Clark Ashton Smith – The End of the Story
Collected Fantasies Vol.1 Scott Connors & Ron Hilger (ed.)
(Night Shade Books, 2006, Second Printing, HC, 285 p.)
The End of the Story is the first of five volumes that collects all of Clark Ashton Smith's tales of fantasy, horror and science fiction, faithfully following Smith's manuscripts. It includes, in chronological oder, all of his stories from The Abominations of Yondo (1925) to A Voyage to Sfanomoe (1930). It features an introduction by Ramsey Campbell, as well as extensive notes on each story.
Introduction by Ramsey Campbell
A Note on the Texts - Scott Connors and Ron Hilger
To the Daemon (1943) poem
The Abominations of Yondo (1926)
Sadastor (1930) poem
The Ninth Skeleton (1928)
The Last Incantation [Malygris] (1930)
The End of the Story [Averoigne](1930)
The Phantoms of the Fire (1930)
A Night in Malnéant (1933)
The Resurrection of the Rattlesnake (1931)
Thirteen Phantasms (1936)
The Venus of Azombeii (1931)
The Tale of Satampra Zeiros (1931)
The Monster of the Prophecy (1932)
The Metamorphosis of the World (1951) (variant of The Metamorphosis of Earth)
The Epiphany of Death (1934)
A Murder in the Fourth Dimension (1930)(variant of Murder in the Fourth Dimension)
The Devotee of Evil (1933)
The Satyr [Averoigne] (1931)
The Planet of the Dead (1932)
The Uncharted Isle (1930)
Marooned in Andromeda [Captain Volmar • 1] (1930)
The Root of Ampoi (1949)
The Necromantic Tale (1931)
The Immeasurable Horror (1931)
A Voyage to Sfanomoë [Poseidonis] (1931)
Story Notes by Scott Connors and Ron Hilger
"The Satyr": Alternate Conclusion [Averoigne] (1931)
From the Crypts of Memory (1917) poem
Bibliography by Scott Connors and Ron Hilger
This is the first of five well done hardcover collecting all of CAS's stories. The story notes are often extensive, documenting sources, if it is correspondence to Weird Tales, Derleth or other, or what version was chosen and why. You can't ask for more. The dates are all first publishing dates,
The Root of Ampoi was written in 1930 for instance but remained unsold.
The art on the dust jacket by Jason Van Hollander with its muted colours has a nice concept. It is a matter of taste, I guess, I don't like it, think it is dull and not very original.
There also was a tradepaperback. I thought some of the stories hard going, especially the SF. This was not his field. And as is often the case with these collections one overdoses fast. But most of the stories still can work their magic, and the edition is nice.