Saturday, October 20, 2012

The Double Shadow

Ever since The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast was started, I've been looking for podcasts that cover other writers of weird fiction. For new stuff, you can listen to PodCastle and Pseudopod (for science fiction we have Escape Pod), but I was lucky enough to find two podcasts that cover older writers. The first is A Podcast for the Curious, covering the works of M.R. James. The second is The Double Shadow, covering the works of Clark Ashton Smith.

Smith was a very interesting person and had many talents. Poetry, short fiction, sculpture, drawings, paintings. Alas, I don't know what has happened to most of his art: while you can find pictures of some online, I have a feeling that much of it is sadly lost.

I wonder what he would have produced if his life had been somewhat different: if there had been more (and better paying) markets for his work; if he had not had to care for both of his parents for so long. He was, I think, a better author overall than H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard (sacrilege!). Too brief a candle in our genre world!

Rather than following the stories as they were written (as The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast did), The Double Shadow is covering stories by "series" (however vague the series was). The first episodes cover the stories set in Smith's region of Averoigne, an imaginary region of France during the Dark and Middle Ages.

The first batch of stories were enjoyable, but as this entry from The Double Shadow shows, the setting grew without much forethought and planning. I wonder what a fantasist such as Smith would do with more discipline?

The podcast has been using those tales that are easily found online, I've been using the collections published over the past several years by Night Shade Books (five volumes, plus a sixth of miscellaneous writings). I've also pulled out a collection of poetry, a collection of letters, and a couple of books of criticism and bibliography as reference (but probably won't dip into them for a bit).

Stories Read While Following the Podcast: The End of the Story (The Collected Fantasies 01): Introduction (Ramsey Campbell); The End of the Story; The Satyr; The Last Incantation. The Door to Saturn (The Collected Fantasies 02): Introduction (Tim Powers); A Rendezvous in Averoigne. A Vintage from Atlantis (The Collected Fantasies 03): Introduction (Michael Dirda); The Colossus of Ylourgne; The Maker of Gargoyles; The Holiness of Azedarac. The Maze of the Enchanter (The Collected Fantasies 04): Introduction (Gahan Wilson); The Mandrakes; The Beast of Averoigne; The Disinternment of Venus. The Last Hieroglyph (The Collected Fantasies 05): Introduction (Richard A. Lupoff); Mother of Toads; The Enchantress of Sylaire.

Counts as sixteen (17) entries in 2012: The Year in Shorts.

Addendum: Good outside references! The Eldritch Dark. Poems by Clark Ashton Smith. Bibliographical information at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database and the Open Library.

Addendum: And if you want to read CAS? You can certainly get a lot of his titles used, but watch out for "collectible prices" in certain titles (the older books). I recommend the set from Night Shade Books as they have corrected texts, notes, alternate endings and the like. If you go the eBook route, I recommend the Nightshade editions again; or searching places like Project Gutenberg (see this) or reading off of The Eldritch Dark (you won't get as many titles as the Night Shade editions, though—if you see other collections for sale, these are made up of freely-available stories, so you're better "building your own" or buying the Night Shade's—honest!) Helpful hint: You can get the Night Shade eBooks from Baen without DRM, in multiple formats, for a very good price here. Amazon also lists these, as well as others, at higher prices.

Stories As Found in the Books (and As Read in the Books, Outside the Podcast):

Smith, Clark Ashton (edited by Scott Connors & Ron Hilger): The End of the Story (The Collected Fantasies 01) (Night Shade Books; 2006; ISBN 978-1-59780-028-0; cover art by Jason Van Hollander).

Made up of: Introduction (Ramsey Campbell); A Note on the Texts; To the Daemon; The Abominations of Yondo; Sadastor; The Ninth Skeleton; The Last Incantation; The End of the Story; The Phantoms of the Fire; A Night in Malnéant; The Resurrection of the Rattlesnake; Thirteen Phantasms; The Venus of Azombeii; The Tale of Satampra Zeiros; The Monster of the Prophecy; The Metamorphosis of the World; The Epiphany of Death; A Murder in the Fourth Dimension; The Devotee of Evil; The Satyr; The Planet of the Dead; The Uncharted Isle; Marooned in Andromeda; The Root of Ampoi; The Necromantic Tale; The Immeasurable Horror; A Voyage To Sfanomoë; Appendix One: Story Notes; Appendix Two: "The Satyr": Alternate Conclusion; Appendix Three: From the Crypts of Memory; Appendix Four: Bibliography.

Counts as zero (00) entries in 2012: The Year in Shorts (podcast reads not counted again).

Smith, Clark Ashton (edited by Scott Connors & Ron Hilger): The Door to Saturn (The Collected Fantasies 02) (Night Shade Books; 2007; ISBN 978-1-59780-029-7; cover art by Jason Van Hollander).

Introduction (Tim Powers); A Note on the Texts; The Door to Saturn; The Red World of Polaris; Told in the Desert; The Willow Landscape; A Rendezvous in Averoigne; The Gorgon; An Offering to the Moon; The Kiss of Zoraida; The Face by the River; The Ghoul; The Kingdom of the Worm; An Adventure in Futurity; The Justice of the Elephant; The Return of the Sorcerer; The City of the Singing Flame; A Good Embalmer; The Testament of Athammaus; A Captivity in Serpens; The Letter from Mohaun Los; The Hunters from Beyond; Appendix One: Story Notes; Appendix Two: Alternate Ending to "The Return of the Sorcerer"; Appendix Three: Bibliography.

Counts as zero (00) entries in 2012: The Year in Shorts (podcast reads not counted again).

Smith, Clark Ashton (edited by Scott Connors & Ron Hilger): A Vintage from Atlantis (The Collected Fantasies 03) (Night Shade Books; 2007; ISBN 978-1-59780-030-3; cover art by Jason Van Hollander).

Introduction (Michael Dirda); A Note on the Texts; The Holiness of Azédarac; The Maker of Gargoyles; Beyond the Singing Flame; Seedling of Mars; The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis; The Eternal World; The Demon of the Flower; The Nameless Offspring; A Vintage from Atlantis; The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan; The Invisible City; The Immortals of Mercury; The Empire of the Necromancers; The Seed from the Sepulcher; The Second Interment; Ubbo-Sathla; The Double Shadow; The Plutonian Drug; The Supernumerary Corpse; The Colossus of Ylourgne; The God of the Asteroid; Appendix One: Story Notes; Appendix Two: The Flower-Devil; Appendix Three: Bibliography.

Counts as zero (00) entries in 2012: The Year in Shorts (podcast reads not counted again).

Smith, Clark Ashton (edited by Scott Connors & Ron Hilger): The Maze of the Enchanter (The Collected Fantasies 04) (Night Shade Books; 2009; ISBN 978-1-59780-031-0; cover art by Jason Van Hollander).

Introduction (Gahan Wilson); A Note on the Texts; The Mandrakes; The Beast of Averoigne; A Star-Change; The Disinterment of Venus; The White Sybil; The Ice Demon; The Isle of the Torturers; The Dimension of Chance; The Dweller in the Gulf; The Maze of the Enchanter; The Third Episode of Vathek—The Princess Zulkais and the Prince Kalilah; Genius Loci; The Secret of the Cairn; The Charnel God; The Dark Eidolon; The Voyage of King Euvoran; Vulthoom; The Weaver in the Vault; The Flower-Women; Appendix One; Appendix Two; Appendix Three; Appendix Four; Appendix Five.

Counts as zero (00) entries in 2012: The Year in Shorts (podcast reads not counted again).

Smith, Clark Ashton (edited by Scott Connors & Ron Hilger): The Last Hieroglyph (The Collected Fantasies 05) (Night Shade Books; 2010; ISBN 978-1-59780-032-7; cover art by Jason Van Hollander).

Introduction (Richard A. Lupoff); A Note on the Texts; The Dark Age; The Death of Malygris; The Tomb-Spawn; The Witchcraft of Ulua; The Coming of the White Worm; The Seven Geases; The Chain of Aforgomon; The Primal City; Xeethra; The Last Hieroglyph; Necromancy in Naat; The Treader of the Dust; The Black Abbot of Puthuum; The Death of Ilalotha; Mother of Toads; The Garden of Adompha; The Great God Awto; Strange Shadows; The Enchantress of Sylaire; Double Cosmos; Nemesis of the Unfinished; The Master of the Crabs; Morthylla; Schizoid Creator; Monsters in the Night; Phoenix; The Theft of the Thirty-Nine Girdles; Symposium of the Gorgon; The Dart of Rasasfa; Appendix One: Story Notes; Appendix Two: Variant Temptation Scenes from "The Witchcraft of Ulua"; Appendix Three: "The Traveler"; Appendix Four: Material Removed from "The Black Abbot of Puthuum"; Appendix Five: Alternate Ending to "I Am Your Shadow"; Appendix Six: Alternate Ending to "Nemesis of the Unfinished"; Appendix Seven: Bibliography.

Counts as three (03) entries in 2012: The Year in Shorts (podcast reads not counted again).

Smith, Clark Ashton (edited by Scott Connors & Ron Hilger): The Miscellaneous Writings of Clark Ashton Smith (Night Shade Books; 2011; ISBN 978-1-59780-297-0; cover art by Jason Van Hollander).

Foreword (editors); The Sorcerer Departs (A Biography of Clark Ashton Smith; Some General Remarks on Smith's Poetry and Prose; The Sorcerer Departs; Afterword) (Donald Sidney-Fryer). Fragments and Early Tales by Clark Ashton Smith: The Animated Sword; The Red Turban; Prince Alcourz and the Magician; The Malay Krise; The Ghost of Mohammed Din; The Mahout; The Rajah and the Tiger; Something New; The Flirt; The Perfect Woman; A Platonic Entanglement; The Expert Lover; The Parrot; A Copy of Burns; Checkmate. The Infernal Star (Fragment of a Novel): Chapter 01—The Finding of the Amulet; Chapter 02—The Wearing of the Amulet; Chapter 03—"I am Avalzant, the Warden of the Fiery Change"; Chapter 04—The Passage to Pnidleethon. Dawn of Discord; House of the Monoceros; The Dead will Cuckold You; The Hashish-Eater—Or, The Apocalypse of Evil; Bibliography (editors); O Amor Atque Realitas! (Donald Sidney-Fryer).

Counts as one (01) entry in 2012: The Year in Shorts (podcast reads not counted again).

1 comment:

Paul Weimer said...

Thanks, Fred. You turned me onto a couple of these already...