The Wizard of Zao is a fantasy novel by Lin Carter, first published in 1978. The story is set in a mythical world and follows the adventures of a wizard named Zao and his companions. Zao embarks on a quest involving ancient powers and mystical realms, with Carter's signature blend of humor and adventure. The book is part of Carter's larger body of work known for drawing inspiration from classic fantasy tropes and his homage to authors like Robert E. Howard, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Lord Dunsany.

Little did Zarkon dream that on a tiny south sea paradise loomed an evil force that would challenge even his mighty powers and the courage and skills of the Omega men. Then with shattering suddenness Zarkon and his team were thrown into the path of the hideous flaming figure that rose from the mouth of a living volcano to bring scorching death and boiling terror to mankind! There was only one way for Zarkon to combat this satanic spectre from inner space. He had to descend into the monster's lair, and in that fiery inferno deep in the bowels of the Earth, Zarkon and his followers plunged into their most hair-raising adventure!

It was Thane who crossed the abyss of the ages and stood on the very brink of Eternity...who found the secret of the Time Treasure... who saw, and laughed and came back sane from that place beyond the Universe where no man had ever been before him, and where none should ever come again. This was the ending. But the beginning was in the city of Zotheera on the planet Daikoon... A restless outworlder was Thane of the Two Swords. A man of blood and steel, a man of strange powers strangely acquired. The warrior Thane possessed a secret vital to the greedy Princes of the Planets. And it was on the planet Daikoon that the princes tried to buy Thane's services...

The magician's eyes gleamed with emerald hellfires as he looked at the council of nine. "Let us enact upon Thongor of Valkarth the most terrible punishment conceivable to the human intelligence...the eternal slavery of the soul to Chaos." If the curse is carried out, Thongor's body and soul will suffer throughout eternity. But much more than only Thongor's fate is at stake. The Magicians of Zaar plan the conquest of the whole of Lemuria - and only Thongor stands in their way. Can Thongor's mighty sword keep his world from being enslaved by the sinister servants of Chaos?

Sir Kesrick of Dragonrouge enters the strange world of Terra Magica in search of the stolen pommel stone of the sword Dastagard.

WHOEVER HOLDS THIS NEBULA CAN SWAY THE GALACTIC IMPERIUM When Raul Linton, Commander of Space Navy, returned from the bloody Third Imperial War in 3468 A.D. he was a disillusioned hero. Defiantly stripping off his medals and ribands, Raul roamed the Inner Cluster of stars in search of some meaning. But close on his trail was the Imperium Government spy, Pertinax - known as the Snake - who was out to prove Raul a traitor. And then Raul Linton met up with Sharl of the Yellow Eyes, who proposed a daring scheme of intergalactic action which would at once restore the Sharl's exiled Queen Innald to her rightful place on the throne of Valadon - but to join this mission, Raul would have to fight openly against his own government...

An anthology of short fantasy fiction, with editorial commentary for each story by Lin Carter, containing: George Macdonald - The Woman in the Mirror (1858) Robert W. Chambers - The Repairer of Reputations (1895) Ernest Bramah - The Transmutation of Ling (1900) Eden Phillpotts - The Lavender Dragon (1923)

Morgan Outworlder was born of Centaurus-stock, but two short years on Bargelix had made him almost a native of his adopted world. Trained to be a societic engineer in the Imperium, Morgan found little need for his science on the outworlds . . . but much need for a strong arm and a sharp sword. For Bargelix was a world in struggle, battling the dark forces of magic. Morgan was marked as an exile because he had been caught up in the Tarsnian struggle for self-government - and when the Freedom Riots failed, he found himself barred forever from the worlds of the Imperium. But the way back to the inner stars lay through the struggle for his adopted world . . . and the man from the stars was hero enough to battle the darkest of magicians!

From out of the gloom in the dungeon where Chandar, Prince of Orin, awaited a tortured death, Sarkond the Enchanter shimmered into reality. His emerald eyes gleamed with an inhuman lustre as, with a soundless command, and without a touch, he mysteriously released the chains which bound Chandar. The prize Sarkond then offered Chandar was freedom, the price - the timeless struggle between two opposing forces... a man who used the secret powers of the universe for his own schemes... a man who vowed to stop him by his own strength and wits. Five inhabited planets had been shattered to nothingness by the Oligarchs of Brionmar. The sixth was to be Earth...

Deep in the Tower of the Moon, among the Hills of Arniak, dwelt the beautiful and sensuous Tara. And with Chanthu the Sorcerer, Zarlic the metal man, and Khaldur the great golden cat as her tutors, she grew wise and swift, skilled and strong. Tara was raised to be a fighting woman, not some man's pampered pet and plaything. For she had pledged herself a War Maid, a virgin swordswoman sworn to the Moon. She would journey to Twilight to search for the secret of her birth and the sword of her dream. Her life would be the long road and the open sky, the flash of naked steel and the hot spurt of fresh gore!