Thongor and the Dragon City by Lin Carter
"The adventures of the mightiest sword and sorcery hero of them all!"
So sayeth the cover copy, but I think Conan of Cimmeria might want to have a word with Thongor about that. Conan superfan Lin Carter gives us the sequel to his earlier Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria. Other reviewers have previously described the Thongor series as "what if Conan lived on Barsoom?", and this is a pretty fair description of things. After all, Thongor essentially is Conan. Let's compare, shall we?
Conan is a giant, muscular barbarian from snowy, frozen Cimmeria. Thongor is a giant, muscular barbarian from snowy, frozen Valkarth. Conan swears by the god of his people, Crom. Thongor swears by the god of his people, Gorm. Conan wanders the prehistoric Hyborian continent. Thongor wanders the prehistoric Lemurian continent. Conan was a thief, mercenary, pirate, and bandit chief destined to become king by his own hand. Thongor was a "thief, pirate, bandit chieftain and mercenary warrior, but who had now through some whim of the Gods... been lifted to the throne of the greatest city on earth."
Yes, there are some differences here and there. Conan has volcanic blue eyes. Thongor has "weird golden eyes," but more on that later. Point is, Thongor is an ersatz Conan. Lin Carter's primary point of departure is that, in addition to sorcery and gods and demons, Thongor's realm also accommodates advanced science. In Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria the primary example of this science is the much coveted flying airship Nemedis.
In Thongor and the Dragon City, super-science rears its anachronistic head in the form of the morgulac's magnetic ray and remote viewing devices among other things. These technological wonders are always key to the resolution of the story in one way or another. Sadly, just when you think a huge final battle is about to go off, here comes the deus ex machina-- I mean, the magnetic ray!
Another big difference is Thongor's singular devotion to Sumia Chond the Sarkaja (Queen) of Patanga. This is where Thongor cleaves more closely to the Barsoomian influences upon Lin Carter's work. Replace Sumia with Dejah Thoris and Thongor with John Carter as her devoted lover and you have a pretty good picture of things. Also of note, it only took Thongor two books to become Sarkon (Emperor) of Lemuria. It took John Carter three just to become Warlord of Mars!
Personally, I feel it is a mistake to invest a character with too much power, and the responsibility that goes with it, too early in this genre, be it sword and sorcery, sword and planet, or sword and (insert noun here). It ties the hero down and solidifies too many things that must remain fluid in a good adventure. Also it gives them too many readily available resources to solve problems that would trip up a mere pirate or bandit chieftain.
Lin Carter isn't worried about all of that. He has a grand story structure in mind for Thongor and is glad to tell you about it in the first of two appendices at the back of the book. So let's rewind just slightly to the final chapter. Lin Carter goes to some pains to reassure us readers via a conversation between two of Thongor's buddies that all those concerns I have about heroes becoming king too soon are nothing to worry about.
"You don't know Thongor if you think a crown will slow him down! Wherever he is, it'll be right in the center of action." There's more, but that is the gist of it. Intentional or not, I haven't heard secondary characters worry about not having any more fun and then gush about the hero like that since I last read a Doc Savage adventure.
Of course, Thongor does have those weird golden eyes!
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