Mad Empress of Callisto
1975 novel by Lin Carter
978-0-440-06143-4Mad Empress of Callisto is a science fantasy novel by American writer Lin Carter, the fourth in his Callisto series. It was first published in paperback by Dell Books in February 1975.[1] It includes an appendix ("The Beasts of Thanator") collating background information from this and previous volumes.
Plot summary
Jonathan Dark (Jandar) is now well settled into his new life as husband of Princess Darloona of Shondakar on the Jovian moon of Callisto (or Thanator). While out hunting with some companions they are kidnapped in a balloon by a force from the rival city of Tharkol. Their capture is part of a plot by Zamorra, empress of Tharkol, who under the mental influence of her advisor, the Mind Wizard Ang Chan is making an attempt to conquer all of Thanator.
Sprung from her dungeon by the thief Glypto, Jandar and his companions kidnap Zamorra and escape in the balloon. However, their craft is later attacked and brought down by a Ghastosar (a Thantorian flying creature resembling a pterodactyl), and the group falls into the hands of the insect-like Yathoon nomads. Once again Glypto is the key to their escape.
Striking out for Shondakar on foot, they encounter a caravan from the Soroba, only to find it a front for a military expedition from that city. They are rescued from the Sorobans by an airship, which they assume to be from Shondakar—but it is a Tharkolian ship, another unit in Zamorra's new airfleet.
The empress having gradually proven to be a decent sort during the party's adventures, Darloona tries to talk her out of her mad scheme. Discovering she has been controlled by Ang Chan, Zamorra is persuaded, and the upshot is a new alliance against the Mind Wizards made up of Tharkol, Shondakar and Soroba (ably represented by Glypto, now revealed to have been a Soroban spy).
Reception
Den Valdron, assessing the series in ERBzine, calls this book, along with its sequel, Mind Wizards of Callisto, "high points" among the Callisto books, praising them as "rousing, fast paced adventures."[2]
References
- ^ Mad Empress of Callisto title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- ^ Valdron, Den. "Lin Carter's Callisto Series (Part 1 of a series of 12)" in ERBzine 1731.
External links
- Fantastic Fiction entry
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- t
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Works by Lin Carter
- Jandar of Callisto (1972)
- Black Legion of Callisto (1972)
- Sky Pirates of Callisto (1973)
- Mad Empress of Callisto (1975)
- Mind Wizards of Callisto (1975)
- Lankar of Callisto (1975)
- Ylana of Callisto (1977)
- Renegade of Callisto (1978)
- Under the Green Star (1972)
- When the Green Star Calls (1973)
- By the Light of the Green Star (1974)
- As the Green Star Rises (1975)
- In the Green Star's Glow (1976)
- The Flame of Iridar (1967)
- "The Martian El Dorado of Parker Wintley" (1976)
- The Valley Where Time Stood Still (1974)
- The City Outside the World (1977)
- Down to a Sunless Sea (1984)
- The Man Who Loved Mars (1973)
- The Nemesis of Evil (1975)
- Invisible Death (1975)
- The Volcano Ogre (1976)
- The Earth-Shaker (1982)
- Horror Wears Blue (1987)
- Journey to the Underground World (1979)
- Zanthodon (1980)
- Hurok of the Stone Age (1981)
- Darya of the Bronze Age (1981)
- Eric of Zanthodon (1982)
- The Wizard of Lemuria (1965/69)
- Thongor and the Dragon City (1966/70)
- Thongor Against the Gods (1967)
- Thongor in the City of Magicians (1968)
- Thongor at the End of Time (1968)
- Thongor Fights the Pirates of Tarakus (1970)
- Young Thongor (2012)
- The Sword of Thongor (Robert M. Price) (2016)
| Novels |
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|---|---|
| Short works |
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| Collections |
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- "Exile of Atlantis" (1967)
- King Kull (1967)
- The Warrior of World's End (1974)
- The Enchantress of World's End (1975)
- The Immortal of World's End (1976)
- The Barbarian of World's End (1977)
- The Pirate of World's End (1978)
- Giant of World's End (1969)
- Kesrick (1982)
- Dragonrouge (1984)
- Mandricardo (1987)
- Callipygia (1988)
- The Quest of Kadji (1971)
- The Wizard of Zao (1978)
- Kellory the Warlock (1984)
- Tara of the Twilight (1979)
- The Tired Tailor of Oz (2001)
- The Merry Mountaineer of Oz (2004)
- Beyond the Gates of Dream (1969)
- Lost Worlds (1980)
- The Xothic Legend Cycle: The Complete Mythos Fiction of Lin Carter (1997)
- Lin Carter's Simrana Cycle (2018)
edited
| BAFS and Doubleday anthologies |
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|---|---|
| Flashing Swords! |
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| Year's Best Fantasy |
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| Weird Tales |
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| Other |
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- Tolkien: A Look Behind "The Lord of the Rings" (1969)
- Lovecraft: A Look Behind the "Cthulhu Mythos" (1972)
- Imaginary Worlds (1973)
- Sandalwood and Jade (1951)
- Galleon of Dream (1953)
- Letter to Judith (1959)
- Dreams from R'lyeh (1975)
