Published in chronological order, with extensive story and bibliographic notes, this series not only provides access to stories that have been out of print for years, but gives them a historical and social context. Series editors Scott Conners and Ronald S. Hilger excavated the still-existing manuscripts, letters and various published versions of the stories, creating a definitive "preferred text" for Smith's entire body of work. This second volume of the series brings together 20 of his fantasy stories.
The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith Volume 2
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
volume 2 contains two of the greatest weird tales ever written,
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This review is from: The Door to Saturn (The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith, Vol. 2) (Hardcover)
although not all of clark ashton smith's weird tales are classics, almost all of them are worth reading. his best stories are terrific. this volume contains two of his very best; "THE CITY OF THE SINGING FLAME" and "THE TESTAMENT OF ATHAMMAUS". both stories rank with (smith's good friend) h.p. lovecraft's finest. "THE CITY OF THE SINGING FLAME" in particular is one of the most devastating short stories i've ever read. it will knock you out. many such stories (in volumes like this) promise weirdness, this one really delivers. it may also say something (by implication) about the source of weird tales in general. "THE TESTAMENT OF ATHAMMAUS" on the other hand, is a hilarious account of an executed criminal who won't stay dead. many of the other tales in this volume are quite good as well. CLARK ASHTON SMITH at his best is one of the greatest writers of weird tales that ever lived. this volume contains some of his very best. don't miss it.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Second Home Run!,
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This review is from: The Door to Saturn (The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith, Vol. 2) (Hardcover)
Editors Connors and Hilger have succeeded once again in producing more of the ultimate Clark Ashton Smith collection of fantastic prose. As in volume one, they have corrected the tales using Smith's original manuscripts, published here in chronological order according to when they were written, not by subject or date of publication. At times the changes are minor, but in some instances the publisher forced Smith to butcher his own work or, even worse, altered the text without Smith's permission. Now they are restored to original form, the way the author meant them to be!
The editors have also provided histories of the writing and publishing of all of the stories, a Smith bibliography and an alternate ending to "The Return of the Sorcerer." I eagerly await the next installment in this 5-part collection, as this is the definitive Smith, in many cases unseen since the author first wrote the tales herein!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Prose poetry from ages of wonder,
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This review is from: The Door to Saturn (The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith, Vol. 2) (Hardcover)
I read this book right after reading Vance's Tales of the Dying Earth, and that may have helped a little: Vance is a beautiful user of language, and so is CAS, perhaps to an even greater degree. He was a poet who turned to pulp writing to support aged parents, and never stopped writing poetry in creating his pulp fiction.
A Door to Saturn is volume 2 of the 5 volume Night Shade complete collected works, so I guess its not for everyone in that there are cheaper collections of CAS's best work out there. But oh! the moments of beauty in every tale in the book, even in those "weaker" tales. The best stories in the book are the titular "The Door to Saturn", with a superb opening sentence that not only packs a punch, but also contains so much information, despite a potential over-use of commas: "When Morghi, the high priest of the goddess Yhoundeh, together with twelve of his most ferocious and efficient underlings, came at morning twilight to seek the infamous heretic, Eibon, in his house of black gneiss on a headland above the northern main, they were surprised as well as disappointed to find him absent." And it only gets better from there, full of dark humour and dire consequences for all involved. "A Rendezvous in Averoigne" is a chilling little vampire tale from when vampires were evil, and scary, and would dominate your will and drink your blood. "The Ghoul" is unforgettable, as is "The Good Embalmer": both are short tales with a big impact. CAS tells a wonderfully descriptive parable in "The City of the Singing Flame". The possible meanings vary from reader to reader - is it about religion, money, drugs, obsession, or something else altogether. "The Return of the Sorcerer" is a horror story full of boding dread and impending doom. There are a host of other stories - 20 in all - all with endnotes containing discussion of the stories, usually by way of correspondence between CAS and HP Lovecraft. Sometimes this is perhaps a little too much of a glimpse at the man behind the curtain, but in a definitive collection of work I can certainly understand its place. This is a superb collection of works, and should be more widely read.
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