As editor of the journal Crypt of Cthulhu and of a series of Cthulhu Mythos anthologies, Robert M. Price has been a major figure in H. P. Lovecraft scholarship and fandom for decades. In 2015 Price received the Robert Bloch Award for his contributions to Lovecraft scholarship. At the same event he was pretty much excommunicated from the Lovecraftian movement. A life-long fan and author of sword-and-sorcery, RMP edited the 2018 S&S anthology, The Mighty Warriors, as well as the forthcoming Flashing Swords #6 from Pulp Hero Press.

In these latter days, a Lin Carter fandom has emerged from the shadows, largely, I gather, thanks to Social Media. For decades all scholars and fans of fantasy literature have gladly acknowledged Lin’s accomplishments as an anthologist and editor. After all, he was instrumental in making available to new generations of eager readers the works of names like George MacDonald, James Branch Cabell, Lord Dunsany, and William Morris. He once told me he sold the idea of the Adult Fantasy Series to Ballantine on the coattails of the amazing success of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, assuring the publishers the treasure of Smaug would redouble—though actually it didn’t. But to their great credit, Ian and Betty Ballantine persevered—and so did Lin. The Adult Fantasy library included a number of anthologies (e.g., Dragons, Elves and Heroes, The Young Magicians) featuring shorter classic pieces, as well as a few modern tales. Lin’s Conan collaborator L. Sprague de Camp had compiled a series of heroic fantasy anthologies (The Spell of Seven, Warlocks and Warriors, etc.), and this may have inspired Lin’s well-renowned Flashing Swords! series, showcasing both new and old tales of heroic fantasy. The authors were members of an elite society of scribes: SAGA, a kind of dyslexic acronym standing for “Swordsmen And sorcerers Guild of America” (even though brilliant Brit Michael Moorcock was a member).

Lin Carter went on to helm still other anthology series (and who better?) like the Year’s Best Fantasy Stories for DAW Books (Ace Books reincarnated) and Weird Tales for Zebra. These books often featured stories by Lin himself (occasionally two, one under a pseudonym!). Here Lin the editor endorsed Lin the fiction writer. Some deemed this a case of self-aggrandizing bad taste, but others just didn’t care for Lin’s fiction. As a matter of fact, they really didn’t like it. To the point of considering Carter something of a literary idiot savant: a genius editor but a wretched writer. How could he be so adept as an editor, so inept as a fictioneer?

I have long maintained that Lin’s addiction to pastiche must be understood as part and parcel of his larger agenda of preserving and recycling the fantasy masterpieces of the past into the present. And this is especially true of his versions of John Carter of Mars (Jandar of Callisto), Doc Savage (Prince Zarkon), Conan of Cimmeria (Thongor of Lemuria), etc. Of course the pulp-era originals were being reprinted hand over fist, but (as Lin quoted John Jakes as saying) there still were not enough of these goodies available for true devotees! And the now-visible legion of Lin Carter fans (who seem unaware that they’re not supposed to like Lin’s fiction) would agree.

As for me, I confess that I loved Lin as a good friend and as a fictioneer. As an adolescent I was captivated by Lin’s Thongor series, eagerly reading each new volume as soon as it appeared on the paperback racks. But I am by no means uncritical in my admiration; I judge that the quality of his work seemed to plummet after Conan of the Isles and Conan the Buccaneer. But I turned my love for his work into practical endeavors. First I revived, at the invitation of Chaosium, Inc., Lin’s projected series begun with the collection Spawn of Cthulhu, each book centering about one Lovecraft story along with stories that inspired it and others that it inspired. Second, I resurrected Thongor, penning new adventures as faithful to Lin’s originals as I could. Third, at the invitation of Pulp Hero Press, I have relaunched Lin’s renowned Flashing Swords! anthology series. Don’t worry: these books will offer old-school tales of magic and mayhem. You will find new adventures of favorite heroes including Thongor, Elak of Atlantis, Simon of Gitta, Oron the Barbarian, and others. The authors represent the new SAGA. So, yes, we are doing for Lin Carter’s legacy what he did so well with the fantastic literature he so loved: carrying it forward. It’s not a bad way to celebrate his 90th birthday. Happy Magic!

If you’ve never given Lin Carter’s fiction a fair chance, you might be surprised he was capable of penning some excellent tales when he put his mind to it. DMR Books included two of his very best stories in the anthology Renegade Swords (alongside classics by Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, A. Merritt, and more). We doubt you’ll be disappointed!