication in 1905, and never before published in its entirety in America. 

H. WARNER MUNN has been writing fantasy and science fiction for the best part of thirty years. Throughout the years, Munn worked at his magnum opus,Merlin’s Ring, an epic fantasy of extraordinary sweep and drama. It tells the story of Gwalchmai, godson to Merlin, and of Corenice, an immortal woman of Atlantis, and of a love that spanned centuries of high adventure.Gwalchmai is an active participant in much of Earth’s development, living in worlds both magical and real. Throughout he carries the ring of Merlin, which gives him certain arcane powers. Throughout runs the thread of the very moving love story of Corenice and Gwalchmai—lovers separated poignantly time and again by the adventures that take Gwalchmai from Atlantis to the Norseland, from the elf-world to pre-history, from Arthur’s Court to the Far East, from Cathay to Irish mythology, from medieval Rome to the burning of the Maid of Orléans. Seldom has such a huge canvas so successfully combined major historic events with the worlds of magic and wonder.

The lexicon of works produced by James Branch Cabell—works devoted to the loosely linked universe of which he was the creator and which span some twenty generations—possibly. For tying down James Branch Cabell’s universe is one of the happy pastimes of his devoted admirers and since his work abounds in allusion, allegory and anagram, their’s is a rich and never-ending game. As the writing itself was, indeed, a game, a challenge rather, which Cabell met with all the considerable wit and talent at his command, to emerge, finally, as one of die giants of American letters. There is not, in fact, anyone on either side of the Atlantic who can touch Cabell when it comes to highly sophisticated, polished and elegantly bawdy comment on the human condition.

Epub (my conversion)He woke on a strange raft in an unknown sea—and be was near to death. Certainly he was not about to question the weird Viking ship that picked him up, nor yet the lovely woman in outlandish dress who salved his burs and nursed him gently.He knew, however, that he was not of this world—he was the intruder, the alien: but without any way of finding out how he got there, much less any way of getting bade to his own time, he was caught up willy-nilly in the fight which was to decide the fate of this dreamlike cosmos.

His father had been slain in a heinous ambush; his grandfather, in an act of brotherly murder. His blood was of the Skjoldungs . . . and even the most unremarkable of seers knew his life would be as sweeping as it was savage. From the roiling midnight years before his birth, to the unshakable love and twisted fates that brought him to the throne of his ravaged Icelandic kingdom, Hrolf Kraki's magnificent saga is the story of an age of runes and ravishments, of blades and omens . . . and of a man who ruled and was ruled by an inescapable destiny.

Figures of Earth, subtitled "A Comedy of Appearances", follows the vicissitudes of Dom Manuel the Redeemer from his lowly swineherd origins through his unlikely elevation to the Count of Poictesme, and beyond. Published in 1921, it was the second volume of The Biography of Manuel, Cabells great work about an imaginary land that also managed to skewer the world of his upbringing as a Southern Gentleman of Virginia, and nearly everything else, besides! Poor Manuel starts out life as a lowly swineherd, but rises to become the famous Dom Manuel, the legendary, even mythic, hero of many of Cabells novels. He begins, like the simpleton in "Jack in the Beanstalk" and other folktales, by taking literally his mothers advice to go out and make a figure in the world and makes Figures of clay. But Manuel turns out to be a master of guile, a trickster hero, if you will. His guiding motto is: The world wishes to be deceived.

Four “lost worlds”…the worlds created by four remarkable writers, of which we here present what can be only a small sample of the richness, color, wit and excitement contained in the superlative writings of four highly imaginative gentlemen of letters., For fantasy is truly the playground of some of the finest writers and most fertile minds of all time, from Homer (and before) to the present. Except that in the old days, the mythmakers were dealing with the realities of their time, the monsters and magicks that made up their worlds were recognised as part of a real cosmos—and who knows, maybe they were right…

In the kingdom of Gwynedd, the mysterious forces of magic and the superior power of the Church combine to challenge the rule of young Kelson. Now the fate of the Deryni — a quasi-mortal race of sorcerers — and, indeed, the fate of all the Eleven Kingdoms, rests on Kelson's ability to quash the rebellion by any means necessary . . . including the proscribed use of magic!

William Morris was a staggeringly talented man. He was architect, sculptor, author, musician, artist and translator extraordinary; he designed fabrics, glass, and furniture, musical instruments and, undoubtedly, many a labor-saving device around the house. For he believed in the wholeness of life, he admired the simplicity of an earlier day and deplored the industrial revolution of which he saw only the beginning.In his writing he attempted to hark back to a simpler, wiser time, to values that seemed to be disappearing from his own world.THE WELL AT THE WORLD’S END, his literary masterwork, is a commentary on life. The Well itself is a chimera, a test, indeed, the final deadly test for those few who find it. But it is the Journey that matters, the Road to the Well, the quest that encounters all the diversions of life itself and gets there despite the adventures, the threats, the dangers and the temptations. The Well is a grand tale, fully worthy of one of the nineteenth century’s most creative artists.

Nightmare, dream, horror, idyll? A strange excursion to the edge (at least) of reality and—surely?—beyond. For if not, the implications curdle the blood.Mr. Machen’s style is elliptical, crabwise, cheerful and totally deceptive. For at the root of his seemingly straightforward story of prosaic, indeed, rather stuffy Londoners, lies a deliberation of evil that sends one scurrying back through the pages to see if such things can really be. And this is indeed, the burden of his tale—if, in fact, it can be so described. Respect' ability, he seems to say, is merely a screen for unimaginable horrors lurking right beneath the well-shined, sturdy shoes of your neighbor. But then, does that make this all real? And that being so, where do you fit in?,

Prince of Annwn is the first book of a great tetralogy in which the seeds of future tragedy are planted. By comparison with the later volumes, it is light, an adventure story of a time when the world was young and values, though grand, were simple and coped with by sturdy physical courage. This was the happy time, the time of victories won against gigantic monsters, the time of love for Rhiannon of the Birds, the time of triumph against the evilly beautiful God of Light. Only the macabre substitution of Prince Pwyll for the Grey Man—the Prince of Annwn, God of Death—hints at the necromantic powers that will hold sway in the future; only at the end does the venom of dark Druidic hatred touch the lives of the heroic Pwyll and his beloved Rhiannon.Though the shadow of high tragedy is only hinted at, the figures are epic—gods and goddesses, and humans to match their beauty and strength. This was a time when men and gods mingled—‘and the gods had met their match…

Long unavailable, H. P. Lovecraft's novel, THE DREAM-QUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH, is now brought back into print in this new format. Also included are such shorter masterpieces of demonic power as the Randolph Carter stories with all their eeriness and terror. In the range of imaginative literature, Lovecraft created a new form. His work is both lore and legend at their haunting best…—August Derleth

Men have always feared the unknown, and have hated what they fear. Except for those of courage and high heart to whom the unknown is like flame to a moth. But there were few such left in Gwynedd. It was no longer safe to admit even to curiosity about the Deryni.For the priests, seeing their young King Kelson place more and more trust in Duke Alaric Morgan, who blatantly boasted of his Deryni heritage, felt their own position threatened, And thus they plotted to destroy Morgan, encouraging reports of Deryni atrocity, compounding lies about the inexplicable powers of this race now called nonhuman, recklessly willing to risk even the King himself in their self-seeking drive to win control of Gwynedd.Very few were unafraid of the Deryni. For the power was real—and it was no longer properly understood or controlled. It had killed wantonly. It could, and had, destroyed.But for Duke Alaric Morgan, Deryni power was all that stood between the priests and his annihilation.

Probably the most famous, and certainly among the best of the many novels written about Atlantis, THE LOST CONTINENT has survived three-quarters of a century since first publication—and reads as though it were written yesterday. Vivid, rich, sweeping in scope, this is a magnificent tale of the ending of an era, indeed of a whole civilization. C. J. Cutliffe Hyne has managed to make the destruction and disappearance of a whole continent totally believable and has created unforgettable characters in Deucalion, the warrior-priest who fought a desperate battle to save his beloved Atlantis from the grasping, wholly courageous and monumentally selfish Queen Phorenice.“One follows Deucalion through the rainbow of action and suspense, knowing the end was preordained, vainly hoping that he would yet be rewarded with victory. 

 RODRIGUEZ TRINIDAD FERNANDEZ  CONCEPCION HENRIQUE MARIA—  Lord of Arguento and Duke of Shadow Valley sets forth on his thoughtful, elegant adventures—sword in one hand (for he has been instructed to seek out a war) and mandolin in the other (for any possible ladies who might like to be serenaded en route). His innocent search for war and ladies is conducted in the courtly, leisurely fashion only to be expected from the scion of an ancient house in the Golden Age of Spain. And (as in the case of a slightly more famous compatriot) he quickly acquires a Sancho Panza to assist him in his toilette and travels. But in that happy while, wars were hard to come by. So it is a long time, and many mystical (and even dangerous) adventures later, before Rodriguez feels he has fulfilled his father’s dying request and can return, conscience-free, to complete his destiny and reign as Duke of Shadow Valley.

EPUB (my conversion)Previously published in shortened form under the title The blue flamingo

The Gray Death: It struck the proudest ship of Patanga's fleet, and left its picked crew dead or howling in their madness. And swift on the heels of this horror came news that a renegade wizard and a pirate king were moving against Patanga, armed with mastery of the invincible Gray Death! Patanga's warrior-king, Thongor the mighty, set out on a desperate mission to counter the deadly sorcery that doomed his realm - and vanished from the sight of men!

The Trail of the Fiery Bird .  .  .  .  FROM THE WORLD’S ENDA strange tale of wonders, of figures and fancies and tortuous dreams, of probable nightmares, and possible facts, of mists in the night, of glorious discovery—a strange tale of loving and giving delight THE FIREBIRDThe tale of a journey, a journey through life, a tale full of marvels, of terror and strife; a tale of belief, and of faith, and of courage, of clarity, beauty and joy beyond life.

The Sundering Flood, among the last of Morris's works, was published in 1897, after his death. The beautiful prose and rich use of language are typical of Morris and fill the reader with a sense of awe and wonder. The "flood" of the title is nothing less than a river, metaphorically as well as literally dividing two lovers. And there is the fantastic, too: dwarf folk, a magic sword, and an ageless warrior to mentor the hero. All told, a delightful story certain to appeal to all lovers of classic fantasy. "C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien both acknowledged the influence of William Morris." --The Encyclopedia of Fantasy "No mountains in literature are as far away as the distant mountains of Morris." --C.S. Lewis "With his epochal novels of the 1880s, William Morris established the tradition of the tale set in a completely imaginary world of the author's own invention.? --Lin Carter

This is a tale of the Great Ones. This is the tale of Mâth, Son of Mathonwy, King and perhaps High-God of Gwynedd in the far marshes and mountains of the West—the dark kingdoms of Wales in the druidic days; As it is the tale of Mâth’s nephew and heir,Gwydion, warrior-necromancer whose heroic might and towering strength helped him to stand alone; And of Gwydion’s terrible sister, the sorceress Arianrhod, she who rejected her brother but gave birth to a seed of life which became the beloved, doomed heir of Gwydion, Llew Llaw Gyffes. And finally, this is the tale of Llew the Golden, the wise, courageous and adored one—the one cursed by his mother to a destiny that wed him to a heedless child made of flowers. This is a tale of Wonders.

One of the most enduring legends of the Western hemisphere is the story of Arthur Pendragon, the Round Table, and the mighty sword Excalibur—which only a Pendragon could wield. When Power is vested in an object, even though the people surrounding it might be long dead, the object itself grows in strength and stature—achieving, in time, the force of religious significance. Equally, an object of Evil can be so invested—and hence, can grow as dangerously Powerful. This, then, is a tale of the age-old struggle between good and evil; a struggle which has never ceased, a struggle in which the chief protagonists remain linked to the earlier champions by heredity or by witchcraft It is an extraordinary tale of wonders, of adventure, of heroic courage—and of lovers who might have been. In short, it is Adult Fantasy—the heartland of great story-telling, and a proud addition to Ballantine Books’ Adult Fantasy series.

A collection published in 1971 and containing About HYPERBOREA and Clark Ashton Smith: - Behind the North Wind The Muse of Hyperborea The Seven Geases The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan The White Sybil The Testament of Athammaus The Coming of the White Worm Ubbo-Sathla The Door to Saturn The Ice-Demon The Tale of Satampra Zeiros The Theft of Thirty-nine Girdles The World’s Rim* The Abominations of Yondo The Desolation of Soom The Passing of Aphrodite The Memnons of the Night Notes on the Commoriom Myth-Cycle by Lin Carter

NO SUBJECT seems less likely for an elegant, romantic fantasy than a woman who spends her days scrubbing away at floors. Ah, but there is something very special about this particular charwoman. Observe, she stoops and bends and squeezes and scrubs. She is performing the commonest of tasks.But she has no shadow.And therein lies magic, and wherein lies magic, there also is beauty…Certainly, of all the weavers of beautiful magic, there is none like Dunsany. He can take the most prosaic of subjects and make a miracle of it. Perhaps his Irish heritage had something to do with his extraordinarily evocative prose, perhaps also it accounts for his own obvious joy in tales of wonder.Whatever the reason, he has made us the lucky inheritors of some of the most lovely fantasies in the English language—of which THE CHARWOMAN’S SHADOW is an outstanding example.

An excellent collectionCertainly, of all the weavers of beautiful magic, there is none like Dunsany. And perhaps his magic is so powerful because he himself believed in basing his stories in the roots of reality. Of writing he said: “It is my belief that those sudden visionary pictures which are the true essence of any art arise like a flower from a seed that has fallen into the mind, sometimes in infancy, sometimes in later childhood, sometimes in adult years, but often as imperceptibly as any seed blown on the wind finds a home for itself in the earth at the end of its wandering. Bricks without straw are more easily made than imagination without memories.”  Dunsany’s life was extraordinarily rich in experience—he was globetrotter, sportsman, poet, peer, lecturer, playwright and much more. However, although he set the matrix for many a following writer of adult fantasy, the richness and individuality of his writing came from a special talent that has never been equalled or duplicated.

"In the sulphurous The High Place, the amoral hero Florian enters the sleeping-beauty story and (unlike Jurgen with Helen) does not draw back at the sight of excessive beauty. Complications ensue: Beauty is realistically diminished during pregnancy, the first-born child is forfeit to Satan under the pact that guaranteed Florain's success, and an irascible saint is eager to call down holy fire on transgressors. Florian treads close to damnation and is saved only when Satan and the angel Michael conspire to let recent events become, again, a dream: he has a rare second chance and learns better." -- The Encyclopedia of Fantasy

Never has a liking for milk landed a man in so much trouble. Fred Barber, a thoughtful man of antic minded humor, having drunk the milk put out for the little people, replaced his borrowing with an offering of Scotch. Never thinking for a moment, of course, that anything would come of it What was his surprise then, later in the night, to be assailed and kidnapped by a bunch of drunken elves…Thus the beginning of this altogether  delightful fancy, long acknowledged as  the best of the collaborations between  two notable writers:

THE SHADOWY KINGDOMS of marvel that lie, in Lord Dunsany’s fine phrase, “beyond the Fields We Know,” are many. Those of you who have read the books thus far published in The Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series have already explored the magical lands between Netznegon and Mancherei, Uplands and Utterbol, Erl and Elfland, Poictesme and the realms beyond. And here, in the pages of this little known novel, lies yet another journey which begins at the world’sremotest edge and ventures beyond the Lands of Men, deep into the starry realm of Faerie. ...

Ernest Bramah is truly a writer for adults. He is a master of towering clouds of words that pile delicate fantasy upon fantasy—clouds shot through, however, with the lightning of satire, with the homely and charming earthiness of his people. Rich, dry, droll, satiric, and above all, unique—these are just a few of the attributes that permeate the works of Ernest Bramah, and most particularly that body of work in which he retails the adventures of Kai Lung.

The Sun has gone out: the Earth is lit only by the glow of residual vulcanism. The last few millions of the human race are gathered together in a gigantic metal pyramid, the Last Redoubt, under siege from unknown forces and Powers outside in the dark. These are held back by a Circle of energy, known as the "air clog," powered from the Earth's internal energy. For millennia, vast living shapes - the Watchers - have waited in the darkness near the pyramid: it is thought they are waiting for the inevitable time when the Circle's power finally weakens and dies. Other living things have been seen in the darkness beyond, some of unknown origins, and others that may once have been human.To leave the protection of the Circle means almost certain death, or worse, but as the story commences, the narrator establishes mind contact with an inhabitant of another, forgotten, Redoubt, and sets off into the darkness to find her.

Epub (my conversion)Khaled  is perhaps the most effective of Crawford's fantasy novels. It's an Arabian fantasy sometimes compared to Beckford's Vathek, and it concerns a genie who is made mortal as a punishment.

Lin Carter's greatest creation, the barbarian swordsman Thongor of Lemuria, returns in his first new book in more than 40 years! "Young Thongor" collects Carter's short stories about Thongor's earliest adventures. Drawing on Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian and Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars, Lin Carter has created an enduring new character sure to please all who treasure sword & sorcery in the classic vein.

ZARKON, LORD OF THE UNKNOWN! #1 in the Series His fiendish foes would do anything to learn the identity of the man called Prince Zarkon, who foils their most diabolical schemes. But Zarkon remains a mystery to even his devoted Omega Crew as they follow him to the ends of the Earth battling the forces of darkness. Now Prince Zarkon and his Omega Crew must meet their ultimate challenge. Never before has Zarkon faced an enemy as monstrous as the creature who calls himself Lucifer whose army of satanic slaves, whose mastery of the black arts, and whose nearly infinite arsenal of infernal weapons make him the greatest threat that mankind has ever known! Lin Carter (1930-1988) was a noted American fantasy and science fiction author, anthologist, and critic who wrote over fifty novels, compiled over 25 anthologies, and authored multiple critical studies of the science fiction and fantasy genres. Best known for his Callisto and Thongor series of novels, Carter made a name for himself as a latter-day pulp author, imitating the successful adventure tale formulas made fashionable by earlier writers such as Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan of the Apes; The Mars/Barsoom series), Robert E. Howard (Conan the Barbarian), and Lester Dent (Doc Savage). Carter helped to popularize fantasy and science fiction not just through his own stories, but by anthologizing and promoting the works of many authors who would eventually become famous and influential in their own right.

This volume assembled the complete 5-volume Zanthodon series, by Lin Carter.

JOURNEY TO THE WORLD’S EDGEZarouk, Lord Chief of the fighting Kozanga, sent his fierce young grandson, the warrior Kadji, to hunt the vile imposter to the throne of the Dragon Emperor and bring back the sacred medallion as proof. With his two companions, beautiful red-haired Thyra and the clever magician Akthoub, Kadji rode East to World’s End to vanquish his deadly foe; knowing full well that it he failed it would mean another dread civil war in the Dragon Empire, that he would be branded coward — and worse.

A rose-red city, half as old as time. Once it had been king city of a mighty empire and the center of the ancient faith; Gateway to the Gods, the old epics name it. Now it was dead, empty, deserted, only a dim ghost of its vanished splendor. Such was Ilionis. Lost city of Mars. A somber ruin, cold and lonely. But Ilionis was not forgotten. The old city held a valuable treasure. A treasure that brought Earthmen Ivo Tengren and scientist Keresny on a strange and difficult journey to the city's gates. A journey that was now ended. Ilionis had been found. The treasure was close by. And now an even stranger journey was about to begin.

Thousands of books, articles and stories have been written about Atlantis since Plato presented the dialogues in which he first postulated the Lost ContinentLater writers, philosophers, story-tellers, believers and non-believers have created their own names for the legend, have changed the geography (which indeed, was always pretty vague), have treated the concept as the purest fiction, and ps the purest non-fiction: the stream is endless and there will undoubtedly be more to come.But few writers of the imaginative have produced such tantalizing glimpses of richness as Clark Ashton Smith created in his Tales of Poseidonis (one of the many names for Atlantis). The embroidery of his extraordinarily graphic prose, the clarity of his weird images, are ideally suited to the re-creation of his own purely imaginary world. He makes no pretense that this is the real lost Atlantis—but it is an Atlantis that surely should have lived. Enter it, and you enter a fascinating reality beyond the mundane world—a reality in which the remarkable mind of Clark Ashton Smith was perfectly at home, and in which he will entangle you with the sorcery of an artist…

First of the Thongor sword & sorcery series!

Prince Zarkon is back! This thrilling new case from the top-secret files of the crime-fighting organization known as Omega begins in London with a strangely simple and bewildering crime. It’s just a warehouse robbery, but the perpetrators are no ordinary criminals. They are the diabolical Blue Men.Sinister, invulnerable to conventional weaponry, and entirely blue, these evildoers can walk unharmed through clouds of deadly gases. Even gunfire doesn’t stop them — bullets bounce off their bodies as though they’d struck the steel side of a battleship. Bold and brazen, the chilling culprits carry out their crimes again and again, making headlines around the world. London is panicked . . . and Scotland Yard is stumped.Straight from Knickerbocker City comes Prince Zarkon and the Omega Men to the rescue. The lord of the unknown and nemesis of all villains, Zarkon soon discovers the malignant mastermind behind the mysterious Blue Men. It is the aptly-named Vulture, a brilliant but deranged, unscrupulous, and embittered scientist who is determined to leave the bloody stain of his extraordinary genius upon the world. As the band of Blue Men multiplies, until it terrifyingly outnumbers the Omega Team, it looks as if our superhero has finally met his match.Filled with electrifying suspense, this is a Zarkon adventure beyond compare . . . and one of the strangest pursuits in the annals of criminology.This is Prince Zarkon adventure #5. Zarkon is a man of mystery, a superhero who fights crime everywhere. Lin Carter (1930-1988) was a noted American fantasy and science fiction author, anthologist, and critic who wrote over fifty novels, compiled over 25 anthologies, and authored multiple critical studies of the science fiction and fantasy genres. Best known for his Callisto and Thongor series of novels, Carter made a name for himself as a latter-day pulp author, imitating the successful adventure tale formulas made fashionable by earlier writers such as Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan of the Apes; The Mars/Barsoom series), Robert E. Howard (Conan the Barbarian), and Lester Dent (Doc Savage). Carter helped to popularize fantasy and science fiction not just through his own stories, but by anthologizing and promoting the works of many authors who would eventually become famous and influential in their own right.

“I hold supreme power of life and death... Surrender, Zarkon — or die!”Knickerbocker City was paralyzed with fear. Two banks had been disintegrated by fiendishly targeted earthquakes. And the latest message from Lucifer, arch-villain and criminal mastermind, who had escaped from prison with his nefarious henchmen, was clearly a challenge to the city’s last hope of rescue, Prince Zarkon and his Omega Men. But what good are their atomic submarines, scanner probes, and fantastical, foe-flattening firearms if they can’t locate the malignant genius behind the plot? It is a dark hour for Knickerbocker and all mankind.This is Prince Zarkon adventure #4. Zarkon is a man of mystery, a superhero who fights crime everywhere. Lin Carter (1930-1988) was a noted American fantasy and science fiction author, anthologist, and critic who wrote over fifty novels, compiled over 25 anthologies, and authored multiple critical studies of the science fiction and fantasy genres. Best known for his Callisto and Thongor series of novels, Carter made a name for himself as a latter-day pulp author, imitating the successful adventure tale formulas made fashionable by earlier writers such as Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan of the Apes; The Mars/Barsoom series), Robert E. Howard (Conan the Barbarian), and Lester Dent (Doc Savage). Carter helped to popularize fantasy and science fiction not just through his own stories, but by anthologizing and promoting the works of many authors who would eventually become famous and influential in their own right.

Fleeing from justice across the ancient dust-oceans of Mars, Brant had no way of knowing that he was running toward the most fantastic adventure any man had ever lived!

ZARKON, LORD OF THE UNKNOWN!#2 in the SeriesDead men. One after another. Rich. Famous. Powerful. And all defenseless against the invisible occult force that struck them down and left no trace of its devilish origins. The police were powerless. The governments of the world were struck with fear. And only Prince Zarkon and his Omega Crew could hope to stem the bloody flood of terror about to engulf mankind. But even the great Zarkon and his miracle men might have met their match, as the defenders of Good move into a shattering showdown with an eerie empire of pure Evil ...Lin Carter (1930-1988) was a noted American fantasy and science fiction author, anthologist, and critic who wrote over fifty novels, compiled over 25 anthologies, and authored multiple critical studies of the science fiction and fantasy genres. Best known for his Callisto and Thongor series of novels, Carter made a name for himself as a latter-day pulp author, imitating the successful adventure tale formulas made fashionable by earlier writers such as Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan of the Apes; The Mars/Barsoom series), Robert E. Howard (Conan the Barbarian), and Lester Dent (Doc Savage). Carter helped to popularize fantasy and science fiction not just through his own stories, but by anthologizing and promoting the works of many authors who would eventually become famous and influential in their own right.

Once it had been king city of a mighty empire and the center of the ancient faith; Gateway to the Gods, the old epics name it. Now it was dead, empty, deserted, only a dim ghost of its vanished splendor. Such was Ilionis, the Lost City of Mars. A somber ruin, cold and lonely. But Ilionis was not forgotten. The old city held a valuable treasure...a treasure that brought Earthmen Ivo Tengren and scientist Krensny on a strange and difficult journey to the city's gates. And now an even stranger journey was about to begin...

ZARKON, LORD OF THE UNKNOWN!#3 in the SeriesLittle did Zarkon dream that on a tiny south sea paradise loomed an evil force that would challenge even his mighty powers and the courage and skills of the Omega men. Then with shattering suddenness Zarkon and his team were thrown into the path of the hideous flaming figure that rose from the mouth of a living volcano to bring scorching death and boiling terror to mankind! There was only one way for Zarkon to combat this satanic spectre from inner space. He had to descend into the monster’s lair, and in that fiery inferno deep in the bowels of the Earth, Zarkon and his followers plunged into their most hair-raising adventure!Lin Carter (1930-1988) was a noted American fantasy and science fiction author, anthologist, and critic who wrote over fifty novels, compiled over 25 anthologies, and authored multiple critical studies of the science fiction and fantasy genres. Best known for his Callisto and Thongor series of novels, Carter made a name for himself as a latter-day pulp author, imitating the successful adventure tale formulas made fashionable by earlier writers such as Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan of the Apes; The Mars/Barsoom series), Robert E. Howard (Conan the Barbarian), and Lester Dent (Doc Savage). Carter helped to popularize fantasy and science fiction not just through his own stories, but by anthologizing and promoting the works of many authors who would eventually become famous and influential in their own right.