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Shambleau
Praised by H.P. Lovecraft as a "magnificent" debut, C.L. Moore's first story is still one of the most famous and enduring tales in science fiction.
Passing through the streets of Lakkdarol, the newest human colony on Mars, Northwest Smith witnesses a bizarre a young woman, clad in scarlet, being chased by a mob chanting "Shambleau! Shambleau!" As beautiful as she is frightened, Northwest shields her from death at the hands of the mob, but alone in his quarters, she reveals how she intends to thank him and what lies inside the closely wrapped turban on her head...
One of the strangest, and surely one of the most imaginative stories ever written, SHAMBLEAU was hailed by readers, authors, and editors as the debut of a truly gifted writer during the golden age of science fiction.
Passing through the streets of Lakkdarol, the newest human colony on Mars, Northwest Smith witnesses a bizarre a young woman, clad in scarlet, being chased by a mob chanting "Shambleau! Shambleau!" As beautiful as she is frightened, Northwest shields her from death at the hands of the mob, but alone in his quarters, she reveals how she intends to thank him and what lies inside the closely wrapped turban on her head...
One of the strangest, and surely one of the most imaginative stories ever written, SHAMBLEAU was hailed by readers, authors, and editors as the debut of a truly gifted writer during the golden age of science fiction.
50 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 1933
10 people are currently reading
534 people want to read
About the author
C.L. Moore
309 books212 followersExcerpted from Wikipedia:
Catherine Lucille Moore was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, as C. L. Moore. She was one of the first women to write in the genre, and paved the way for many other female writers in speculative fiction.
Moore met Henry Kuttner, also a science fiction writer, in 1936 when he wrote her a fan letter (mistakenly thinking that "C. L. Moore" was a man), and they married in 1940.
Afterwards, almost all of their stories were written in collaboration under various pseudonyms, most commonly Lewis Padgett (another pseudonym, one Moore often employed for works that involved little or no collaboration, was Lawrence O'Donnell).
Catherine Lucille Moore was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, as C. L. Moore. She was one of the first women to write in the genre, and paved the way for many other female writers in speculative fiction.
Moore met Henry Kuttner, also a science fiction writer, in 1936 when he wrote her a fan letter (mistakenly thinking that "C. L. Moore" was a man), and they married in 1940.
Afterwards, almost all of their stories were written in collaboration under various pseudonyms, most commonly Lewis Padgett (another pseudonym, one Moore often employed for works that involved little or no collaboration, was Lawrence O'Donnell).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
April 29, 2022
Thanks to my pal Per Persson for this recommendation. "Shambleau" is the first story I've read featuring the character of Northwest Smith, and evidently the first story written by famed sci-fi author Catherine Moore at the close of the Radium Age. It is a retelling of the Medusa myth in a space opera setting.
Northwest Smith is one of the early precursors to Han Solo, an outlaw originally intended as a character of American Westerns, but who became a staple of interplanetary pulps. Here we find him on a Martian outpost saving a beautiful woman from an angry mob. He decides to take responsibility for her and leaves her in his lodgings while he goes about getting drunk and doing piratey things. But it turns out she is much more than a pretty face, and there was good reason for the mob's rancor.
This short story is exquisitely written and quite sensuously steamy. The way the author writes about the titular monster, you can't help but experience first-hand the desire, pity, and revulsion for the creature. Of course, years after Lovecraft, Star Wars, John Carpenter's "The Thing," and numerous rehashed examples of speculative fiction about the vampire myth, this story may seem like old news to modern readers. But in 1933, this must have packed quite a punch and still delivers solid literary thrills to this day.
So I'll probably end up reading and reviewing the other entries of Northwest Smith adventures. I look forward to it.
Northwest Smith is one of the early precursors to Han Solo, an outlaw originally intended as a character of American Westerns, but who became a staple of interplanetary pulps. Here we find him on a Martian outpost saving a beautiful woman from an angry mob. He decides to take responsibility for her and leaves her in his lodgings while he goes about getting drunk and doing piratey things. But it turns out she is much more than a pretty face, and there was good reason for the mob's rancor.
This short story is exquisitely written and quite sensuously steamy. The way the author writes about the titular monster, you can't help but experience first-hand the desire, pity, and revulsion for the creature. Of course, years after Lovecraft, Star Wars, John Carpenter's "The Thing," and numerous rehashed examples of speculative fiction about the vampire myth, this story may seem like old news to modern readers. But in 1933, this must have packed quite a punch and still delivers solid literary thrills to this day.
So I'll probably end up reading and reviewing the other entries of Northwest Smith adventures. I look forward to it.
June 9, 2022
This is, in many ways, the beginning of modern science fiction as the disquieting, fearsome genre it is, full of disconcerting implications in the wake of humanity’s folly. Absolutely spellbinding even almost 100 years later.
Currently reading
September 10, 2020SHAMBLEU
1933 debütierte C.L. Moore mit der Story Shambleu in WEIRD TALES. Für das Magazin war die Erzählung ein literarischer Quantensprung in Sachen Qualität.
(C.L. Moore)
Anstatt der bis dato üblichen SF-Stories, die zumeist kaum mehr als wild=absurde Abenteuergeschichten auf fremden Planeten waren, beschreibt Moore die Begegnung mit dem wirklich Fremden und reihte sich ein in die erste Garde der SF= und Weird Tales=Autoren, die für das legendäre Magazin schrieben (H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard und Clark Ashton Smith).
Der "Held" Northwest Smith, ein Draufgänger mit einem leicht gestörten Kompass in Sachen Gesetzestreue, rettet auf dem Mars eine sehr weibliche Kreatur vor einem Lynchmob und benötigt alsbald selber Hilfe. Das fremde Wesen, das er bei sich aufnimmt, ist eine Kombination aus Frau, Katze und Medusa und bei den Marsianern als Shambleau bekannt. Verführerisch lädt es zum Sex & zur Unterwerfung ein, wobei es die Willenskraft seiner Opfer bricht.
(Shambleau)
Dass sich Tentakel um spärlich bekleidete Damsels in Distress ringeln, haben wir zuvor schon auf ungezählten Magazinumschlägen gesehen, aber hier ringeln sich die Tentakel nun einmal um die Beine des Mannes. Der, die oder das Shambleau ernährt sich von der Lebenskraft seiner Opfer, das ihm nicht mehr entkommen will. "Mann" wird süchtig nach dem sinnlichen Glücksgefühl und will sich der verzehrenden Lust fortgesetzt und immer aufs neue unterwerfen.
Eine interessante Untersuchung der Story wurde in den Science Fiction Studies #73 veröffentlicht und kann hier nachgelesen werden:
https://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues...
Ich fand die Geschichte ausgesprochen lesenswert,
(Das sich ein Opfer "freiwillig" einem vampirartigen Wesen unterwirft, das dessen Lebenskraft aussaugt und sich davon ernährt, ist mir übrigens gerade kürzlich erst in Lumleys Titel=Story aus dem Band Haggopian and Other Stories begegnet)
Der Kuss des Schwarzen Gottes
Auftritt Jirel von Joiry im Oktober 34 in WEIRD TALES:
Die Wildheit, das feuerrote Haar und ein Schwert wie Red Sonja, wow!
Um aber die richtige Waffe gegen den auch sexuell übergriffigen Eroberer von Joiry zu haben, muss Jirel einen spiralförmigen Schacht in die Tiefe der Hölle hinab. Dieser Abstieg wird so genial wie Jirels Wildheit beschrieben, und zur Heldin im Stile Robert E. Howards kommt hier mit der dimensionsübergreifenden Krümmung der Spirale der nichteuklidische Raum, wie wir ihn aus den Weird Tales von Lovecraft und Clark Ashton Smith kennen.
(Ich muss zugeben, ich habe eine Schwäche für diese starken Sword & Sorcery=Heldinnen und bin darum vielleicht ein wenig voreingenommen)
Jirels Abstieg durch den Tunnel in die menschenfeindlich=dämonische "Landschaft" und die anschließende Beschreibung äußersten Horrors, den sie hier durchlebt, ist fantastisch beschrieben. Ein Vergleich mit Clark Ashton Smiths YONDO aus dem Jahr 1925 bietet sich an. Anders als bei BLACK GOD´S KISS (VÖ 12/1934) lehnte der Herausgeber von WEIRD TALES die Veröffentlich von YONDO ab, so dass CAS Geschichte 1926 im OVERLAND MONTHLY erschien.
So erstaunliche sind die Ähnlichkeiten auch in Details, dass ich annehme, C.L. Moore habe YONDO gelesen. Oder sollten sich gänzlich unabhänigig voneinander diese Bilder einer Landschaft entwickelt haben, die äußerste Fremdartigkeit und Grauen verkörpert? Immerhin, auch bei Poe kommt der Landschaft eine prominente Bedeutung zu.
Erzählerisch eine Herausforderung, denn mit einer solchen Landschaft kann es zu keiner Interaktion kommen, der Held kann sie im wesentlichen nur durchwandern und der Erzähler sie beschreiben.
1933 debütierte C.L. Moore mit der Story Shambleu in WEIRD TALES. Für das Magazin war die Erzählung ein literarischer Quantensprung in Sachen Qualität.
(C.L. Moore)
Anstatt der bis dato üblichen SF-Stories, die zumeist kaum mehr als wild=absurde Abenteuergeschichten auf fremden Planeten waren, beschreibt Moore die Begegnung mit dem wirklich Fremden und reihte sich ein in die erste Garde der SF= und Weird Tales=Autoren, die für das legendäre Magazin schrieben (H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard und Clark Ashton Smith).
Der "Held" Northwest Smith, ein Draufgänger mit einem leicht gestörten Kompass in Sachen Gesetzestreue, rettet auf dem Mars eine sehr weibliche Kreatur vor einem Lynchmob und benötigt alsbald selber Hilfe. Das fremde Wesen, das er bei sich aufnimmt, ist eine Kombination aus Frau, Katze und Medusa und bei den Marsianern als Shambleau bekannt. Verführerisch lädt es zum Sex & zur Unterwerfung ein, wobei es die Willenskraft seiner Opfer bricht.
(Shambleau)
Dass sich Tentakel um spärlich bekleidete Damsels in Distress ringeln, haben wir zuvor schon auf ungezählten Magazinumschlägen gesehen, aber hier ringeln sich die Tentakel nun einmal um die Beine des Mannes. Der, die oder das Shambleau ernährt sich von der Lebenskraft seiner Opfer, das ihm nicht mehr entkommen will. "Mann" wird süchtig nach dem sinnlichen Glücksgefühl und will sich der verzehrenden Lust fortgesetzt und immer aufs neue unterwerfen.
Eine interessante Untersuchung der Story wurde in den Science Fiction Studies #73 veröffentlicht und kann hier nachgelesen werden:
https://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues...
Ich fand die Geschichte ausgesprochen lesenswert,
(Das sich ein Opfer "freiwillig" einem vampirartigen Wesen unterwirft, das dessen Lebenskraft aussaugt und sich davon ernährt, ist mir übrigens gerade kürzlich erst in Lumleys Titel=Story aus dem Band Haggopian and Other Stories begegnet)
Der Kuss des Schwarzen Gottes
Auftritt Jirel von Joiry im Oktober 34 in WEIRD TALES:
Die Wildheit, das feuerrote Haar und ein Schwert wie Red Sonja, wow!
Um aber die richtige Waffe gegen den auch sexuell übergriffigen Eroberer von Joiry zu haben, muss Jirel einen spiralförmigen Schacht in die Tiefe der Hölle hinab. Dieser Abstieg wird so genial wie Jirels Wildheit beschrieben, und zur Heldin im Stile Robert E. Howards kommt hier mit der dimensionsübergreifenden Krümmung der Spirale der nichteuklidische Raum, wie wir ihn aus den Weird Tales von Lovecraft und Clark Ashton Smith kennen.
(Ich muss zugeben, ich habe eine Schwäche für diese starken Sword & Sorcery=Heldinnen und bin darum vielleicht ein wenig voreingenommen)
Jirels Abstieg durch den Tunnel in die menschenfeindlich=dämonische "Landschaft" und die anschließende Beschreibung äußersten Horrors, den sie hier durchlebt, ist fantastisch beschrieben. Ein Vergleich mit Clark Ashton Smiths YONDO aus dem Jahr 1925 bietet sich an. Anders als bei BLACK GOD´S KISS (VÖ 12/1934) lehnte der Herausgeber von WEIRD TALES die Veröffentlich von YONDO ab, so dass CAS Geschichte 1926 im OVERLAND MONTHLY erschien.
So erstaunliche sind die Ähnlichkeiten auch in Details, dass ich annehme, C.L. Moore habe YONDO gelesen. Oder sollten sich gänzlich unabhänigig voneinander diese Bilder einer Landschaft entwickelt haben, die äußerste Fremdartigkeit und Grauen verkörpert? Immerhin, auch bei Poe kommt der Landschaft eine prominente Bedeutung zu.
Erzählerisch eine Herausforderung, denn mit einer solchen Landschaft kann es zu keiner Interaktion kommen, der Held kann sie im wesentlichen nur durchwandern und der Erzähler sie beschreiben.
November 3, 2018
Science fiction, fantasy and horror wisely mixed. Catherine L. Moore was a talented writer as she shows to us in this anthology.
All the stories are good. Her fascinating and terrifying descriptions captivate you, they trap you in the story and it seems that you can not get away unharmed from reading.
Most of the stories in this book are based in the character Northwest Smith, an outlaw adventurer (who probably inspired George Lucas’ Han Solo character). Two more are based by a strong woman, Jirel of Joiry, a medieval-fantasy heroine. I added to my list the anthologies of both characters.
A little complaint: in the first two stories, The Black God Kiss and Shambleau, they have some scenes and descriptions a bit repetitive (for me at last),but I must say that Shambleau was the first story published by this talented author.
Catherine L. Moore opened the way for other women writers in science fiction and fantasy genres.
All the stories are good. Her fascinating and terrifying descriptions captivate you, they trap you in the story and it seems that you can not get away unharmed from reading.
Most of the stories in this book are based in the character Northwest Smith, an outlaw adventurer (who probably inspired George Lucas’ Han Solo character). Two more are based by a strong woman, Jirel of Joiry, a medieval-fantasy heroine. I added to my list the anthologies of both characters.
A little complaint: in the first two stories, The Black God Kiss and Shambleau, they have some scenes and descriptions a bit repetitive (for me at last),but I must say that Shambleau was the first story published by this talented author.
Catherine L. Moore opened the way for other women writers in science fiction and fantasy genres.
May 4, 2024
I started reading Moore's Northwest Smith series because the eleventh story was nominated for the 1939 Retro-Hugo, and of course I can't read #11 without having read #1-10 first.
This, the first installment, was nothing like I expected - a well-written, emotionally evocative story of alien temptation. And despite the Han Solo/Indiana Jones-vibe Smith gives off, he has to be rescued a lot. Regardless, an enjoyable series in the pulp science fiction genre.
This, the first installment, was nothing like I expected - a well-written, emotionally evocative story of alien temptation. And despite the Han Solo/Indiana Jones-vibe Smith gives off, he has to be rescued a lot. Regardless, an enjoyable series in the pulp science fiction genre.
April 12, 2021
A classic SF pulp following space cowboy Northwest Smith as a rescues a woman from a mob. She barely speaks the language, but he finds himself strangely drawn to her even though she keeps ominously saying she doesn't eat his food but will eat soon... until he notices the tentacles coming form under her turban.
There are some definitely dated elements to this, but over all a fun and interesting read drawing from Medusa/gorgon mythos.
There are some definitely dated elements to this, but over all a fun and interesting read drawing from Medusa/gorgon mythos.
March 21, 2019
A chilling tale, well told with some surpringly brooding and evocative prose.
October 28, 2019
Weird Fiction Book Club 13-Story Challenge
#8: CL Moore
Shambleau by CL Moore
4.5⭐
From Northwest of Earth: The Complete Northwest Smith by CL Moore
Originally published in Weird Tales, November 1933
#8: CL Moore
Shambleau by CL Moore
4.5⭐
From Northwest of Earth: The Complete Northwest Smith by CL Moore
Originally published in Weird Tales, November 1933
Read
August 19, 2024Vagina dentata in space.
Read
August 29, 2025me when I'm too stubborn to ask the town mob what a shambleau is because I've already decided that I've already picked a side and it would be embarrassing to go back on.
space travel is so alluring. . . . say more about the space port gossip and this roguish mr. smith . . .
space travel is so alluring. . . . say more about the space port gossip and this roguish mr. smith . . .
April 28, 2022
https://archive.org/details/Weird_Tal...
http://baencd.freedoors.org/Books/The...
(*) https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...
There's a [s]carce 1980 spoken word LP of the author reading of "Shambleau" available here: https://sites.google.com/site/jeffgil...
https://www.tor.com/2016/02/17/not-su...
http://baencd.freedoors.org/Books/The...
H.P. Lovecraft, the dean of weird fiction writers, sums up the opinions of the readers in his own comment on Shambleau, in a letter(*) to the editor. "Shambleau is great stuff," he writes. "It begins magnificently, on just the right note of terror, and with black intimations of the unknown. The subtle evil of the Entity, as suggested by the unexplained horror of the people, is extremely powerful--and the description of the Thing itself when unmasked is no letdown. It has real atmosphere and tension--rare things amidst the pulp traditions of brisk, cheerful, staccato prose and lifeless stock characters and images. The one major fault is the conventional interplanetary setting."
(*) https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...
There's a [s]carce 1980 spoken word LP of the author reading of "Shambleau" available here: https://sites.google.com/site/jeffgil...
https://www.tor.com/2016/02/17/not-su...
March 5, 2014
The two Jirel of Joiry stories (Black Gods Kiss, Black Gods Shadow) paint a fantastic and original image of Hell that, to start with, I found compelling. But I thought that while the language used to describe it was excellent I just got a little tired of the journey that Jirel was on. I then find out that these were written in the late 1930s so to have a female lead in this story at all was probably a first or very early appearance of a strong female character in a sword and sorcery novel. All of this said I did find it a little slow and I was more interested in finishing the novel for the sake of getting to the end.
Much the same can be said for the Northwest Smith stories (Shambleau, Black Thirst, Scarlet Dream). I enjoy vintage SF more than Fantasy and again, whilst I enjoyed the premise of all three tales, I felt they dwelt far too long on descriptions, excellently written again. and ended losing my interest. What I did like was that whilst these tales were set in 'our' solar system with such vintage SF traits as Martians, Venusians, rocket ships and heat rays the 'alien' aspect in these tales extended much further than that to include extra dimensional horrors, creatures that form a possibles for mythical beings and tales of long forgotten horrors.
So I'm glad I came across these stories, part of me wants to score them lower and part of me wants to score them higher.
Much the same can be said for the Northwest Smith stories (Shambleau, Black Thirst, Scarlet Dream). I enjoy vintage SF more than Fantasy and again, whilst I enjoyed the premise of all three tales, I felt they dwelt far too long on descriptions, excellently written again. and ended losing my interest. What I did like was that whilst these tales were set in 'our' solar system with such vintage SF traits as Martians, Venusians, rocket ships and heat rays the 'alien' aspect in these tales extended much further than that to include extra dimensional horrors, creatures that form a possibles for mythical beings and tales of long forgotten horrors.
So I'm glad I came across these stories, part of me wants to score them lower and part of me wants to score them higher.
August 26, 2018
This was amazing! For those of you who don't like "purple prose", you might ought to just jog on, but for fans of H. P. Lovecraft, Lord Dunsany, and the like, you need some C. L. Moore in your life. This was her very first story. Unbelievably good.
She sets up a sort of noir/hard-boiled dynamic with Northwest Smith and his Venusian buddy Yarol, but their criminal(?) deeds are not the focus of the story, or even spelled out for us. It's all about this "Shambleau" that Smith tries to save from an angry mob. She's a femme fatale unlike any you've read before.
She sets up a sort of noir/hard-boiled dynamic with Northwest Smith and his Venusian buddy Yarol, but their criminal(?) deeds are not the focus of the story, or even spelled out for us. It's all about this "Shambleau" that Smith tries to save from an angry mob. She's a femme fatale unlike any you've read before.
September 25, 2022
I read this as part of the anthology Women of Futures Past
I guess for the time period it was written if was considered forward thinking but I didn't really care for it. 2 stars
I guess for the time period it was written if was considered forward thinking but I didn't really care for it. 2 stars
November 21, 2024
This is a short story collection. It includes Shambleau and several of the Northwest Smith stories, which I wasn't expecting since the description of the book doesn't say they're included. Shambleau is a fantasy story, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The Northwest Smith stories are science fiction. Much of the Weird Tales traits from Lovecraft, Robert E Howard, Robert Bloch, and the like are noticeable from the indescribable monsters or gods to other dimensions and worlds. The biggest criticism I have is that by the end of the second Northwest Smith story, you know the story arc of every NWS story. Also, this particular version's table of contents shows all of the NWS stories on page 40, so the amount of pages listed is incorrect.
November 19, 2025
this is what happens when you're a daft man like northwest smith and dont use your context clues :(
December 6, 2024
Shambleau by C.L. Moore is a SFF novella. It has interesting concepts of the mythos of the vampire as a Greek mythology figure on Mars. Northwest Smith has encountered a woman who was chased by a group of mob and saved her. Those mobs called the woman Shambleau which is considered a bad omen to the village. Soon Smith will find out his life was in perilous with the mysterious woman who was rescued by him.
The concept of energy vampire wasn’t invented by C.L Moore. The House of the Vampire uses the concepts of energy vampires in the story. It was published far earlier than Shambleau.
A interesting story but don’t invent anything new, a decent novella of a story about vampire.
6 out of 10.
The concept of energy vampire wasn’t invented by C.L Moore. The House of the Vampire uses the concepts of energy vampires in the story. It was published far earlier than Shambleau.
A interesting story but don’t invent anything new, a decent novella of a story about vampire.
6 out of 10.
February 8, 2023
my sci-fi class is introducing me to all sorts of interesting little short stories like this one….. cool subversion of a lot of common tropes! love that it’s one of the earliest sci-fi stories written by a woman in America! loved the Medusa spin and the gory horror bits! wasn’t like the BEST story I’ve ever read or anything but definitely one I appreciated for what it was!
August 28, 2020
It's alright.
June 30, 2022
Famous C.L. Moore story that I found repellent. It isn’t awful, but I don’t want to read it again.
September 15, 2023
shambleau did nothing wrong! let the bitch eat!
(engl 2091)
(engl 2091)
May 23, 2022
This story starts by boldly stating that we humans had long ago conquered interplanetary exploration and that many of our mythologies contain fragments of memories from those prehistoric experiences. The pretext serves to connect the legend of Medusa and this tale of Northwest Smith's encounter with Shambleau.
The story takes place in a township on Mars called Lakkdarol during a time when we have once again achieved space flight. We meet some Martians and some Venutians, and of course we meet Shambleau. More importantly the star of our story meets Shambleau.
Northwest is the type of guy who will stand up to face an angry mob in order to shelter a damsel in distress, although apparently also the type of guy with a long list of moral failings. In other words, he is the perfect renegade hero. We don't actually see much of Northwest misbehaving in this story but I was pleased to learn that "weakness of the flesh" is not one of his traits and we do get a feeling for his badassery and can-do attitude.
The writing is both delicious and consuming. I felt a real sense of the torment that Northwest experienced, something that very few horror stories have done for me in my adult reading life. I was completely sucked in and for a time I did not think that the author was leaving room for more Northwest Smith adventures until finally the day was magically and abruptly saved.
I particularly liked the setup and have been wondering, if we had long ago met and interacted with our interplanetary neighbours then why are there still monkeys??? No I'm mixing up incredulities, what I really want to know is, why did we lose contact with those neighbours? Why didn't they visit after we went back to the caves? Did we all lose space flight simultaneously? Or did we commit a faux pas so unforgivable that we were snubbed by the rest of the neighbourhood? I love it when reading fuels the imagination.
The very first Northwest Smith adventure and I thought it was a treat, short but definitely sweet, so I'm looking forward to continuing the series. I'm certainly curious to find out if more of Northwest's escapades will be retellings of other ancient legends.
The story takes place in a township on Mars called Lakkdarol during a time when we have once again achieved space flight. We meet some Martians and some Venutians, and of course we meet Shambleau. More importantly the star of our story meets Shambleau.
Northwest is the type of guy who will stand up to face an angry mob in order to shelter a damsel in distress, although apparently also the type of guy with a long list of moral failings. In other words, he is the perfect renegade hero. We don't actually see much of Northwest misbehaving in this story but I was pleased to learn that "weakness of the flesh" is not one of his traits and we do get a feeling for his badassery and can-do attitude.
The writing is both delicious and consuming. I felt a real sense of the torment that Northwest experienced, something that very few horror stories have done for me in my adult reading life. I was completely sucked in and for a time I did not think that the author was leaving room for more Northwest Smith adventures until finally the day was magically and abruptly saved.
I particularly liked the setup and have been wondering, if we had long ago met and interacted with our interplanetary neighbours then why are there still monkeys??? No I'm mixing up incredulities, what I really want to know is, why did we lose contact with those neighbours? Why didn't they visit after we went back to the caves? Did we all lose space flight simultaneously? Or did we commit a faux pas so unforgivable that we were snubbed by the rest of the neighbourhood? I love it when reading fuels the imagination.
The very first Northwest Smith adventure and I thought it was a treat, short but definitely sweet, so I'm looking forward to continuing the series. I'm certainly curious to find out if more of Northwest's escapades will be retellings of other ancient legends.
March 4, 2024
Well I may regret this. A shortish story first published in November 1933, set on Mars, which is also the first in a series of stories featuring the main character "Northwest Smith". I haven't read any sci-fi this old for many years now, so it'll be interesting to see how it stands up.
A short story, something which I normally find too short, but this was just the right length. A fantastic space-vampire horror which given its age, must be the precursor of everything similar that has been written since, although this was based on the Medusa legend.
Apart from the setting, it's a very modern story really, and could have been written today, although I guess a modern writer would need to find a different ending.
Spoilerish musing:
Is the creature evil or just hungry ? Since its parasite by evolution and feasts on people, which results in their eventual death, what is the appropriate ethical and moral answer ?
A short story, something which I normally find too short, but this was just the right length. A fantastic space-vampire horror which given its age, must be the precursor of everything similar that has been written since, although this was based on the Medusa legend.
Apart from the setting, it's a very modern story really, and could have been written today, although I guess a modern writer would need to find a different ending.
Spoilerish musing:
Is the creature evil or just hungry ? Since its parasite by evolution and feasts on people, which results in their eventual death, what is the appropriate ethical and moral answer ?
October 8, 2020
While there's a lot to like about this collection, and while the title-story is a minor classic of SF-horror, C.L. Moore's initially impressive use of language (Lovecraftian in its ornateness and its shaping of inhuman horrors) soon began to weary this reader. Sequences of wandering through dreamlike hallways and nightmare landscapes just seem to go on far too long, without any actual benefit to the story. The two Joiry stories are structurally similar and would have surely benefitted from editing into one piece, while the North West Smith stories suffer from a huge lack of characterization.
So, read "Shambleau" (the story) but persevere with the rest of this book only if you have a completist interest in the history of 50s SF.
So, read "Shambleau" (the story) but persevere with the rest of this book only if you have a completist interest in the history of 50s SF.
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July 20, 2024I feel a bit cheeky putting this short story on my Goodreads to flesh out my Reading Challenge since it's so short--but it's a great little piece of fiction that deserves MUCH more recognition; C. L. Moore really was a pioneer of early women's science fiction (and she wrote this when she was 22!!!), and I'd encourage anyone seeing this to give it a read, it's really easy to find online for free!! I'm looking at it for my master's thesis, and I've found that, similar to Lovecraft (though muuuuch less explicitly racistly) there's a similar equation with the right and good with whiteness and the horrifying and supernatural with people of colour, that I think speaks to a general characteristic of weird/sci-fi/fantasy/supernatural/horror pulp fiction of the 1930s. A really interesting read!!
August 20, 2025
Shambleau casts a spell over several genres and anchors itself skillfully in each - pulp detective story, western, vampire, and Greek mythology retelling. CL Moore creates a new sort of cosmic horror even. Here we meet Northwest Smith for the first time and his encounter with Shambleau, a vampire-esque creature like no other. This is an excellent story far beyond the scope of Moore’s peers if you ask me. It’s got me interested in reading more of her work and more of Northwest Smith’s adventures.
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April 20, 2024Medusa of my life
turn it by her beuty
black flower all the road
and running of fear to cloud
many danger dream i count with y
many anger rose in face me
my medusa what about y
drink my blood
sequez my dream
hold my mind
trust my body
talk to my soul
just tell me
what a rare flower y r
poisson one
in passion race
what my meduse
fool like me love his death
what oth y have
black art
turn it by her beuty
black flower all the road
and running of fear to cloud
many danger dream i count with y
many anger rose in face me
my medusa what about y
drink my blood
sequez my dream
hold my mind
trust my body
talk to my soul
just tell me
what a rare flower y r
poisson one
in passion race
what my meduse
fool like me love his death
what oth y have
black art
September 12, 2018
I really enjoyed 80% of this short story, but the epilogue (of sorts) was very dry and boring.
Northwest Smith is an interesting character, and I enjoyed the writing, so I think I’ll check out more of C.L. Moore’s work in the future.
Northwest Smith is an interesting character, and I enjoyed the writing, so I think I’ll check out more of C.L. Moore’s work in the future.
September 4, 2019
More of a horror than a SF story. One of CL Moore’s Northwest Smith stories. It is hard to appreciate these days how trailblazing Catherine Moore was. One of the very first women to write SF - at least, one of the first to receive public acclaim for her work.
March 3, 2022
The Jirel of Joiry tales are fantastic, and though Northwest Smith didn't prove to be entirely to my tastes I can appreciate Moore was one of the more diverse and floridly endowed members of the Weird Magazine collective.
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