This appears as a trade paperback on Amazon from Cerberus Gaming Combine/Createspace with a publication date of November 2012. Has anyone actually SEEN this book and does anyone know who put it together? I hope Ron had something to do with this.

Also, does anyone know any more about Donald Grant's long-promised, recently resurrected, but again inexplicably-delayed AVEROIGNE tome? Perhaps they have been taking lessons from Alhazred: "That is not dead which we can eternally delay".

I think that's the unauthorised version that Scott warned about on FB.

I'm sure you're correct about that one, Martinus.

Somebody cut and paste a bunch of entries from this site and called themselves "editor". THey even used stories by Ron, Simon Whitechapel, and others without permission (well, I don't know about the others, but Ron sure as hell didn't give permission). It's even shoddier than the POD editions of ODES AND SONNETS that are out there. It's not even fair to call it "crap" because we can at least use _that_ to grow things.

I hope they didn't include anything by myself; I've not given permission.

No, there's nothing by myself.

I had nothing to do with this, aside from having two of my CAS tales reprinted in the book without my knowledge or consent. I notified CASiana as soon as I saw the book advertised on Amazon, and both the estate and I have sent letters of objection to Cereberus/CreateSpace, but have not yet heard anything from them. Some despicable pirate by the name of Nathan Robertson is calling himself editor and claims to have copyrighted the entire collection, although most of the contents are currently under copyright in other collections. I would encourage Michael Minnis, Simon Whitechapel, and Garnett Elliott to voice their objections as well:
Copyright Agent
CreateSpace Legal Department
P.O. Box 81266
Seattle, WA 98108

As for THE AVEROIGNE CHRONICLES, I began shopping the book around to other publishers last year (with the permission and support of the Smith estate) and have recently begun working with another publisher; same texts, but with a new format and artwork. To his credit, Robert Wiener didn't like the idea, but did agree to let it go and even offered to send existing materials to the new publisher. I have always had a cordial relationship with Robert, but I never liked the format (same size and shape as the Grant edition of AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS) and I wasn't too fond of the artwork by Fernando Duval either. Finally decided it was crazy to continue to wait on a book I would never be happy with . . . only wish I had done this years ago. Can't say more on this as I don't want to jinx it!!
-Ron

Thank you for your post, Ron: my protestations have been sent, and I hope they listen.

Is it advisable, should the opportunities present themselves, where one would post a review online (eg. Amazon, Goodreads) that we post non-defamatory, non-libellous, straightforward equivalents to "this book breaks copyright law and none of the authors included will see a cent of income from this"?

phillipAellis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thank you for your post, Ron: my protestations
> have been sent, and I hope they listen.
>
> Is it advisable, should the opportunities present
> themselves, where one would post a review online
> (eg. Amazon, Goodreads) that we post
> non-defamatory, non-libellous, straightforward
> equivalents to "this book breaks copyright law and
> none of the authors included will see a cent of
> income from this"?


I do not see why not. I have a posted a few reviews about shoddy practices, the latest of which was a blatant rip-off of Douglas Anderson's fine William Hope Hogdson collection from Cold Springs Press, which another publisher issued with only token contents changes, without even bothering to disguise the title very much.

Jim

Thank you both for your support. I do wonder tho, is there any written statement here on the Eldritch Dark which states that the CAS material available here is under copyright and prohibits any such acts of piracy? Or which points out that the tribute story rights belong to the individual authors? Perhaps it was my mistake to allow these tales to be posted here for anyone to steal . . .

I found its Amazon page and sent in a review that basically stated the above. I had to give it a rating out of five stars, so only gave it one star.

In "About the Eldritch Dark" there are "Notes on Copyright".

FYI: here is my review

Thanks for this review Phillip, and thanks also for locating the copyright statement. I'm glad to see this and will pass this info along to those who may be interested.
-Ron

You're welcome, Ron.

I did check to see if there were a Goodreads page, as well, but nothing came up as a result of my search, so I both doubt that there is one, and I I doubt the advisability of starting one.

Phillip

Sorry you had to do this Ron, but you have been more than patient. As soon as the deal has been made with another publisher, please let us know. I have been waiting for this book a very long time, and am still extremely eager to see it. I liked the one illustration readily visible at the Donald Grant website, which reminded me of Ivan Bilibin's work, but another other illustration seen elsewhere (for "The Colossus of Ylourgne") was rather awful, and I did not realize Grant was planning on formatting it like the awkward AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS till you mentioned it. Good luck and Godspeed with the new publisher!

I just posted this at Amazon:

A promising title put together indifferently from other sources, May 4, 2013

This review is from: Tales of Averoigne (Paperback)

This is not the book authorized by the Smith estate and edited by Ron Hilger, whose own stories, furthermore, have been reprinted without his permission. I wonder if Michael Minnis, Simon Whitechapel, and Garnett Elliott are aware their work appears herein.

Additional issues:
- The editor's chronology makes no sense. "The End of the Story" was intended by Smith to be, as the title and the late 18th century setting tell us, the end of the story, and should therefore be the last of the entries by Smith. It should stand out from the majority of Smith's Averoigne tales set during the Middle Ages, not nestle in the midst of them.
- Nor do Smith's stories follow the order in which they are published, in which case "The End of the Story" would lead Smith's entries.
- "The Abominations of Yondo" has absolutely nothing to do with Averoigne.
- "A Night in Malneant" is clearly set in a French milieu at least akin to Averoigne, but has apparently been omitted, because it does not specifically mention Averoigne by name.
- There is also one notable omission among the pastiches by other writers, i.e. Brian McNaughton's "The Return of the Colossus" first published in WEIRDBOOK 29 (Autumn 1995) and reprinted in EVEN MORE NASTY STORIES (Wildside Press, 2000). Its omission in this book again points to the dubious nature of this gathering: all of the material included by Smith and the other authors present in this volume, was available online at Boyd Pearson's THE ELDRITCH DARK, an invaluable resource for Clark Ashton Smith studies. No other source would have been necessary to compile this work, and the site's search engine would have made the editor's job an easy one.

So what are we to make of a book that boasts promising material poorly organized, relevant material missing, irrelevant material included, and all printed without the permission of the authors or their estates? No sale.

P.S. Brian McNaughton's fine Smith-inspired book of linked stories THE THRONE OF BONES (Terminal Fright Publications, 1997) won Best Collection awards from the International Horror Guild in 1997 and the World Fantasy Convention in 1998.

Thanks for the update on The Averoigne Chronicles, Ron! I have asked Donald M. Grant about this at least twice over the past few months, but never received a reply. They've been dragging their feet on this book for MUCH too long!

Thanks Martin, I'll keep you posted . . . I did get a nice note from Amazon this week, as follows:

Thank you for your message. Please be advised that we are in the process of removing the following item from Amazon.com:
Tales of Averoigne [Paperback]
It typically takes 2-3 days for a listing to disappear once it has been removed from our catalog. We trust this will bring this matter to a close.

I've checked and they have already removed the book . . . thanks to all who helped bring this scurrilous pirate to justice!
-Ron

Ron,

you're welcome, and I am glad that I have been able to help in a limited and minor way.

Phillip

I received a nice note from William Dorman on the 8th stating that the reviews and other comments had been successful in alerting Amazon's attention to the dubious nature of this book.