Lost Worlds (Textbook Binding)

by Clark Ashton Smith (Author)
Key Phrases: Maal Dweb, Ralibar Vooz, Rlim Shaikorth (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Incredible worlds, impossibly beautiful cities, and still more fantastic creatures... Take one step across the threshold of his stories and you plunge into colour, sound, taste, smell and texture: into language."--Ray Bradbury "None strikes the note of cosmic horror as well as Clark Ashton Smith. In sheer daemonic strangeness and fertility of conception, Smith is perhaps unexcelled by any other writer, dead or living."--H. P. Lovecraft --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

An artist, poet, and prolific contributor to Weird Tales, Clark Ashton Smith (1893–1967) is an influential figure in the history of pulp fiction. A close correspondent and collaborator with H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, Smith was widely celebrated as a master by his contemporaries. Back in print for the first time since 1971, Lost Worlds brings together twenty-three of Smith's classic stories, all of which were originally published in Weird Tales. Rather than center his works on heroes, Smith created fantastical worlds around which he built cycles of stories. Included here are tales from the realms of Averoigne, Zothique, Hyperborea, and others. Told in lush poetic prose, these haunting stories bring to life dark, dreamlike realms full of gothic monsters and mortals. Jeff VanderMeer provides an introduction for this Bison Books edition.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Textbook Binding
• Publisher: Arkham House Pub (June 1971)
• ISBN-10: 9997541170
• ISBN-13: 978-9997541178
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,226,972 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #17 in

  Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( S ) > Smith, Clark Ashton

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Fantasy From an Early 20th Century Master, February 13, 2007

By	Paul Cook (Tempe, Arizona USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lost Worlds (Bison Frontiers of Imagination) (Paperback)

This is an extraordinary collection of fantasy (and sometimes horror) masterpieces by a much-neglected, but very influential author. Smith published mostly in WEIRD TALES in the Twenties and Thirties but also published in the occasional science fiction pulp magazine as well. This is fantasy before Tolkein and has nothing of the Arthurian mold to it. Smith writes of weird worlds, strange sorcerers, men who set out to explore the ruins of a dead city of antiquity only to unleash some horror on the world. Lovecraft is the one author who lurks in the background, but Smith is really a writer all of his own. The other factor that is important here is Smith's use of language. It's very poetic and rich, perhaps over the top at times. But this is the attraction of this kind of literature; the very language itself is what evokes these weird worlds and strange landscapes. I can highly recommend this book, especially if you are a fan of fantasy. But be forewarned: This isn't the sword-and-sorcery of Robert Jordan or David Eddings. These stories are dark are the kind that gave WEIRD TALES its power and uniqueness. The editors at Bison should be commended for bringing these stories back out into the open.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clark Ashton Smith, March 21, 2007

By	M. Housand "marstoy" (Oregon) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lost Worlds (Bison Frontiers of Imagination) (Paperback)

I'm glad someone finally brought this great fantasy writer back so others can enjoy his fantastic journeys. Thanks!