Product Description

Here is a collection of Clark Aston Smith's Cthulhu Mythos fiction, collected and arranged by Robert M. Price, with commentary for each of the stories. Included here are "The Ghoul", "A Rendering from the Arabic", "Ubbo-Sathla", "The Werewolf of Averoigne", and others.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #223730 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781568821603
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
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About the Author
Clark Aston Smith first signed his letters to his new friend Lovecraft simply C.A.S. Next he signed himself Tsathoggua the Primordial, just as HPL sometimes used the signature Cthulhu or Grandpa Cthulhu. Soon he made of his initials a kind of mystery-cult name, Ci-Ay-Ess, subjoining his titles as the evangelist of Tsathoggua, and the archivist of Mu and Antares. And then, starting with his letter of June 27, 1930, he is Klarkash-Ton.

Customer Reviews

Typos, typos, typos
Clark Ashton Smith's excellent fiction deserves better than this. The volume is positively festooned with typos. On numerous occasions, the transcriber of these stories evidently forgot that we capitalize letters after periods in written English. Also, it appears that no attempt was made at proofreading the final product. Lines such as, "That formula was my last nope," and, "the dime, delirious horror of the vaults," are far too frequent in this volume. While Smith's work is, as I said, excellent, invest your money and time in a better collection. This one stinks.

Good for certain fans of the inimitable CAS
I agree with the previous reviewer about the typographical errors, and I was not going to write my own review, but then I thought there was some additional information a potential buyer might want to know. The Klarkashton Cycle is a decent trade paperback in the Chaosium cycle series, edited, as are most, by Robert Price. Mr. Price's introduction is pretty good but his notes on the stories at the end are priceless. I would not read them, however, until you read the stories, to avoid potential spoilers. The cover art by Stephen Gilberts is better than that on most cycle books, although not as good as some of his other covers in this genre.

As I see it, there are three groups of fans who might want this book. Some are collecting all the cycle books, come heck or high water, and they already bought it. Some are Smith completists. There is a definite reason for them to get this book. Others, however, are new to the wonders of CAS and are considering this as an initial collection. In this book, there was no effort made to include just top drawer Smith; rather, the editor has included those stories he would categorize as Lovecraftian or Cthulhu mythos. This could lead to endless debate as to whether anything Smith wrote is Lovecraftian or is best not categorized as anything other than wholly original. I'm not persuaded that this is a good basic Smith collection for new devotees. Arkham House still has in print the hardcover A Rendezvous in Averoigne which has most of the Smith stories included in the three Chaosium books devoted to CAS' creations, as well as many others. However, there is not complete overlap. Also, the Arkham House book, while I highly recommend it, is dated 1988. CAS scholarship has accelerated in recent years and some of the stories are now seen in different forms. Annoyingly enough, at least for me, Mr. Price changed the titles of some of these stories (see below) to Smith's previous working titles, to avoid confusion with the more well known versions. Well this confused the heck out of me, because I thought I would be seeing something new. I was, but only different versions, enjoyable on their own merits, sort of like the different editions of Bruckner's symphonies. Buyers need to know that The Infernal Star is only a fragment (alas CAS never finished it). Oh, well, Price's notes explained everything. Absolute Smith completists are probably following the series from Nightshade Books in expensive, handsome hard covers. Otherwise I still would suggest A Rendezvous in Averoigne as a single basic Smith collection. The Tsathoggua Cycle is worth getting for the CAS stories, and also the other stories about Tsathoggua by different authors. The Book of Eibon is something else, mainly by Lin Carter, who attempts to write the actual Book of Eibon. I'm afraid I have not read it yet. I love Smith's prose but you must decide for yourself if the Klarkashton Cycle is the book to introduce it to you. What follows are the contents of the Smith stories in each of the Chaosium and Arkham House books.

The Klarkashton Cycle (Chaosium)

The Ghoul
A Rendering from the Arabic (alternate version of The Return of the Sorcerer)
The Hunters from Beyond
The Vaults of Abomi (alternate version of The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis)
The Nameless Offspring
Ubbo-Sathla
The Werewolf of Averoigne (alternate version of The Beast of Averoigne)
The Eidolon of the Blind (alternate version of The Dweller in the Gulf)
Vulthoom
The Treader of the Dust
The Infernal Star

The Book of Eibon (Chaosium - note only a few titles by Smith)

The Coming of the White Worm: History of Evagh the Warlock
The Light from the Pole: History of Pharazyn the Enchanter, by Lin Carter and Clark Ashton Smith
The Door to Saturn

The Tsathoggua Cycle (Chaosium, has stories by authors other than Smith)

From the Parchment of Pnom
The Seven Geases
The Testament of Athammaus
The Tale of Satampra Zeiros
The Theft of the Thirty-Nine Girdles

A Rendezvous in Averoigne (Arkham House hardcover, used copies are cheaper)

The Holiness of Azédarac
The Colossus of Ylourgne
The End of the Story
A Rendezvous in Averoigne
The Last Incantation
The Death of Malygris
A Voyage to Sfanomoë
The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan
The Seven Geases
The Tale of Satampra Zeiros
The Coming of the White Worm
The City of the Singing Flame
The Dweller in the Gulf ["Dweller in Martian Depths"]
The Chain of Aforgomon
Genius Loci *
The Maze of Maal Dweb
The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis
The Uncharted Isle
The Planet of the Dead
Master of the Asteroid
The Empire of the Necromancers
The Charnel God
Xeethra
The Dark Eidolon
The Death of Ilalotha
The Last Hieroglyph
Necromancy in Naat
The Garden of Adompha
The Isle of the Torturers
Morthylla