The Black Magician Mardanax of Zaar returns to Thongor's city at a holiday time, and using a weak local lord in a plot, strikes Thongor down.The book takes a bit of a Moorcockian turn as Thongor, assumed dead, journey's in the land of shadows and talks to gods and travels through all the world's history.Back in the land of the living, Charn Thovis, keeping a cool head, realises something has happened to the queen's state of mind, and takes her son away.His airbot is downed by a giant flying lizard, and he ends up in the hands of Barim Redbeard and his pirates, bound for Tarakus.An interesting appendix tells why Carter chose Lemuria as a setting, and where some of his information and characters came from. Apparently at a second hand book sale he found a rare volume about the Upa-Puranas, and also used some of Blavatsky's writing. He adapts the names to make them a bit more reader friendly.