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Post by Char-Vell on Feb 20, 2019 8:54:05 GMT -5
I watched the documentary last night and enjoyed it. very informative. CAS seemed like a pretty cool dude. The doc made me wish he'd got out more, but he may not have been the writer we was if he had.
That song at the end though...
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Post by ChrisLAdams on Feb 20, 2019 9:05:51 GMT -5
I watched the documentary last night and enjoyed it. very informative. CAS seemed like a pretty cool dude. The doc made me wish he'd got out more, but he may not have been the writer we was if he had. That song at the end though... I'm going to check this out soon. Also wanting to re-watch Painting with Fire. I have both in my queue, as soon as I can get my buddy over here with some pizza and porters. I agree, if Smith had taken different paths (IE went fulltime to public school, wished to work in some field and left home to do so) we might not have what we have. Thank God we do. His Zothique and Poseidonis tales are among my favorite writings - by anyone. There is one tale of his, The Dark Age, which pops often in my head as I love that theme -- that of ancient wisdom lost to a tide of barbarism. I keep getting ideas for a short story along those lines which I may/may not write. But it's fun to think about.
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Post by Char-Vell on Feb 20, 2019 9:28:07 GMT -5
I watched the documentary last night and enjoyed it. very informative. CAS seemed like a pretty cool dude. The doc made me wish he'd got out more, but he may not have been the writer we was if he had. That song at the end though... I'm going to check this out soon. Also wanting to re-watch Painting with Fire. I have both in my queue, as soon as I can get my buddy over here with some pizza and porters. I agree, if Smith had taken different paths (IE went fulltime to public school, wished to work in some field and left home to do so) we might not have what we have. Thank God we do. His Zothique and Poseidonis tales are among my favorite writings - by anyone. There is one tale of his, The Dark Age, which pops often in my head as I love that theme -- that of ancient wisdom lost to a tide of barbarism. I keep getting ideas for a short story along those lines which I may/may not write. But it's fun to think about. I love the Zothique whenever I run a D&D game, the setting is Zothique, wether the players know it or not.
The Colossus of Ylourgne and The Dark Eidolon are tales that stoke my imagination. perhaps I'll "pay homage" to them one day.
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Post by johnnypt on Feb 20, 2019 10:38:13 GMT -5
I wonder why CAS was sort of left behind post-Ballantine Adult Fantasy. I'm looking at his bibliography and between 1980 and 2000, his material apart from anthologies was only being done by places like Arkham and Necromicon Press. I certainly don't remember seeing him on the book shelves at places like Coliseum in New York where I was practically every week in the 90s, where I'd see Howard, Burroughs, Tolkien, Lovecraft, Asimov, CS Lewis, A. Merritt, Moorcock, PJF etc. I didn't his stuff at used bookstores much either. I know nowadays things are way more readily available, but it's like I missed out on a piece of my literary development. I stumbled on Moorcock just because the Book of Swords cover looked cool. Because it wasn't there, I didn't get the chance to pick up Averoigne or Zothique from just a quick trip to the book store (come to think of it, Carter didn't get a chance to do Averoigne for Ballantine either >:-( ). I will have to play catch up at some point, but I don't have a lot of reading time these days as it is. Then again, his short stories may be the perfect answer.
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Post by Char-Vell on Feb 20, 2019 14:07:21 GMT -5
I wonder why CAS was sort of left behind post-Ballantine Adult Fantasy. I'm looking at his bibliography and between 1980 and 2000, his material apart from anthologies was only being done by places like Arkham and Necromicon Press. I certainly don't remember seeing him on the book shelves at places like Coliseum in New York where I was practically every week in the 90s, where I'd see Howard, Burroughs, Tolkien, Lovecraft, Asimov, CS Lewis, A. Merritt, Moorcock, PJF etc. I didn't his stuff at used bookstores much either. I know nowadays things are way more readily available, but it's like I missed out on a piece of my literary development. I stumbled on Moorcock just because the Book of Swords cover looked cool. Because it wasn't there, I didn't get the chance to pick up Averoigne or Zothique from just a quick trip to the book store (come to think of it, Carter didn't get a chance to do Averoigne for Ballantine either >:-( ). I will have to play catch up at some point, but I don't have a lot of reading time these days as it is. Then again, his short stories may be the perfect answer. I didn't really get hip to CAS until this edition came out:
The documentary showed some Pocket books "timescape" editions that looked real '80s, but I never saw them back in the day.
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Post by ChrisLAdams on Feb 20, 2019 14:13:12 GMT -5
I wonder why CAS was sort of left behind post-Ballantine Adult Fantasy. I'm looking at his bibliography and between 1980 and 2000, his material apart from anthologies was only being done by places like Arkham and Necromicon Press. I certainly don't remember seeing him on the book shelves at places like Coliseum in New York where I was practically every week in the 90s, where I'd see Howard, Burroughs, Tolkien, Lovecraft, Asimov, CS Lewis, A. Merritt, Moorcock, PJF etc. I didn't his stuff at used bookstores much either. I know nowadays things are way more readily available, but it's like I missed out on a piece of my literary development. I stumbled on Moorcock just because the Book of Swords cover looked cool. Because it wasn't there, I didn't get the chance to pick up Averoigne or Zothique from just a quick trip to the book store (come to think of it, Carter didn't get a chance to do Averoigne for Ballantine either >:-( ). I will have to play catch up at some point, but I don't have a lot of reading time these days as it is. Then again, his short stories may be the perfect answer. You're absolutely right. You kinda/sorta had to know about Smith at that time (80s/90s), and actively seek him out to find him; and then what you found were mostly older editions. When Averoigne came out as an offering from Arkham House, I ordered it brand new, only because I happened to find out about it <somehow>. That was smack in the middle of that time frame, as I recall. It's not as if one was likely to walk in Walden Books at the mall in those days, and find it sitting there smiling at you, for sure. My own accidental discovery of CAS was when I picked up The Macabre Reader (mentioned elsewhere as my introduction to HPL and REH, as well), and later, a BAF Poseidonis which flat blew my mind and cemented my love for the man's writings (and the artwork of Gervasio Gallardo!), where I then began scanning mail-order catalogs for everything Smithian. From Pandora Books, Gorgon Books (of NY if I recall), Hancer Books, &etc I began slowly adding Smith to my shelves (frak, it went glacially, at the time). I only recall one other Smith besides my first BAF Poseidonis (that first Poseidonis burned with my house BTW) that I actually pulled off a shelf in a bookstore--a crooked-spined copy of Hyperborea (also a BAF). The others were all courtesy of mail-order catalogs, and later, Ebay, Abe, etc. One collection I'd recommend, if you don't have it yet, is the Trilogus Classics - Ultimate Weird Tales Collection - Clark Ashton Smith eBook. $2 for over a 130 stories, some of his best, and some virtually unknown (for a reason -- but I like to read those, as well). For the sheer amount you get, it's a good value for the money. I enjoy having this on my phone in my Kindle app, allowing me to carry quite a substantial collection of CAS about. I found it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and on iTunes there are many similar offerings. A Copy of Burns * The Abominations of Yondo * The Great God Awto * The Plutonian Drug A Good Embalmer * The Beast of Averoigne * The Haunted Chamber * The Primal City A Night in Malnéant * The Bronze Image * The Haunted Gong * The Raja and the Tiger A Platonic Entanglement * The Chain of Aforgomon * The Holiness of Azédarac * The Resurrection of the Rattlesnake A Rendezvous in Averoigne * The Charnel God * The Hunters from Beyond * The Return of the Sorcerer A Star-Change * The City of the Singing Flame * The Ice-Demon * The Root of Ampoi A Vintage from Atlantis * The Colossus of Ylourgne * The Immeasurable Horror * The Satyr A Voyage to Sfanomoë * The Coming of the White Worm * The Immortals of Mercury * The Second Interment An Adventure in Futurity * The Dark Age * The Invisible City * The Seed from the Sepulchre An Offering to the Moon * The Dark Eidolon * The Isle of the Torturers * The Seven Geases Checkmate * The Dart of Rasasfa * The Justice of the Elephant * The Shah's Messenger Double Cosmos * The Death of Ilalotha * The Kiss of Zoraida * The Stairs in the Crypt Fakhreddin * The Death of Malygris * The Last Hieroglyph * The Supernumerary Corpse Genius Loci * The Demon of the Flower * The Last Incantation * The Tale of Satampra Zeiros Marooned in Andromeda * The Devotee of Evil * The Letter from Mohaun Los * The Tale of Sir John Maundeville Master of the Asteroid * The Dimension of Chance * The Light from Beyond * The Testament of Athammaus Monsters in the Night * The Disinterment of Venus * The Light from the Pole * The Theft of the Thirty-Nine Girdles Morthylla * The Door to Saturn * The Mahout * The Tomb-Spawn Mother of Toads * The Double Shadow * The Maker of Gargoyles * The Treader of the Dust Murder in the Fourth Dimension * The Emir's Captive * The Malay Krise * The Uncharted Isle Necromancy in Naat * The Empire of the Necromancers * The Mandrakes * The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis (Abridged) Nemesis of the Unfinished * The Enchantress of Sylaire * The Master of the Crabs * The Venus of Azombeii Phoenix * The End of the Story * The Maze of Maâl Dweb * The Voyage of King Euvoran Prince Alcorez and the Magician * The Epiphany of Death * The Maze of the Enchanter * The Weaver in the Vault Prince Alcouz and the Magician * The Eternal World * The Metamorphosis of Earth * The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan Puthuum * The Expert Lover * The Monster of the Prophecy * The White Sybil Quest of the Gazolba * The Flirt * The Nameless Offspring * The Willow Landscape Sadastor * The Flower-Women * The Necromantic Tale * The Witchcraft of Ulua Schizoid Creator * The Fulfilled Prophecy * The Ninth Skeleton * Thirteen Phantasms Seedling of Mars * The Garden of Adompha * The Parrot * Told in the Desert Something New * The Ghost of Mohammed Din * The Perfect Woman * Ubbo-Sathla Strange Shadows, or I Am Your Shadow * The Ghoul * The Phantoms of the Fire * Vulthoom Symposium of the Gorgon * The Gorgon * The Planet of the Dead * Xeethra
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Post by ChrisLAdams on Feb 20, 2019 14:23:31 GMT -5
The documentary showed some Pocket books "timescape" editions that looked real '80s, but I never saw them back in the day... This Black Gate article addresses those paperbacks and mentions some other releases of note.
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Post by Char-Vell on Feb 20, 2019 14:37:46 GMT -5
let's not forget the CAS inspired D&D module:
I DO remember seeing this, but I didn't know jack about CAS.
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Post by ChrisLAdams on Feb 20, 2019 14:56:07 GMT -5
let's not forget the CAS inspired D&D module...
I DO remember seeing this, but I didn't know jack about CAS. I don't recall that, but then I never ended up getting into D&D . . . no idea how I missed out on that. I guess I was more into console and PC games. Looks like it's based on The Colossus of Ylourgne?
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Post by Char-Vell on Feb 20, 2019 15:26:01 GMT -5
let's not forget the CAS inspired D&D module...
I DO remember seeing this, but I didn't know jack about CAS. I don't recall that, but then I never ended up getting into D&D . . . no idea how I missed out on that. I guess I was more into console and PC games. Looks like it's based on The Colossus of Ylourgne? Partially. Here's a decent write-up:
thalenfirebeard.blogspot.com/2015/10/mystara-monday-module-x2-castle-amber.html
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Post by ChrisLAdams on Feb 20, 2019 15:43:58 GMT -5
Neat -- a blending of Poe, Smith et al. Toss in some Nathanial Hawthorne, and write a short story of that mixture, and you might have something very cool. Hawthorne's Edward Randolph's Portrait I found of great interest when I encountered it in Supernatural Horror Short Stories recently. I enjoyed it so much, I sought it out again many hundreds of pages later to reread certain passages. Of particular note is the description of the portrait, and what happens to it the morning after the day it was exposed... My plan, if I can drum up the nerve to attempt it, is to paint this awful portrait, and use an image of it as a cover for a book of poetry I plan to publish later this year.
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Post by Char-Vell on Feb 20, 2019 15:51:25 GMT -5
Neat -- a blending of Poe, Smith et al. Toss in some Nathanial Hawthorne, and write a short story of that mixture, and you might have something very cool. Hawthorne's Edward Randolph's Portrait I found of great interest when I encountered it in Supernatural Horror Short Stories recently. I enjoyed it so much, I sought it out again many hundreds of pages later to reread certain passages. Of particular note is the description of the portrait, and what happens to it the morning after the day it was exposed... My plan, if I can drum up the nerve to attempt it, is to paint this awful portrait, and use an image of it as a cover for a book of poetry I plan to publish later this year. that sounds impressive, I'd like to see such a painting.
The Colossus of Ylourgne made me think I'd like to kick around the concept of a pre-industrial society contending with a giant behemoth.
How would you fight off a Kong or Godzilla without tanks or jets?
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Post by johnnypt on Feb 20, 2019 16:06:39 GMT -5
The documentary showed some Pocket books "timescape" editions that looked real '80s, but I never saw them back in the day... This Black Gate article addresses those paperbacks and mentions some other releases of note.
I think I've actually seen City of Singing Flame, probably at one of the old Pyramid Books in New Jersey back in the 90s. Oh well...
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Post by ChrisLAdams on Feb 20, 2019 16:12:49 GMT -5
that sounds impressive, I'd like to see such a painting.
The Colossus of Ylourgne made me think I'd like to kick around the concept of a pre-industrial society contending with a giant behemoth.
How would you fight off a Kong or Godzilla without tanks or jets?
I'd like to see such a painting, too. Or even a good sketch. I've searched, to no avail. I figured someone had done something with it by now. I began collecting imagery related to the expression and emotions and mode of dress mentioned in the description (which is awesome) for later reference, in case I decide to go for it. Not sure i can pull it off. On the fighting giants without tanks or jets, watch Jason and the Argonauts or something similar. Might generate some ideas!
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Post by johnnypt on Feb 20, 2019 16:33:38 GMT -5
that sounds impressive, I'd like to see such a painting.
The Colossus of Ylourgne made me think I'd like to kick around the concept of a pre-industrial society contending with a giant behemoth.
How would you fight off a Kong or Godzilla without tanks or jets?
I'd like to see such a painting, too. Or even a good sketch. I've searched, to no avail. I figured someone had done something with it by now. I began collecting imagery related to the expression and emotions and mode of dress mentioned in the description (which is awesome) for later reference, in case I decide to go for it. Not sure i can pull it off. On the fighting giants without tanks or jets, watch Jason and the Argonauts or something similar. Might generate some ideas! And if you're really lucky, Honor Blackman will whisper in your ear too...
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