Locus is conducting a poll of the best fantasy stories of all time, and three of Clark Ashton Smith's stories are among the candidates. They are: "The Coming of the White Worm," "Xeethra," and "The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan." I urge all readers of this board to follow the link below and vote. Although write-ins are allowed, I think that our best bet is to stick with the listed stories so as to not dilute the voting. I personally wish that "The Dark Eidolon," "The Last Hieroglyph," and "The City of the Singing Flame" were nominated, but I can live with the three nominations (which I think came from Robert Silverberg's FANTASY HALL OF FAME, Tom Shippley's OXFORD BOOK OF FANTASY, and Terry Carr's MASTERS OF FANTASY), all of which make my top-ten CAS tales. Here is what the Locus website says:

Note: be sure you are accessing this page through our secure server: [secure.locusmag.com]
What is the greatest fantasy short story of all time? Please vote for your favorite novellas, novelettes, and short stories, published in 1995 or before, in this special category. A selection of nearly 300 titles, drawn from awards winners, classic anthologies, and expert recommendations, is listed below as suggestions, but you may vote for any other titles of your choice by using the write-in boxes at the bottom of the page.

Instructions: Vote for up to 5 stories, ranked #1 to #5, by entering '1' through '5' in the appropriate boxes in the left column.

(Note: If you voted in this category when intially posted using drop-down selections, you may vote again and we will disregard your earlier votes. Be sure to enter your name and email address, and note in the comments box at the end that you are resubmitting your votes.)

Anonymous ballots will not be counted. Please include your name and e-mail address with your submission.

Dunsany, The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth: 1

Dunsany, The Sword of Welleran: 2

Smith, The Coming of the White Worm: 4

Smith, The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan: 5

Smith, Xeethra: 3

FantasyStory1st write-in: Clark Ashton Smith "The Dark Eidolon"

FantasyStory2nd write-in: Clark Ashton Smith "The Maze of the Enchanter"

FantasyStory3rd write-in: Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu "The Haunted Baronet"

FantasyStory4th write-in: Ray Bradbury "The Emissary"

FantasyStory5th write-in: Tanith Lee "The Clock Strikes Twelve"


Could not believe none of these five were on the ballot, and could not believe several that were.

Jim

P.S. You might want to post this to Horrabin Hall and alt.books.ghost-fiction too, Scott. I know there are several CASofiles at the first of these sites.

Jim

Jim,
I think that the poll is limited to a total of five stories, whether they are on the list or they are write-in's. Yes, I was surprised by some of the choices--why Karl Wagner's "Beyond Any Measure" but mot "The River of Night's Dreaming?" Why REH's "Tower of the Elephant" but not "Red Nails" or "Beyond the Black River?" Still, they's the rules, so we gots to plays by dem. Seriously, glad you agree that this is worthy.
Best,
Scott

Definitely worthy. It was difficult choosing only five tales as write-ins: more CAS, of course, and a few stories whose absence most shocked me as I went through the list. The definition of "fantasy" seemed rather loose, and I almost nominated Kuttner/Moore's "Vintage Season".

Jim

jimrockhill2001 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Definitely worthy. It was difficult choosing only
> five tales as write-ins: more CAS, of course, and
> a few stories whose absence most shocked me as I
> went through the list. The definition of "fantasy"
> seemed rather loose, and I almost nominated
> Kuttner/Moore's "Vintage Season".
>
> Jim

I'm afraid you may have wasted your vote, Jim. As Scott points out, the voting seems to be limited to just FIVE stories in total, not five on the list and five write-ins. :(
But you may be able (Tsathoggua willing) to re-cast your vote, if you note that you are doing so in the "Comments:" bar.

I don't remember which ones I voted for now, think it was

Lord Dunsany, "The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth"
Neil Gaiman & Charles Vess, "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Fritz Leiber, "Ill Met in Lankhmar"
H. P. Lovecraft, "The Silver Key"
Clark Ashton Smith, "The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan"

But I wish I could have voted for more; Jack Vance certainly deserved one or two votes from me.

I don't recall the precise order, but I think I gave CAS No 1.

Well, shoot, Martin! That is not the way it looked while I was voting.

Jim

I just revoted as Martin suggested:

Dunsany, The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth: 1

Dunsany, The Sword of Welleran: 2

Smith, Xeethra: 5

FantasyStory3rd write-in: Smith, The Maze of the Enchanter

FantasyStory4th write-in: Smith, The Dark Eidolon