From: "Strong, Lee" <StrongL at MTMC.ARMY.MIL>
To: "'WSFA members'" <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Talking SF, oh my;
Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2002 08:59:58 -0500
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

	Yes, Mr. Carter spent a number of years puttering around with a
history of the Land of Oz.  The International Wizard of Oz Club is the
keeper of the Ozian flame, and new authorized works continue to appear in
various media.  The official series is now up to about 40 books, including
_Paradox in Oz_ and the latest, _The Rundelstone of Oz_.  _Paradox_ includes
time travel, alternate time tracks and loops, and what can only be described
as the Ozian equivalent of cyberpunk!

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Walsh [mailto:MJW at mail.press.jhu.edu]
Sent: Saturday, March 23, 2002 8:06 PM
To: WSFAlist at keithlynch.net
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Talking SF, oh my;

>
>Michael Walsh wrote:
>
>> Sam Lubell cut a swath with this:
>>
>> >At 10:43 AM 3/21/02 -0500, Lee wrote:
>> >>      The book itself is innocent.  The author is guilty of arborcide.=

>> >>
>> >>-----Original Message-----
>> >>From: Michael Walsh [mailto:MJW at mail.press.jhu.edu]
>> >>
>> >>Sword of Shanara is not an innocent book.
>> >>
>> >>mjw
>> >
>> >Actually Sword of Shanara is responsible for the birth of the modern
>> >fantasy genre.
>> I would suggest two different names: Donald Wollheim and Lin Carter
>>
>> DAW for taking advantage of the strangeness of US Copyright law =
which
>cast =
>> the LOTR into the public domain (this was changed with a court ruling I =
=
>> believe), thereby forcing the hand of JRRTs US & UK publishers to =
finally =
>> authorize a lowly mass market edition of the books.
>>
>> Lin Carter for his Adult Fantasy series which showed that there was a =
=
>> market for good solid fantasy, a lot of classics, plus some new =
writers.  =
>> In general a set of carter's Adult Fantasy novels is a fine selection =
of =
>> fantasy.  Carter himself could barely write himself out of a wet =
paperbag, =
>> and it's bizarre to know that posthumous sequels to the Thongor books =
are =
>> being planned.
>
>I completely agree with you right up to your last sentence -- where I =
stop.  Lin
>was in fact a skilled writer who for the most part did not avail himself =
of that
>skill -- part of the Essential Contradiction of the man.  His Thongor =
stories
>were often silly -- I think in one I published in FANTASTIC Thongor used =
three
>hands to accomplish his purpose at one point -- but I was happy to =
publish his
>Conan collaborations with Sprague.  They usually jacked the sales of an =
issue
>up
>by at least 10,000.
>
>I got to know Lin circa 1961, '62, and we became pretty good friends.  In =
those
>days he wrote direct-mail letters for Prentice-Hall (and coined the =
word/name
>"Psychocybernetics" for the book of that name, which he heavily rewrote). =
 For
>a
>time he hosted the Fanoclasts in the early '60s.  We drifted apart over =
the
>years, but remained friendly.  I recall seeing him at a Unicon (U of MD) =
one
>year where he was, by all reports, acting MCPiggishly -- and his last =
years and
>death were ugly and horrible.  I think of him as a wasted talent, but he =
did
>leave behind some good stuff, and the Adult Fantasy series is one.  =
(Another is
>his unpublished Oz book.)
>
>--Ted White

The Thongor books which I read as a Mere Youth I though silly, really =
silly.  And the thought of reading the Callisto or Green star books was =
not a pleasant thought.  Though his novel "The Man Who Loved Mars" I =
recall through the mists of time to be a delightful homage to the Mars of =
Leigh Brackett.

Unpublished Oz novel?  How . . . interesting.

mjw