The Abominations of Yondo [Textbook Binding]

Clark Ashton Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1972

Clark Ashton Smith -- widely regarded as the third of the "Big Three" to emerge from the early days of the pulp magazine Weird Tales (after H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard) published dozens of weird fantasy tales. "The Abominations of Yondo" is one of his finest.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Textbook Binding
• Publisher: Arkham House Pub (June 1972)
• ISBN-10: 9997541138
• ISBN-13: 978-9997541130
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,102,254 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fantasy, dark humor and terror, December 11, 2000

By 

ronfactor "ronfactor" (Centreville, va USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Abominations of Yondo (Textbook Binding)

The Abominations of Yondo is a collection of short stories written by the late Clark Ashton Smith. It includes a variety of stories from the various worlds he created, such as Hyperborea, Zothique, and Averoigne. The stories tend to be very descriptive, and at times leave the reader wanting for more plot. On the other hand, the richness of the descriptions shows just what a master Smith was of the English language. There are turns of phrase that are beautifully unique and indicative of a creative master. In addition, these tales often reveal Smith's dark and sometimes bitter sense of humor. While most of the stories take place in a "fantasy" setting, "The Dweller in the Gulf" is truly terrifying, and worthy of the praise heaped upon Smith by the great H.P. Lovecraft. Overall, a disappointment if you're looking for horror (though the above mentioned story is thrilling), but for fans of Smith or descriptive fantasy, this is one worth owning.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Alembics athanors dolmens dolomites emmets and pismires., March 14, 2003

By 

DAVID BRYSON (Glossop Derbyshire England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Abominations of Yondo (Textbook Binding)

Smith's vocabulary is something else again! He is showing off and no two ways about it, but Tennyson was not above similar exhibitionism. If you are a virtuoso with the language why not demonstrate it? I lap up this kind of horror-fantasy provided it is well enough written. For me it is escapist fun-reading. I can't take it 'seriously', I can't join in any cult of it and I can't say it frightens me the least little bit. The benchmark writer for the genre appears to be Lovecraft whose stuff I enjoy in much the way I enjoy Smith's, but it seems to me honestly that Smith is both a far better writer and a far better storyteller. He has more self-discipline and he is more of an artist than Lovecraft. Some of the effects are a bit cheap, but what would you expect? The pleasant thing for me about Smith is that he doesn't take himself as seriously as Lovecraft takes himself, especially with his tedious demonology of Cthulhu, Nyerlothatep, the Elder Gods and that boring lot. There is a fair amount of self-parody in Smith, but his imagination is strong, genuine and original and there is unmistakeably a dark side to it all.

American aficionados of Smith and Lovecraft are also recommended the stories of M R James -- not exactly the same kind of writer but likely to appeal to the same kind of reader, and in my opinion even more effective than either of these authors.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Misleading Title and reviews, February 20, 2010

By 

P. M. Morris "Petros" (Canberra, Australia) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Abominations of Yondo (Kindle Edition)

The reviews here are for the anthology of stories called "The Abomination of Yondo". This book is not the anthology - just the single short story. The holders of the sacred rights to Mr Smith's works have found a clever way to stretch the monetization of the asset it would seem. Roll on, death of Copyright for long dead authors...