This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on January 9, 2025.

Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Black Stone #4

By Jim Zub (Writer) and Jonas Scharf (Artist) – Titan Comics – December 4, 2024

Review by Robin Marx

Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Black Stone #4 opens with Conan succumbing to the injuries incurred during his last encounter with the Beast of the Black Stone. Kirowan calls upon his occult knowledge, making a significant personal sacrifice to resurrect Conan and simultaneously allow Brissa to remain in the physical realm. Only half of the Heroes of Man survive, yet the goal remains the same: to track down and destroy the source of the Black Stone’s power.

As promised, this final issue in the miniseries culminates in the titular Battle of the Black Stone. This scene is artist Jonas Scharf’s time to shine, and he makes full use of it. Dismemberments and decapitations abound. And while by now Brissa has been illustrated by multiple artists, in this reviewer’s opinion Scharf’s rendering appeals the most. She appears alluring but tough and physically robust, a believable Pictish scout rather than a pinup model who has picked up a spear. The momentum and violence of the massive Beast of the Black Stone also effectively comes across on the page. Seeing John Kirowan shooting magic mind bolts like Doctor Strange is a little eyebrow-raising, however.

While the artwork is first-rate, taken as a whole, Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Black Stone feels far from essential. The miniseries was overstuffed with characters. Even with the prologue shorts in The Savage Sword of Conan #4, readers were not allowed much time with the cast, and as a result their individual appeal too often fails to shine through and their deaths fail to have much narrative weight. Either halving the number of heroes appearing in this miniseries or taking another year to feature these characters singly in The Savage Sword of Conan would have given the crossover event a much firmer foundation.

On the more positive side, after a year of teasing across the first twelve issues of the flagship title, the identity of the cosmic entity ultimately responsible for the Black Stone is a fun revelation certain to be appreciated by fans of the original Marvel Comics Conan the Barbarian. Writer Jim Zub could not have made a better choice. For those readers lacking that familiarity, the accompanying Jeffrey Shanks essay provides some entertaining and enlightening context regarding said entity.

While the missed opportunities and underutilized characters in Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Black Stone are regrettable, the climactic battle is genuinely exciting. The event still feels like a brazenly commercially motivated effort to (re)launch a Robert E. Howard comic universe, but—with the apparently obligatory Conan-facilitated crossover event out of the way—perhaps the characters incompletely showcased in this four-issue miniseries will live up to their full potential in their own solo titles.

Postscript: Solomon Kane: The Serpent Ring was announced in late December, to release in March. Writer/artist Patch Zircher previously handled Kane’s appearances in Titan Comics’ The Savage Sword of Conan issues #1-4.

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This review originally appeared at the New Edge Sword & Sorcery blog on July 8, 2024.

Hurled Headlong Flaming

By Matt Holder – Spiral Tower Press – April 29, 2024

Review by Robin Marx

It is the year 1291 and the coastal Mediterranean city-state of Acre is under siege. After cutting a bloody swath through the Levant, the tide has turned against the European Crusaders. They find themselves surrounded by the Mamluk Sultanate and losing their foothold on the Holy Land. Traumatized by the insanity of the times and desperate to intervene, an unnamed Bishop begs the assistance of Islamic scholar and mapmaker Yaqut al-Hamawi. The cataclysm foretold in the Book of Revelation appears to be rapidly approaching, and the Bishop seeks sacred texts that may help humanity better cope with the tumult to come. To reach the otherworldly library housing the sacred texts, the Bishop must embark on a harrowing–in both the conventional and theological senses of the word–journey into the mythic underworld, risking both his body and soul.

Matt Holder’s HURLED HEADLONG FLAMING is the debut release from Spiral Tower Press’ newly established Keen Blades imprint. The publisher of WHETSTONE: AMATEUR MAGAZINE OF SWORD AND SORCERY, Spiral Tower Press also seeks to use Keen Blades to release new and original works of briskly paced fantasy adventure, specifically focusing on novella-length tales “that test the boundaries of what sword and sorcery can be.” In his introduction, editor Jason Ray Carney cites the “psychocartographic” nature of HURLED HEADLONG FLAMING as one of the novella’s core attractions. Like John Milton’s PARADISE LOST and Dante Alighieri’s DIVINE COMEDY before it, HURLED HEADLONG FLAMING blends a spiritual journey with a tour of various otherworldly locales. Unlike with a more conventional fantasy travelogue, these places are not to be taken merely at face value; they are often laden with additional significance, either imbued with allegory or providing object lessons for the pilgrim.

While the prelude and coda take place in the human realm, the underworld journey at the heart of the novella is divided into three distinct parts. During “Part I – The Matter of War,” the Bishop undergoes a symbolic rebirth, emerging naked and scorched into the underworld. Before long he is pulled into brutal conflict with a variety of opponents of vastly differing physiques, some human in form, others unmistakably demonic in nature. Recalling al-Hamawi’s advice, the Bishop must fight until he is “fluent,” shedding enough blood to attract the attention of powerful demons able to aid him in his quest. This first section of the book is visceral and relentless, showing a man of the cloth demolishing every obstacle in his path. Despite this section’s relatively brief page count, Holder delivers an epic, operatic montage-style depiction of the chaos of war.

Abandoning the limited third-person perspective of Part I, “Part II – The Matter of Truth” abruptly shifts to a Socratic dialogue-style format. Having successfully gained an audience with powerful demons, the Bishop must prove himself worthy of admission into the infernal city that houses the library he seeks. Three demons compel the Bishop to give a persuasive lecture on the nature of authority and truth. While conducted in a more genteel manner than the previous blood-drenched section, Holder gives the sense that this is merely a battle of a different sort.

“Part III – The Matter of Taking” marks another drastic transition in prose style, this time adopting a first-person epistolary presentation in the form of pages from the Bishop’s journal. Plunged into an infernal city of obelisks and blackened glass, a “churning cauldron of flesh” populated by both human souls and demons alike, the Bishop must orient himself and find a path to the library. “This place will not let you leave until you have completed your labors,” the Bishop is admonished, and he is forced to endure more hardship and despair en route to the library.

The extreme shifts in tone and prose style across the three parts of the underworld journey are disorienting, but this feels intentional. Even with the benefit of his initial coaching from al-Hamawi, the Bishop is constantly forced to react to unexpected developments and threats. Swiftly moving from gritty war epic to philosophical debate to claustrophobic horror, each presented with a different perspective, also cleverly serves to keep the reader on the back foot.

For what is ostensibly a spiritual journey, HURLED HEADLONG FLAMING is profoundly concerned with the flesh. The Bishop is not allowed to cleanly and luminously flit from scene to allegorical scene as an incorporeal soul. No, the Bishop is very much confined to his physical form. Over the course of his journey he is scraped, burned, pierced, torn, raked, abraded, bruised, lanced, and gouged. His corpus is constantly soiled with blood, sweat, dust, filth, and other distasteful stains. Although the underground imbues him with supernatural resilience, every footstep of progress he makes is nevertheless paid for in blood and perspiration. While he is still preoccupied with questions of sin and spiritual salvation, both the Bishop and the reader are constantly reminded of the fleshly vehicle he uses to navigate the underworld. This felt like a calculated rejection of philosophical dualism. Holder seems to suggest that the body and the soul cannot be separated, you carry your body and its weight with you. Even in Hell, a twisted ankle is a setback.

HURLED HEADLONG FLAMING succeeds in fulfilling Keen Blades’ stated objective of pushing the boundaries of Sword & Sorcery. The battle mayhem of Part I and the bizarre cityscape of Part III showcase deliver the kind of exciting martial action and phantasmagorical imagery present in much of the best Sword & Sorcery fiction. But the novella also demonstrates a pensiveness uncommon in the subgenre, however. Michael Moorcock’s stories often toy with philosophical themes, but it’s difficult to imagine him dedicating a third of a book to a Socratic dialogue. Otherworldly journeys figure prominently in C.L. Moore’s Jirel of Joiry tales, but without the Middle Ages-flavored religiosity of HURLED HEADLONG FLAMING. Rather than core Sword & Sorcery fans, I would be quicker to recommend this book to readers who enjoyed the grimdark medieval horror of Christopher Buehlman’s BETWEEN TWO FIRES. HURLED HEADLONG FLAMING may sit uneasily in the Sword & Sorcery category, but the grit, fast pace, propulsive action, and hallucinatory imagery are likely to appeal to S&S fans, nonetheless.

#ReviewArchive #BookReview #Fantasy #SwordAndSorcery #HistoricalFantasy #DarkFantasy #Grimdark #HurledHeadlongFlaming #MattHolder #NewEdgeSwordAndSorcery #NESS

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on November 29, 2011.

Night's Master

By Tanith Lee – DAW – November 1, 1978

Review by Robin Marx

First in the Tales of the Flat Earth series, this book is often compared to the 1001 Arabian Nights. While a collection of exotic stories, each linked to its predecessor, the stories are not nested and don't have a particularly Arabian flavor. I was reminded more of classical mythology and Grimm's fairy tales than the Middle East. This is a minor quibble, however, as the stories are enchanting and lush.

“Lush” has always been the best word to describe Tanith Lee's melancholic and erotically-tinged fantasy. While her style isn't particularly ornate, it still evokes as much gorgeous imagery as more verbose writers such as Clark Ashton Smith and Jack Vance. In the field of darkly romantic fantasy, newcomer Jacqueline Carey seems to be getting much of the publicity, but those familiar with both are likely to recognize that Carey is merely rearranging furniture in the house that Tanith Lee built. The Flat Earth was the most compelling fantasy world I've encountered in some time, and I look forward to visiting it again in the next book.

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on January 22, 2012.

Battle in the Dawn: The Complete Hok the Mighty

By Manly Wade Wellman – Paizo Publishing – November 17, 2010

Review by Robin Marx

The premise of the Hok the Mighty stories is simple, yet compelling. Hok is a Cro-Magnon, the strongest and cleverest of his kind. Possessed of a more daring nature than his clan-mates, he ranges further than anyone, coming into contact with a variety of interesting peoples (frequently hostile Neanderthals, but also rival tribes and even Atlanteans) and prehistoric monsters.

Hok is repeatedly referred to as “humanity's first hero”, and the fact that everything he does is a first (building the first bow, inadvertently forging the first sword) adds to the excitement. Another fun twist is that Manly Wade Wellman subscribed to the belief that every fable has a hint of truth to it. He alludes to the fact that Hok's mighty deeds are the origin of the Hercules myth by placing him in a desperate struggle with some primitive beast, and then pointing out through a footnote how, distorted and exaggerated by retelling, that battle came to be known as one of Hercules' Labors. It's a minor storytelling trick, but it adds mythic resonance.

The Hok stories are solid entries in the pulp fantasy canon. While not quite as visceral as Robert E. Howard's Conan stories, his adventures compare favorably with the Tarzan tales.

★★★☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on April 5, 2012.

The Leopard Mask

By Kurimoto Kaoru – Hayakawa Bunko – September 30, 1979

Review by Robin Marx

(I read this book in the original Japanese, so I can't speak to the quality of the English translation.)

This is the first volume in a 130+ volume series of Japanese heroic fantasy. The series began in 1979, ending prematurely with the author's death of pancreatic cancer in 2009. Although Kurimoto herself was influenced by classic English-language sword & sorcery writers (Robert E. Howard, Henry Kuttner, and Clark Ashton Smith are some of the mentioned in the book's afterword), her own long-running series went on to have a considerable impact on Japan's fantasy fiction. The creator of the Berserk manga, Miura Kentarou, cites Guin Saga as a primary source of inspiration, for example.

I'm a dedicated fan of English sword & sorcery, and I picked up this book because I wanted to see what the Japanese variety was like. Heroic fantasy (as opposed to Tolkien-style epic or high fantasy) gained popularity in Japan in the 70s and early 80s, just as the US was undergoing its own sword & sorcery revival with paperback Conan pastiches, Karl Edward Wagner's Kane series, etc. Although it seems like there were a number of Japanese writers active in the field at the time (mainly established SF writers trying their hand at S&S, apparently), to my knowledge Guin Saga was the only one with any sort of long-term longevity. Unlike its contemporaries, Guin Saga remains in print. Even with the death of its creator, it continues to grow, with new Guin Saga World anthologies released seasonally.

Reading through the first volume, I found it to be a bit of a mixed bag. True to the sword & sorcery genre it features an exciting main character, an intriguing villain, and a fair amount of violent action (there's even an arena fight with a giant gray ape). However, the story is hindered by some pacing problems, weak supporting characters, and prose that tends towards the bland side of things.

The main character is a leopard-headed man named Guin. He wakes up half-dead in a haunted forest with no memories other than his name and the word “Aula,” which could refer to either a person or a place. He's powerfully built, and discovers that he's an expert fighter. He doesn't seem to be from any of the neighboring countries, and nobody has seen a creature like him. He's not a leopard-man—he doesn't have a furry body, claws, etc.—he's just a human with a bestial head. There are suggestions that he didn't always used to be this way, and that it may be the result of some curse. Rock on. Guin captured my interest right away. We don't learn any more about his past through the course of this book, that's likely hinted at in subsequent books, but we know enough.

In the other corner we have the Black Count Varnon. He rules a small keep in the wilderness, leading a group of knights who are both loyal and terrified of their lord. Varnon is afflicted with a rotting disease—a curse resulting from previous misdeeds—and must always wear bandages and a completely sealed suit of black armor. He's ominous, reclusive, and—should his armor be breached—very contagious.

Unfortunately, the book's other characters are less appealing. No sooner has Guin woken up in the forest when he's immediately saddled with Rinda and Remus, twin siblings and the fleeing teenage heirs to a recently conquered country. Sister Rinda is haughty and overbearing, while secretly insecure. Her brother Remus is a weak, simpering waste of skin. Both characters seem to exist to cower behind Guin, shrieking in fear whenever something spooky occurs. They're a burden, both on Guin and the plot. Throughout the book I hoped Guin would resolve their problems and send them on their way, but alas, it seems that the Wonder Twins are to be recurring characters and a major part of subsequent volumes. (Incidentally, useless child companions have become a regrettably big part of the Berserk manga, too.)

The pacing of the book has issues as well. There are large portions of the book where the focus is taken away from both Guin's derring-do and the Black Count's villainy, instead dwelling on Rinda (acting imperious) or Remus (crying and/or being afraid). These are the parts of the story that drag.

Despite a meandering second act, however, the climax recovers every bit of the excitement found in the first part of the story. While I can't recommend it unreservedly, I saw enough potential in the series that I've gone ahead and purchased the second and third volumes. I'm not sure I'll want to stick with it for all 130 volumes (and the additional 22 gaiden side-stories and anthologies), but we'll see how it goes. Lots of great series have shaky first installments, and (judging from its place of honor in Japan's fantasy fiction canon) I suspect the Guin Saga may be one of them.

★★★☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on June 25, 2018.

Swords Against Death

By Fritz Leiber – Ace Books – 1970

Review by Robin Marx

Another indispensable installment in one of the most important sword & sorcery series ever.

Interestingly, most of the stories contained in this volume take place far from the city of Lankhmar. Instead we're given a wide-ranging tour of many distant locales scattered across Nehwon. While it was written much later than most of the stories contained here, “The Circle Curse” provides an interesting justification for Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser to quit Lankhmar (to free themselves of ghosts from their past) while promising that they'll inevitably return. It also introduces the pair's wizardly patrons, Ningauble of the Seven Eyes and Sheelba of the Eyeless Face. The two wizards are absent from most stories that follow, which I found interesting. My—apparently spotty—recollection had them providing the impetus for a much higher percentage of Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser's adventures.

The stories included herein are all entertaining, but some are better than others. Leiber exhibits a frustrating tendency to step back into a vague, impressionistic style at the climax of the story. “The Bleak Shore” is one example of this. Most of the story (involving a curse driving the heroes to the titular Bleak Shore, where death awaits) is presented with a great deal of detail, but when it becomes time for the heroes to dispatch the cause of the curse, the narrative suddenly becomes much more fuzzy and indistinct.

Most of the stories are incredibly fun, however. “The Seven Black Priests” involves religious hermits' incredibly dogged pursuit of the heroes' mostly inadvertent theft of their sacred artifact. “Claws from the Night,” a story about jewel-filching birds, benefits from unlikely schemes, humorous characterization, and some vivid Lankhmarese worldbuilding.

This volume concludes with two of the strongest stories in the entire Lankhmar canon: “The Price of Pain-Ease” and “Bazaar of the Bizarre.” “The Price of Pain-Ease” begins with one of the most audacious and memorable heists in the series—our heroes steal a house—and concludes with their journey into the underworld in an effort to literally rid themselves of ghosts from their past.

“Bazaar of the Bizarre” is, for my money, one of the best sword & sorcery stories of all time. It has a deliciously intriguing and baroque setting in Lankhmar's Plaza of Dark Delights, a unique threat in the form of the extra-dimensional merchant Devourers (with a bit of pointed commentary about consumerism), a memorable battle between Fafhrd and the Iron Statue, snappy prose, and grin-inspiring characterization. If a friend wanted an introduction to the sword & sorcery subgenre, this single story is what I'd hand them, passing over even Conan and Elric.

All fantasy fans owe it to themselves to read these stories.

★★★★★

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on June 11, 2018.

Swords and Deviltry

By Fritz Leiber – Ace Books – 1970

Review by Robin Marx

The start of one of the best sword & sorcery series ever created.

While I personally feel that sword & sorcery heroes don't really need origin stories (Conan did fine without one), there are three presented here. “The Snow Women” introduces Fafhrd, “The Unholy Grail” focuses on The Gray Mouser, and “Ill Met in Lankhmar” shows how the two heroes joined forces.

“Ill Met in Lankhmar” is an absolute classic in the genre, and is a delight to read and re-read. While it left me cold, so to speak, when I first encountered it as a teenager, I gained a whole new appreciation of “The Snow Women” and the fraught gender politics contained within as a married adult.

I found “The Unholy Grail” to be the weakest of the three stories, and that's particularly disappointing given that The Gray Mouser is one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. His origin story is pretty flat and disappointing. He starts off as a magician's apprentice little different from those seen in many other fantasy stories, and there's little hint of the wry sybaritic thief he becomes in the later stories. The ending has a hint of deus ex machina to it, as well. That being said, it's not a bad story, it's just not as good as its companions.

One thing that struck me during this reread was how Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser's ill-fated lady loves are presented in the stories here. It threw me off a bit when I was a teenager, but Fafhrd's Vlana and Mouser's Ivrian are not the idealized women so often portrayed in fantasy fiction. Vlana has been around the block a few times, and she displays a mercenary tendency to attach herself to any strong-seeming man that can advance her agenda. When Fafhrd calls her out on this, she immediately shuts him down, telling him that he hasn't a clue how hard it has been for her in a male-dominated world. Ivrian, on the other hand, is a bit frail and silly, and her presentation put me in mind of chivalric love, making me think that maybe the Mouser didn't love her so much as he did the IDEA of her and having an audience for his gallantry.

These stories are classics in the field, and worthwhile reads for any fantasy fan.

★★★★★

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on May 10, 2022.

Skallagrim – In The Vales Of Pagarna

By Stephen R. Babb – Hidden Crown Press – March 7, 2022

Review by Robin Marx

This adventurous novel begins with a bang. A bang and a slash, to be more precise, as a thief named Skallagrim is clubbed on the back of his skull immediately prior to having his face slashed open. As he regains his senses, Skallagrim quickly realizes that he’s in a back alley fight for his life. A sorcerer screams directions at his henchmen to subdue Skallagrim while bundling a terrified maiden that Skallagrim faintly recognizes as his beloved into the back of a wagon. Other than that, his memory is blank. Just as his situation is at its most desperate, he miraculously acquires an enchanted sword that nearly fights of its own accord.

Severely wounded, Skallagrim survives this battle, only to discover the nameless maiden has been abducted away into the countryside. With the help of a handful of somewhat suspect allies, including a self-professed friend he has no memory of, Skallagrim is stitched back together and pointed in the direction of the evil sorcerer’s fortress. He must journey through hostile wilderness in a race to rescue the girl before she is sacrificed in a nefarious ritual.

The story that follows is a fast-paced adventure. While the premise is pretty basic—save the girl from the wicked wizard—complications and twists are introduced along the way that add more depth to the narrative. Skallagrim learns that he’s a pawn in a greater game, and both his enemies and allies have more going on than it first appears.

Stylistically, the book is a little offbeat. The pace is quick and the action frenetic. However, Babb seems to see no reason to limit himself to Skallagrim’s point of view, instead going with a third-person omniscient perspective. The reader spends most of the time in Skallagrim’s mind, but mid-chapter or even mid-scene the perspective will slide into in the mind of someone Skallagrim is interacting with, giving insight into their thoughts or agenda. While third-party omniscient is a valid—if not currently very fashionable—perspective, here it’s mostly used to info-dump exposition that Skallagrim isn’t otherwise party to. The additional detail is welcome, as Skallagrim isn’t particularly well-traveled and he’s also suffering from the effects of amnesia, but I couldn’t help but feel it could’ve been delivered in a more elegant manner.

The prose is very vivid, to the extent that it came off a little purple at times. Early on it felt like no noun or verb was left unadorned. This impression weakened over time, however. Whether the writing relaxed a bit or I simply became accustomed to it is difficult to tell. When I was reminded that Babb is a musician and songwriter (for a fantasy-themed prog rock outfit named Glass Hammer) the slightly ostentatious prose made a bit more sense.

The initial verbosity and reliance on the hoary trope of amnesia put me off the book a bit early on, but the more I read, the more I enjoyed it. The book occupies an interesting halfway point between sword & sorcery and epic fantasy. Monster selection is straight out of Lovecraft, and I thoroughly enjoyed the ghouls, nightgaunts, and tentacled Old Man o’ the River. The intense action and high concept premise is traditional sword & sorcery, but as Skallagrim slowly becomes aware of the shadowy forces pulling strings behind the scenes, he gains a vague understanding of higher stakes and perhaps his own destiny. This adds a more epic cast to the events of the story, as well as setting the stage for sequels. I’m still not a fan of amnesiac protagonists, but I’m interested to see where Skallagrim’s journeys take him.

Recommended for fans of action-packed sword & sorcery. People who enjoy the gothic fantasy trappings of From Software games like Dark Souls and Elden Ring will also find a lot to like in the last third of the book.

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on December 29, 2016.

Elak of Atlantis: Four Stories

By Henry Kuttner – Diversion Books – July 29, 2014

Review by Robin Marx

The four stories contained in this book were entertaining, but a mixed bag.

The two longest stories, “Thunder in the Dawn” and “Dragon Moon” felt a bit unfocused, with extended, almost psychedelic interludes that reminded me of C. L. Moore's (Kuttner's wife) “Black God's Kiss.” Unfortunately, this aspect of Kuttner's stories compare unfavorably to Moore's.

“The Spawn of Dagon” was the shortest story in the book, but also the most interesting. Elak and his erstwhile companion the perpetually drunk Lycon accept what appears to be a relatively straightforward mission to assassinate a sorcerer. Without giving too much away, there's an interesting twist towards the end and the two heroes find themselves in a tense situation. While Robert E. Howard's “The Tower of the Elephant” is my usual go-to, this would also be a good example of a story to introduce Sword & Sorcery to someone unfamiliar with the subgenre.

While the afore-mentioned Lycon and an ugly, rotund druid named Dalan captured my interest, Elak himself was a bit bland as a character. He's of a royal bloodline, with no interest in ruling. There are hints that he had a falling out with his father, but it wasn't expanded upon. His weapon of choice is a rapier, which is an uncommon choice for a Sword & Sorcery hero. Apart from that, Lycon and Dalan seemed more vividly rendered than the titular hero.

While I don't feel like I wasted my time with this book, the bulk of the stories were fairly forgettable. Moore's Jirel of Joiry was a lot more compelling than her husband's creation.

★★★☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on August 17, 2016.

The Door to Saturn

By Clark Ashton Smith – Night Shade Books – June 1, 2007

Review by Robin Marx

[The Door to Saturn] Part of CAS' Hyperborean cycle, “The Door to Saturn” has an interesting premise. A party of inquisitors storm the wizard Eibon's tower, hoping to bring him to justice for heresy. Eibon has a contingency plan, however, and a magic panel presented to him from his otherworldly patron Zhothaqquah to escape to Cykranosh (Saturn). The chief inquisitor Morghi discovers the trick and follows Eibon. They discover that the planet isn't especially hospital to human life, and they put aside their differences in an effort to survive their incomprehensible new environment. While more event- and locale-driven than plot-driven, the pair have an amusing adventure that reads very much like the kind of tale that Jack Vance would later write.

[The Red World of Polaris] This story is a straight science fiction tale, with a ship of explorers pulled down to the surface of a planet orbiting Polaris after drifting too close. They encounter aliens who have replaced their bodies with mechanical shells, and their hosts are homicidally offended when the humans rebuff their offer for a similar “upgrade.” While a lot happens in this story, apart from some vivid description there isn't much of interest here. Like “The Door to Saturn,” it's another story about characters trapped in a strange land, but it lacks the humor and whimsy of the previous tale.

[Told in the Desert] This story returns to one of Clark Ashton Smith's favorite themes: loss. A desert wanderer tells his camp-mates about his chance discovery of an isolated oasis and the charming young woman he romanced there. A callow individual, he takes his simple lifestyle and devoted paramour for granted and leaves the oasis. He realizes his mistake too late, and wanders the deserts searching in vain for the oasis. There aren't any big surprises in this story, but it's a simple fable well told.

[The Willow Landscape] While the previous story had an Arabian setting, this one takes place in ancient China. It involves an art collecting courtier who has fallen on hard times. He supports himself and his much younger brother by selling off pieces of his collection, until he eventually has to part with his absolute favorite piece, a wall scroll depicting a idyllic glen with a rustic hut, and arched bridge, and a small figure of a beautiful woman. The new owner—a fat man who, refreshingly, is not depicted as greedy or cruel—graciously allows the impoverished courtier one last night with the painting. He is rewarded for his love and devotion over the years by a mysterious voice who welcomes him into the world of the scroll, where he lives happily ever after with the maiden in the painting. As an art lover, I enjoyed this story a great deal. It seemed a bit like a reversal of Pygmalion, both feature protagonists who are rewarded for their devotion to a work of art, but instead of Galatea becoming flesh and joining Pygmalion as his wife, the courtier (whose “heart is native here but alien to all the world beside”) is absorbed into the art. This is a beautiful, charming story.

[A Rendezvous in Averoigne] This story is a classic, but probably more for the prose than the plot. It's a nice vampire story, but there's not much in the way of dramatic tension. The protagonist finds himself in a creepy, atmospheric situation, but it's resolved pretty smoothly, all things considered. Everything goes according to plan with the vampire-slaying, and I can't help but think the story would be stronger if there had been more obstacles or setbacks along the way. Still, the story is beautifully told.

[The Gorgon] This story about the caretaker of Medusa's head could easily have been written by Lovecraft or Clive Barker. There aren't any major twists or reveals, but it has a nice creepy tone.

[An Offering to the Moon] This story didn't work too well for me. The core premise, of an archaeologist basically going native and attacking a colleague while investigating an ancient sacrificial site, had promise, but the framing could have been better.

[The Kiss of Zoraida] I tend to like CAS' Arabian Nights-style stories, and while straightforward this is an effectively-written story of a jealous husband's revenge.

[The Face by the River] Not particularly notable or memorable.

[The Ghoul] Another Arabian Nights tale, this one is clever take on the theme of an average person burdened with a horrible task by a monster. Darkly poignant.

[The Tale of Sir John Maundeville] This story about a valiant knight starts off in an exciting and atmospheric manner, but the ending is absurdly anti-climactic. A literal conqueror worm king imprisons the knight for trespassing into the kingdom of the dead and...wordlessly, peacefully releases him after a reasonable period of incarceration. I would have liked to read Robert E. Howard's take on this premise, he would've given it a much worthier ending for sure.

[An Adventure in Futurity] While involving time instead of space travel, the second half of this story is almost a retelling of “The Red World of Polaris,” with an advanced society being overthrown by a slave uprising combined with biological warfare. I found it hard to summon up much sympathy for the future humans, given that they kept slaves in the first place. This story also felt entirely too long compared to “Polaris.”

[The Justice of the Elephant] While set in India, this story has a similar flavor to the Arabian Nights-style. This story makes an interesting pair with “The Kiss of Zoraida,” as it's the lover who gets revenge on the murderous cuckolded husband. That he makes use of the very same “weapon” used to kill the executed wife adds a nice symmetry.

[The Return of the Sorcerer] This story, with a secretary hired to assist a reclusive and harried-looking occultist, starts off quite a bit like “The Devotee of Evil” from Volume 1. Fortunately, it takes a wildly divergent path after the initial setup is established and culminates in a grisly ending that Edgar Allan Poe would have greatly appreciated.

[The City of the Singing Flame] This tale inspires more questions than it answers. It's framed as an “abandoned diary” from a vanished colleague so it's easy to guess the narrator's fate, but the mysterious otherworld is described in an extremely compelling manner.

[A Good Embalmer] It's easy to predict where this story is headed after the opening paragraphs, but this story stands out as one of the more obviously humorous of CAS' tales.

[The Testament of Athammaus] An executioner deals with a monstrous criminal that refuses to stay dead. This story has an interesting premise and some creepy exposition, but otherwise doesn't stand out too much.

[The Amazing Planet] This is an unusually action-packed story for CAS. Mistaken for animals, a pair of space explorers are captured by aliens and put on display at a zoo. Unable to communicate through any means but violence, the pair escape their cage and kill waves and waves of aliens until they're recaptured and shot back into space in the direction of the initial planet. The story has an interesting, desperate premise, but the execution doesn't quite live up to it.

[The Letter from Mohaun Los] I'd grown a bit tired of time travel stories by the time this one appeared, but this one had an interesting twist. The universe is always in motion, so if you travel far enough forward or backward in time you can't count on remaining in the same spot. As a result, the protagonist ends up traveling not just through time, but into outer space and even to other planets. He and his stereotypical Chinese servant encounter a variety of strange societies, make an alien friend, and end up settling in the far future. One repeating theme in CAS' fiction seems to be that you can't go home again. When protagonists journey to strange lands, they usually stay there permanently, either voluntarily or otherwise.

[The Hunters from Beyond] While more than a bit reminiscent of Lovecraft's “Pickman's Model” (something CAS readily admitted himself), this is a fun, creepy story to end off the volume with. After glimpsing an otherworldly monster, a struggling writer of weird fiction visits a sculptor cousin who regularly summons these creatures and uses them as inspiration for his art. The resulting plot doesn't have much in the way of surprises, but it's evocatively told.

★★★★☆

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