Customer Reviews

Jirel of Joiry

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Catherine Lucille Moore (1911-87), who wrote under the name C.L. Moore, was a science fiction and fantasy writer with numerous magazine titles published during the period 1934-56. In 1940 she married Henry Kuttner (1915-58). Afterwards, almost all of their stories were written in collaboration under various pseudonyms.

"Jirel of Joiry", is a collection of related stories first published in Wierd Tales magazine 1934-39. Jirel is a sward-wielding warrior in a fantasy world redolent with evil magicians and barbarian warlords. Reader's farmiliar with the Conan stories of Robert E. Howard or those concerning Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock know what to expect.

It is notable considering the time these stories were written that Jirel is female. Aside from that noteworthy fact today these stories are, well, more of an historical curiosity for fans and students of heroic fantasy. I found these tales wordy, overlong, and frankly not very interesting or creative. To be completely fair in the 1930's I would imagine readers of Wierd Tales would have found them to be terrific. I will acknowledge the Ms Moore was a trailblazer in the field of heroic fantasy-fiction and she should be remembered and honored for that fact.

From the rear cover:

These are the classic tales of blood and honor that catapulted C. L. Moore into legendary ranks of such acclaimed writers as Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs in the golden age of sword and sorcery. First published in the magazine Weird Tales in the 1930's.