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The Golden Age of Weird Fiction MEGAPACK ™ Vol. 6: Clark Ashton Smith
The Golden Age of Weird Fiction MEGAPACK series celebrates Clark Ashton Smith with 17 of his classic fantasy & horror stories from WEIRD TALES and other sources! Included here THE ABOMINATIONS OF YONDO
THE THIRD EPISODE OF VATHEK
THIRTEEN PHANTASMS
THE CHARNEL GOD
THE COLOSSUS OF YLOURGNE
THE CHAIN OF AFORGOMON
THE BLACK ABBOT OF PUTHUUM
THE VOYAGE OF KING EUVORAN
THE MAZE OF THE ENCHANTER
THE DOUBLE SHADOW
A NIGHT IN MALNEANT
THE DEVOTEE OF EVIL
THE WILLOW LANDSCAPE
THE EMPIRE OF NECROMANCERS
THE ENCHANTRESS OF SYLAIRE
THE INVISIBLE CITY
MOTHER OF TOADS
If you enjoy this volume of classic stories, don't forget to search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see the 240+ other entries in this series, including not just weird fiction, but mysteries, adventure, science fiction, fantasy, horror -- and much, much more!"
THE THIRD EPISODE OF VATHEK
THIRTEEN PHANTASMS
THE CHARNEL GOD
THE COLOSSUS OF YLOURGNE
THE CHAIN OF AFORGOMON
THE BLACK ABBOT OF PUTHUUM
THE VOYAGE OF KING EUVORAN
THE MAZE OF THE ENCHANTER
THE DOUBLE SHADOW
A NIGHT IN MALNEANT
THE DEVOTEE OF EVIL
THE WILLOW LANDSCAPE
THE EMPIRE OF NECROMANCERS
THE ENCHANTRESS OF SYLAIRE
THE INVISIBLE CITY
MOTHER OF TOADS
If you enjoy this volume of classic stories, don't forget to search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see the 240+ other entries in this series, including not just weird fiction, but mysteries, adventure, science fiction, fantasy, horror -- and much, much more!"
279 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 20, 2015
89 people are currently reading
82 people want to read
About the author
Clark Ashton Smith
722 books1,009 followersClark Ashton Smith was a poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. It is for these stories, and his literary friendship with H. P. Lovecraft from 1922 until Lovecraft's death in 1937, that he is mainly remembered today. With Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, also a friend and correspondent, Smith remains one of the most famous contributors to the pulp magazine Weird Tales.
His writings are posted at his official website.
His writings are posted at his official website.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 26, 2017
I was utterly lost and not sure at all that I wanted to return from these worlds shaped by luxuriant language and overwhelming imagination, where necromancers, strange gods, masters of ancient knowledge, fantastical beings of all kinds, even aliens, merge in stories richer than those of the Arabian Nights.
"Hidden by the low ridges, were cities of which no stela remained unbroken -immense and immemorial cities lapsing shard by shard, atom by atom, to feed infinities of desolation."
"Clasped in each other's arms, we had the sensation of falling, together with the pavilion, into a deep abyss. The thunder ceased, the vertigo of our descent grew less, and we heard on every side the woeful and furious noise of rushing waters. A melancholy glimmering dawned about us, and by it, we saw the pavilion had become a raft of serpents plaited together in the fashion of reeds, that was borne headlong on a dark tumultuous river. The serpents, large and rigid as beams of wood, had preserved on their skins the black and rosy mottling of the marble, and they had formed themselves into a cabin around us, like the superstructure of the pavilion. As we went, they added a loud and sinister hissing to the sound of the driven waters."
"The isle was topped with gnarly cypresses that might have grown in a windy graveyard; and sullenly it took the afterglow, as if drenched with a gore of darkening blood."
"On the seaward side, the mansion rises sheerly from the straight-falling cliff; but on the other sides there are narrow terraces, grown with dwarfish, crooked cedars that bow always beneath the gale. Giant marble monsters guard the landward portals, and huge marble women ward the strait porticoes above the sea; and mighty statues and mummies stand everywhere in the chambers and along the halls."
I guess I'm still there...
"Hidden by the low ridges, were cities of which no stela remained unbroken -immense and immemorial cities lapsing shard by shard, atom by atom, to feed infinities of desolation."
"Clasped in each other's arms, we had the sensation of falling, together with the pavilion, into a deep abyss. The thunder ceased, the vertigo of our descent grew less, and we heard on every side the woeful and furious noise of rushing waters. A melancholy glimmering dawned about us, and by it, we saw the pavilion had become a raft of serpents plaited together in the fashion of reeds, that was borne headlong on a dark tumultuous river. The serpents, large and rigid as beams of wood, had preserved on their skins the black and rosy mottling of the marble, and they had formed themselves into a cabin around us, like the superstructure of the pavilion. As we went, they added a loud and sinister hissing to the sound of the driven waters."
"The isle was topped with gnarly cypresses that might have grown in a windy graveyard; and sullenly it took the afterglow, as if drenched with a gore of darkening blood."
"On the seaward side, the mansion rises sheerly from the straight-falling cliff; but on the other sides there are narrow terraces, grown with dwarfish, crooked cedars that bow always beneath the gale. Giant marble monsters guard the landward portals, and huge marble women ward the strait porticoes above the sea; and mighty statues and mummies stand everywhere in the chambers and along the halls."
I guess I'm still there...
November 17, 2020
I expected this Clark Ashton Smith anthology to be a homage to the Cthulhu Mythos. It so isn't.
And that's not a bad thing. For sure, there are several short tales whose roots lie firmly in the Lovecraftian world. But this anthology has more dimensions.
Witches, werewolves, vampires, spooks - they all make an appearance in one guise or another amongst these pages.
But it's not the diversity of subject that's the main standout character, here. It's Ashton-Smith's change of tempo and style from one tale to the next that's, well - clever, but often disconcerting.
You can read one story and get into a groove. The next, the style is so different, you'd think it was written by a different author.
I'm sure Ashton-Smith had his reasons, writing different styles based on the demand of the editors of the magazines in which these tales were featured. But it causes for a bump in the road in an anthology like this.
While all plots are super original, it's the tales that tie into the Cthulhu Mythos that get the 5-star reviews from me. They're first class.
If the tales had all been of that ilk—Clark's imagination in this sub-genre is nothing short of fantastic—this anthology would have had 5-stars all around.
Overall, well worth the investment if you like either supernatural and/or weird tales.
And that's not a bad thing. For sure, there are several short tales whose roots lie firmly in the Lovecraftian world. But this anthology has more dimensions.
Witches, werewolves, vampires, spooks - they all make an appearance in one guise or another amongst these pages.
But it's not the diversity of subject that's the main standout character, here. It's Ashton-Smith's change of tempo and style from one tale to the next that's, well - clever, but often disconcerting.
You can read one story and get into a groove. The next, the style is so different, you'd think it was written by a different author.
I'm sure Ashton-Smith had his reasons, writing different styles based on the demand of the editors of the magazines in which these tales were featured. But it causes for a bump in the road in an anthology like this.
While all plots are super original, it's the tales that tie into the Cthulhu Mythos that get the 5-star reviews from me. They're first class.
If the tales had all been of that ilk—Clark's imagination in this sub-genre is nothing short of fantastic—this anthology would have had 5-stars all around.
Overall, well worth the investment if you like either supernatural and/or weird tales.
April 9, 2023
This is as good as weird fiction and dark fantasy short stories get! Smith is a master of word choice, a language wizard creating characters and worlds you love to read about no matter how horrible they sometimes are. Every story is good, and most are great, in this huge collection.
January 14, 2021
I enjoyed this collection of stories. As usual, there were a few less than enthralling ones, and a few that were spectacular. I recommend for all fans of weird fiction.
March 11, 2016
Weird indeed.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews