Under the Green Star by Lin Carter
Under the Green Star is Lin Carter’s homage to Edgar Rice Burroughs and it’s a quick, fun, exciting adventure with some terrific scenery. Our hero (who’s telling the story in first person) was crippled by polio when he was a child and, as an adult, he’s confined to a wheelchair. He’s wealthy, though, so he has managed to get hold of an ancient scroll that describes the lost Tibetan science of eckankar — soul travel. After years of studying, he manages to free his soul from his crippled body so that he can explore the Earth… and beyond!… Under the Green Star will likely feel derivative to readers who’ve read a lot of Edgar Rice Burroughs… The Kindle version of Under the Green Star is only $2.69 and I was pleased with its quality. I gave the book only a 3 star rating, but because it’s short, fun, and cheap, I recommend it to anyone who wants to further their education in old SFF. Read the rest.
This book appeals to me except that, in my humble opinion,I always thought Lin Carter’s talent was mediocre. (I have very conflicting opinions of the work he and L. Sprague deCamp did with REH’s Conan.)
I haven’t read this book but based on what little I have read by Carter, I’m positive I would totally agree with Kat’s review.
I really love this kind of story but I’m almost always disappointed by them, or I have been since I grew-up. I really wish a good writer would revive the sub-genre of this kind and make it more current and sophisticated enough for modern SFF readers.
Since you’ve got a Kindle, Greg, you might want to get this one while it’s so cheap (I don’t know if it will go up). I was tempted to move on to the second book. I actually downloaded the sample of the sequel just so I could see what was going to happen. If it weren’t for the purple prose, I’d read all of it, and maybe I still will someday because I really liked the setting.
At that price, it is tempting.