BARBARIAN OF WORLD'S END
by Lin Carter
Yet another adventure novel by science-fantasy's most (or least, depending on how you look at it) famous second banana. Ganelon Silvermane is a genetically-engineered superman, created by a lost race. Wandering from adventure to adventure in the days of earth's last great continent Gondwane, Ganelon has no overarching mission and no destiny to fulfill. The most entertaining thing I have read by Carter in a long spell, there is a certain whimsy at work that reminds me of L. Frank Baum's Oz books.
Ganelon seems more original than most of Carter's other pastiches, which have been based variously on Conan, John Carter of Mars, Pellucidar, and other staples of science-fantasy. Having not read Vance's Dying Earth prior to Barbarian of World's End, I initially had no basis for comparison but can now see some definite similarities.
More evident than in his other books, Carter's innocence and optimism shine through, making both the book and its hero less grim and brooding than his archetypal forebears in the works of Howard and Burroughs.
I read this one in about a day or so, mostly as a bathroom book due to having lost my phone. I followed it up with Pirate of World's End, which continued the silly but fun narrative. I'm not sure it requires its own review. Hopefully, this review should sufficiently capture the flavor of what Carter was doing, though it is quite different from his more well known characters and stories.
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