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Post by Craig Herbertson on Jun 19, 2008 0:01:51 GMT
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Post by benedictjjones on Jun 19, 2008 11:22:28 GMT
HELLO, i was asking rog the other day if he could suggest a good collection of CAS' short fiction and was wondering if anyone else had any suggestions??
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Post by redbrain on Jun 19, 2008 11:44:07 GMT
HELLO, i was asking rog the other day if he could suggest a good collection of CAS' short fiction and was wondering if anyone else had any suggestions?? Out of Space and Time was the original Arkham House selection of the best of CAS - and it seems a good starting point to me. Not all of the stories represent CAS at his best (it includes The Return of the Sorcerer about which I said harsh things on another thread) -- but it also contains many of his better stories. The original Arkham House edition (1942) is now priced at a level unsuitable for any but millionaires or lunatics. The 1971 Neville Spearman reprint should be findable at an affordable price. I bought my copy on EBay a couple of years ago for not very much money. There was also a 1974 2 volume Panther reprint (with excellent covers). The reason I bought the Neville Spearman edition a couple of years ago is that I realised that my Panther edition would probably disintegrate if I tried to re-read it. I bought the two Panthers as soon as they hit the bookshop shelves in 1974, and they have deteriorated alarmingly since then. This leaves me with the idea that (as books) they were badly made in the first place -- and you may be hard put to find copies in acceptable condition.
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Post by redbrain on Jun 19, 2008 12:13:02 GMT
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Post by benedictjjones on Jun 19, 2008 12:21:29 GMT
cheers! i remember seeing a masterworks volume of his stuff but can't remember whether that was a novel or a collection. amazon will be getting a chunk of my shekels after payday me thinks!!
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Post by Johnlprobert on Jun 19, 2008 17:28:26 GMT
Go for the Masterworks volume! 'The Emperor of Dreams' turned me from an ignoramus into a lifelong fan who is now investing in the Night Shade five-volume hardcover series that's coming out. Oh, and if you go on Amazon.co.uk you'll find a review by me of that very book. It's seriously marvellous.
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Post by redbrain on Jun 19, 2008 20:29:15 GMT
Go for the Masterworks volume! 'The Emperor of Dreams' turned me from an ignoramus into a lifelong fan who is now investing in the Night Shade five-volume hardcover series that's coming out. Oh, and if you go on Amazon.co.uk you'll find a review by me of that very book. It's seriously marvellous. Comparing Out of Space & Time and The Emperor of Dreams -- I think that either of them would be as good a place as any to start reading CAS. In favour of Out of Space & Time it contains The City of the Singing Flame and The Testament of Athammaus -- both of which are inexplicably omitted from The Emperor of Dreams. In favour of The Emperor of Dreams, it includes The Abominations of Yondo, The Seed from the Sepulchre and The Seven Geases, none of which made it into Out of Space & Time Bizarrely, both Out of Space & Time and The Emperor of Dreams contain the wretched The Return of the Sorcerer (am I the only one who thinks it's one of Smith's poorer efforts?)... I dunno -- you pays your money and you takes your choice, I suppose. I think that The Emperor of Dreams is the cheaper of the two (my copy cost about eight quid).
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Post by benedictjjones on Jun 20, 2008 10:02:19 GMT
^NICE ONE, I'LL add that to the machen book for ordering.
that 'return of the sorcerer' seems to turn up all over the place and seems to get universally panned!
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Post by redbrain on Jun 20, 2008 11:17:54 GMT
that 'return of the sorcerer' seems to turn up all over the place and seems to get universally panned! It certainly gets panned by me! Maybe you'll like it. But I'd be surprised if it holds any surprises for you. I don't think that setting stories in the 20th century USA worked very well for CAS. ;D
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Post by jkdunham on Jun 20, 2008 21:32:48 GMT
"The Return of the Sorcerer" is the title story in a forthcoming CAS collection from Wildside Press; The Return of the Sorcerer: The Best of Clark Ashton Smith. Perhaps 'The Return of the Sorcerer and The Best of Clark Ashton Smith' might have been a better title?
I'll second The Emperor of Dreams as being a great way to familiarise yourself with the man's work, although I first discovered him by way of the 70s Panther reprints with the wonderful covers mentioned by Redbrain. My first purchase was the two-volume Lost Worlds (cover art by Bruce Pennington) but, unlike Redbrain's, I must say that my old paperbacks, though very well-thumbed, are still holding up fairly well!
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Post by redbrain on Jun 22, 2008 9:57:18 GMT
"The Return of the Sorcerer" is the title story in a forthcoming CAS collection from Wildside Press; The Return of the Sorcerer: The Best of Clark Ashton Smith. Perhaps 'The Return of the Sorcerer and The Best of Clark Ashton Smith' might have been a better title? I think it would have been a better title. I don't think that CAS is at his best in setting stories in the 20th Century USA. It just doesn't give the scope for the weirdness at which he excelled. ;D I'll second The Emperor of Dreams as being a great way to familiarise yourself with the man's work, although I first discovered him by way of the 70s Panther reprints with the wonderful covers mentioned by Redbrain. My first purchase was the two-volume Lost Worlds (cover art by Bruce Pennington) but, unlike Redbrain's, I must say that my old paperbacks, though very well-thumbed, are still holding up fairly well! Maybe it's just my copies of the Panthers. Perhaps I should have been less enthusiastic in pointing other people at my copies -- Hey! you have to read this...
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Post by Dr Terror on Jun 22, 2008 13:17:06 GMT
It's been a long time since I read it, but I liked The Return of the Sorcerer.
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Post by lobolover on Aug 30, 2008 9:07:38 GMT
Almost everything is-he only did a FEW realistic pices and one not so good satire ("The great god Awto")-basicly anything at eldritchdark.com
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Post by severance on Feb 17, 2012 11:20:44 GMT
Not sure whether LordP did invest in the five volume set he mentioned above - but I did waaaayyy way back in 2005 - and I finally got the final additional volume of miscellaneous writings delivered today. Well done Night Shade Books - only took you three months shy of seven years!! All six volumes are beautiful but still - seven years
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Post by Johnlprobert on Feb 17, 2012 19:02:08 GMT
Not sure whether LordP did invest in the five volume set he mentioned above - but I did waaaayyy way back in 2005 - and I finally got the final additional volume of miscellaneous writings delivered today. Well done Night Shade Books - only took you three months shy of seven years!! All six volumes are beautiful but still - seven years Yes I have the set and yes they're lovely, but having read them all, if anything they're a bit too exhaustive - I could have done without some of the SF stuff. Unless one is an obsessive (and goodness me I suppose there might be one or two on here ) I'd still go for the Masterworks volume. Which is probably out of print now
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