Does anyone know if the Amazon announced dates are correct for these volumes? They appear to be out of order, with vol. 4 due January 29, 2009 and vol. 5 due November 15, 2008. I know the Hippocampus poetry collections were published out of sequence. Is that the case here?

No. Night Shade Books has vol. 4 coming out in January 2009, and vol. 5 coming out in 2009 (no month specified).

Does anyone know the reason Nightshade books has postponed the release date so many times?
RIK

I think Scott said that there has been trouble getting copies of the original manuscripts needed for the books. But that has been taken care of, so I guess these new dates will stay firm (touch wood).

Yrs
Martin

You will all be pleased to learn that Ron and I turned in volume 4, The Maze of the Enchanter, this morning, so the end of the wait will soon be over. And let me tell you, it was a beast--but it will be worth it. There have been extensive restorations to several stories, all for the better we hope.

Scott

Great news!!!

Hurrah!!! Thanksgiving is here!

Jim

Guillermo Del Toro will be really confused, though.

Yaaaay!! :-D

Jojo Lapin X Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Guillermo Del Toro will be really confused,
> though.

He'll live. Probably. : )

Scott

Great news, Scott! I'll head over to the REH forum and spread the word. :)

Great Scott!

Any word on when vol. 4 (The Maze of the Enchanter) will be published?

The publicity email on their site seems to be the only address working anymore. None of the old ones seem to work.

Edit: hmmmmm might have just been the connection here at work



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 16 Feb 09 | 11:28AM by Eldritch Frog.

I got through to Jeremy Lassen yesterday, and he wrote back that he is planning "a major web site/pub update" later this week. Keep your fingers crossed.

Martinus Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I got through to Jeremy Lassen yesterday, and he
> wrote back that he is planning "a major web
> site/pub update" later this week. Keep your
> fingers crossed.
Sounds like another way of saying it is delayed yet again. Looks like I'll need to give them another address change before it ships.

:)

I just got a note back from them about my recent address change. Yes, it has been delayed; apparently the new date is sometime in March.

If you're having trouble getting through using the older email addresses, go to their contact page at the site -- that's how I got my new address to them....

I wonder if the delay is due to the lack of an appropriate introduction/introducer... The NSB listing for vol. 4 still indicates that it is "TBD".



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 18 Feb 09 | 06:47AM by Radovarl.

Radovarl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I wonder if the delay is due to the lack of an
> appropriate introduction/introducer... The NSB
> listing for vol. 4 still indicates that it is
> "TBD".

This is exactly correct. We can only approach one person at a time, so when things don't work out we have to start all over again. Sorry to seem mysterious (especially to some of our greatest supporters here at ED) but we hope to have some better news in a week or so.

Thanks to everyone for your patience and support.
-Ron

According to Nightshade's site volume 4 will be out April 15th.

(Not too bad of a delay)

And believe it or not, they say they will ship volume 5 of Hodgson on March 30th!

Thought I would let you all know that I received a verbal agreement today regarding the introduction to THE MAZE OF THE ENCHANTER, from someone most of you should be familiar with. We can't go into more detail until we actually have the intro in hand, but rest assured that things are finally progressing towards publication.
Thasaidon be praised!!
-Ron

Ive just ordered book 5 off of Amazon but still can't get book 4! Strange to order out of sequence but looking forward to five anyway!

Book 4 has been delayed again -- until early May (not too bad) -- but Night Shade has announced that the introduction will be by Gahan Wilson! And -- even better! -- they have posted the entire intro here:

[www.nightshadebooks.com]

I'm not a forum member at Nightshade, but I do view their forum for updates.

Here is what they have to say about volume 5...

Quote:

Smith Volume 5 will be published later this year.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 3 Apr 09 | 01:19PM by Eldritch Frog.

I guess it is June now...

Quote:

To be published June 12, 2009
[nightshadebooks.com]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 4 May 09 | 12:21PM by Eldritch Frog.

For people like me who have been waiting from the beginning this is like torture!

Great way to learn patience.
Actually, I've seen worse *cough* Wildside Press *cough*

How long has it been, anyway, since the CAS fiction subscription offer (on which I decided to pass) appeared? Four years? Five?

Three, I think. It came up in March of 2006, as I recall. The first book is copyrighted in 2006, although I didn't get it until April 10, 2007. All three of the books released so far appeared in 2007 (I got #2 on June 20 and #3 on December 5).

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.)

Thanks for the information. I thought that the CAS subscription was announced in 2004 or 2005, because I seem to remember the announcement as dating from the time I was in graduate school, but I could be mistaken.

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:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 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:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 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

Scott Connors Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 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

Awesome news!!! I was gonna ask you if you had access to that yet!

God bless you for this piece of news, Scott! (I really needed that today...)

Martinus Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> God bless you for this piece of news, Scott! (I
> really needed that today...)

Thanks, Martin. And this should brighten your day: I received copies of vol. 4 yesterday (and they look great, except for two glaring typos in the appendices.)

Scott

You know me, Scott -- I'm a compulsive proofreader. Just bring 'em on! ;)
(I'll have lots of spare time in front of me to read it, as I'm in serious danger of being laid off.)

BTW, Martin, please drop me an email. For some reason my ISP isn't delivering messages to yours. I'd like copies of the typos you've uncovered, please.


Scott

Hmmm... I had to send the e-mail twice before it got away, but I usually experience the same trouble with STJ's e-mail address, and he has the same ISP as you. I simply have to be stubborn and try and try again until it goes out. (I suggest you do the same when trying to reach me.)

Anyway, you should have the list by now, so let me know if you didn't get it!

Yrs
Martin

Just received my copy of The Maze of The Enchanter today from Amazon. All I can say is that it was worth waiting for! Everyone involved with the production of this book should pat themselves on the back--it's gorgeous!

I'm curious, have any of you who subscribed directly with Nightshade four years ago received volume 4 yet? (I have not)

I think some guy at the Night Shade forum did.
I can't speak for myself, however, since I'm not at home -- and anyway I live in Sweden, which means I'll probably get it last. ;)

I haven't received my copy yet. But again, I'm in Europe (England). Volume 3 arrived pretty promptly, so I'm hoping that it will turn up soon.

Home again, and nope, I haven't got it.

Yes! Yes, it just arrived! No, wait, that was volume 3.

What's with all these Swedes? I am a Swede too. I think it's the same over at the Jack Vance site. (Some particular tilt of the soul, that likes this specific kind of fantasy?) What about Danes or Norwegians? I don't see any of those. Or Germans (a huge population comparably)? Strange odds. Or French, Poles, Italians, Spaniards, South Americans, Mexicans (millions and millions, and close to the US), Canadians, Chinese (billions) or Japanese? Not a single one.
But there is one Finlander here!

In one of his stories, or letters, CAS slightly suggested that Swedes were dull-whitted, or lacking in imagination. I don't know if I could argue against that! Cold climate (and overprotective social-democrat collectiveness) gives little room and time for unfettered thoughts besides the handling of basic practical chores.

Hey, maybe someone should try contacting a Chinese to translate CAS?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10 Jul 09 | 05:58PM by Knygatin.

Knygatin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> [...] Or
> French, Poles, Italians, Spaniards,

Here, there is at least an Italian lurking silently on the Eldritch Dark's forum!

And, to remain in topic, I too am waiting the postman with my copy of The Maze of The Enchanter from a bookstore in UK.

Andrea, why did you tell them about the Silent Lurking Brotherhood? The stars are not ready yet!
A dormant French member. :)

Eldritch Frog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm curious, have any of you who subscribed
> directly with Nightshade four years ago received
> volume 4 yet? (I have not)

No I haven't either, and I'm also a subsciber, one of the first. I'm in San Jose, California and I usually am one of the first to get any of the volumes since I'm close to Night Shade Books in San Francisco.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11 Jul 09 | 04:43AM by Tantalus.

That's good news. I haven't received my volume either. I recently changed addresses, so I'm now worried. I'm going to email Jason Williams right now. :-)

No sign of my copy yet.

Jim

Ye impious fools! Wist ye not that the mighty ultra-terrene deity Amah-Zohn must always first receive propitiation?

LOL! Yeah, I guess that's true. :)

I want it now. It contains the largest number of my favorite stories of any of the volumes ("The Isle of the Torturers," "The Maze of the Enchanter," "The Dweller in the Gulf," "The Dark Eidolon," "The Charnel God"). This either says something about me, or about Smith.

Got my copy!

Hello,
Just thought I would finally log on after lurking for eons... I got my copy of Volume 4 at the beginning of the month from Amazon... Mind you, I have had it waiting in a queue forever and a day... I had the same luck with Hodgson Vol.5 from Amazon, I ordered and received a copy blindingly fast...
But to Night Shades credit... I have received orders directly from them very fast also, not to mention the great customer service. To this day I will leave a small offering at the alter of Night Shade for the kindness provided to me in my quest for a Karl Edward Wagner!

Scott, is November reasonable for the last volume? Or are we realistically looking at next year?
----------------------
The Last Hieroglyph (The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith, Vol. 5) (v. 5) (Hardcover)
by Clark Ashton Smith (Author)
Hardcover: 300 pages
Publisher: Night Shade Books (November 15, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1597800325
ISBN-13: 978-1597800327

[www.amazon.com]

Got my copy of vol 4 yesterday. Looks great. Definitely has my favourite selection of CAS stories (of those I've read) in it so far.

Have to say this is my favourite cover too. Just a tad more colourful and vibrant than the others.

Nice one Night Shade people!

Volume Four is outstanding. There is some debate over at THOMAS LIGOTTI ONLINE as to why "The Seven Geeses" was not included in this one, as it was compos'd during the time-frame. I REALLY hope Volume Five is actually publish'd this year -- I'll buy my copy from the lads themselves at their table in ye dealer's room.

We follow CAS' own chronology of his fiction in assigning the order of stories. Vol. 4 ends with "The Flower-Women," which was finished on March 31, 1933 and is ITEM 86 in the chronology. "The Seven Geases" is item 94, and was finished on October 1, 1933, so it falls into volume 4.

Scott

So.. I'm still awaiting Vol. 4 from Night Shade, something I ordered from them in advance. Are others of you still waiting, too?

I'm still waiting too, as are most subscribers, from what I gather. As I understand it, vol. 4 was supposed to start shipping this week (check out the Night Shade forum). The delay is apparently a matter of bad timing -- lots of books being released more or less at the same time, coinciding with a big sale -- and shortage of people to handle the shipping.

Ah, thanks. I'm patient with such things, just wanted to make sure it wasn't lost in the mail. As long as I don't suffer alone, I'm happy. ;)

SSTTIIILLLL waiting for my subscription copy.

Jim

Received, but have not had time to do more than glance over, my copy....

I received mine. In case you were wondering.

My copy has arrived - so subscription copies are reaching Europe.

I have not yet received mine and I'm in San Jose, California which is about an hour's drive from Night Shade in San Francisco.

So I sent them an email saying that others have received their Vol. 4 and I was concerned that I hadn't yet. Especially since in the past I was always one of the first to receive the other volumes. I wasn't concerned that I didn't get it quick. I was just concerned that I might have been over looked.

I received a reply from Ross dated August 6 said -

"CAS4 shipped earlier this week. You should be receiving yours shortly."

So I guess those that haven't got theirs yet, including me, should just be patient. :)

I received mine (in France) two days ago. :-)
Fear Dunn

Mine arrived on August 5, but I didn't discover it until today since I've been away. And I won't be able to get at the book for another 7 hours when the local post office opens!

Mine arrived today here in Virginia, for those still wondering. Looks great, as always, and hope to dig into it in a few days.

I STILL haven't received my copy of "Maze". I am a subscriber. Night Shade Books has declined to respond to ANY of the emails that I have sent in the last three weeks. I tried calling today. No answer. I understand that we're living in hard times, but this is ridiculous. I personally met Jason at the 2006 WFC and have been buying from NSB since 2001. I didn't expect this level of indifference.

That is strange. Here on the Moon all subscribers now have their copies.

Strange indeed.

I just got mine a couple days ago. And as I said previously, I'm only an hour away from Night Shade Books. And I'm also a subscriber. The poster above, Fear Dunn in France, got theirs before me! :)

I did get a reply immediately to my email inquiry. I used the Shipping and Orders email address on this page: [www.nightshadebooks.com]

I hope you get yours soon.

deuce Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I STILL haven't received my copy of "Maze". I am
> a subscriber. Night Shade Books has declined to
> respond to ANY of the emails that I have sent in
> the last three weeks. I tried calling today. No
> answer. I understand that we're living in hard
> times, but this is ridiculous. I personally met
> Jason at the 2006 WFC and have been buying from
> NSB since 2001. I didn't expect this level of
> indifference.

Amazon has had its copies for around a month.

All these tales of delays make me really glad that I did not subscribe to this series when Night Shade first announced it in 2005 or so. Instead, I've been purchasing the volumes as they appear. By doing this, I'll likely end by paying a bit more than $150 for all six volumes, but not by much. At least I have the satisfaction of not having given Night Shade my money up front, only to be treated as a second-class citizen.

News flash to Night Shade: Subscribers are supposed to receive their books first, not last. Ah, the joys of small presses and their professionalism--or lack of it!

My copy arrived today, and it was worth the wait!

Jim

deuce Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I STILL haven't received my copy of "Maze". I am
> a subscriber. Night Shade Books has declined to
> respond to ANY of the emails that I have sent in
> the last three weeks. I tried calling today. No
> answer. I understand that we're living in hard
> times, but this is ridiculous. I personally met
> Jason at the 2006 WFC and have been buying from
> NSB since 2001. I didn't expect this level of
> indifference.

It's not indifference, it's a matter of too few people and too much to do. They only recently dug themselves out of the backlog from the 50% sale, which was more successful than anticipated, plus they had a ton (literally!) of new titles come in that needed shipping. They are working as hard as they can, and unfortunately time spent answering every email asking "hey where's my book at?" is time taken away from mailing out orders. Yes, it's not a great answer, but unfortunately that's the way it is.
If it's any consolation, Ron and I are still waiting for the rest of our comp copies and some stuff we ordered from May.

Scott

Thanks Scott! That's a relief. :-) Honestly, I wasn't getting worried until last week when EVERYBODY else on the REH forum had gotten their copies. Hell, even Mike Chivers in Sussex has his copy. Before now, my copy has arrived before or at the same time as the other subscribers I know.

I dare anyone to show me where I've been anything but a staunch supporter/promoter of NSB until the last 7-10 days. It would've been nice to get just a general "Hey, they're on their way! Don't email. We've got you taken care of." NSB has done that before and I'm fine with that. What REALLY spooked me is that I recently changed addresses and I didn't know whether they'd shipped to the wrong place, despite my email. Still don't know, for that matter. All that said, I'll go back to the REH forum and put up a calmer post.

The release date for volume 5 has been changed to March 2010.

Geoffrey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The release date for volume 5 has been changed to
> March 2010.

Unless I get the mss from Brown, that might prove optimistic.

Scott

Scott Connors Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Geoffrey Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The release date for volume 5 has been changed
> to
> > March 2010.
>
> Unless I get the mss from Brown, that might prove
> optimistic.
>
> Scott

I thought you already had the manuscripts?

I received mine almost 3 weeks ago. I ordered it through an "Amazon Shop" since amazon.de was listing it as unavailable even though amazon.com had it already in stock. I ordered it on the 4th oh July and it arrived about 10 days later.

And speaking of NSB...
Does anyone have an idea why the 1st volume (The 3rd Cry of Legba) of the 5 Manly Wade Wellman books is practically impossible to find for under $125 and volumes 2-5 are still fairly easy to get for around $25?
I just checked and there are no copies available on Ebay and Abebooks. I (falsely?) assumed that there would be less of the later voulumes in circulation since more and more buyers would drop out as the number of volumes rose and not the other way around.
I know that this is OT, but it's making the anal retentive part of me crazy!! LOL

Take care.
Doug

dougdraa Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> the anal
> retentive part of me

The anus, you mean?

Jojo Lapin X Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> dougdraa Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > the anal
> > retentive part of me
>
> The anus, you mean?


Adj. 1. anal retentive - a stage in psychosexual development when the child's interest is concentrated on the anal region; fixation at this stage is said to result in orderliness, meanness, stubbornness, compulsiveness, etc.


Anal Retentive:
A mild form of obsessive-compulsive disorder. A collection of very irritating personality traits that include stubbornness, orderliness, and a desire to control others and their surroundings. It makes a person meticulous or fixated about little things, nit-picking or paying extreme attention to detail, and trying to control his or her environment and other people. They do things “by the book’’ with no flexibility in the way they complete tasks, and expect others to do and think as they. It’s their way or the highway, basically. They are the worst people to work for or live with. My roommate is a good example. He irons his underwear because he doesn’t want the wrinkles, assuming people will see them or care. He always must have his room spotless in every detail, including making his bed to perfection before going to work. Before he puts dishes in the dishwasher, he washes them thoroughly, defeating his purpose for the dishwasher. And he must have the dishes in the washer sitting at a certain angle, for fear they wont get cleaned. He will also literally pick tiny particles from the living room carpet, before using the vacuum cleaner. Psychologists say that anally retentive people’s habits—often controlling—stem from lack of being breast fed as an infant. Basically, people who are anally retentive act like they have something up their butt. Instead, they need to see a psyciatrist. And if things don’t go their way, they go nuts! Anally retentive people are usually very annoying as a result and may have a hard time making and keeping friends.


It was supposed to be a joke.. :-)

Eldritch Frog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Scott Connors Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Geoffrey Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > The release date for volume 5 has been
> changed
> > to
> > > March 2010.
> >
> > Unless I get the mss from Brown, that might
> prove
> > optimistic.
> >
> > Scott
>
> I thought you already had the manuscripts?


Some, but not all. Brown will not make photocopies of the Smith manuscripts, and they have a real bottleneck at microfilming (up to a year), so I've been having them make digital scans onto CD-R and send those to me. They charge us a rather high price for the labor, so once one book is turned in I turn in the request for the next batch of mss--and so far they have not arrived.

Scott, can you check with Nightshade on whether subscribers will still get the pre-order bonus of "Tales of India and Irony?".

Is that coming with volume 5?

I put up a review of The Maze of the Enchanter here:

[www.thecimmerian.com]

As one might notice, no vitriol is spewed in the general direction of NSB. I still believe that the mailing situation could've been handled better (as it had in the past), but I saw no benefit from bringing it up. I even managed to name-check Donald, Ron and Scott. :-)

Eldritch Frog: Tales of India and Irony is scheduled to be released with volume 5. You may rest assured that Night Shade is not about to renege on a promise made to subscribers.

Deuce: Thank you for your kind review on The Cimmerian website. I don't mean to be cranky, but please note that there is no e in my name.

Scott

Scott Connors Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> Deuce: Thank you for your kind review on The
> Cimmerian website. I don't mean to be cranky, but
> please note that there is no e in my name.
>
> Scott

OOPS!!! Consider it fixed, Scott. :-)

Scott Connors Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Eldritch Frog: Tales of India and Irony is
> scheduled to be released with volume 5. You may
> rest assured that Night Shade is not about to
> renege on a promise made to subscribers.
>
> Scott


Glad to hear it Scott! I honestly forgot what the book even is, just that it was a bonus for subscribers.

Hi gang
Up till now I've been posting on Night Shade Books, but most of the info seems to be right here, on good old ED. I first came across NSB's projected Clark Ashton Smith Collected Fiction on ED, and promptly took out a subscription (May 15th 2005) part of which deal was an EXCLUSIVE tpb entitled Tales of India & Irony. It's nice to know that this offer is still good, but it's exclusivity seems to have lessened with the news that there will be plenty of spare copies for just about anybody who wants one. That particular carrot has lost its juice. As I suppose we're all aware, publication dates for CAS have receded into an uncertain future (uncertain in that time ticks for all and no one of us knows how much sand is left) and March 2010 seems now to be optimistic given that the MSS aren't yet in hand and there has been mention of a year's backlog for obtaining same. I think it's fair to say that some of us old-timers may not last out. I'm still rooting for March next, so good health to all at NSB and cheerio for now.

Quote:

That particular carrot has lost its juice.

Gasp! Do mean to imply that small specialty presses are not paragons of honesty and competence?!?!? Next, you'll be telling us that there's no Easter Bunny! ;-)

O' But that William Hope Hodgeson collection aged like a fine wine... It took forever and a day to complete, but the effort was overwhelmingly appreciated. Yes I want my CAS to finally get here, but just think how rare this collection really is... And honestly when and If anyone will ever put this much effort into another CAS collection like this again in our life time. This may be the first and last time. Same thing with the Hippocampus Press Poetry collection... It has honestly taken a lifetime to collect all these amazing authors on one book shelf with such beautiful quality.

The website of Night Shade Books is now giving a release date of Sept. 2010 for vol. 5:

[nightshadebooks.com]

Geoffrey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The website of Night Shade Books is now giving a
> release date of Sept. 2010 for vol. 5:
>
> [nightshadebooks.com]
> il&p=92


To be honest, I didn't expect it any sooner. March sounded ambitious.

But I'm not griping. I'm more than happy to wait for as Dunwichsouth said, this is an amazing collection, one obviously done for love not money, and each vol has been well worth the wait.

Quote:

one obviously done for love not money,

Ah, nice to see that someone does still believe in the Easter Bunny! ;-)

Lets be real, Night Shade has issues meeting publishing dates. Now that this fact is stated, what are you as a consumer going to do about it? Huh?? Consumers have a couple of options:
Purchasing OR not purchasing a publishers product.
If you don't want to purchase but have paid them already... I have NEVER ever, ever heard of Night Shade having ANY issues refunding people their money back.

I have read all these same postings about the William Hope Hodgson collection, now people are just cutting and pasting those same posings to the CAS boards... But here's something to consider. While waiting forever and a day to finish my Hodgson collection Night Shade in between put out a F()<king awesome Karl Edward Wagner collection, along with other nice works (Lovecraft anyone??). Hmmm... Maybe if we bad mouth this tiny publishing company enough, no one will want to buy anything from them. And then they can go out of business and not finish any of our collections.

So' if you had to wait for the Hodgson Collection like I did, are ya really surprised about the CAS? They are putting the effort in where no one else in the publishing world thought it was necessary. If it takes 5 years, O' well. I will be one of the few select persons in the world that can say he has this collection. Cause lets face it, Your kid's will be wondering what all the fuss is about in the future away... "Hey dad, why didn't you just download and read them?", "Ewwww, paper!" etc...

Just My Thoughts... Now Hippocampus - WHERES MY FRICKEN COPY OF "A Means to Freedom: The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E . Howard" (Just kidding I can wait:)

Quote:

if we bad mouth this tiny publishing company enough, no one will want to buy anything from them.

I am not sure whom you are addressing here. My comment relates to the over-idealization of small presses, and attributing primarily idealistic motives to what are, as you indicate, simply businesses.

For the rest: Since when is telling the truth the equivalent of "bad-mouthing"? The latter implies bad faith, perhaps even misfeasance, and no one is saying such libelous things about any small press.

It is not, however, out of bounds to question the ethics of the practice of limited editions (and pricing), nor is it out of bounds to complain about egregiously missed deadlines and absurdly protracted publication schedules. How many of you would have plunked down your $150 if Night Shade had said, "Oh, and subscribers take note: The publication process will take a minimum of five-and-a half years, perhaps more"? Maybe a lot of you would have, anyway (I am glad that I did not), but the point is the same.

Okay...
I admit it, maybe I was in a bad mood. I guess I was kinda feeling sorry for NSB. After hearing the same things on so many different boards, sadly, year after year. I guess I just vented here. I have a very tender spot for Small Press's, and have seen so many come and go. I use to help out a friend that ran a small press years ago, and saw the heartache and pain involved first hand.
So yeah... Maybe I was a little harsh...

Kyberean Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> one obviously done for love not money,
>
> Ah, nice to see that someone does still believe in
> the Easter Bunny! ;-)

Well, I've not seen him around for a few years, but I'm sure that's just because he's busy...?

Hi fellers
I wasn't sure whether to order CAS back in 2005, but I didn't want to miss out on Tales of India & Irony. That exclusive title persuaded me to put my cash up-front. I don't mind now if everybody gets a copy, but I shall watch out for Greeks bearing gifts in the future. The Hodgson series is magnificent, and yes, well worth waiting for, but highly frustrating. I also have the Hippocampus Press Smith Poetry (hardly delayed at all) and I tremulously await delivery of the Letters of Howard & Lovecraft, hopefuly soon to be with us. Let's put in a word too for the REH Foundation, who did a great jon on Howard's Collected Letters and his Collected Poetry, all of which sit on my special shelf nearest the fire escape. I love small presses and support them in the best way, by buying their books, but if as reported CAS5 has slipped again (now September 2010) then it won't be the last and NSB will be lucky to even get it out anytime in 2011. I'm not being insulting, Jeremy, just staring reality in the face. Shalom, boys, I must get back to my reading.

Actually (wrong topic really, but it's kind of connected) amazon.com has just informed me that my order for A Means to Freedom: The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E . Howard because they've exhausted their usual suppliers! Which isn't particularly heartening. Now I suppose that this situation might change as the stock trickles in, but it's worrying all the same: have pre-orders sold it out already? By the way, in case anyone is wondering why I didn't order it direct from Hippo, it's because the postage costs to the UK push the price well beyond my meagre means. Otherwise I'd go direct. Same with Night Shade, I'm afraid - although I might make an exception for the last vol, if I can get Tales of India & Irony as well...

Forgive me, but it would be kind of nice to hear something else than this daily chattering about publishing dates. Something of a little more intellectual interest. Like sharing your reading experiences of the already released volumes, and how the corrected texts differ from older publications. That's what I wanna hear!

Hi English Assassin
According to my last email from Hippocampus "A Means to Freedom" is still at the printers, so Amazon shouldn't even have it yet to be sold out of. I too was doubtful about shipping costs from the States, but I found that the ten per cent discount offered by Hippocampus for advanced orders pretty well cancelled that out. More power to their elbows.
As for Night Shade Books, they do a great job, eventually. I don't quite get Knygatin's point about "daily chattering" about these serial and snowballing delays, though. Don't customers who've stumped up $150 in advance have a right to chatter a little? Hells bells, so far this project has taken longer than Pearl Harbour to VJ Day, and there's at least another year to wait.
Which reminds me, I was in a flight lounge some time ago waiting to go on holiday. The plane was several years late, and another delay had just been announced. Boy, did we get mad. Then the flight crew strolled through and berated us for our chattering, and suggested we discussed our previous flying experiences with them by way of stimulating their intellectual interest. As customers who'd paid up front for the privilege of being conveyed from A to B moy rapido, we didn't think that was within our remit. What we did consider to be relevant, however, was the straightforward query, "Where the f*** is the pilot?"

I've gotta say, I have so many things to read, more than I can ever find the time for, stacks and shelves of books and finding new literary interests and pursuits so regularly that I don't mind much when a book is delayed, not even if it's grand CAS. It allows me to attack the mountainous to-read pile.

Of course, this isn't terribly relevant, especially not to those that paid up front for things promised by a certain date that has long since passed.

asshurbanipal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't quite get Knygatin's point
> about "daily chattering" about these serial and
> snowballing delays, though. Don't customers who've
> stumped up $150 in advance have a right to chatter
> a little? Hells bells, so far this project has
> taken longer than Pearl Harbour to VJ Day, and
> there's at least another year to wait.
> Which reminds me, I was in a flight lounge some
> time ago waiting to go on holiday. The plane was
> several years late, and another delay had just
> been announced. Boy, did we get mad. Then the
> flight crew strolled through and berated us for
> our chattering, and suggested we discussed our
> previous flying experiences with them by way of
> stimulating their intellectual interest. As
> customers who'd paid up front for the privilege of
> being conveyed from A to B moy rapido, we didn't
> think that was within our remit. What we did
> consider to be relevant, however, was the
> straightforward query, "Where the f*** is the
> pilot?"


*sigh* Amazing.

This thread has 6909 views, and 12 pages of publishing date chattering. I don't believe there is a single thread that goes into literate depth, discussing the texts in the books. I just appeal to you for some balance. Please. Please leave the materialistic surface for an instance, and take a deep plunge. I would love to hear you share your enthusiastic discoveries, thoughts, and musings on the changes and new textual details appearing in the corrected texts. Eldritch Dark is after all a website for discussing CAS and his work, for assisting and deepening its appreciation and understanding.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 5 Oct 09 | 11:34AM by Knygatin.

Knygatin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> *sigh* Amazing.
>

Actually it is amazing that you are criticizing the content of this thread which is clearly labeled "pub dates...". Yes this thread is devoted to discussing the publishing of these two volumes not the contents.

As for Hippocampus Press, I have received my HPL/REH Letters set. Hippocampus is a one-man operation that runs circles around these other guys. His books are on time. He responds to email. He is a class-act. If his books are late, we are talking one month. Not years and years (Nightshade/Wildside Press).

Eldritch Frog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Knygatin Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> > *sigh* Amazing.
> >
>
> Actually it is amazing that you are criticizing
> the content of this thread which is clearly
> labeled "pub dates...". Yes this thread is
> devoted to discussing the publishing of these two
> volumes not the contents.


You choose not to take in the full meaning of what I said in my previous post.

Agreed, that if one wants to discuss other facets of the editions, then one could open another thread for that purpose. Such a discussion would likely get buried here, anyway, so why not create a new thread for it?

On the other hand, there's no reason not to discuss tangentially related subjects, such as small presses, delays, and the like in this thread.

I agree, by the way, that Hippocampus, though far from perfect, is much, much better than average for a small, specialty press, and much more professional, too. I often think of them when I read others apologizing for, or otherwise trying to rationalize, the performance of the likes of Night Shade and Wildside, et al.

Knygatin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You choose not to take in the full meaning of what
> I said in my previous post.

I, too, have made this choice on occasion!

As regards statistics versus analysis, that is simply the nature of "fandom." Being tangentially involved with all sorts of different "fandoms," I see the same pattern everywhere. "Fans" prefer to discuss issues like exactly when an author first submitted a particular story, or how many feet of film a director shot, rather than ask questions like "What is good about this? What is good Art anyway?" One reason for this is that if you start thinking critically about what you are consuming, other "fans" may think you do not love your favorite author or director as unconditionally as you should as a "fan." I direct you to the Robert E Howard Forum (from which, I should point out, in the interest of full disclosure, I was banned) for a particularly extreme example of this kind of intellectual environment.

I am glad there are on this forum at least some posters who transcend the fan level.

I just can't help but being irritated by shallowness, therefore my annoyed previous post. Although now afterwards I kind of regret it, because it spread bad atmosphere. Maybe I should have expressed my thoughts in a more diplomatic way. But sometimes conflict is inevitable.

Jojo Lapin X Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I direct you to the Robert
> E Howard Forum (from which, I should point out, in
> the interest of full disclosure, I was banned) for
> a particularly extreme example of this kind of
> intellectual environment.

I am surprised you were banned, since you seem to me like the typical cool cat-personality. But of course, you have been known to provoke your fellow posters out of balance from time to time. (Well, anyway, the Howard Forum should have a high threshold for fighting!)

Wow, there are some real exobrains on this site! I'll never keep pace, so call me Mr. Shallow (wasn't he in Shakespeare? Who said, "Shakespeare? I'll moider da bum!" I think it was a boxer). And here am I, swimming in three inches of water and wondering why my knees hurt.
PS. The REH Foundation is super-duper. There are some hoopey froods there all right! Got my volumes of REH letters and poetry in the post toot sweet and got them here before you could say "Bob's your uncle."
PPS. Yeah, I really dig those intellectual things too, and I took the plunge with regard to both Smith and Lovecraft something like 47 years agone, give or take a lustrum. I'm all in favour of stuff like, "What are we all here for? What does it all mean?" Sometimes, though, you just have to take a back seat and stick to something simpler: like, "WHEN?"

Quote:

you seem to me like the typical cool cat-personality

I've decided that I am this, by the way, although I am not sure how it fits into Knygatin's typology.

Kyberean Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> you seem to me like the typical cool
> cat-personality
>
> I've decided that I am this, by the way, although
> I am not sure how it fits into Knygatin's
> typology.

Why it's a blasphemy! But each to his own I guess.

Too bad the Eldritch Dark doesn't have avatars!

asshurbanipal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> According to my last email from Hippocampus "A
> Means to Freedom" is still at the printers, so
> Amazon shouldn't even have it yet to be sold out
> of. I too was doubtful about shipping costs from
> the States, but I found that the ten per cent
> discount offered by Hippocampus for advanced
> orders pretty well cancelled that out. More power
> to their elbows.

Thanks for the update. I thought that that was probably the case. I just have a

Eldritch Frog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> As for Hippocampus Press, I have received my
> HPL/REH Letters set. Hippocampus is a one-man
> operation that runs circles around these other
> guys. His books are on time. He responds to
> email. He is a class-act. If his books are late,
> we are talking one month. Not years and years
> (Nightshade/Wildside Press).

Indeed allowances have to be made.

I stand by my previous naive comment about these guys publishing for 'love not money,' although I will also stand by my believe that the Easter Bunny is alive and well and working in a fish'n'chip shop with Elvis... :)

Roger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've gotta say, I have so many things to read,
> more than I can ever find the time for, stacks and
> shelves of books and finding new literary
> interests and pursuits so regularly that I don't
> mind much when a book is delayed, not even if it's
> grand CAS. It allows me to attack the mountainous
> to-read pile.

It's not just me then! I don't like to rush reading CAS and I've still got the whole of the last volume to read. So I'm actually quite relived that vol 5 is delayed...

As for fandom vs lit. crit.... well both have their place on this and other forums, surely! I'm no expert on CAS or many other weird writers in general (being just a dabbler in the dark arts), although I like to think that I'm not wholly ignorant on Lovecraft and his circle, but I'm no expert witness that's for sure. I come here to glean some tasty tibits from the better informed members of this forum (i.e. almost everyone else) and to ask the occasional banal questions on publication dates. Then I sit back with a fat-assed cigar and say 'my work is done' - then relax...

The English Assassin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
I'm actually quite relived
> that vol 5 is delayed...

For me it is not an annoyance that indie books get delayed all the time, it's the fear that these series will never be finished.

I am now confident, from Scott's posts here, that CAS will be completed next year.

Weird Works of Robert E. Howard still concerns me. They say they will have another volume out this year, but it has been over 1.5 years since I received the last. Originally they were going to publish one a month. Five years later and we still have two more to go. And the editing of the volumes was done years ago. The only thing left for the final volume is possibly art and an introduction.

As for being a scholarly, stuffy, lit-critic? Hell no! I lean more towards the fan-side of things, yet I tend to prefer work that is well researched with solid references!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 6 Oct 09 | 01:01PM by Eldritch Frog.

Eldritch Frog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The English Assassin Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> I'm actually quite relived
> > that vol 5 is delayed...
>
> For me it is not an annoyance that indie books get
> delayed all the time, it's the fear that these
> series will never be finished.
>
> I am now confident, from Scott's posts here, that
> CAS will be completed next year.

I never doubted Night Shade Books -- I'm used to delays. What makes me annoyed is publishers who pretend that you don't exist when you ask for a refund (a new experience to me; since late May I've been trying to get a publisher to cough up my refund for a book he won't be publishing, but so far no luck...).

>
> Weird Works of Robert E. Howard still concerns me.
> They say they will have another volume out this
> year, but it has been over 1.5 years since I
> received the last. Originally they were going to
> publish one a month. Five years later and we
> still have two more to go. And the editing of the
> volumes was done years ago. The only thing left
> for the final volume is possibly art and an
> introduction.

My concern is, Will they finally ship the books to my new address where I have been living for the past three years...? ;)

Scott Connors Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> BTW, Martin, please drop me an email. For some
> reason my ISP isn't delivering messages to yours.
> I'd like copies of the typos you've uncovered,
> please.
>
>
> Scott

Scott, I sent you an update of my typo list (now including vol. 4) on November 15. Did you get it?

Yrs
Martin