Mad Empress of Callisto

Mad Empress of Callisto
first edition of Mad Empress of Callisto
Author	Lin Carter
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Callisto series
Genre	Fantasy novel
Publisher	Dell Books
Publication date	1975
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	191 pp
Preceded by	Sky Pirates of Callisto
Followed by	Mind Wizards of Callisto

Mad Empress of Callisto is a science fiction novel written by 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 in to 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, they turn the tables by kidnapping Zamorra and escaping in the balloon. Unfortunately, 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 of the Callisto books, praising them as "rousing, fast paced adventures."^[2]

Notes

↑ 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

Works by Lin Carter

Callisto series

Novels	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)

Collections	Callisto Volume 1 (2000)

The Green Star Saga

Novels	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 Mysteries of Mars

Novels	The Flame of Iridar (1967) The Man Who Loved Mars (1973) The Valley Where Time Stood Still (1974) The City Outside the World (1977) Down to a Sunless Sea (1984)

Short works	"The Martian El Dorado of Parker Wintley" (1976)

Zanthodon series

Novels	Journey to the Underground World (1979) Zanthodon (1980) Hurok of the Stone Age (1981) Darya of the Bronze Age (1981) Eric of Zanthodon (1982)

Zarkon series

Novels	The Nemesis of Evil (1975) Invisible Death (1975) The Volcano Ogre (1976) The Earth-Shaker (1982) Horror Wears Blue (1987)

Minor SF series

Great Imperium	The Man Without a Planet (1966) Star Rogue (1970) Outworlder (1971)

Hautley Quicksilver	The Thief of Thoth (1968) The Purloined Planet (1969)

Thongor series

Novels	Thongor and 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)

Short works	"Thieves of Zangabal" (1969) "Keeper of the Emerald Flame" (1970) "Black Hawk of Valkarth" (1974) "Diombar's Song of the Last Battle" (1975) "The City in the Jewel" (1975) "Black Moonlight" (1976) "Demon of the Snows" (1980) "The Creature in the Crypt" (2012)

Collections	Young Thongor (2012)

Conan series (with L. Sprague de Camp and others)

Novels	Conan of the Isles (1968) Conan the Barbarian (1982) Conan the Buccaneer (1971) Conan the Liberator (1979)

Short works	"Black Sphinx of Nebthu" (1973) "Black Tears" (1968) "The Castle of Terror" (1969) "The City of Skulls" (1967) "The Curse of the Monolith" (1968) "Death-Song of Conan the Cimmerian" (1972) "The Gem in the Tower" (1978) "The Hand of Nergal" (1967) "The Ivory Goddess" (1978) "The Lair of the Ice Worm" (1969) "Legions of the Dead" (1978) "Moon of Blood" (1978) "Red Moon of Zembabwei" (1974) "Shadows in the Dark" (1978) "Shadows in the Skull" (1975) "The Snout in the Dark" (1969) "The Thing in the Crypt" (1967) "The Witch of the Mists" (1972)

Collections	Conan (1967) The Conan Chronicles (1989) The Conan Chronicles 2 (1990) Conan of Aquilonia (1977) Conan of Cimmeria (1969) Conan the Swordsman (1978) Conan the Wanderer (1968) Sagas of Conan (2004)

Kull series (with Robert E. Howard)

Short works	"Exile of Atlantis" (1967) "Black Abyss" (1967) "Riders Beyond the Sunrise" (1967) "Wizard and Warrior" (1967)

Collections	King Kull (1967)

The Gondwane Epic

Novels	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)

Terra Magica

Novels	Kesrick (1982) Dragonrouge (1984) Mandricardo (1987) Callipygia (1988)

The Chronicles of Kylix

Novels	The Quest of Kadji (1971) The Wizard of Zao (1978)

Short works	"Vault of Silence" (1970) "The Higher Heresies of Oolimar" (1973) "The Curious Custom of the Turjan Seraad" (1976)

Collections	Kellory the Warlock (1984)

Tara of the Twilight

Novels	Tara of the Twilight (1979)

Short works	"For the Blood is the Life" (1984) "The Love of the Sea" (1984) "Pale Shadow" (1985)

Simrana the Dream World

Short works	"The Gods of Niom Parma" (1966/70) "The Whelming of Oom" (1969) "Zingazar" (1971) "How Sargoth Lay Siege to Zaremm" (1972) "The Laughter of Han" (1982) "The Benevolence of Yib" (1987) "The Thievery of Yish" (1988)

Xothic Legend Cycle

Short works	"The Red Offering" (1997) "The Dweller in the Tomb" (1971) "The Thing in the Pit" (1980) "Out of the Ages" (1975) "The Horror in the Gallery" (1976/97) "The Winfield Heritance" (1981) "Perchance to Dream" (1988) "Strange Manuscript Found in the Vermont Woods" (1988) "Something in the Moonlight" (1980) "The Fishers from Outside" (1988) "Behind the Mask" (1987) "The Strange Doom of Enos Harker" (1989/2001) "The Bell in the Tower" (1989)

Collections	The Xothic Legend Cycle: The Complete Mythos Fiction of Lin Carter (1997)

Short works	"The Tired Tailor of Oz" (2001) "The Awful Ogre of Ogodown" (2004) "High TImes on Tip Top Mountain" (2004) "The Wooden Soldier of Oz" (2004) "No Joy in Mudville" (2004)

Collections	The Merry Mountaineer of Oz (2004)

Other speculative fiction

Novels	The Star Magicians (1966) Destination: Saturn (1967) Tower at the Edge of Time (1968) Lost World of Time (1969) Tower of the Medusa (1969) The Black Star (1973) Time War (1974) Found Wanting (1985) The Black Pharaoh (2007)

Short works	"The Castle beyond the World" (1950) "Masters of the Metropolis" (1956) with Randall Garrett "The Slitherer from the Slime" (1958) "Uncollected Works" (1965) "Crown of Stars" (1966) "Owlstone" (1969) "Keru" (1969) "Harvey Hodges, Veebelfetzer" (1969) "Under the Eaves" (1969) "A Guide to the City" (1969) "Azlon" (1969) "The Mantichore" (1969) "The Seal of Zaon Sathla" (1970) "Shaggai" (1971) "The Sword of Power" (1971) "The Double Tower" (1973) "The Utmost Abomination" (1973) "The Scroll of Morloc" (1975) "In the Vale of Pnath" (1975) "The Tower of Time" (1975) "The Twelve Wizards of Ong" (1976) "People of the Dragon" (1976) "The Stairs in the Crypt" (1976) "The Pillars of Hell" (1977) "A Farmer on the Clyde" (1978) "Rhian and Garanhir" (1979) "Zurvan's Saint" (1980) "The World Beneath the World" (1980) "Dreams in the House of Weir" (1980) "The Descent Into the Abyss" (1980) "The Light From the Pole" (1980) "The Offering" (1982) "The Vengeance of Yig" (1983) "History & Chronology of the Book of Eibon" (1984) "The Necronomicon: Concerning Them from Outside" (1984) "Confessions of the Mad Monk Clithanus: The Incantation of the Elder Sign" (1984) "The Feaster from the Stars" (1984) "The Goblinry of Ais" (1985) "Geydelle's Protective" (1985) "The Acolyte of the Flame" (1985) "The Stone from Mnar" (1985) "Papyrus of the Dark Wisdom" (1988) "From the Archives of the Moon" (1988) "How Ghuth Would Have Hunted the Silth" (1988) "The Secret in the Parchment" (1988) "How Her Doom Came Down at Last on Adrazoon" (1988) "Black Stars in the Skulls of Doom" (1988) "Dead of Night" (1988) "Carcosa Story about Hali" (1989) "Terror Wears Yellow" (1989) "A Bottle of Djinn" (1989) "Sweet Tooth" (1989) "The Necronomicon, Book II: The Book of Preparations" (1990) "The Necronomicon, Book III: The Book of the Gates" (1990) "The Necronomicon, Book IV: The Book of Dismissals" (1990) "King in Yellow: A Tragedy in Verse" (1993) "Cthulhu & Co." (1997) "The Light in the East" (1997) "Curse of the Black Pharaoh" (1997) "Khymyrium (excerpt)" (1997/98) "The Demon Star" (1998) "The Life of Eibon According to Cyron of Varaad" (2002)

Collections	Beyond the Gates of Dream (1969) Dreams from R'lyeh (1975) Lost Worlds (1980) The Necronomicon: The Dee Translation (1971/89) Papyrus of the Dark Wisdom (1984/2002)

Anthologies edited

Flashing Swords!	Flashing Swords! #1 (1973) Flashing Swords! #2 (1973) Flashing Swords! #3: Warriors and Wizards (1976) Flashing Swords! #4: Barbarians and Black Magicians (1977) Flashing Swords! #5: Demons and Daggers (1981)

The Year's Best Fantasy Stories	The Year's Best Fantasy Stories (1975) The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 2 (1976) The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 3 (1977) The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 4 (1978) The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 5 (1980) The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 6 (1980)

Weird Tales	Weird Tales #1 (1980) Weird Tales #2 (1980) Weird Tales #3 (1981) Weird Tales #4 (1983)

Other anthologies	Dragons, Elves, and Heroes (1969) The Young Magicians (1969) Golden Cities, Far (1970) The Magic of Atlantis (1970) New Worlds for Old (1971) The Spawn of Cthulhu (1971) Double Phoenix (1971) Discoveries in Fantasy (1972) Great Short Novels of Adult Fantasy (1972) Great Short Novels of Adult Fantasy Volume II (1973) Kingdoms of Sorcery (1976) Realms of Wizardry (1976)

Nonfiction

Book-length	Tolkien: A Look Behind "The Lord of the Rings" (1969) Lovecraft: A Look Behind the "Cthulhu Mythos" (1972) Imaginary Worlds (191973)

Poetry

Sandalwood and Jade (1951) Galleon of Dream (1955) A Letter to Judith (1950) Dreams from R'lyeh (1975) The Intelligent Child's Own Book of Interesting and Instructive (1987/88) Limericks from Yuggoth (1983/88)