Böcker av Clark Ashton Smith

Presents a collection of authors tales and poems. This volume allows readers to encounter his visionary of phantasmagorical worlds, each one filled with invention and terror.

Clark Ashton Smith (1893-1961) is best known for creating exotic worlds of fantasy, such as the lost continent Zothique, set in the far future, the arctic realm of Hyperborea, and the medieval domain of Averoigne. It is less widely known that Smith was a pioneer in science fiction, as his tales appeared extensively in such pulp magazines as Wonder Stories and Amazing Stories and had a marked influence on the science fiction of his day. Mars was a favored locale for several significant tales, including the cosmic horror masterpiece "The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis." "Seedling of Mars" is one of several tales in this volume that broaches the distinctive subgenre of "green horror" that results from deadly animated plants. This motif first found expression in Smith's early prose poem "The Flower-Devil," and he utilized it in such tales as "Vulthoom," "The Demon of the Flower," and others. The remote planet Xiccarph is the setting for two tales, "The Maze of the Enchanter" and "The Flower-Women." One of Smith's most expansive tales, "The Monster of the Prophecy," is set on Antares, while the late story "Phoenix" is grimly apocalyptic in its setting in the far future, with most of the Earth's inhabitants killed off. Clark Ashton Smith's mastery of a prose-poetic idiom lends a distinctive flavor to his interplanetary tales. Far from being naively optimistic adventures into the depths of space, they exhibit a rueful doubt as to the place of human beings in an immense and hostile universe. This volume, edited by leading Clark Ashton Smith scholar Ronald S. Hilger, contains an illuminating preface by Nathan Ballingrud.

The joint correspondence of four titans of the Lovecraft Circle sheds fascinating light on the complex interplay of the personal and professional lives of these writers, artists, editors, and collectors. R. H. Barlow initiated much of the correspondence, seeking to preserve manuscripts and other material in what he called the "Vaults of Yoh-Vombis." Barlow discussed plans to publish a variety of Smith's poetry, but these ultimately came to nothing. Similarly, he wished to issue a volume of Howard Wandrei's weird artwork, but Howard's brother put an end to the idea. H. P. Lovecraft is a focal point of discussion in all the correspondence. Donald Wandrei developed an enmity to Barlow, in part because Wandrei falsely believed that Barlow had stolen Lovecraft's books and manuscripts, even though he had been declared Lovecraft's literary executor. When Wandrei was helping August Derleth found Arkham House, he urged Derleth, Smith, and others to shun Barlow, with the result that Barlow was essentially driven out of the field. This volume presents an invaluable glimpse into the world of weird and pulp fiction in the 1930s and 1940s, as each writer displays the distinctive traits that have made him a renowned figure in the genre. The correspondence has been meticulously edited and exhaustively annotated by David E. Schultz and S. T. Joshi, two leading authorities in Lovecraft scholarship.

Clark Ashton Smith (1893-1961)was an American author of fantasy, horror, and science fiction, known forhis vivid imagination and lyrical prose. His work had a profound influence on the fantasy and horror genres."Smith filled my mind with incredible worlds, impossibly beautiful cities, and still more fantastic creatures"- Ray Bradbury"In sheer daemonic strangeness andfertility of conception, Clark Ashton Smith is perhaps unexcelled"- HP Lovecraft"Nobody since Poe has so loved a well-rotted corpse"- L. Sprague de CampThis is a republishing of the original 1922 volume of poetry, reformatted to fit your pocket.