My pardon, Kyberean -- you're correct: it was March 2005. I've just been through old issues of my apazine, and in #6, which was published in June 2005, I mention that I have preordered the Collected Fantasies. Here's the news as I wrote it then:

<<Night Shade Books announced that it will release The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith in five volumes between 2005 and 2007. Subscribers to the whole set will get an extra volume, Tales of India and Irony, collecting Smith's early Oriental and romantic stories. Hurt my wallet, but I’ll live. Almost simultaneously, Meisha Merlin announced that it will do the complete unexpurgated Heinlein, but the price turned out to be $2500... no luck there. :-( There is a rumour that Black Sutra by Walter C. DeBill, Jr. and Unholy Dimensions by Jeffrey Thomas may be released by Mythos Books this summer. I’ll believe it when I have them in my hands and not a second sooner!>>

Still, only two years late -- that's not too shabby. :-)

Thanks for the update. I thought that the subscription offer dated from around the first half of 2005, but I really was not certain.

My only regret in passing on the subscription offer is that I'll likely not be able to get a copy of Tales of India and Irony--at least, not at a reasonable price--but, ah, well: I am not a CAS completist, anyway!

Martinus Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Still, only two years late -- that's not too
> shabby. :-)


As I may have mentioned before, volume 4 was delayed due to an inability on the part of the university holding most of CAS' mss to make copies available in a timely manner, combined with a worsening of my problems with depression last year that put a serious cramp in my writing.

However, we are expecting to see volume 4 in print any time now. It's been about six weeks since we turned in the corrected galleys, and we managed to meet the deadline for getting it to the printer when they had it scheduled.

Scott

Kyberean Wrote:
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> My only regret in passing on the subscription
> offer is that I'll likely not be able to get a
> copy of Tales of India and Irony--

Aren't those in The Sword of Zagan, The Black Diamond, and Other Dimensions?

I'm also a subscriber to Weird Works and I am REALLY afraid they won't ever publish the last 2 volumes. It went from 1 volume every six weeks to 1 volume every 1.5 years.

Martinus Wrote:
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> That's not too bad, in my opinion.
> In comparison, Wildside Press said they'd release
> one volume of the Weird Works of Robert E. Howard
> every six weeks (meaning a total of 60 weeks), and
> five years later it is doubtful whether the final
> volume will appear this year. (WP are also
> completely unable to update shipping addresses; in
> spite of me telling them four times so far, they
> still ship the books to my old address from which
> I moved three years ago.)

Scott Connors Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> As I may have mentioned before, volume 4 was
> delayed due to an inability on the part of the
> university holding most of CAS' mss to make copies
> available in a timely manner, combined with a
> worsening of my problems with depression last year
> that put a serious cramp in my writing.
>
> However, we are expecting to see volume 4 in print
> any time now. It's been about six weeks since we
> turned in the corrected galleys, and we managed to
> meet the deadline for getting it to the printer
> when they had it scheduled.
>

No worries -- we have a swedish saying to the effect that "He who waits for something good never waits too long [once he's actually got it, that is]". :)
I'm quite sure I'll see it very soon.

Yrs
Martin

Knygatin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Kyberean Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > My only regret in passing on the subscription
> > offer is that I'll likely not be able to get a
> > copy of Tales of India and Irony--
>
> Aren't those in The Sword of Zagan, The Black
> Diamond, and Other Dimensions?

No, not all of them.

I am just curious (and certainly not hopeful), but what are the odds of non-subscribers' obtaining reasonably priced copies of Tales of India and Irony when/if it does appear, do you think?

Contact me off list when it is published (which will be along with volume 5 The Last Hieroglyph, since I'll have a good many extra copies. I'm sure we can work out something.

Scott

Will do, Scott. Thank you very much, and I hope that you are feeling better.

If there's another spare copy going then I might be interested too. Actually didn't Night Shade offer to sell of copy with orders for the last vol of the Collected Fantasies? Or did I imagine that?

Either way I can't wait for vol 4

Looks like we will see them Late June...

Quote:

Nightshade Books
Books at Printer, and scheduled to arrive by 6/19:
The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith Vol. 4: The Maze of the Enchanter

I just realised how I will be spending my summer vacation: building up an e-library of the fiction of Clark Ashton Smith, the way I've already done for Lovecraft.

There are worse ways to spend one's holiday. ;-)

Kyberean Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Will do, Scott. Thank you very much, and I hope
> that you are feeling better.

Not really, but I'm learning to adjust. At least I'm working. (Knock wood...)

Scott

I was just notified by Night Shade that The Maze of the Enchanter has just shipped from the printer--or at least my copies have. It will take them a wee bit to ship all the preordered copies out, of course, so please don't expect to find your copy lurking in your mailbox within the next few days. Anyway, the wait is almost over!
Oh--and Brown University is currently transfering the scans of mss we needed for volume 5 to CD-ROM, so with luck Ron and I ought to be able to wrap this one up before Christmas. Keep your tentacles crossed....

Scott