Finarvyn Administrator Dungeon Master member is offline
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Clark Ashton Smith « Thread Started on Aug 16, 2009, 8:11pm »
Okay, so I know almost nothing about this guy and want to know more.
1. I know that he was a contemporary of H.P. lovecraft and Robert E Howard, and I assume that his forte was the horror genre. REH is one of my favorite authors of all time, HPL is okay, how good is CAS?
2. I'm pretty sure his works were the inspiration for the TSR "Castle Amber" module (sadly not Zelazny's Amber, but a good module anyway).
3. If I wanted to read a few key stories or a book written by CAS, where would be the best place to start?
Marv / Finarvyn DCC playtester (2011) C&C playtester (2003) I'm partly responsible for the S&W WhiteBox Builder of the TrollBridge Master of Mutants; MA since 1976 OD&D Player since 1975
"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!" - Dave Arneson
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Re: Clark Ashton Smith « Reply #1 on Aug 16, 2009, 8:33pm »
1. CAS is very good, but he's definitely an acquired taste. He began his writing career as a poet and it definitely shows in his writings. Many of his stories are effectively prose-poems and they're extremely evocative but not always satisfying if what you're looking for is a strong narrative structure.
2. Castle Amber was based on Smith's Averoigne stories, which take place in medieval France.
3. I'd visit www.eldritchdark.com and read almost any of the short stories they have available there. His Hyperborea stories are excellent and darkly humorous. The aforementioned Averoigne stories are also good, but my favorites are the tales of Zothique, the last continent and are reminiscent of Vance's The Dying Earth, although they preceded them.
Joined: Oct 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 1,556 Karma: 87
Re: Clark Ashton Smith « Reply #2 on Aug 16, 2009, 10:35pm »
Fin, Clark Ashton Smith wrote masterpieces of horror, of fantasy, and of science fiction. Further, many of his stories blend two or all of those genres together.
In my opinion, CAS has the finest prose style of any writer of English language fiction that I have ever read.
Re: Clark Ashton Smith « Reply #3 on Aug 16, 2009, 11:00pm »
Good, solid fiction that has the depth, irony and sarcasm. There aren't a lot of endearing characters, but there are a lot of excellent stories that sound like they were written for gaming. The Theft of the Thirty-Nine girdles is a classic tale that sounds just like an rpg game. Most of the Zothique tales (a Dying Earth before Vance's version) is fantasy full of horror, madness and the macabre, still tinged here and there with the irony of CAS.
Then they all drew their swords, and waved them high in the firelight, and declared war on Fate. --Lord Dunsany, Carcassone
“Born to lose, live to win.” --Lemmy Kilmister
greyharp Guest
Re: Clark Ashton Smith « Reply #4 on Aug 17, 2009, 12:10am »
I copied all the Zothique stories from the eldritchdark website and printed them out as a single document. I'm halfway through and I have to say they are absolutely fantastic. Makes me want to game in that world.
Re: Clark Ashton Smith « Reply #5 on Aug 17, 2009, 2:18pm »
The audio version of Master of the Crabs that can be found on the Eldritch Dark is very well done as well. It was done by a group called the Third Ear Radio Theater. There was a Zothique d20 pdf and someone contacted me a while back to try a Swords & Wizardry version, but they never replied to my reply.
I copied all the Zothique stories from the eldritchdark website and printed them out as a single document. I'm halfway through and I have to say they are absolutely fantastic. Makes me want to game in that world.
Okay, so suppose I go to the eldritchdark site. How would I know: 1. Which are the Averoigne stories, and what is their order? 2 Which are the Zothique stories, and what is their order?
I know, I'm lazy. I could probably hit Wikipedia and find this info. I just thought someone might have it handy...
Marv / Finarvyn DCC playtester (2011) C&C playtester (2003) I'm partly responsible for the S&W WhiteBox Builder of the TrollBridge Master of Mutants; MA since 1976 OD&D Player since 1975
"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!" - Dave Arneson
Joined: Jan 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 100 Location: Bellevue, WA Karma: 5
Re: Clark Ashton Smith « Reply #7 on Aug 17, 2009, 11:43pm »
C.A.S. was a poet, but he did write really amazing short stories. Many view his writing as superior to that of Lovecraft. My start with C.A.S. began with his epic prose poem, The Hashish Eater. It's a great introduction to his fecund imagination.
"Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing." -- Robert E. Howard, "Tower of the Elephant"
greyharp Guest
Re: Clark Ashton Smith « Reply #8 on Aug 17, 2009, 11:47pm »
From the eldritchdark site, which has links to all the stories, poems, etc.:
Clark Ashton Smith's work can be divided in to a number of cycles: Averoigne, Hyperborea, Mars, Poseidonis, Xiccarph, Zothique Each of which represent a shared world or theme Creating for Smith the desired backdrop in to which to explore his fantasies Below is a list of works contained within each cycle and some brief notes on the cycle
As well as theses Smith classified cycles, one can break his work in to a number of other categories such as those works that can be considered part of the Cthulhu Mythos
Averoigne The Averoigne stories are based in a relatively mundane (for Smith) province in medieval France This backdrop provides a platform for Smith to explore several 'non-fantastic' areas that the rest of his work does not Many all to human junxpositions are exploded uniquely in this cycle, such as: Animal and man; religion and science; the divine and the mortal
Description-Location: 'region in France, heavily forested — located somewhere between Tours and Moulins; a "main highway" between those two cities goes through it (The End of the Story, Clark Ashton Smith)
* Beast of Averoigne, The (1933) * Colossus of Ylourgne, The (1933) * Disinterment of Venus, The (1934) * Enchantress of Sylaire, The (1941) * End of the Story, The (1930) * Holiness of Azédarc, The (1933) * Maker of Gargoyles, The (1932) * Mandrakes, The (1933) * Mother of Toads (1934) * Rendezvous in Averoigne, A (1931) * Satyr, The (1931) [Variant Conclusion to "The Satyr"]
Hyperborea
The Hyperborean tales represent Smith's greatest contribution to the Cthulhu Mythos but with a harder edge than Lovecraft's work They span a chaotic world where non-anthropomorphic Tsathoggua still dwells and large flesh eating worms bring icy oblivion
Description-Location: "supposed to have corresponded roughly with modern Greenland, which had formerly been joined as a peninsula to the main continent" — in Miocene times ("Ubbo-Sathla", Clark Ashton Smith)
* Coming of the White Worm, The (1941) * Door to Saturn, The (1932) * House of Haon-Dor, The (1989) * Ice-Demon, The (1933) * Lament for Vixeela (1953) * Muse of Hyperborea, The (1929) * Seven Geases, The (1934) * Tale of Satampra Zeiros, The (1931) * Testament of Athammaus, The (1932) * Theft of the Thirty-Nine Girdles, The (1958) * Ubbo-Sathla (1933) * Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan, The (1932) * White Sybil, The (1932)
Mars
Clark Ashton smith wrote five (four by himself one of which was a fragment and one with a plot provided by E M Johnson) stories that are based on Mars Unlike his contemporaries, Mars is not a place of Green Bug-eyed Martians set to invade the earth (see below), rather, a backdrop similar to Zothique Mars is described in all but Vulthoom (Vulthoom is set in the commercial metropolis of Mars - Igarth, with its 'old quarter' being much like Lovecraft's Dunwich) as a hash arid world possibly near its end It is used as a stage in which to 'drop' unwitting earthlings Once with in the alien situation our lead characters show typical human emotions of exploitative zeal usually followed by fear and loathing
While The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis and The Dweller in the Gulf would of been equally effective stories had they been set on earth Seedling of Mars and Vulthoom utilised the 'alien invasion' motif popular in the pulps at the time However, theses did not contain your typical alien invasion scenarios Vulthoom was an alien 'god' (plant like) who came to mars when humans "were still the blood-brothers of the ape," and now wishes to move to Earth Vulthoom's plot is only temporarily foiled by being put back to sleep for a thousand years The plant thing in Seedling of Mars has better luck in that it does get to take over the earth
* Dweller in the Gulf, The (1933) * Mnemoka (1955) Fragment * Vaults of Yoh-Vombis, The (1931) * Vulthoom (1935) * Seedling of Mars or The Planet Entity [plot by - E M Johnson] (1931)[An alternative background to the proceeding 4 stories]
Poseidonis
It was Plato that Greek philosopher who first dreamed Atlantis but I'm sure his dreams where not as weird as Smith's Poseidonis is "the last isle of foundering Atlantis" One common theme can found is this short cycle that is, every thing comes to an end, and the end usually is not a pleasant one
Description-Location: "a large isle", "the last isle of foundering Atlantis" — "with its opulent seaports, its eon-surviving monuments of art and architecture, its fertile inland valleys, and mountains lifting their spires of snow above semi-tropic jungles" — "mountains of the interior" — people thought of themselves as Atlanteans — "members of an aboriginal race of Atlantis" survived on Poseidonis as slaves ("A Voyage to Sfanomoe", Clark Ashton Smith)
* Atlantis (1912) * Death of Malygris, The (1933) * Double Shadow, The (1933) * Last Incantation, The (1930) * Muse of Atlantis, The (1922) * Tolometh (1958) * Vintage from Atlantis, A (1933) * Voyage to Sfanomoe, A (1931)
Xiccarph
One of the smallest cycles but an interesting one In both stories the all powerful sorcerer Maal Dweb tries to stem his boredom by playing with lesser beings However, in the end he returns to his sullen ennui
Description-Location: "planet — has "four diminutive moons" [because of their size or because each is "decrescent"?] — "the juice of a jungle plant [is] repugnant to all the fauna of Xiccarph" — chimera-skin used as leather — has reptiles, dragons, pterodactyls, chimeras, poisonous "winged vipers", ape-like creatures — three suns, all dawn in the east, set in west: the earliest sun is "gamboge-yellow", second is emerald, third is carmine" ("The Maze of Maal Dweb", Clark Ashton Smith)
* Flower-Women, The (1935) * Maze of Maal Dweb, The (1938)
Zothique
The Largest of Smith's cycle and lying in the far future as opposed to Hyperboreas distance past It consumed most of his writing time during the 30's although he continued to add to his Hyperborea and Averoigne cycles The Last Hieroglyph was not only his last Zothique tale it was also his last story for a considerable amount of time
Description-Location: "inhabited isles far to the east — continent — many think "madness is a sacred thing" and give hospitality to crazed wanderers — probably in the southern hemisphere" ("Xeethra", Clark Ashton Smith)
* Black Abbot of Puthuum, The (1936) * Charnel God, The (1934) * Dark Eidolon, The (1935)Dead will Cuckold You, The (1950) * Death of Ilalotha, The (1937) * Empire of the Necromancers, The (1932) * Garden of Adompha, The (1938) * In the Book of Vergama (1934) * Isle of the Torturers, The (1933) * Last Hieroglyph, The (1935) * Mandor's Enemy (1989) * Master of the Crabs, The (1948) * Morthylla (1953) * Necromancy in Naat (1937) * Shapes of Adamant (1935) * Tomb-Spawn, The (1934) * Voyage of King Euvoran, The (1931) * Weaver in the Vault, The (1934) * Witchcraft of Ulua, The (1934) * Xeethra (1934 * Zothique (1951)
Re: Clark Ashton Smith « Reply #9 on Aug 18, 2009, 5:36am »
You will see that Smith was a master of evoking emotions in the reader, if not in the characters themselves. There are a few lighthearted stories, a few creepy tales and some disturbing reads all mixed in. If you want creepy try the Isle of the Torturers or The Double Shadow. The Dark Eidolon has some disturbing imagery, as does The Garden of Adompha. There are many tales of irony and bad luck, like Xeethra or The Seven Geases.
I would suggest diving in and poking around. It will be a fun ride.
Marv / Finarvyn DCC playtester (2011) C&C playtester (2003) I'm partly responsible for the S&W WhiteBox Builder of the TrollBridge Master of Mutants; MA since 1976 OD&D Player since 1975
"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!" - Dave Arneson
Finarvyn Administrator Dungeon Master member is offline
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Re: Clark Ashton Smith « Reply #11 on Jun 5, 2010, 9:14am »
Averoigne The Averoigne stories are based in a relatively mundane (for Smith) province in medieval France This backdrop provides a platform for Smith to explore several 'non-fantastic' areas that the rest of his work does not Many all to human junxpositions are exploded uniquely in this cycle, such as: Animal and man; religion and science; the divine and the mortal
Description-Location: 'region in France, heavily forested — located somewhere between Tours and Moulins; a "main highway" between those two cities goes through it (The End of the Story, Clark Ashton Smith)
* Beast of Averoigne, The (1933) * Colossus of Ylourgne, The (1933) * Disinterment of Venus, The (1934) * Enchantress of Sylaire, The (1941) * End of the Story, The (1930) * Holiness of Azédarc, The (1933) * Maker of Gargoyles, The (1932) * Mandrakes, The (1933) * Mother of Toads (1934) * Rendezvous in Averoigne, A (1931) * Satyr, The (1931) [Variant Conclusion to "The Satyr"]
I just realized that these are in alphabetical order. What would be the best reading order.
I know that the Castle Amber module was inspired by these and thought it would be fun to read them prior to running the module with my group.
Marv / Finarvyn DCC playtester (2011) C&C playtester (2003) I'm partly responsible for the S&W WhiteBox Builder of the TrollBridge Master of Mutants; MA since 1976 OD&D Player since 1975
"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!" - Dave Arneson
Finarvyn Administrator Dungeon Master member is offline
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Re: Clark Ashton Smith « Reply #12 on Jun 5, 2010, 9:21am »
The Largest of Smith's cycle and lying in the far future as opposed to Hyperboreas distance past It consumed most of his writing time during the 30's although he continued to add to his Hyperborea and Averoigne cycles The Last Hieroglyph was not only his last Zothique tale it was also his last story for a considerable amount of time
Description-Location: "inhabited isles far to the east — continent — many think "madness is a sacred thing" and give hospitality to crazed wanderers — probably in the southern hemisphere" ("Xeethra", Clark Ashton Smith)
* Black Abbot of Puthuum, The (1936) * Charnel God, The (1934) * Dark Eidolon, The (1935)Dead will Cuckold You, The (1950) * Death of Ilalotha, The (1937) * Empire of the Necromancers, The (1932) * Garden of Adompha, The (1938) * In the Book of Vergama (1934) * Isle of the Torturers, The (1933) * Last Hieroglyph, The (1935) * Mandor's Enemy (1989) * Master of the Crabs, The (1948) * Morthylla (1953) * Necromancy in Naat (1937) * Shapes of Adamant (1935) * Tomb-Spawn, The (1934) * Voyage of King Euvoran, The (1931) * Weaver in the Vault, The (1934) * Witchcraft of Ulua, The (1934) * Xeethra (1934 * Zothique (1951)
Yikes! Quite a few stories here! Again, any idea about the best reading order?
Marv / Finarvyn DCC playtester (2011) C&C playtester (2003) I'm partly responsible for the S&W WhiteBox Builder of the TrollBridge Master of Mutants; MA since 1976 OD&D Player since 1975
"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!" - Dave Arneson
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Re: Clark Ashton Smith « Reply #13 on Jun 5, 2010, 9:55am »
I have the old Ballantine Adult Fantasy Zothique collection, which includes the following stories. It has them reordered according to a possible chronological progression, but I prefer them in order written:
1. The Empire of the Necromancers 2. The Isle of the Torturers 3. The Charnel God 4. The Dark Eidolon 5. The Voyage of King Euvoran 6. The Weaver in the Vault 7. The Tomb-Spawn 8. The Witchcraft of Ulua 9. Xeethra 10. The Last Hieroglyph 11. Necromancy in Naat 12. The Black Abbot of Puthuum 13. The Death of Ilalotha 14. The Garden of Adompha 15. The Master of the Crabs 16. Morthylla
A man may do both. For not we but those who come after will make the legends of our time. The green earth, say you? That is a mighty matter of legend, though you tread it under the light of day! —J.R.R. Tolkien
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Re: Clark Ashton Smith « Reply #14 on Jun 5, 2010, 10:15am »
Smith's stories (for the most part) don't really build upon one another in the sense of "First you should read story X, then story Y, and last of all story Z." (The only exception I can think of is that "The City of the Singing Flame" should be read before "Beyond the Singing Flame".) I share Falconer's preference for reading the stories in the order in which they were written.
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