no Cthulhu Mythos/Hyporborean tales in this volume aside Seven Geases?



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 2 Jul 07 | 03:20PM by alee.

alee Wrote:
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> no Cthulhu Mythos/Hyporborean tales in this volume
> aside Seven Geases?

Both "The Return of the Sorcerer" and "The Holiness of Azedarac" have been considered as part of Smith's contribution to the Mythos, and he said as much in a 1953 letter he wrote to GEorge Wetzel for the LOVECRAFT COLLECTOR'S LIBRARY (http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/nonfiction/26/on-tales-about-the-cthulhu-mythos). However, I personally am of the opinion that the Cthulhu Mythos is a posthumous framework imposed upon the stories of Lovecraft and others by August Derleth--who meant well, but didn't quite hit the bull's-eye. During HPL's lifetime he and CAS and Robert E. Howard would insert little references to each other's stories and mythologies, partly as in-jokes but also partly to give the WEIRD TALES readership the impression that there was a real mythology that all three writers (and writers like Adolphe de Castro, Zealia Bishop, and Hazel Heald, all of whom were revision clients of HPL's) were drawing upon for source material.

Scott

Thank you for the contents list of Wildside's BEST OF CAS, Scott. Several of my favorites are in this book, but do they honestly think "The Return of the Sorcerer", "The Hunters from Beyond" and "The Devotee of Evil" are superior to "Xeethra", "The Maze of the Enchanter", "The Coming of the White Worm", "The Colossus of Ylourgne", etc.?

And why continue to publish the yoked Singing Flame, since Weinberg probably has access to the separate tales? (And yes, I do happen to like the sequel, if only for the Striding Doom.)

Jim

They also omit "The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan" and "The Last Hieroglyph," to name two of my favorites, or even "The Seed from the Sepulcher." But that's the point, I guess, Jim--when we're talking about favorites, the criteria are by definition subjective, and that means that some startling results are highly probably: like they say, Your Mileage May Vary. I'm sure that somewhere out there is a Smith fan whose favorite tales include "An Adventure in Futurity," "The Supernumerary Corpse," and "Seedling of Mars." (I just hope that he or she is getting the professional help they so desperately need!)
The important thing about The Return of the Sorcerer: The Best of Clark Ashton Smith is that the brick and mortar stores have preordered several thousand copies on the strength of the cover painting. It has the potential of introducing scores of new readers to Smith, and could very well be as critical in furthering his acceptance as the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series was. Robert Weinberg is a very canny editor: say what you will about "The Return of the Sorcerer," it is one of Smith's most anthologized stories (I can't recall offhand if "The Seed from the Sepulcher" has been anthologized more often, but with the myriad editions of Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos I think that "Sorcerer" still has the edge). He is using the original magazine texts, except in the case of "The City of the Singing Flame," where he is using the text collected by CAS himself even if he didn't write the bridging narrative himself. (I don't agree with that reasoning, I just understant it.) Weinberg is also using stories whose language is perhaps more accessible to the reader than, say, the original version of "The Coming of the White Worm." I personally feel that this doesn't give the reader a true taste of Klarkash-Ton, but hey! it's worth a shot.
Am finishing up volume three of the Night Shade at present. One of these days I hope to be allowed to edit an annotated "best of" volume myself. It would contain "The City of the Singing Flame," "The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis," "A Star-Change," "Master of the Asteroid," "The Dark Eidolon," "The Last Hieroglyph," "Xeethra," "Necromancy in Naat," "The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan," "The Coming of the White Worm," "The Seven Geases," "The End of the Story," "The Beast of Averoigne," "The Maze of the Enchanter," "The Double Shadow," "The Death of Malygris," "Genius Loci," "The Seed from the Sepulcher," "A Night in Malneant," "The Chain of Aforgomen," and "The Willow Landscape." I am sure that other Smith fans can suggest other stories more worthy in their opinion than these, but this is what my tastes suggest.

Best,
Scott

Scott,

That is pretty close to what my own list would be, give or take a tale. I agree with most of Weinberg's selections, if not all, and suspect that the "contemporary" horror stories may have been included in order to appeal to those who like Lovecraft's own tales in this vein. If the book gains more readers for Smith's other works - and there are enough stories from the major cycles to do so - it will have done its job. Too bad about Aihai and Xiccarph though.

Jim

Quote:

Scott Connors
I'm sure that somewhere out there is a Smith fan whose favorite tales include "An Adventure in Futurity," "The Supernumerary Corpse," and "Seedling of Mars." (I just hope that he or she is getting the professional help they so desperately need!)

But I actually like "An Adventure in Futurity" quite a lot! However, between classes today, I managed to finish reading "Seedling of Mars" and I have to admit that it was certainly one of the weaker of Smith's tales. As for "The Supernumerary Corpse," I haven't read it yet, but if it's leaning more in the "Adventure in Futurity" direction, then maybe it won't be as painful as "Seedling of Mars" once I get around to reading it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 29 Oct 07 | 01:59PM by ArkhamMaid.

Regarding "Seedling of Mars:" remember that the basic plot was by E. M. Johnson, not CAS. I found it interesting for the near-religious depiction of the Martian entity, as well as by the fact that the scientist-hero was obviously a CAS stand-in! I think that CAS let loose a lot of his frustration with the denser part of humanity in that story.
As for "An Adventure in Futurity:" I understand that it's Lou Dobb's favorite CAS story! (His favorite HPL tale is "The Shadow over Innsmouth.")
Best wishes,
Scott



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 29 Oct 07 | 09:13PM by Scott Connors.

You mean the Lou Dobbs? I didn't know that he even read Smith or Lovecraft, let alone talked about it! ;) Well, at least I know I'm not alone in my "Adventure in Futurity" insanity, after all.

Uh, I was being sarcastic about Lou Dobbs reading "An Adventure in Futurity" and "The Shadow over Innsmouth:" both stories may be read as being somewhat unfavorable towards immigration, so therefore Dobbs would perhaps find them of interest.

Scott

Scott Connors Wrote:
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> Uh, I was being sarcastic about Lou Dobbs reading
> "An Adventure in Futurity" and "The Shadow over
> Innsmouth:" both stories may be read as being
> somewhat unfavorable towards immigration, so
> therefore Dobbs would perhaps find them of
> interest.
>
> Scott

Ah, I should have known. ;) Needless to say, it did seem a little bizarre thinking of him reading poor CAS and Lovecraft. So wow: I still might be the only one on the planet who likes "An Adventure in Futurity!"

While retrieving some long-lost boxes of books and personal papers from a friend's basement after at least five years of storage, I came across my copies of The Book of Hyperborea and Tales of Zothique. I've read bits and pieces of Smith but am more acquainted with him as a Friend of Lovecraft. So it's time to read him in greater amount and detail. I'm about 106 pages in, about to start "The Coming of the White Worm," and I'm of two minds. I'm enjoying the book thoroughly, but it seems to fall somewhat flat in terms of impact. The ideas are grand, the images passable, but the writing's a little simple, even with his occasionally bizarre vocabulary. Feels like he's coasting. That said, I really liked "The White Sybil" and "The Ice-Demon." Once I'm done with this, I'll dive right into the Zothique collection. Glad to find this discussion forum!