Thongor of Lemuria

Thongor of Lemuria

Cover art from Thongor of Lemuria
Author	Lin Carter
Illustrator	Gray Morrow
Cover artist	Gray Morrow
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Thongor series
Genre	Fantasy novel
Publisher	Ace Books
Publication date	1966
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	127 p.
Preceded by	The Wizard of Lemuria
Followed by	Thongor Against the Gods

Thongor of Lemuria is a fantasy novel written by Lin Carter, the second book of his Thongor series set on the fictional ancient lost continent of Lemuria. It was first published in paperback by Ace Books in 1966. The author afterwards revised and expanded the text, in which form it was reissued as Thongor and the Dragon City, first published in paperback by Berkley Books in 1970. This retitled and revised edition became the standard edition for later reprintings.

Plot and storyline

To rescue Princess Sumia and save her city, barbarian adventurer Thongor of Valkarth challenges Xothun, who has ruled the lost city of Omm as its vampire-king for a thousand years.

Setting

The Thongor series is Carter's premier creation in the Sword and Sorcery genre, representing a tribute to both the Conan series of Robert E. Howard and the Barsoom novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs. He pictures the lost continent of Lemuria as a prehistoric land mass existing in the South Pacific Ocean during the Ice Age, on which Mesozoic lifeforms persisted after the catastrophe which wiped them out elsewhere. An intelligent reptilian-humanoid race descended from dinosaur forebears reigned supreme as the dominant life form, but was partially supplanted by humanity as the continent was colonized by fauna from outside Lemuria. Humans have gradually thrown off the subjection in which they were initially held by the older civilization. Culturally, Lemuria is a mixture of civilization and barbarism, but overall is precociously advanced over the outside world, boasting a magic-based technology that even includes flying machines. The Thongor books relate the struggle of the titular hero to unite the humans of Lemuria into a single empire and complete the overthrow of the "dragon kings."

Influence

The Thongor books helped reestablish the Sword and Sorcery genre in the 1960s. Thongor was a successful ongoing series, paving the way for an explosion of similar works by other hands. It inspired such spin-offs as a comic book series and a rock group. After Carter was recruited by L. Sprague de Camp to assist in continuing Howard's original Conan series, however, his interest in Thongor waned. Ultimately the Thongor saga remained unfinished, and was already out of print well before the author's death. There has been no revival of interest in it to date.

Marvel Comics adaptation

The book was the basis for the beginning of a Marvel Comics storyline in the comic book Creatures on the Loose. Thongor debuted in Issue 22 in March 1973 and the storyline ran through Issue 29 in May 1974.