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Zothique: The Final Cycle
Zothique, a mythical land of the far future, is Clark Ashton Smith's most carefully worked out fantasy realm, and many of his most celebrated stories are set in this evocative world of languid decadence, strangeness, and sexuality. Beginning with "The Empire of the Necromancers" (1932) and extending all the way to the short play The Dead Will Cuckold You (1956), Smith fashioned Zothique in tale after tale, each adding new elements to the locale. As we read the Zothique tales, we see how the imminent extinguishing of the sun has caused civilization to collapse. Paradoxically, society has reverted to a kind of primitivism with the return of royalty, superstition, and sorcery. This scenario allowed Smith to engage in tongue-in-cheek archaism of both langauge and setting. Some of the most poignant stories he ever wrote-stories that fused fantasy and the supernatural with a sense of aching loss and tragedy-are set in Zothique, including "The Dark Eidolon" and "Xeethra." Other tales, such as "The Weaver of the Vault" and "Necromancy in Naat," focus morbidly on death. Eroticism is the focus of "The Witchcraft of Ulua" and "Morthylla," while "The Voyage of King Euvoran" is grimly humorous. And "The Last Hieroglyph" is a fitting capstone to the series in its depiction of the ultimate destruction of the realm. Of all his story cycles, Zothique allowed Clark Ashton Smith the widest scope for his imagination. This volume presents his expression of that imagination in prose fiction, drama, and poetry. All the texts have been scrupulously edited by leading Smith scholar Ron Hilger, and features a new introduction by Donald Sidney-Fryer.
364 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1970
About the author
Clark Ashton Smith
706 books923 followersClark Ashton Smith was a poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. It is for these stories, and his literary friendship with H. P. Lovecraft from 1922 until Lovecraft's death in 1937, that he is mainly remembered today. With Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, also a friend and correspondent, Smith remains one of the most famous contributors to the pulp magazine Weird Tales.
His writings are posted at his official website.
His writings are posted at his official website.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 116 reviews
March 6, 2017
I've spoken before about the constant invention and reinvention of the 'Mystical East' in Western fiction, but by and large, the reason authors do this isn't to malign the East, or to produce propaganda--these are just the secondary results--indeed, it isn't really about the East at all, it's about the author and their own personal self-invention.
It is the dark and coursing undercurrent of European perversity, sensuality, and violence which inspires these writers. It is an obsession with transgression, with things that cannot be openly and plainly discussed. The technique here is to express and explore these forbidden topics, but then to blame them on the image of the East in order to create the necessary safe distance, providing the author a buffer, a layer of deniability.
There are whole structures in our language built to produce just this kind of distancing. We talk about 'French' kissing, or 'Greek' love--we named buggery for the Bulgars, and mutual female desire for the residents of Lesbos. Even as we discuss, request, and engage in these acts, we blame them on someone else. Even as we perform them, we typify them not as our own behaviors, but the behaviors of others.
It's not as if our desires to do these things are going to go away, so instead, we personify and externalize those desires. A man sees an attractive woman on the street, he desires her, and he thinks of her as the source of that desire--but while it might be true that she inspired the desire in him, it is still he who is desiring, the desire comes from within him. Her role is passive, because she can inspire such desire without even being aware of it.
And yet, there are men who will blame her for that desire, who will project their own desires onto her: 'she wants it, if she didn't, she wouldn't dress that way, it's flattering, girls like being appreciated'. It is just an attempt to justify this desire, to justify feeling it, or even acting on it.
The same pattern of justification is evident in colonialism: that the colonized power must want to be colonized, must need it. Again and again, the argument was made that they wanted to be ruled, that they couldn't make it on their own, that they were immature, brutal, uncivilized, and that to be ruled was a gift. Domination stems from a desire for power and control, for profit, to take advantage of others, everything else is merely excuses, projections onto the passive party to blame them for being acted upon.
As such, the notion of the East became a natural site for displaced desires. Pulp stories are sites of sex and violence, which has long been their bane, as it makes them a target for censorship and blame. As such, it makes sense that pulp authors would use projection and justifications of this kind to ‘take the heat off’, to present sex and violence with a naturally built in buffer, a socially accepted rationale: we’re presenting it not simply to revel in it, but to present cultural dynamics that we all know are true.
But this means that, beyond simply condemning such presentations of the East as racist and convenient, we can look at them as they actually are: messy representations of the Western id run rampant, presented under a thin veil of obfuscation. After the colonial adventure tales of Kipling and Haggard slipped out of popular venues and were related to study in classrooms, the vision of the 'Mystical East' on which they relied found a new home in Sword & Sorcery fantasy, and there may be no more pure and evocative representation of it than here in Smith's Zothique.
The prose is precise, unusual, powerful--the voice of a poet. It is neither the plodding dulness of Lovecraft nor the sometimes grasping repetition of Howard. This is the true and unique world of Sword & Sorcery fantasy which some other authors labor to inhabit, rich and perverse and full of deathly passions. Lovecraft cannot match it, nor Burroughs, nor even Howard, its most notable practitioner. The lineage of influence stretching from Smith to later fantasists is obvious, for instance the sense of humor that pervades these tales, which Vance reproduced in a tone much more dry, and Leiber in one very much less.
Even they were not quite able to capture the pervasive world Smith presents. It may be painted in crude images of ebony-skinned, thick-lipped, obese enchanters, but if it’s crude, that’s only what it’s meant to be. A complex, nuanced view of the imagined East would deny its presentation as a photonegative of the West (or at least, of how the West likes to imagine itself). The oversexed, overly violent projection of the id can hardly be presented in subtle terms.
The fairy tale must be drawn in broad strokes, lacking the subtlety that allows for various interpretations. It denies the reader access to the inner workings of the piece, denies them the privilege of interpretation. Instead, it is done as propaganda, simplified enough that the sides are clear.
This is why the post-modern habit has been rewriting and reimagining these fairy tales, looking at them through the eyes of the ‘villain’, looking at the absurdity of the symbols on which the allegory relies, symbols which inevitably fly apart when analyzed closely. The story deconstructs the tale by going through all the same steps, but refusing to make the same assumptions.
As such, is it possible to recreate the invented East in a modern tale, or is that the equivalent of taking the allegory it represents for granted? Does injecting any kind of subtlety, realism, and other such space for interpretation make the wild, strange, exotic setting impossible? I'd be curious to see a skilled author try it.
Perhaps it was inevitable that, as evocative as his uncanny realm is, it tends to dwarf his characters, making it difficult to get into their heads, or to care much about them. This was one area where Howard outperformed him, producing figures of suitably 'gigantic melancholy and gigantic mirth' to fit their grand stage--and Leiber took the same formula even further.
To some degree, this is a deliberate aspect of Smith's style: he is not interested in whether his characters thrive or survive, indeed their wry downfalls are often part of the charm. Yet, these are not quite the tonal explorations of Dunsany, where characters are entirely secondary to description, rhythm, and feel. We do spend time with Smith's characters, with their thoughts and feelings, their desires and motivations, and yet, for all this, they rarely manage to stand out.
And while this collection has some very strong stories, the presentation sometimes suffers. The final story has a strong premise, interesting themes, but Smith presents them simply, in straightforward narration, making it feel more like an outline or summary at times than a story. Though he has a strong poetic voice and interesting language, in comparison to an author like Dunsany, he lacks a light touch, the subtlety that weaves magic throughout. A story’s theme should become clear to us based on the events described, the characters, the details, the use of words--not just explained to us in so many words.
Though he is certainly a writer with flaws, the sheer idiom of his style draws us in: the strength of his voice, and the unusual, playful way that he treats his tales. In the few stories where either the characters manage to sparkle, or Smith simply allows them to subsist in the background as the true protagonist, his setting, takes its rightful place, this series contains some true gems, visions which have inspired not merely other authors, but the very innovators of fantasy, writers who have changed its course, and who have created unique worlds in their own right. Smith is a stylist and a grandfather to stylists, demonstrating that often times, the only way to write is to take things too far, to indulge, to get lost at play, to produce a repast so rich and overwhelming that we cannot savor it--but neither will we forget it.
It is the dark and coursing undercurrent of European perversity, sensuality, and violence which inspires these writers. It is an obsession with transgression, with things that cannot be openly and plainly discussed. The technique here is to express and explore these forbidden topics, but then to blame them on the image of the East in order to create the necessary safe distance, providing the author a buffer, a layer of deniability.
There are whole structures in our language built to produce just this kind of distancing. We talk about 'French' kissing, or 'Greek' love--we named buggery for the Bulgars, and mutual female desire for the residents of Lesbos. Even as we discuss, request, and engage in these acts, we blame them on someone else. Even as we perform them, we typify them not as our own behaviors, but the behaviors of others.
It's not as if our desires to do these things are going to go away, so instead, we personify and externalize those desires. A man sees an attractive woman on the street, he desires her, and he thinks of her as the source of that desire--but while it might be true that she inspired the desire in him, it is still he who is desiring, the desire comes from within him. Her role is passive, because she can inspire such desire without even being aware of it.
And yet, there are men who will blame her for that desire, who will project their own desires onto her: 'she wants it, if she didn't, she wouldn't dress that way, it's flattering, girls like being appreciated'. It is just an attempt to justify this desire, to justify feeling it, or even acting on it.
The same pattern of justification is evident in colonialism: that the colonized power must want to be colonized, must need it. Again and again, the argument was made that they wanted to be ruled, that they couldn't make it on their own, that they were immature, brutal, uncivilized, and that to be ruled was a gift. Domination stems from a desire for power and control, for profit, to take advantage of others, everything else is merely excuses, projections onto the passive party to blame them for being acted upon.
As such, the notion of the East became a natural site for displaced desires. Pulp stories are sites of sex and violence, which has long been their bane, as it makes them a target for censorship and blame. As such, it makes sense that pulp authors would use projection and justifications of this kind to ‘take the heat off’, to present sex and violence with a naturally built in buffer, a socially accepted rationale: we’re presenting it not simply to revel in it, but to present cultural dynamics that we all know are true.
But this means that, beyond simply condemning such presentations of the East as racist and convenient, we can look at them as they actually are: messy representations of the Western id run rampant, presented under a thin veil of obfuscation. After the colonial adventure tales of Kipling and Haggard slipped out of popular venues and were related to study in classrooms, the vision of the 'Mystical East' on which they relied found a new home in Sword & Sorcery fantasy, and there may be no more pure and evocative representation of it than here in Smith's Zothique.
The prose is precise, unusual, powerful--the voice of a poet. It is neither the plodding dulness of Lovecraft nor the sometimes grasping repetition of Howard. This is the true and unique world of Sword & Sorcery fantasy which some other authors labor to inhabit, rich and perverse and full of deathly passions. Lovecraft cannot match it, nor Burroughs, nor even Howard, its most notable practitioner. The lineage of influence stretching from Smith to later fantasists is obvious, for instance the sense of humor that pervades these tales, which Vance reproduced in a tone much more dry, and Leiber in one very much less.
Even they were not quite able to capture the pervasive world Smith presents. It may be painted in crude images of ebony-skinned, thick-lipped, obese enchanters, but if it’s crude, that’s only what it’s meant to be. A complex, nuanced view of the imagined East would deny its presentation as a photonegative of the West (or at least, of how the West likes to imagine itself). The oversexed, overly violent projection of the id can hardly be presented in subtle terms.
The fairy tale must be drawn in broad strokes, lacking the subtlety that allows for various interpretations. It denies the reader access to the inner workings of the piece, denies them the privilege of interpretation. Instead, it is done as propaganda, simplified enough that the sides are clear.
This is why the post-modern habit has been rewriting and reimagining these fairy tales, looking at them through the eyes of the ‘villain’, looking at the absurdity of the symbols on which the allegory relies, symbols which inevitably fly apart when analyzed closely. The story deconstructs the tale by going through all the same steps, but refusing to make the same assumptions.
As such, is it possible to recreate the invented East in a modern tale, or is that the equivalent of taking the allegory it represents for granted? Does injecting any kind of subtlety, realism, and other such space for interpretation make the wild, strange, exotic setting impossible? I'd be curious to see a skilled author try it.
Perhaps it was inevitable that, as evocative as his uncanny realm is, it tends to dwarf his characters, making it difficult to get into their heads, or to care much about them. This was one area where Howard outperformed him, producing figures of suitably 'gigantic melancholy and gigantic mirth' to fit their grand stage--and Leiber took the same formula even further.
To some degree, this is a deliberate aspect of Smith's style: he is not interested in whether his characters thrive or survive, indeed their wry downfalls are often part of the charm. Yet, these are not quite the tonal explorations of Dunsany, where characters are entirely secondary to description, rhythm, and feel. We do spend time with Smith's characters, with their thoughts and feelings, their desires and motivations, and yet, for all this, they rarely manage to stand out.
And while this collection has some very strong stories, the presentation sometimes suffers. The final story has a strong premise, interesting themes, but Smith presents them simply, in straightforward narration, making it feel more like an outline or summary at times than a story. Though he has a strong poetic voice and interesting language, in comparison to an author like Dunsany, he lacks a light touch, the subtlety that weaves magic throughout. A story’s theme should become clear to us based on the events described, the characters, the details, the use of words--not just explained to us in so many words.
Though he is certainly a writer with flaws, the sheer idiom of his style draws us in: the strength of his voice, and the unusual, playful way that he treats his tales. In the few stories where either the characters manage to sparkle, or Smith simply allows them to subsist in the background as the true protagonist, his setting, takes its rightful place, this series contains some true gems, visions which have inspired not merely other authors, but the very innovators of fantasy, writers who have changed its course, and who have created unique worlds in their own right. Smith is a stylist and a grandfather to stylists, demonstrating that often times, the only way to write is to take things too far, to indulge, to get lost at play, to produce a repast so rich and overwhelming that we cannot savor it--but neither will we forget it.
October 8, 2024
A Bizarre Map of the Boundless
Soundtrack:
"SHADOWLANDS" playlist
This collection of short stories features a lot of tales that weren't part of The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies - namely: only Xeethra, The Weaver in the Vault, The Dark Eidolon and the short poem Cycles, an exquisite short poem believed to be the last work written by this author, were included in the former.
Here are the stories from this collection I enjoyed the most, in no particular order:
Naat
The Charnel God
Morthylla
The Voyage of King Euvoran
The Last Hieroglyph
Still, to me, on the whole, the stories felt slightly weaker in plot or depth than those part of the former collection of short stories, prose poems and poems! Either more "pulp-like" in their rendering, coarser in the character development department, and overall more... diluted. Nothing comparable to the utter joy of reading I felt when I first read Xeethra, The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis, The Dark Eidolon, The Uncharted Isle, The City of the Singing Flame, Ubbo-Sathla, The Double Shadow, Genius Loci, Phoenix... (all part of The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies)
I'll consider later whether The Abominations of Yondo may follow...
Table of contents:
A Far Older World in the Far Future, by Donald Sidney-Fryer
Introduction, by Ronald S. Hilger
Zothique
The Empire of the Necromancers
The Corpse and the Skeleton
Necromancy in Naat *
The Traveller
Xeethra **
The Master of the Crabs
The Death of Ilalotha
Nada
The Weaver in the Vault
The Dead Will Cuckhold You
The Witchcraft of Ulua
The Charnel God *
The Dark Eidolon **
Morthylla *
Lamia
The Black Abbot of Puthuum
The Tomb-Spawn **
The Garden of Adompha
The Voyage of King Euvoran *
A Phantasy
The Isle of the Torturers
In the Book of Vergama
The Last Hieroglyph *
Cycles *
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Map of Zothique drawn by Tim Kirk
Soundtrack:
"SHADOWLANDS" playlist
This collection of short stories features a lot of tales that weren't part of The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies - namely: only Xeethra, The Weaver in the Vault, The Dark Eidolon and the short poem Cycles, an exquisite short poem believed to be the last work written by this author, were included in the former.
Here are the stories from this collection I enjoyed the most, in no particular order:
Naat
The Charnel God
Morthylla
The Voyage of King Euvoran
The Last Hieroglyph
Still, to me, on the whole, the stories felt slightly weaker in plot or depth than those part of the former collection of short stories, prose poems and poems! Either more "pulp-like" in their rendering, coarser in the character development department, and overall more... diluted. Nothing comparable to the utter joy of reading I felt when I first read Xeethra, The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis, The Dark Eidolon, The Uncharted Isle, The City of the Singing Flame, Ubbo-Sathla, The Double Shadow, Genius Loci, Phoenix... (all part of The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies)
I'll consider later whether The Abominations of Yondo may follow...
Table of contents:
A Far Older World in the Far Future, by Donald Sidney-Fryer
Introduction, by Ronald S. Hilger
Zothique
The Empire of the Necromancers
The Corpse and the Skeleton
Necromancy in Naat *
The Traveller
Xeethra **
The Master of the Crabs
The Death of Ilalotha
Nada
The Weaver in the Vault
The Dead Will Cuckhold You
The Witchcraft of Ulua
The Charnel God *
The Dark Eidolon **
Morthylla *
Lamia
The Black Abbot of Puthuum
The Tomb-Spawn **
The Garden of Adompha
The Voyage of King Euvoran *
A Phantasy
The Isle of the Torturers
In the Book of Vergama
The Last Hieroglyph *
Cycles *
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Map of Zothique drawn by Tim Kirk
December 22, 2019
-El impacto del paso del tiempo es menor cuando las formas anticuadas coinciden y enlazan de forma íntima con el espíritu de la narración y sus contenidos.-
Género. Relatos.
Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Zothique, el último continente (publicación original: Zothique, 1970) es una recopilación de relatos más un poema, publicados de forma independiente entre 1932 y 1938, que transcurren en el fantástico y futuro continente conocido como Zothique.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...
Género. Relatos.
Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Zothique, el último continente (publicación original: Zothique, 1970) es una recopilación de relatos más un poema, publicados de forma independiente entre 1932 y 1938, que transcurren en el fantástico y futuro continente conocido como Zothique.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...
April 4, 2014
Dicen que es de sabios rectificar. Sabía que debía darle una nueva oportunidad a estos cuentos de Zothique de Clark Ashton Smith, y afortunadamente lo he hecho más pronto que tarde. Ahora que los he releído más pausada y detenidamente, puedo afirmar que ‘Zothique, el último continente’, es una absoluta obra maestra.
Esta magnífica edición de Valdemar, contiene los dieciséis relatos ambientados en Zotique escritos por Smith, y publicados en su momento en la ya mítica Weird Tales, los cuáles están desarrollados con una imaginación portentosa, y escritos con una prosa poética, recargada, febril, evocadora y maravillosa (la traducción de Marta Lila es extraordinaria), donde podemos encontrar todo tipo de engendros y abominaciones: nigromantes, momias, lamias, demonios, elementales, jardines de oscura belleza, hechiceros, antiguas deidades, necrófagos, extrañas entidades, magia, etc, en un mundo en decadencia, condenado, bajo un sol bermejo.
Estos son los dieciséis relatos, precedidos de un poema, incluidos en ‘Zotique, el último continente’, unos muy buenos y otros excelentes, esta vez no ha lugar para la mediocridad tan común en las antologías:
Xeethra (Xeethra, 1936). Un joven pastor descubre los jardines de Thasaidon y cae bajo un extraño enloquecimiento. Gran relato, que logra transmitir la tristeza de tiempos pasados, a modo de la antigua Carcosa.
Nigromancia en Naat (Necromancy in Naat, 1934). Un príncipe sigue el rastro de su prometida, que fue secuestrada, y llega a la infame isla de Naat, tierra de nigromantes. Magnífico.
El Imperio de los Nigromantes (The Empire of the Necromancers, 1932). Mmatmuor y Sodosma son dos nigromantes que deciden levantar todo un imperio levantando a los muertos. Impresionante.
El Señor de los cangrejos (The Master of the Crabs, 1934). Mior Lumivix y su aprendiz andan tras un gran tesoro, pero parece que otro brujo se les puede adelantar. Impresionante.
La muerte de Ilalotha (The Dead of Ilalotha, 1937). La muerte de Ilalotha no impide que pueda seguir llamando a su amado Lord Thulos desde la tumba. Gran relato.
El Tejedor de la cripta (The Weaver in the Vault, 1934). El rey Famorgh ha mandado a su tres mejores guardias en busca de la momia del rey Tnepreez. Tal vez no sea el más espectacular, pero es mi relato favorito del libro.
La brujería de Ulua (The Witchcraft of Ulua, 1934). El joven Amalzain, copero del rey, sabiendo de los peligros de la ciudad de Miraab, decide ignorar las insinuaciones de la princesa Ulua, por lo cual será castigado. Buen relato.
El Dios carroñero (The Charnel God, 1934). Elaith, la esposa de Pharion, ha tenido un ataque de catalepsia. Ambos son visitantes en la ciudad de Zul-Bha-Sair, donde tienen por costumbre entregar los cadáveres al Dios Mordiggian. Imprescindible.
El oscuro Eidolon (The Dark Eidolon, 1935). Namirrha, convertido en una gran brujo, regresa a Ummaos buscando venganza. Otro imprescindible.
Morthylla (Morthylla, 1934). Valzain, asqueado de la vida de placeres que lleva hasta ahora, decide buscar nuevos alicientes en una vieja necrópolis, donde dicen vive la lamia Morthylla. Excelente.
El abad negro de Puthuum (The Black Abbot of Puthuum, 1936). El arquero Zobal y el lancero Cushara tienen como misión escoltar a una joven muchacha, que formará parte del harén del rey. En el camino, serán acechados por demonios. Gran relato.
El engendro de la tumba (The Tomb-Spawn, 1934). Dos hermanos, mercaderes de joyas, deciden averiguar que hay de verdad en la leyenda de cierto ser extraterrestre que sirvió al rey Ossaru. Impresionante.
El último jeroglífico (The Last Hieroglyph, 1937). El astrólogo Nushain tiene una revelación: emprenderá viaje y recibirá la visita de tres guías. Gran relato.
La Isla de los Torturadores (The Isle of the Torturers, 1933). Yoros ha caído bajo una extraña plaga, la Muerte de Plata. El rey Fulbra, desesperanzado, decide buscar refugio en la isla de Cyntrom, pero la travesía no resulta como esperaba. La idea de la plaga y su descripción, es una maravilla. Imprescindible.
El jardín de Adompha (The Garden of Adompha, 1938). El rey Adompha y su brujo Dwerulas realizan los más aberrantes experimentos en su jardín privado. Otro gran relato.
El viaje del rey Euvoran (The Voyage of King Euvoran, 1933). Euvoran, ante la pérdida de su particular corona, decide salir en su busca en un viaje lleno de aventuras y peligros. Gran relato.
Esta vez sí, he caído rendido a los pies de Clark Ashton Smith. Sólo cabe esperar que Valdemar siga reeditando su obra.
Esta magnífica edición de Valdemar, contiene los dieciséis relatos ambientados en Zotique escritos por Smith, y publicados en su momento en la ya mítica Weird Tales, los cuáles están desarrollados con una imaginación portentosa, y escritos con una prosa poética, recargada, febril, evocadora y maravillosa (la traducción de Marta Lila es extraordinaria), donde podemos encontrar todo tipo de engendros y abominaciones: nigromantes, momias, lamias, demonios, elementales, jardines de oscura belleza, hechiceros, antiguas deidades, necrófagos, extrañas entidades, magia, etc, en un mundo en decadencia, condenado, bajo un sol bermejo.
Estos son los dieciséis relatos, precedidos de un poema, incluidos en ‘Zotique, el último continente’, unos muy buenos y otros excelentes, esta vez no ha lugar para la mediocridad tan común en las antologías:
Xeethra (Xeethra, 1936). Un joven pastor descubre los jardines de Thasaidon y cae bajo un extraño enloquecimiento. Gran relato, que logra transmitir la tristeza de tiempos pasados, a modo de la antigua Carcosa.
Nigromancia en Naat (Necromancy in Naat, 1934). Un príncipe sigue el rastro de su prometida, que fue secuestrada, y llega a la infame isla de Naat, tierra de nigromantes. Magnífico.
El Imperio de los Nigromantes (The Empire of the Necromancers, 1932). Mmatmuor y Sodosma son dos nigromantes que deciden levantar todo un imperio levantando a los muertos. Impresionante.
El Señor de los cangrejos (The Master of the Crabs, 1934). Mior Lumivix y su aprendiz andan tras un gran tesoro, pero parece que otro brujo se les puede adelantar. Impresionante.
La muerte de Ilalotha (The Dead of Ilalotha, 1937). La muerte de Ilalotha no impide que pueda seguir llamando a su amado Lord Thulos desde la tumba. Gran relato.
El Tejedor de la cripta (The Weaver in the Vault, 1934). El rey Famorgh ha mandado a su tres mejores guardias en busca de la momia del rey Tnepreez. Tal vez no sea el más espectacular, pero es mi relato favorito del libro.
La brujería de Ulua (The Witchcraft of Ulua, 1934). El joven Amalzain, copero del rey, sabiendo de los peligros de la ciudad de Miraab, decide ignorar las insinuaciones de la princesa Ulua, por lo cual será castigado. Buen relato.
El Dios carroñero (The Charnel God, 1934). Elaith, la esposa de Pharion, ha tenido un ataque de catalepsia. Ambos son visitantes en la ciudad de Zul-Bha-Sair, donde tienen por costumbre entregar los cadáveres al Dios Mordiggian. Imprescindible.
El oscuro Eidolon (The Dark Eidolon, 1935). Namirrha, convertido en una gran brujo, regresa a Ummaos buscando venganza. Otro imprescindible.
Morthylla (Morthylla, 1934). Valzain, asqueado de la vida de placeres que lleva hasta ahora, decide buscar nuevos alicientes en una vieja necrópolis, donde dicen vive la lamia Morthylla. Excelente.
El abad negro de Puthuum (The Black Abbot of Puthuum, 1936). El arquero Zobal y el lancero Cushara tienen como misión escoltar a una joven muchacha, que formará parte del harén del rey. En el camino, serán acechados por demonios. Gran relato.
El engendro de la tumba (The Tomb-Spawn, 1934). Dos hermanos, mercaderes de joyas, deciden averiguar que hay de verdad en la leyenda de cierto ser extraterrestre que sirvió al rey Ossaru. Impresionante.
El último jeroglífico (The Last Hieroglyph, 1937). El astrólogo Nushain tiene una revelación: emprenderá viaje y recibirá la visita de tres guías. Gran relato.
La Isla de los Torturadores (The Isle of the Torturers, 1933). Yoros ha caído bajo una extraña plaga, la Muerte de Plata. El rey Fulbra, desesperanzado, decide buscar refugio en la isla de Cyntrom, pero la travesía no resulta como esperaba. La idea de la plaga y su descripción, es una maravilla. Imprescindible.
El jardín de Adompha (The Garden of Adompha, 1938). El rey Adompha y su brujo Dwerulas realizan los más aberrantes experimentos en su jardín privado. Otro gran relato.
El viaje del rey Euvoran (The Voyage of King Euvoran, 1933). Euvoran, ante la pérdida de su particular corona, decide salir en su busca en un viaje lleno de aventuras y peligros. Gran relato.
Esta vez sí, he caído rendido a los pies de Clark Ashton Smith. Sólo cabe esperar que Valdemar siga reeditando su obra.
December 27, 2014
A collection of Smith's Zothique stories.
If you haven't read Clark Ashton Smith, very quickly: know that Smith was one of the great fantasists of the early 20th-century American pulp era, contemporary with his friends H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. Like them Smith wrote weird tales, stories of mystery and horror, often in outlandish locales. Like Howard, some of his stories involve medieval-ish kings, swordsmen, magicians, etc. Like Lovecraft, Smith is fond of extreme vocabulary and arcane texts. Unlike them, Smith preferred a dark sense of humor, where stories end by harsh irony. Narratives end not with shrieking madness (HPL) nor heroic tragedy (Howard), but with twisted, mordant melancholy.
If you have read Smith, Zothique is a dying Earth world, of the sort subsequently developed by Jack Vance, Gene Wolfe, and the Nausicaa anime. It's late in our planet's history, and the world looks different: continents have reassembled into a new form of Gaia, magic sometimes works, and ruins are widespread.
Most of Zothique's stories involve exploration, voluntary or otherwise, which gives Smith the chance to show off his fabulous language and fertile imagination. Protagonists run into demons, cultists, necromancers, and tricksters. But plots don't drive these tales so much as the lush, fervid atmosphere.
Relish these stories, or dive through the lot and check the skies for a low, red sun.
If you haven't read Clark Ashton Smith, very quickly: know that Smith was one of the great fantasists of the early 20th-century American pulp era, contemporary with his friends H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. Like them Smith wrote weird tales, stories of mystery and horror, often in outlandish locales. Like Howard, some of his stories involve medieval-ish kings, swordsmen, magicians, etc. Like Lovecraft, Smith is fond of extreme vocabulary and arcane texts. Unlike them, Smith preferred a dark sense of humor, where stories end by harsh irony. Narratives end not with shrieking madness (HPL) nor heroic tragedy (Howard), but with twisted, mordant melancholy.
If you have read Smith, Zothique is a dying Earth world, of the sort subsequently developed by Jack Vance, Gene Wolfe, and the Nausicaa anime. It's late in our planet's history, and the world looks different: continents have reassembled into a new form of Gaia, magic sometimes works, and ruins are widespread.
Most of Zothique's stories involve exploration, voluntary or otherwise, which gives Smith the chance to show off his fabulous language and fertile imagination. Protagonists run into demons, cultists, necromancers, and tricksters. But plots don't drive these tales so much as the lush, fervid atmosphere.
On Zothique, the last continent on Earth, the sun no longer shone with the whiteness of its prime, but was dim and tarnished as if with a vapor of blood. New stars without number had declared themselves in the heavens, and the shadows of the infinite had fallen closer. And out of the shadows, the older gods had returned to man: the gods forgotten since Hyperborea, since Mu and Poseidonis, bearing other names but the same attributes. And the elder demons had also returned, battening on the fumes of evil sacrifice, and fostering again the primordial sorceries.
Relish these stories, or dive through the lot and check the skies for a low, red sun.
October 8, 2012
Zothique is probably my favorite of the settings Clark Ashton Smith used for his stories. The setting: The distant future; all of Earth's continents have merged together into a single supercontinent under an ember-like dying sun. The surviving human kingdoms are decadent and perverse; the deserts are dotted with genii- and lamiae-haunted ruins. Without Zothique, there would be no The Dying Earth and no The Shadow of the Torturer.
Smith's prose is, as always, elegant and bejeweled.
Favorite stories in this collection include "The Dark Eidolon" and "The Garden of Adompha".
Smith's prose is, as always, elegant and bejeweled.
Favorite stories in this collection include "The Dark Eidolon" and "The Garden of Adompha".
May 1, 2020
5/5
En la mente de un fracasado poeta durante los años 30 -si no fue antes- empezaron a configurarse una serie de historias ambientadas en un mundo decadente iluminado por un sol oscuro y donde la magia negra había resurgido a manos de los nigromantes. Este lugar era Zothique y, aunque magnífico, no era real; pero nosotros, los que nos recreamos con esta decadencia, podemos disfrutar del arte del solitario bardo que habitaba en una destartalada cabaña de la californiana localidad de Auburn.
Zothique, el último continente es probablemente mi libro favorito y al que volveré en numerosas ocasiones durante mi estancia en el mundo de los vivos si quien sea que lo rije me permite una vida larga y plena -por ahora desgraciadamente no parece apuntar a ello-.
Recorrer nuevamente el mundo de Zothique con esta relectura me ha permitido saborear todavía más el estilo febril del autor, su prosa poética y maravillosa, su imaginación desbordante, su inspiración producto de una vida sencilla, humilde, sin lujos, cuyo único refugio fueron los mundos de su cabeza.
La colección de dieciséis relatos abre con el poema homónimo del título del libro, cuya belleza y brillantez me resultan complicadas de describir, pero supone la mejor introducción a lo que está por venir. Xeethra es el primer relato de la antología y, sin ser mi favorito, es el que tiene la ambientación que más me gusta. En él, un joven cabrero, tras entrar en un gruta, descubre unos jardines cuyos frutos le otorgarán una nueva identidad. Al viaje onírico de este pastor le sigue Nigromancia en Naat, el mejor relato, para mí, del libro. En él, el príncipe Yadar llegará a la isla de Naat buscando a su amada Dalili. La nigromancia también será el tema central del siguiente relato, El imperio de los nigromantes, muertos vivientes de los de verdad.
Los finales irónicos están presentes en muchos de los cuentos, como El señor de los cangrejos, una historia de tesoros y crustáceos, El tejedor de la cripta, en la que seguimos a los guardias del rey Famorgh en la búsqueda de una momia de la realeza en una cripta supuestamente inhabitada, o El engendro de la tumba.
Los personajes femeninos también tienen un papel muy importante en este mundo en forma de brujas y lamias, siendo las verdaderas protagonistas de relatos como La muerte de Ilalotha, La brujería de Ulua y Morthylla.
Otros temas presentes en la antología son la muerte, ya sea en forma de catalepsia (El dios carroñero) o de plaga (La Isla de los torturadores), la venganza (El oscuro Eidolon) o los oscuros experimentos (El jardín de Adompha).
El único pero de esta colección sería el confuso relato El último jeroglífico, pero incluso, a pesar de su confusión, tiene cierto aire fantasioso y delirante que me resulta agradable. El viaje del rey Euvoran describe el periplo a la deriva de un rey en busca del pájaro de su corona y cierra esta colección que marca un hito, por lo menos así lo hace en mi vida.
Dicen que la fantasía te permite soñar con mundos que no podemos encontrar en el nuestro. Pero añadiré algo más: la fantasía nos recuerda que el arte de lo irreal puede hacer que la vida funcione y encuentre su sentido. Y aunque el sentido de mi vida no sea leer Zothique, su presencia en este mundo ayuda a sobrellevar las desgracias. Para mí, junto con el resto de obras de Ashton Smith, constituye una de las mayores joyas que me dará la literatura en esta vida. Solo puedo estar agradecido.
En la mente de un fracasado poeta durante los años 30 -si no fue antes- empezaron a configurarse una serie de historias ambientadas en un mundo decadente iluminado por un sol oscuro y donde la magia negra había resurgido a manos de los nigromantes. Este lugar era Zothique y, aunque magnífico, no era real; pero nosotros, los que nos recreamos con esta decadencia, podemos disfrutar del arte del solitario bardo que habitaba en una destartalada cabaña de la californiana localidad de Auburn.
Zothique, el último continente es probablemente mi libro favorito y al que volveré en numerosas ocasiones durante mi estancia en el mundo de los vivos si quien sea que lo rije me permite una vida larga y plena -por ahora desgraciadamente no parece apuntar a ello-.
Recorrer nuevamente el mundo de Zothique con esta relectura me ha permitido saborear todavía más el estilo febril del autor, su prosa poética y maravillosa, su imaginación desbordante, su inspiración producto de una vida sencilla, humilde, sin lujos, cuyo único refugio fueron los mundos de su cabeza.
La colección de dieciséis relatos abre con el poema homónimo del título del libro, cuya belleza y brillantez me resultan complicadas de describir, pero supone la mejor introducción a lo que está por venir. Xeethra es el primer relato de la antología y, sin ser mi favorito, es el que tiene la ambientación que más me gusta. En él, un joven cabrero, tras entrar en un gruta, descubre unos jardines cuyos frutos le otorgarán una nueva identidad. Al viaje onírico de este pastor le sigue Nigromancia en Naat, el mejor relato, para mí, del libro. En él, el príncipe Yadar llegará a la isla de Naat buscando a su amada Dalili. La nigromancia también será el tema central del siguiente relato, El imperio de los nigromantes, muertos vivientes de los de verdad.
Los finales irónicos están presentes en muchos de los cuentos, como El señor de los cangrejos, una historia de tesoros y crustáceos, El tejedor de la cripta, en la que seguimos a los guardias del rey Famorgh en la búsqueda de una momia de la realeza en una cripta supuestamente inhabitada, o El engendro de la tumba.
Los personajes femeninos también tienen un papel muy importante en este mundo en forma de brujas y lamias, siendo las verdaderas protagonistas de relatos como La muerte de Ilalotha, La brujería de Ulua y Morthylla.
Otros temas presentes en la antología son la muerte, ya sea en forma de catalepsia (El dios carroñero) o de plaga (La Isla de los torturadores), la venganza (El oscuro Eidolon) o los oscuros experimentos (El jardín de Adompha).
El único pero de esta colección sería el confuso relato El último jeroglífico, pero incluso, a pesar de su confusión, tiene cierto aire fantasioso y delirante que me resulta agradable. El viaje del rey Euvoran describe el periplo a la deriva de un rey en busca del pájaro de su corona y cierra esta colección que marca un hito, por lo menos así lo hace en mi vida.
Dicen que la fantasía te permite soñar con mundos que no podemos encontrar en el nuestro. Pero añadiré algo más: la fantasía nos recuerda que el arte de lo irreal puede hacer que la vida funcione y encuentre su sentido. Y aunque el sentido de mi vida no sea leer Zothique, su presencia en este mundo ayuda a sobrellevar las desgracias. Para mí, junto con el resto de obras de Ashton Smith, constituye una de las mayores joyas que me dará la literatura en esta vida. Solo puedo estar agradecido.
October 9, 2021
Un escritor genial del que sólo había leido algun relato suelto perteneciente a los mitos de Cthlhu de Lovecraft y que con este libro me ha dejado alucinado.
Clark Asthon Smith utiliza los recursos clásicos de los relatos del weird y del pulp pero para mi gusto da un paso más y su mezcla de fantasía,terror y poesía lo desmarcan del resto.
Y después de leer este libro puedo decir que esta un escalón por encima de coetaneos como Robert Howard o H.P. Lovecraft. Clark tiene lo mejor de ambos( crear mundos y personajes fantásticos) pero además desarrolla las historias de mejor manera, sin tanta complejidad y yendo al grano adornando sus cuentos de descripciones mágicas y elementos terroríficos. Sumergirse en sus mundos es navegar por un variado mundo de magia donde no hay dos relatos parecidos y no sabes donde vas a ir a parar.
No dudaba en escribir un final catastrofico, incluir elementos que rocen el gore o utilizar la ironia y el humor.
Cada relato de este libro mereció la pena pero destacaría:
El Imperio de los Nigromantes: Dos magos levantan una ciudad llena de muertos y viven como reyes con los difuntos actuando de criados. Alucinante.
El Tejedor de la cripta: Un rey envia a sus tres mejores criados a recuperar una antigua momia. Aventura y terror mezclados en un relato impresionante.
El abad negro de Puthuum: Tres aventureros que llevan a una chica a un rey se verán perdidos en un bosque y acabarán en un monasterio poblado de monstruos. Muy bueno.
La Isla de los Torturadores: Un reino cae bajo una plaga que convierte a la gente en plata. El rey poseedor de un anillo que impide que caiga bajo la enfermedad viajará a una isla poblada de locos que lo secuestrarán para torturarle. Alucinantes descripciones.
No puedo esperar a leer Hyperborea y Averoigne, los dos otros libros publicados por Valdemar. Directo al panteón del horror junto a Poe, King, Barker, Lovecraft y Ligotti.
Clark Asthon Smith utiliza los recursos clásicos de los relatos del weird y del pulp pero para mi gusto da un paso más y su mezcla de fantasía,terror y poesía lo desmarcan del resto.
Y después de leer este libro puedo decir que esta un escalón por encima de coetaneos como Robert Howard o H.P. Lovecraft. Clark tiene lo mejor de ambos( crear mundos y personajes fantásticos) pero además desarrolla las historias de mejor manera, sin tanta complejidad y yendo al grano adornando sus cuentos de descripciones mágicas y elementos terroríficos. Sumergirse en sus mundos es navegar por un variado mundo de magia donde no hay dos relatos parecidos y no sabes donde vas a ir a parar.
No dudaba en escribir un final catastrofico, incluir elementos que rocen el gore o utilizar la ironia y el humor.
Cada relato de este libro mereció la pena pero destacaría:
El Imperio de los Nigromantes: Dos magos levantan una ciudad llena de muertos y viven como reyes con los difuntos actuando de criados. Alucinante.
El Tejedor de la cripta: Un rey envia a sus tres mejores criados a recuperar una antigua momia. Aventura y terror mezclados en un relato impresionante.
El abad negro de Puthuum: Tres aventureros que llevan a una chica a un rey se verán perdidos en un bosque y acabarán en un monasterio poblado de monstruos. Muy bueno.
La Isla de los Torturadores: Un reino cae bajo una plaga que convierte a la gente en plata. El rey poseedor de un anillo que impide que caiga bajo la enfermedad viajará a una isla poblada de locos que lo secuestrarán para torturarle. Alucinantes descripciones.
No puedo esperar a leer Hyperborea y Averoigne, los dos otros libros publicados por Valdemar. Directo al panteón del horror junto a Poe, King, Barker, Lovecraft y Ligotti.
September 5, 2012
It feels wrong that Clark Ashton Smith's works are included in the Cthulhu Mythos just because he was friends with H.P. Lovecraft and was also published in the Weird Tales magazine. As much as I love H.P.L.'s stories after reading 'Zothique' by C.A.Smith it's easy to see that their works have nothing in common (EDIT: ok, ok, they set a similar atmosphere)
But let's talk about the book itself, I simply loved it but since I'm in love with this kind of literature my opinion is probably not very partial. However, I can assure you in an objective way how simple and clearly it's written making it an easy read. In 'Zothique' we don't see any heroic kings, quite the opposite, every king in 'Zothique' is depraved and so are the nobles and dignataries. This adds a lot to the distopic setting that is the Last Continent but the darker side of 'Zothique' and its evident difference with the fantasy we are used to is the abundance of demons, necromancers, ghouls and other fiends that inhabit it; they are not just there to be the 'Enemy' or the Bad Guys, Zothique is their home and therefore, they are the important characters, the 'heroes' or the 'Good Guys' will usually be hopeless, I don't know if fantasy can get any darker than that. I always missed more involvement and individuality of the evil entities in any fantasy story, certainly 'Zothique' is refreshing in that sense. Another refreshing thing about Zothique is the setting; it should also be noted that it differs from the usual fantasy setting because it's not based in Medieval Europe but in Arabian and Indian cultures in the same time period, there are also hints about ancient Egypt. This also brings a small problem to some people: racism and misogyny. I'd say in C.A.Smith's defense that in the time and place where he grew up both women and people with other skin color were probably disregarded, even supposing this were true we should take into account the setting he was trying to create and the cultures he took inspiration from. We're talking about a depraved and evil world, of course there's going to be serious discrimination issues!
P.D.: take into account that I'm a woman and I could've feel offended but I haven't ;)
But let's talk about the book itself, I simply loved it but since I'm in love with this kind of literature my opinion is probably not very partial. However, I can assure you in an objective way how simple and clearly it's written making it an easy read. In 'Zothique' we don't see any heroic kings, quite the opposite, every king in 'Zothique' is depraved and so are the nobles and dignataries. This adds a lot to the distopic setting that is the Last Continent but the darker side of 'Zothique' and its evident difference with the fantasy we are used to is the abundance of demons, necromancers, ghouls and other fiends that inhabit it; they are not just there to be the 'Enemy' or the Bad Guys, Zothique is their home and therefore, they are the important characters, the 'heroes' or the 'Good Guys' will usually be hopeless, I don't know if fantasy can get any darker than that. I always missed more involvement and individuality of the evil entities in any fantasy story, certainly 'Zothique' is refreshing in that sense. Another refreshing thing about Zothique is the setting; it should also be noted that it differs from the usual fantasy setting because it's not based in Medieval Europe but in Arabian and Indian cultures in the same time period, there are also hints about ancient Egypt. This also brings a small problem to some people: racism and misogyny. I'd say in C.A.Smith's defense that in the time and place where he grew up both women and people with other skin color were probably disregarded, even supposing this were true we should take into account the setting he was trying to create and the cultures he took inspiration from. We're talking about a depraved and evil world, of course there's going to be serious discrimination issues!
P.D.: take into account that I'm a woman and I could've feel offended but I haven't ;)
October 31, 2014
Such beautiful decadence. I've enjoyed a lot of Clark Ashton Smith, but this is the collection that has moved me to place him as the best of the Weird Tales Trinity (Lovecraft, Howard, and Smith). I wonder if part of why he is the least appreciated of the three is fallout from things like the content censorship like the comics code in the 50's. There's a lot of squidgy bits and a not-infrequent reference to necrophilia.
Every word is carefully placed in these stories that rest between pulp horror and prose poetry. The moon, the shadows, and the colors all have their place in building the appropriate mood. I loved something in every story. I plan to revisit this collection several more times in order to unpack even more weirdness and dig into the themes more.
THE GARDEN OF ADOMPHA may very well be my favorite, with the wretched weirdness cranked all the way up.
THE CHARNEL GOD is the only story in this collection that seems to have good guys, with the proto-archetype of the beleaguered slasher-film nice couple to whom bad things happen. It's a pleasant surprise that the nice people survive, although not unchanged.
THE BLACK ABBOT OF PUTHUUM is a bit of a conundrum. It's almost as if he wanted to deliberately murk the water as to themes about rage and gender. I think it's a bit of a middle finger with the subtitle of "Analyze This!"
THE DEATH OF ILALOTHA has some of the most challenging bits about necrophilia in the collection, and I can only imagine how extra provocative this was in the 1930's.
THE VOYAGE OF KING EUVORAN is a delightful take on The Odyssey or Sinbad but with terrible people to whom terrible things happen.
THE LAST HIEROGLYPH leads me to believe this is a bit of poison pen against astrologers who wronged Smith or his family.
NECROMANCY IN NAAT is a surprisingly tender zombie love story.
Every word is carefully placed in these stories that rest between pulp horror and prose poetry. The moon, the shadows, and the colors all have their place in building the appropriate mood. I loved something in every story. I plan to revisit this collection several more times in order to unpack even more weirdness and dig into the themes more.
THE GARDEN OF ADOMPHA may very well be my favorite, with the wretched weirdness cranked all the way up.
THE CHARNEL GOD is the only story in this collection that seems to have good guys, with the proto-archetype of the beleaguered slasher-film nice couple to whom bad things happen. It's a pleasant surprise that the nice people survive, although not unchanged.
THE BLACK ABBOT OF PUTHUUM is a bit of a conundrum. It's almost as if he wanted to deliberately murk the water as to themes about rage and gender. I think it's a bit of a middle finger with the subtitle of "Analyze This!"
THE DEATH OF ILALOTHA has some of the most challenging bits about necrophilia in the collection, and I can only imagine how extra provocative this was in the 1930's.
THE VOYAGE OF KING EUVORAN is a delightful take on The Odyssey or Sinbad but with terrible people to whom terrible things happen.
THE LAST HIEROGLYPH leads me to believe this is a bit of poison pen against astrologers who wronged Smith or his family.
NECROMANCY IN NAAT is a surprisingly tender zombie love story.
October 24, 2017
Zothique, ultimo continente rimasto sulla Terra, dove una qualche forma di vita riesce ancora a vivere. Le storie che vengono raccontate qui da Clark Ashton Smith, sono intrise di magia, reami decaduti, stirpi di nobili ormai disotterrati da una valanga di sabbia che non lascia scampo, Negromanti pronti a tutto per conquistare il potere assoluto, animali mostruosi...
Clark Ashton Smith, autore americano, scrive, racconti fantasy/horror/weird, praticamente soltanto negli anni '30, insieme all'amico (epistolare) H. P. Lovecraft e il texano Robert E. Howard, formano il "tridente" del fantastico classico di inizio 20° secolo.
Clark Ashton Smith è il meno conosciuto dei tre, ma io credo che sia un'autore davvero straordinario, la sua scrittura è pura pittura letteraria, nel senso che quando si finisce un suo racconto, davanti agli occhi ecco apparire un quadro gotico/dark/weird/crepuscolare, insomma un'opera d'arte dell'insondabile, dell'incubo, onirico, visionario.
Prima poeta, poi scrittore del fantastico ed infine, negli ultimi anni della sua vita si rinchiude in se stesso e si dedica esclusivamente alla scultura.
Clark Ashton Smith, autore americano, scrive, racconti fantasy/horror/weird, praticamente soltanto negli anni '30, insieme all'amico (epistolare) H. P. Lovecraft e il texano Robert E. Howard, formano il "tridente" del fantastico classico di inizio 20° secolo.
Clark Ashton Smith è il meno conosciuto dei tre, ma io credo che sia un'autore davvero straordinario, la sua scrittura è pura pittura letteraria, nel senso che quando si finisce un suo racconto, davanti agli occhi ecco apparire un quadro gotico/dark/weird/crepuscolare, insomma un'opera d'arte dell'insondabile, dell'incubo, onirico, visionario.
Prima poeta, poi scrittore del fantastico ed infine, negli ultimi anni della sua vita si rinchiude in se stesso e si dedica esclusivamente alla scultura.
March 9, 2022
My initial impressions were high when I started with this collection of tales from Clark Ashton Smith set in his imaginary dying earth like setting; the continent of Zothique. As I worked through the collection I must say that my impression of the collection dimmed.
The stories evoke some interesting images but are lacking in regards to story line, plot and character development. Further more whilst Smiths prose style is unique and ornate I actually felt his stories and characters end up submerged beneath the complicated sentences. I didn't like having to battle the prose to extract the story, other than the wording being flowery and dextrous most of the stories were fairly straight forward, in this way the prose creates the pretention of something greater than what is actually on offer here.
I am currently reading the Arabian Nights translated by Sir Richard Francis Burton and can clearly see the influence it has had on this collection. So much so that I don't think Smith has added anything new to the tradition of Nights like tales. I would suggest reading the Nights first to experience what inspired authors like Smith in the first place.
Emotionally and tonally this collection is very one note. The stories are all dark, languid and serious, it would have been interesting to see some tonal shifts and more humour.
Overall there were some enjoyable moments but many of the stories in this collection left me feeling cold and my overall impressions can be summarised with a resounding "meh"!
The stories evoke some interesting images but are lacking in regards to story line, plot and character development. Further more whilst Smiths prose style is unique and ornate I actually felt his stories and characters end up submerged beneath the complicated sentences. I didn't like having to battle the prose to extract the story, other than the wording being flowery and dextrous most of the stories were fairly straight forward, in this way the prose creates the pretention of something greater than what is actually on offer here.
I am currently reading the Arabian Nights translated by Sir Richard Francis Burton and can clearly see the influence it has had on this collection. So much so that I don't think Smith has added anything new to the tradition of Nights like tales. I would suggest reading the Nights first to experience what inspired authors like Smith in the first place.
Emotionally and tonally this collection is very one note. The stories are all dark, languid and serious, it would have been interesting to see some tonal shifts and more humour.
Overall there were some enjoyable moments but many of the stories in this collection left me feeling cold and my overall impressions can be summarised with a resounding "meh"!
August 8, 2020
I got almost halfway through this short story collection and decided I didn't want to continue. There's great atmosphere in most of these passages, definitely some fine writing. But there isn't much in the way of plots, characters, dialog, or conflict. I have the feeling I'm studying Old Testament biblical passages, the histories section, not reading stories, certainly not exciting ones. Reading the second half of the story collection will not provide any real benefit to me. I don't think the stories are going to get better. So I am terminating to devote my reading time elsewhere.
July 15, 2022
Most of the time Smith doesn't have 'story' in mind. He's creating an extended mood or image playing out like someone panning across a large painting. Sometimes this means a deconstructed story layout that doesn't arc and may not satisfy.
This combines with a writing style that frequently reads like a "do not do" list: colons and semicolons everywhere and sometimes in the same sentence, a precisely-chosen overcomplicated word, and descriptions that go from 'lush' to 'overstuffed'. Lin Carter frequently calls it 'lapidary', which captures the compression by use of specific words but not the conciseness.
All of this feeds into the Dying Earth vibe of a world at its end times, with societies going rotten. Carter points out that if the stories are ordered by the internal chronology (as he attempts to do here) that one sees the progression of the Earth itself failing. The deserts sweep across the continent and humanity moves ever more westward. The end hasn't the dignity of a bang or a whimper.
This combines with a writing style that frequently reads like a "do not do" list: colons and semicolons everywhere and sometimes in the same sentence, a precisely-chosen overcomplicated word, and descriptions that go from 'lush' to 'overstuffed'. Lin Carter frequently calls it 'lapidary', which captures the compression by use of specific words but not the conciseness.
All of this feeds into the Dying Earth vibe of a world at its end times, with societies going rotten. Carter points out that if the stories are ordered by the internal chronology (as he attempts to do here) that one sees the progression of the Earth itself failing. The deserts sweep across the continent and humanity moves ever more westward. The end hasn't the dignity of a bang or a whimper.
December 25, 2013
A medida que avanzan los relatos se nota la mejoría en la calidad de los mismos y la maestría de CA Smith en esto de crear unos mundos obscenos, depravados y moribundos que creo yo, ningún autor antes o después se atrevió a tanto. Y digo esto porque el aire malsano y a la vez épico y hasta paranormal que se respira en cada página de esta obra no lo he visto en ninguna otra ni creo que lo veremos ya, es uno de esos clásicos únicos e irrepetibles de la literatura fantástica que hoy, gracias a Dios (y a los iluminados de ed. Valdemar) podemos disfrutar en una excelente edición, muy cuidada (sólo echo en falta el marcapáginas de cinta roja caractéristico de la colección). De lo que aluciné hasta ahora:
"Xeethra": Un cuento sencillo y correcto para empezar el ciclo pero que carece de la atmósfera de los relatos siguientes, de todas maneras es bastante interesante: El espíritu de un rey muerto hace tiempo reencarna o, más bien, posee el cuerpo de un pastor y hace un pacto con el demonio para recuperar su reino, otrora floreciente, ya muerto y olvidado. Un final escalofriante que nos deja en ambiente para lo que viene.
"Nigromancia en Naat": El primer cuento sobre muertos vivientes del ciclo, en este caso en concreto el de tres hechiceros que campan a sus anchas por la isla maldita de Naat con su cortejo de esclavos zombies. Necrofilia, desmembramientos, sangre, tripas y brujería... Un cuento excelente
"El Imperio de los nigromantes": Otro relato que ya comenté previamente, uno de los que más me gusta hasta ahora junto con el que le precede. Un ejército de zombies se venga de los nigromantes que los trajo de vuelta a la vida como esclavos.
"El Señor de los cangrejos": Un mago y su sirviente llegan a una isla lejana siguiendo el rastro de un brujo que escapa en busca de un tesoro, ya en la isla deberán enfrentarse a un ejército de cangrejos controlados a voluntad por el nigromante, que por supuesto muere devorado por su propio ejército de crustáceos. Relato totalmente delirante y morboso, una delicia.
"La muerte de Ilalotha": Aquí aparece la criatura legendaria conocida como Lamia, con unas descripciones y un final aterrador.
"El tejedor de la cripta": Hasta ahora el relato más "paranormal", si se quiere, donde tres guerreros quedan atrapados bajo los cimientos de unas antiguas tumbas y son acosados por una entidad aparentemente fantasmal que sale del interior de la tierra y va consumiendo sus huesos y carne hasta dejar sólo sus cascos y armaduras.
Cuento extraño pero fascinante.
"La magia de Ulua": Un joven copero escapa de los encantos nigrománticos de la princesa del reino de Miraab y se cobra su venganza no sólo destruyéndola a ella, sino a los palacios y mansiones del reino, dejándolo en ruinas.
Una orgía de seres deformes, fantasmas y demonios con varias insinuaciones sexuales veladas, muy buen relato.
Mención aparte, claro está, al tenebrosamente bello poema "Zothique" y al excelente mapa de Zothique provisto por Ed. Valdemar. No esperaba menos de ellos.
El Dios Carroñero: Un joven noble y su prometida, de paso por una extraña ciudad, se verán envueltos en los planes de tres nigromantes que intentan engañar al Dios de los muertos que domina esas tierras y a sus sacerdotes, un ejército de espantosos gules. La atmósfera tenebrosa y gótica que consigue Smith en este relato merece una mención aparte.
El oscuro Eidolon: La traducción correcta debería haber sido"el ídolo oscuro". El relato más demencial y sangriento de todo el ciclo, y uno de los más largos. Un poderoso brujo regresa a su ciudad natal para cobrarse una venganza personal contra el rey y todo su consorte. este relato tiene literalmente DE TODO, desde abominables desfiles de momias y esqueletos podridos, lamias lujuriosas, criaturas híbridas dementes y aberrantes creadas a partir de uniones monstruosas, espíritus familiares y quimeras deformes de cuatro pechos, hasta gigantes que se dedican a aplastar a seres humanos como parte de un enfermizo número de circo, una estatua poseída por el demonio, entes innombrables caídos del espacio sideral... qué más se puede pedir? :D
Morthylla: el cuento más flojito del ciclo, demasiado corto y no aporta demasiado a la mitología zothiqueana, excepto que aparece nuevamente el personaje de la lamia.
El abad negro de Puthuum: Otra excelente historia macabra, en la que un brujo fortísimo que puede desdoblarse en varios como él y crear ilusiones, intenta saciar su lujuria milenaria con una joven escoltada por dos guerreros y un eunuco que no dudarán en defenderla hasta las últimas consecuencias. Una vez más, me encantó y disfruté mucho la atmósfera opresiva que se respira hasta el final.
El engendro de la tumba: el relato más lovecraftiano. La tumba en la que un rey brujo muerto ha sido enterrado junto con los restos de un monstruo alienígena es profanada por dos muchachos que se pierden en las ruinas de una ciudad abandonada, ocasionando el despertar de la criatura. Bueno pero no a la altura de los anteriores.
El último jeroglífico: Tampoco de los mejores del ciclo, un astrólogo debe viajar hasta la morada de un dios - demonio al que él adora, para ser partícipe de su propio destino final.
Y para ir cerrando este viaje de locura y degeneración, tenemos:
La isla de los torturadores: Escapando de una extraña enfermedad que azota a su reino, un monarca llega accidentalmente a una isla en la que gobierna un depravado rey de fisonomía asiática que disfruta torturando a sus prisioneros y que es auxiliado por una especie de diabólico autómata que decide qué tormentos le serán infligidos al desdichado de turno. Un final perfecto para un relato bien descriptivo, donde el dolor y la traición, pero también la dulce venganza, campan a sus anchas.
El jardín de Adompha: otro de los relatos que serán recordados de este ciclo, pero que no está entre los mejores. Un parque compuesto por árboles del averno que tienen vida propia y están hechos de miembros y extremidades humanas gracias a las artes nigrománticas del brujo de turno, relato bien escabroso y retorcido.
El viaje del rey Euvoran: Ya en este "último" cuento del ciclo, si bien no fue escrito por último (recordemos que CA Smith no concibió a Zothique como tal), Smith deja volar su imaginación y, más allá de que la historia en sí es un tanto pobre, las dos escenas de acción, un ataque de vampiros o murciélagos gigantes que se ceban con la tripulación del rey hundiendo nada menos que siete de sus barcos y el posterior cautiverio de éste en una isla infame gobernada por pájaros del tamaño de seres humanos y que se comportan como tal, valen por sí solos la lectura del mismo. Se nota aquí el descollo de la mente enloquecida del autor, que vaya a saber bajo los efectos de qué alucinógeno puede haber escrito semejante relato. Perfecto para finalizar el ciclo :D
"Xeethra": Un cuento sencillo y correcto para empezar el ciclo pero que carece de la atmósfera de los relatos siguientes, de todas maneras es bastante interesante: El espíritu de un rey muerto hace tiempo reencarna o, más bien, posee el cuerpo de un pastor y hace un pacto con el demonio para recuperar su reino, otrora floreciente, ya muerto y olvidado. Un final escalofriante que nos deja en ambiente para lo que viene.
"Nigromancia en Naat": El primer cuento sobre muertos vivientes del ciclo, en este caso en concreto el de tres hechiceros que campan a sus anchas por la isla maldita de Naat con su cortejo de esclavos zombies. Necrofilia, desmembramientos, sangre, tripas y brujería... Un cuento excelente
"El Imperio de los nigromantes": Otro relato que ya comenté previamente, uno de los que más me gusta hasta ahora junto con el que le precede. Un ejército de zombies se venga de los nigromantes que los trajo de vuelta a la vida como esclavos.
"El Señor de los cangrejos": Un mago y su sirviente llegan a una isla lejana siguiendo el rastro de un brujo que escapa en busca de un tesoro, ya en la isla deberán enfrentarse a un ejército de cangrejos controlados a voluntad por el nigromante, que por supuesto muere devorado por su propio ejército de crustáceos. Relato totalmente delirante y morboso, una delicia.
"La muerte de Ilalotha": Aquí aparece la criatura legendaria conocida como Lamia, con unas descripciones y un final aterrador.
"El tejedor de la cripta": Hasta ahora el relato más "paranormal", si se quiere, donde tres guerreros quedan atrapados bajo los cimientos de unas antiguas tumbas y son acosados por una entidad aparentemente fantasmal que sale del interior de la tierra y va consumiendo sus huesos y carne hasta dejar sólo sus cascos y armaduras.
Cuento extraño pero fascinante.
"La magia de Ulua": Un joven copero escapa de los encantos nigrománticos de la princesa del reino de Miraab y se cobra su venganza no sólo destruyéndola a ella, sino a los palacios y mansiones del reino, dejándolo en ruinas.
Una orgía de seres deformes, fantasmas y demonios con varias insinuaciones sexuales veladas, muy buen relato.
Mención aparte, claro está, al tenebrosamente bello poema "Zothique" y al excelente mapa de Zothique provisto por Ed. Valdemar. No esperaba menos de ellos.
El Dios Carroñero: Un joven noble y su prometida, de paso por una extraña ciudad, se verán envueltos en los planes de tres nigromantes que intentan engañar al Dios de los muertos que domina esas tierras y a sus sacerdotes, un ejército de espantosos gules. La atmósfera tenebrosa y gótica que consigue Smith en este relato merece una mención aparte.
El oscuro Eidolon: La traducción correcta debería haber sido"el ídolo oscuro". El relato más demencial y sangriento de todo el ciclo, y uno de los más largos. Un poderoso brujo regresa a su ciudad natal para cobrarse una venganza personal contra el rey y todo su consorte. este relato tiene literalmente DE TODO, desde abominables desfiles de momias y esqueletos podridos, lamias lujuriosas, criaturas híbridas dementes y aberrantes creadas a partir de uniones monstruosas, espíritus familiares y quimeras deformes de cuatro pechos, hasta gigantes que se dedican a aplastar a seres humanos como parte de un enfermizo número de circo, una estatua poseída por el demonio, entes innombrables caídos del espacio sideral... qué más se puede pedir? :D
Morthylla: el cuento más flojito del ciclo, demasiado corto y no aporta demasiado a la mitología zothiqueana, excepto que aparece nuevamente el personaje de la lamia.
El abad negro de Puthuum: Otra excelente historia macabra, en la que un brujo fortísimo que puede desdoblarse en varios como él y crear ilusiones, intenta saciar su lujuria milenaria con una joven escoltada por dos guerreros y un eunuco que no dudarán en defenderla hasta las últimas consecuencias. Una vez más, me encantó y disfruté mucho la atmósfera opresiva que se respira hasta el final.
El engendro de la tumba: el relato más lovecraftiano. La tumba en la que un rey brujo muerto ha sido enterrado junto con los restos de un monstruo alienígena es profanada por dos muchachos que se pierden en las ruinas de una ciudad abandonada, ocasionando el despertar de la criatura. Bueno pero no a la altura de los anteriores.
El último jeroglífico: Tampoco de los mejores del ciclo, un astrólogo debe viajar hasta la morada de un dios - demonio al que él adora, para ser partícipe de su propio destino final.
Y para ir cerrando este viaje de locura y degeneración, tenemos:
La isla de los torturadores: Escapando de una extraña enfermedad que azota a su reino, un monarca llega accidentalmente a una isla en la que gobierna un depravado rey de fisonomía asiática que disfruta torturando a sus prisioneros y que es auxiliado por una especie de diabólico autómata que decide qué tormentos le serán infligidos al desdichado de turno. Un final perfecto para un relato bien descriptivo, donde el dolor y la traición, pero también la dulce venganza, campan a sus anchas.
El jardín de Adompha: otro de los relatos que serán recordados de este ciclo, pero que no está entre los mejores. Un parque compuesto por árboles del averno que tienen vida propia y están hechos de miembros y extremidades humanas gracias a las artes nigrománticas del brujo de turno, relato bien escabroso y retorcido.
El viaje del rey Euvoran: Ya en este "último" cuento del ciclo, si bien no fue escrito por último (recordemos que CA Smith no concibió a Zothique como tal), Smith deja volar su imaginación y, más allá de que la historia en sí es un tanto pobre, las dos escenas de acción, un ataque de vampiros o murciélagos gigantes que se ceban con la tripulación del rey hundiendo nada menos que siete de sus barcos y el posterior cautiverio de éste en una isla infame gobernada por pájaros del tamaño de seres humanos y que se comportan como tal, valen por sí solos la lectura del mismo. Se nota aquí el descollo de la mente enloquecida del autor, que vaya a saber bajo los efectos de qué alucinógeno puede haber escrito semejante relato. Perfecto para finalizar el ciclo :D
November 9, 2015
Given that Clark Ashton Smith’s ‘Zothique’ stories were a clear influence on Jack Vance’s ‘Dying Earth’ series, it seems a little churlish that Vance once referred to Smith as a ‘very bad’ writer. Vance was quite right, of course (perhaps he was tired of comparisons being made): Smith’s writing is a triumph of style over substance, and his capacity for characterisation is limited. And yet his style is so outrageously ornate that it often transcends what it is describing, and characterisation is hardly essential to his project – indeed, it would detract from it. Human beings are just details in the tapestry.
It’s interesting to compare Smith and Vance: both affected an elaborate, colourful and deliberately archaic style, but Vance leavened his style with humour, narrative drive, humanity and a lightness of touch even at his most outrageous. For Smith, language was an end in itself. His orientalist fantasias are almost like pornography, in that they exist only to create an effect. Only in the pulps could Smith’s peculiar genius have flourished, freed from the constraints of ‘seriousness’, allowed to take any path it chose – as long as there was a ‘pay-off’...
If you love language for its own sake, Smith’s stories can be great fun to immerse yourself in...
It’s interesting to compare Smith and Vance: both affected an elaborate, colourful and deliberately archaic style, but Vance leavened his style with humour, narrative drive, humanity and a lightness of touch even at his most outrageous. For Smith, language was an end in itself. His orientalist fantasias are almost like pornography, in that they exist only to create an effect. Only in the pulps could Smith’s peculiar genius have flourished, freed from the constraints of ‘seriousness’, allowed to take any path it chose – as long as there was a ‘pay-off’...
If you love language for its own sake, Smith’s stories can be great fun to immerse yourself in...
July 26, 2010
This is the first book I've read that deals muchly with necromancy and dark fantasy. I can only say that I was quite hooked when I read the first story. A gloriously dark and entertainingly frightful read.
November 19, 2013
Clark Ashton Smith was, in hindsight, one of the big names to come out of the 1930s Weird Tales (at the time neither he, Robert E. Howard or Lovecraft were as big as they've been since). These stories of the far future dying Earth where necromancers rule, everything is corrupt and decadent and dark magics intrude on human life are very stylish (Smith's prose is ornate and elegant) and rather on the dark side (a happy ending is where the villains die too). Well worth reading.
October 2, 2016
Un mundo de muerte
La tierra Zothique esta plagada de desolación y oscuridad. Los relatos se desarrollan en estos lugares, acompañados de la desolación.
Monstruos, zombis, magos oscuros... Encontraremos todo esto. Y alguna que otra aventura que acaban en islas con sorpresas.
Este libro tiene todos los ingredientes que a mi me gustan, pero no consigue el pleno. Pues a veces se me hace ardua la lectura al estar la narración bastante sobrecargada.
La tierra Zothique esta plagada de desolación y oscuridad. Los relatos se desarrollan en estos lugares, acompañados de la desolación.
Monstruos, zombis, magos oscuros... Encontraremos todo esto. Y alguna que otra aventura que acaban en islas con sorpresas.
Este libro tiene todos los ingredientes que a mi me gustan, pero no consigue el pleno. Pues a veces se me hace ardua la lectura al estar la narración bastante sobrecargada.
January 1, 2019
Set in the unimaginably remote future when the sun is dimmer and earth itself has totally changed, these stories show a depraved decadent world where technology has disappeared and magic has returned and even works. Written in the 1930's and published mostly in Weird Tales magazine (like H.P. Lovecraft who was a friend of Smith's), these tales probably inspired later fantasy writers like Jack Vance who wrote "The Dying Earth" and its sequels.
March 4, 2020
This is for you if you like 1930's era Weird Tales stories, like maybe you're reading Conan stories and thinking, "Needs more necromancy. A lot more." The vocabulary is impressive, but the plots are not complex and are unlikely to surprise you. Smith is famous for his imagination, though, and if you like an old fashioned dungeon crawl this will probably scratch that itch since this style of fiction was a big influence on the D&D designers.
September 1, 2018
A collection of short stories about the last great city near the end of life of the sun. The stories are strange and weird and sometimes unsettling; Smith's imagination was extraordinarily fertile. The editor, Lin Carter, did his best to arrange the stories in some kind of continuity and the final product is greater than the sum of its parts. A terrific weird fiction collection.
October 26, 2015
Nice collection of the fantasy stories from this pulp era writer. While I am not a big Ashton Smith fan he has a very vivid imagination for plots, If you like H. P. Lovecraft you should like this writer as well. Recommended
February 26, 2020
Estoy total y completamente impresionado con esta lectura y después de haberla leído me queda bastante claro de que Clark Ashton Smith fue terriblemente opacado por la sombra de su amigo y colega H.P Lovecraft.
Zothique, el último continente (como su nombre lo indica) nos habla del último continente de un planeta tierra al borde del colapso, con ruinas de ciudades antiguas y decadentes, vestigios de un pasado olvidado, con un sol moribundo a punto de apagarse y con la escoria de una depravada y corrompida humanidad que ha vuelto a sus principios básicos.
El extraño continente es una basta extensión de tierra donde ya no hay tecnología y la humanidad ha regresado a formar una sociedad parecida al feudalismo medieval. En este mundo marchito los cultos a los demonios antiguos y la magia negra han resurgido y también las criaturas de la noche y los nigromantes abundan, por lo cual los protagonistas de los 16 relatos que componen esta antología; se verán envueltos en empresas de lo más bizarras, grotescas y épicas mientras nosotros los lectores nos vamos adentrando más y más en la mitología de este mundo.
Zothique como libro aborda el género de “la espada y brujería”, un término que solía emplearse antes de llamarlo “fantasía” como lo conocemos hoy en día y donde podremos observar las primeras reminiscencias del género. Algo que me pareció curioso es que la prosa del autor no es para nada pesada, es descriptiva y a la vez dinámica, y si, hay relatos que definitivamente tienen mejor ritmo que otros pero todos tienen ese toque de desbordada y algo enferma imaginación que enganchan al lector desde las primeras páginas, ademas el escritor se tomó el tiempo para explicar la geografía de los desolados paisajes y de dejar conexiones y referencias de locaciones y personajes para volver este mundo todavía más interesante y eso sin contar su curiosa mitología y bestiario; y por eso el libro es bastante disfrutable.
Lo hay de todo; desde relatos de una ciudad donde un dios corrupto devora a los muertos, viajes a islas plagadas de monstruos, ruinas que albergan momias, tesoros y criaturas que recuerdan mucho al horror cósmico de Lovecraft, hasta cuentos de personas que han tenido encuentros con peligrosos nigromantes y sus ejércitos de Zombies.
No pude evitarlo, Zothique se ha vuelto una de mis antologías favoritas y terminó colandose a mi top de mejores recopilaciones peleandose el lugar con libros de sangre y se la recomiendo a cualquiera que quiera leer algo único y muy oscuro, no creo que sea para todos por su explícito contenido grotesco donde se habla de torturas y demonología hasta temas tabúes de índole sexual (ya se imaginaran de que hablo tratándose de nigromantes). A partir de ahora tratare de buscar más obras de este autor, los 16 cuentos me encantaron y por si no lo había dejado claro mi breve introducción, me ha gustado más que Lovecraft y eso para los que ya me conocen, es decir bastante...
Zothique, el último continente (como su nombre lo indica) nos habla del último continente de un planeta tierra al borde del colapso, con ruinas de ciudades antiguas y decadentes, vestigios de un pasado olvidado, con un sol moribundo a punto de apagarse y con la escoria de una depravada y corrompida humanidad que ha vuelto a sus principios básicos.
El extraño continente es una basta extensión de tierra donde ya no hay tecnología y la humanidad ha regresado a formar una sociedad parecida al feudalismo medieval. En este mundo marchito los cultos a los demonios antiguos y la magia negra han resurgido y también las criaturas de la noche y los nigromantes abundan, por lo cual los protagonistas de los 16 relatos que componen esta antología; se verán envueltos en empresas de lo más bizarras, grotescas y épicas mientras nosotros los lectores nos vamos adentrando más y más en la mitología de este mundo.
Zothique como libro aborda el género de “la espada y brujería”, un término que solía emplearse antes de llamarlo “fantasía” como lo conocemos hoy en día y donde podremos observar las primeras reminiscencias del género. Algo que me pareció curioso es que la prosa del autor no es para nada pesada, es descriptiva y a la vez dinámica, y si, hay relatos que definitivamente tienen mejor ritmo que otros pero todos tienen ese toque de desbordada y algo enferma imaginación que enganchan al lector desde las primeras páginas, ademas el escritor se tomó el tiempo para explicar la geografía de los desolados paisajes y de dejar conexiones y referencias de locaciones y personajes para volver este mundo todavía más interesante y eso sin contar su curiosa mitología y bestiario; y por eso el libro es bastante disfrutable.
Lo hay de todo; desde relatos de una ciudad donde un dios corrupto devora a los muertos, viajes a islas plagadas de monstruos, ruinas que albergan momias, tesoros y criaturas que recuerdan mucho al horror cósmico de Lovecraft, hasta cuentos de personas que han tenido encuentros con peligrosos nigromantes y sus ejércitos de Zombies.
No pude evitarlo, Zothique se ha vuelto una de mis antologías favoritas y terminó colandose a mi top de mejores recopilaciones peleandose el lugar con libros de sangre y se la recomiendo a cualquiera que quiera leer algo único y muy oscuro, no creo que sea para todos por su explícito contenido grotesco donde se habla de torturas y demonología hasta temas tabúes de índole sexual (ya se imaginaran de que hablo tratándose de nigromantes). A partir de ahora tratare de buscar más obras de este autor, los 16 cuentos me encantaron y por si no lo había dejado claro mi breve introducción, me ha gustado más que Lovecraft y eso para los que ya me conocen, es decir bastante...
April 27, 2020
3,5
Otra lectura de cuarentena finalizada. Este libro en particular lo había comprado hace un par de años y por diversas razones se fue quedando relegado en mi librero. Eso hasta comienzos de este mes, gracias en parte al omnipresente SARS-CoV-2.
Para quienes no conozcan a Clark Ashton Smith, era uno de los miembros del círculo de Lovecraft, además de amigo epistolar del solitario maestro de Providence. En ese sentido, a pesar de tener muchas cosas en común con Lovecraft, Ashton Smith tenía un estilo e intereses particulares que no solo lograron diferenciarlo si no que también le otorgaron cierta reputación en los círculos ligados a la literatura pulp y que posteriormente lo convertirían en un autor de culto. En cuanto a Zothique, que es la primera compilación de relatos que leo del autor, plantea algo muy interesante y es que todas las historias ocurren en un futuro muy lejano de la tierra (miles de años en el futuro), donde la civilización humana se ha visto degradada al punto de que se ha perdido todo conocimiento científico e intelectual, siendo reemplazado por la brujería y la nigromancia. De este modo, Zothique (que es el nombre del último continente de la tierra) no es muy diferente a como era nuestro mundo hace unos 5 mil años, sin embargo, acá también abundan toda clase de demonios y monstruos que vuelven la vida de sus desafortunados habitantes aún más desdichada.
Si mi puntuación no es más alta es simplemente debido a que estos relatos no han envejecido del todo bien. Se sienten DEMASIADO pulp (if you know what i mean). Quizás en la década de 1930 todo esto que planteaba Clark Ashton Smith era relativamente original y fresco, sin embargo, 90 años después estos mismos temas han sido manoseados hasta el hartazgo por el cine y la literatura de género. Si le pudiera recomendar este libro a alguien, sería a los seguidores de este tipo de narrativas (que los hay) y a quienes tengan interés en profundizar en los autores de los que se rodeaba Lovecraft y a quienes llegó a considerar sus iguales (Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Robert Bloch, Frank Belknap Long, etc).
Otra lectura de cuarentena finalizada. Este libro en particular lo había comprado hace un par de años y por diversas razones se fue quedando relegado en mi librero. Eso hasta comienzos de este mes, gracias en parte al omnipresente SARS-CoV-2.
Para quienes no conozcan a Clark Ashton Smith, era uno de los miembros del círculo de Lovecraft, además de amigo epistolar del solitario maestro de Providence. En ese sentido, a pesar de tener muchas cosas en común con Lovecraft, Ashton Smith tenía un estilo e intereses particulares que no solo lograron diferenciarlo si no que también le otorgaron cierta reputación en los círculos ligados a la literatura pulp y que posteriormente lo convertirían en un autor de culto. En cuanto a Zothique, que es la primera compilación de relatos que leo del autor, plantea algo muy interesante y es que todas las historias ocurren en un futuro muy lejano de la tierra (miles de años en el futuro), donde la civilización humana se ha visto degradada al punto de que se ha perdido todo conocimiento científico e intelectual, siendo reemplazado por la brujería y la nigromancia. De este modo, Zothique (que es el nombre del último continente de la tierra) no es muy diferente a como era nuestro mundo hace unos 5 mil años, sin embargo, acá también abundan toda clase de demonios y monstruos que vuelven la vida de sus desafortunados habitantes aún más desdichada.
Si mi puntuación no es más alta es simplemente debido a que estos relatos no han envejecido del todo bien. Se sienten DEMASIADO pulp (if you know what i mean). Quizás en la década de 1930 todo esto que planteaba Clark Ashton Smith era relativamente original y fresco, sin embargo, 90 años después estos mismos temas han sido manoseados hasta el hartazgo por el cine y la literatura de género. Si le pudiera recomendar este libro a alguien, sería a los seguidores de este tipo de narrativas (que los hay) y a quienes tengan interés en profundizar en los autores de los que se rodeaba Lovecraft y a quienes llegó a considerar sus iguales (Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Robert Bloch, Frank Belknap Long, etc).
May 24, 2023
Ostensibly set on a distant future Earth, where the continents have once again mashed together into a single landmass - Zothique - and both technology and human society have basically reverted to iron age level, Smith's stories are undoubtably Sword&Sorcery tales, but of the highest quality.
Smith often utelizes the most basic of pulp adventure plots - raiding the tomb, rescuing the princess, a duel among magicians - but his poetic style elevates them far beyond the ordinary level such stories usually strived for back in the day.
Setting this cycle on the final continent at the end of time gives every story an instant atmosphere of gloom and dread. Add to that the recurring theme of necromancy - that being the primary form of magic performed in Zothique - and you have an often psychedlic, dream-like apocalyptic dark fantasy experience you'll never forget.
Zothique roughly fall into one of two categories. The shorter ones, like "The Death of Illalotha", "Morthylla" or "Empire of the Necromancers" almost feel like anecdotes or parables. The longer ones often involve longer heroic quests and flesh out the world building for various places in Zothique.
I don't have a clear preference in that regard. The shorter ones can be snappy and to the point, but also sometimes fail to have any point at all.
The longer ones can sometimes drag, but Smith's atmospheric descriptions can make even the slow parts entertaining.
Rating of each story:
"Xeethra" 4/5
"Necromancy in Naat" 4/5
"The Empire of the Necromancers" 5/5
"Master of the Crabs" 5/5
"Death of Illalotha" 2/5
"Weaver in the Vault" 2/5
"The Witchcraft of Ulua" 3/5
"The Charnel God" 4/5
"The Dark Eidolon" 3/5
"Morthylla" 4/5
"The Black Abbot of Puthuum" 4/5
"The Tomb Spawn" 2/5
"The Last Hieroglyph" 5/5
"The Isle of the Torturers" 5/5
"The Garden of Adompha" 3/5
"The Voyage of King Euvoran" 5/5
Smith often utelizes the most basic of pulp adventure plots - raiding the tomb, rescuing the princess, a duel among magicians - but his poetic style elevates them far beyond the ordinary level such stories usually strived for back in the day.
Setting this cycle on the final continent at the end of time gives every story an instant atmosphere of gloom and dread. Add to that the recurring theme of necromancy - that being the primary form of magic performed in Zothique - and you have an often psychedlic, dream-like apocalyptic dark fantasy experience you'll never forget.
Zothique roughly fall into one of two categories. The shorter ones, like "The Death of Illalotha", "Morthylla" or "Empire of the Necromancers" almost feel like anecdotes or parables. The longer ones often involve longer heroic quests and flesh out the world building for various places in Zothique.
I don't have a clear preference in that regard. The shorter ones can be snappy and to the point, but also sometimes fail to have any point at all.
The longer ones can sometimes drag, but Smith's atmospheric descriptions can make even the slow parts entertaining.
Rating of each story:
"Xeethra" 4/5
"Necromancy in Naat" 4/5
"The Empire of the Necromancers" 5/5
"Master of the Crabs" 5/5
"Death of Illalotha" 2/5
"Weaver in the Vault" 2/5
"The Witchcraft of Ulua" 3/5
"The Charnel God" 4/5
"The Dark Eidolon" 3/5
"Morthylla" 4/5
"The Black Abbot of Puthuum" 4/5
"The Tomb Spawn" 2/5
"The Last Hieroglyph" 5/5
"The Isle of the Torturers" 5/5
"The Garden of Adompha" 3/5
"The Voyage of King Euvoran" 5/5
November 9, 2024
Zothique by Clark Ashton Smith is a S&S book about in the future dying earth where demons and Gods walked and among humans and sorcery returned back to the Earth. Zothique has the most brooding vibe in the stories. Perhaps it has the most grotesque and horrendous descriptions about necromancy, exorcism, cannibal, torture scenes which I have seen in Smith’s books. Without a doubt, this book is the best Smith book I’ve read by him so far. It has grand world building, ornate descriptions of the world, evocative concepts, and fervently dream like experience. The Characters in Zothique they are the best characters which were written by smith. They feel more flesh to the stories aren’t just card board made. Even though they are the better part of the book but not the best part of the book. The best part of the book that definitely is the world building and writing; Smith’s poetic writing enhances the far future dying earth, vividly depict the inimical creatures and sorcerers. Characters are often against those malevolent forces, even the earth is no longer had any meanings of being existed, people still struggling to survive in the brutal environment.
9.25 out of 10. Definitely Zothique Is one of the best fantasy books I have read this year. Stunning writing, and world building which have influenced on S&S genre.
9.25 out of 10. Definitely Zothique Is one of the best fantasy books I have read this year. Stunning writing, and world building which have influenced on S&S genre.
Want to read
February 7, 2023Why is the description in French on the American edition?
November 4, 2008
Zothique, by Clark Ashton Smith, is typically lumped in with the Cthulhu Mythos along with its author, largely because Smtih was a regular correspondent of Lovecraft's. However, Zothique bears more in common with the Arabian Nights than dank, damp Cthulhu.
From the Epilogue by Lin Carter we learn that Smith's Zothique cycle of stores, all published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales between 1932 and 1948, are set in Earth's distant future, where high technology is but a memory and magic has once again become a powerful force. Several of the stories were, IMHO, quite, good; most, however, lacked that certain spark that makes a story interested and engrossing. I wouldn't recommend this book to very many people, largely because I don't think it holds up as well as the stories from the Hyperboria collection. I enjoyed it as a trip through Smith's liberal use of the dictionary for arcane terminology. Smith apparently was largely self-educated beyond grammar school; mostly his further education seems to have consisted of reading every word in the Oxford Unabridged and the complete Britannica, not only once but several times.)
I'm a big fan of Smith's work in general, and have been searching for YEARS for a copy of Zothique, which a friend kindly loaned to me back in November.
From the Epilogue by Lin Carter we learn that Smith's Zothique cycle of stores, all published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales between 1932 and 1948, are set in Earth's distant future, where high technology is but a memory and magic has once again become a powerful force. Several of the stories were, IMHO, quite, good; most, however, lacked that certain spark that makes a story interested and engrossing. I wouldn't recommend this book to very many people, largely because I don't think it holds up as well as the stories from the Hyperboria collection. I enjoyed it as a trip through Smith's liberal use of the dictionary for arcane terminology. Smith apparently was largely self-educated beyond grammar school; mostly his further education seems to have consisted of reading every word in the Oxford Unabridged and the complete Britannica, not only once but several times.)
I'm a big fan of Smith's work in general, and have been searching for YEARS for a copy of Zothique, which a friend kindly loaned to me back in November.
April 30, 2019
The name of Clark Ashton Smith is inextricably related to the Fantasy genre, like Robert E. Howard and Howard Philip Lovecraft. This book presents a collection of 16 dark fantasy stories set in Zothique, the last continent left on Earth, in a remote future, where magic has returned and science forgotten.
The stories that are told here by Clark Ashton Smith, are full of magic, speaking about fallen realms, decadent nobles, necromancers ready to do anything to gain absolute power and monstrous creatures.
A special touch is given by the description of the scenarios, enriched by plays of light and shadows, which help the reader to immerse themselves in the right state of mind to fully enjoy the stories.
Interesting in my opinion is the work of collecting the various stories, the way in which they were ordered to create a chronological sequence, which allows us to follow the evolution and the fall of the kingdoms mentioned in the stories.
Given the number of stories, the themes are often repeated, but the charm exercised by them, combined with Smith's elegant and refined prose and his fervid imagination, makes it a compelling read that I recommend to all Fantasy fans.
The stories that are told here by Clark Ashton Smith, are full of magic, speaking about fallen realms, decadent nobles, necromancers ready to do anything to gain absolute power and monstrous creatures.
A special touch is given by the description of the scenarios, enriched by plays of light and shadows, which help the reader to immerse themselves in the right state of mind to fully enjoy the stories.
Interesting in my opinion is the work of collecting the various stories, the way in which they were ordered to create a chronological sequence, which allows us to follow the evolution and the fall of the kingdoms mentioned in the stories.
Given the number of stories, the themes are often repeated, but the charm exercised by them, combined with Smith's elegant and refined prose and his fervid imagination, makes it a compelling read that I recommend to all Fantasy fans.
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