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The Thief of Forthe and Other Stories
After the death of Robert E. Howard, Clifford Ball was the first writer to follow in his footsteps and pen sword and sorcery stories for Weird Tales. For the first time ever, all of Ball’s stories are collected into one volume. A must-have for pulp historians and fans of fantasy, horror, and weird fiction! 206 pages.
Table of Contents:
Duar the Accursed
The Thief of Forthe
The Goddess Awakes
The Swine of Aeaea
The Little Man
The Werewolf Howls
Table of Contents:
Duar the Accursed
The Thief of Forthe
The Goddess Awakes
The Swine of Aeaea
The Little Man
The Werewolf Howls
162 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2018
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January 23, 2019
If I were to ask 1,000 people what the words "Clifford Ball" meant to them, those to whom it meant anything, I have a feeling, would reply that the Clifford Ball was the first weekendlong concert bash that the jam band Phish ever held, back in August '96, in Plattsburgh, N.Y. Fewer, perhaps, would know that the provenance for the name of that shindig was the aviation pioneer Clifford Ball, whose moniker the Phish folks thought would be a cool and punny handle for their event. But it is not of these two Clifford Balls that I would speak here, but rather of another: Clifford Ball the author, whose claim to fame today is his being the first writer to continue on in the sword-and-sorcery tradition after the suicide of Robert E. Howard in 1936. If you have not previously heard of Clifford Ball the writer or encountered his work before, I suppose that it is understandable, as the man only created six stories during his lifetime, all of which appeared in the pages of the famed "Weird Tales" magazine. But Ball's work, it seems, also encompassed the fields of modern-day fantasy, sci-fi and traditional horror, as DMR Books' new release, "The Thief of Forthe and Other Stories" (2018), makes abundantly clear. The first-ever volume to collect all of Ball's work between two covers, this new offering--from the fine folks who had also given us an equally splendid collection of stories by another little-known "Weird Tales" writer, Nictzin Dyalhis, entitled "The Sapphire Goddess: The Fantasies of Nictzin Dyalhis"--is a must-have for all fans of Howard, sword and sorcery, and pulp fiction in general.
In his introduction to the Ball collection, D. M. Ritzlin (obviously the D.M.R. of DMR Books) tells us that "little is known about Clifford Ball," and that Ball had had a variety of unrelated jobs prior to becoming a writer for "Weird Tales." But Ritzlin does mention that Ball had been a devoted reader of the magazine since 1925, and was profoundly saddened by Howard's premature passing. It is to be inferred that Ball felt that someone had to rise to the challenge of keeping Howard’s legacy going, and thus rose to that challenge himself...and, apparently, did a simply marvelous job, for the short time that he kept at it. This new DMR collection presents his six tales in chronological order, enabling us to witness his patent growth as a wordsmith over a 4 ½-year period. It is a beautiful little volume, by the way, with front- and back-cover paintings by the great Virgil Finlay, for the stories "The Thief of Forthe" and "The Swine of Aeaea," respectively, both of which paintings had appeared on the front covers of their "Weird Tales" issues back when.
As for the stories themselves, though, the collection kicks off with Ball's first, "Duar the Accursed" (from the 5/37 issue of "Weird Tales"), to get the, uh, Ball rolling. Here, the author presents us with a sword-wielding barbarian character very much in the Howard tradition: Duar, who used to rule over his own kingdom but who is now a homeless wanderer. When we first meet the ex-king, he is being brought in shackles before the queen Nione of Ygoth. He is summarily hurled into the foulest dungeon in Nione's castle, only to escape with the assistance of an elemental spirit named Shar, who tells the ex-king that she was once one of Earth's Elder Race, as had been Duar in a former life. Once again a free man, Duar confronts Nione in her bedchamber, seduces her with his masculine ways, and goes on a quest to find a legendary jewel called The Rose of Gaon, which resides in Ygoth's accursed Black Tower. Ball's first attempt at writing is a surprisingly suspenseful and imaginative affair, in which the author evinces not only a love for Robert E. Howard, but also for Edgar Rice Burroughs (ERB's Barsoom is homaged in the line "white apes from the hills of Barsoom....") and H. Rider Haggard ("the battlefield of Kor" is referred to). In all, a most impressive debut.
Up next is another sword-and-sorcery offering, but one featuring a new lead character, Rald the thief. "The Thief of Forthe" (7/37) finds Rald entering into a bargain with a suspiciously motivated wizard named Karlk. Rald, using his masterful gifts of stealth and thievery, must only find his way into the castle of King Thrall, ruler of Forthe (a neighbor of the previous tale's Ygoth), and purloin the diamond necklace that gives its possessor the right to rule the kingdom. Rald will become the new king, with Karlk pulling the strings behind the scenes. And all seems to go well for Rald, until he is caught in the act by Thrall's sister, the Lady Thrine, and the evil wizard takes matters into his own hands...all four of them! This story again features some genuine suspense and some pleasing surprises, especially as regards the precise facts about Karlk's nature and background. Trust me, you WILL be startled.
And the next story in this collection, "The Goddess Awakes" (2/38), again featuring Rald, is even better. Here, though, Rald has given up his thieving ways and is now a mercenary, fighting for whomever pays highest. At the beginning of this tale, Rald and his boon companion, the stockier and more thoughtful Thwaine, are escaping from a recent battle during which they'd fought on the losing side. The two men are captured while making their way through a mountain pass and brought to the underground kingdom of Ceipe. It is a domain ruled by Queen Cene and governed by women; men are automatically made drugged slaves or forced into an amphitheater to fight. But Ceipe is actually ruled by still another evil wizard, Throal, who keeps the populace cowed by controlling the panther goddess Hess. And in the story's extended climax, Rald and Thwaine are dropped into the arena and forced to combat the gigantic, stonelike cat creature to the death. A marvelously detailed and exciting story, "The Goddess Awakes" tips the hat again to Haggard, having that arena lie at the base of an extinct volcano, reminiscent of Ayesha's kingdom of Kor in the seminal classic "She."
Very much a tale of hard fantasy but set in modern times, "The Swine of Aeaea" (3/39) is, for me, the most impressive offering in this volume. The story is narrated by a fiction writer who is perhaps Ball's overly modest conception of himself and the publishing world of the pulps: "...I am a writer; not a good one...more civilized persons read these things later and laugh--when they have been set into the convenient sanity of printed type. They are temporarily amused by a crackpot writer and his opium-laden imagination. So they laugh. They are entertained; my publishers pay me...." Our narrator meets a down-on-his-luck sailor at the seedy tavern where he is wont to pick up ideas for stories, and is told a tale of the sea like none that he--or the reader--has ever come across. The sailor, Sam Mercer, 10 years earlier, had been serving on a tramp steamer when a stowaway had been discovered on board, while the ship was off the coast of Greece. The stowaway was an English sophisticate named Charles Brighton, who'd told the captain that he was engaged in a search for the mythical isle of Aeaea, whereon the enchantress Circe had changed Ulysses' men into swine in Homer's "The Odyssey." The captain and crew were amused by Brighton's talk, but their attitudes soon changed when an uncharted island appeared in a morning fog, and when two men who were sent ashore to search for fresh water failed to return.... A highly atmospheric story just brimming with marvelous touches, "The Swine of Aeaea" combines nautical adventure, fantasy, and glints of Lovecraftian horror into one very potent brew, and even pleases with some unexpected surprises (such as the actual background of that Mercer character). A bravura effort by Clifford Ball here!
"The Little Man" (8/39) again takes place in modern times, on the mean streets of what the reader can only gather is NYC. Here, the diminutive pipsqueak of the title, later revealed to be one Prof. Lucian Peters, goes on a killing spree, offing all the men who had previously scoffed at his work. Despite his small stature, Peters is somehow able to snap the necks of his much burlier victims; indeed, in the story's opening pages, we see the little man hurl a brawny cop (to whom he had been confessing his first murder) five feet through the air! Could Peters' theory about "concentrating power into molecules or compressing atoms" indeed have any basis in fact? What do YOU think? Anyway, this tale conflates science fiction and the hard-boiled detective story to winning effect, generously laced with a goodly dose of humor. A very entertaining winner.
Ball's final story for "Weird Tales" (and in his short career) was the traditional horror outing "The Werewolf Howls" (11/41). In this one, set in an indeterminate time period, a large wolf--believed to be the werewolf of myth by the populace--has been terrorizing the region surrounding the vineyards and chateau of Etienne Delacroix, in France. The elderly estate owner instructs his three sons that the wolf must be killed and then burned that very evening, when the full moon would emerge. He provides the trio with the requisite silver bullets to do the job right. And perhaps I should say no more, as a twist ending (that, in truth, most readers will see coming) does cap off this beautifully written little story...capping off Ball's career as a purveyor of fiction, as well.
To read DMR's "The Thief of Forthe and Other Stories" is to make the acquaintance of a pulp author who most assuredly deserves to be reintroduced to readers, now 72 years since his passing. Inevitably, the reader will regret Clifford Ball's decision to quit the field after creating these six marvelous tales, as the man was undoubtedly possessed of more than a modicum of talent. A very pleasing volume, this one, and more than highly recommended....
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of sword and sorcery and pulp fiction in general....)
In his introduction to the Ball collection, D. M. Ritzlin (obviously the D.M.R. of DMR Books) tells us that "little is known about Clifford Ball," and that Ball had had a variety of unrelated jobs prior to becoming a writer for "Weird Tales." But Ritzlin does mention that Ball had been a devoted reader of the magazine since 1925, and was profoundly saddened by Howard's premature passing. It is to be inferred that Ball felt that someone had to rise to the challenge of keeping Howard’s legacy going, and thus rose to that challenge himself...and, apparently, did a simply marvelous job, for the short time that he kept at it. This new DMR collection presents his six tales in chronological order, enabling us to witness his patent growth as a wordsmith over a 4 ½-year period. It is a beautiful little volume, by the way, with front- and back-cover paintings by the great Virgil Finlay, for the stories "The Thief of Forthe" and "The Swine of Aeaea," respectively, both of which paintings had appeared on the front covers of their "Weird Tales" issues back when.
As for the stories themselves, though, the collection kicks off with Ball's first, "Duar the Accursed" (from the 5/37 issue of "Weird Tales"), to get the, uh, Ball rolling. Here, the author presents us with a sword-wielding barbarian character very much in the Howard tradition: Duar, who used to rule over his own kingdom but who is now a homeless wanderer. When we first meet the ex-king, he is being brought in shackles before the queen Nione of Ygoth. He is summarily hurled into the foulest dungeon in Nione's castle, only to escape with the assistance of an elemental spirit named Shar, who tells the ex-king that she was once one of Earth's Elder Race, as had been Duar in a former life. Once again a free man, Duar confronts Nione in her bedchamber, seduces her with his masculine ways, and goes on a quest to find a legendary jewel called The Rose of Gaon, which resides in Ygoth's accursed Black Tower. Ball's first attempt at writing is a surprisingly suspenseful and imaginative affair, in which the author evinces not only a love for Robert E. Howard, but also for Edgar Rice Burroughs (ERB's Barsoom is homaged in the line "white apes from the hills of Barsoom....") and H. Rider Haggard ("the battlefield of Kor" is referred to). In all, a most impressive debut.
Up next is another sword-and-sorcery offering, but one featuring a new lead character, Rald the thief. "The Thief of Forthe" (7/37) finds Rald entering into a bargain with a suspiciously motivated wizard named Karlk. Rald, using his masterful gifts of stealth and thievery, must only find his way into the castle of King Thrall, ruler of Forthe (a neighbor of the previous tale's Ygoth), and purloin the diamond necklace that gives its possessor the right to rule the kingdom. Rald will become the new king, with Karlk pulling the strings behind the scenes. And all seems to go well for Rald, until he is caught in the act by Thrall's sister, the Lady Thrine, and the evil wizard takes matters into his own hands...all four of them! This story again features some genuine suspense and some pleasing surprises, especially as regards the precise facts about Karlk's nature and background. Trust me, you WILL be startled.
And the next story in this collection, "The Goddess Awakes" (2/38), again featuring Rald, is even better. Here, though, Rald has given up his thieving ways and is now a mercenary, fighting for whomever pays highest. At the beginning of this tale, Rald and his boon companion, the stockier and more thoughtful Thwaine, are escaping from a recent battle during which they'd fought on the losing side. The two men are captured while making their way through a mountain pass and brought to the underground kingdom of Ceipe. It is a domain ruled by Queen Cene and governed by women; men are automatically made drugged slaves or forced into an amphitheater to fight. But Ceipe is actually ruled by still another evil wizard, Throal, who keeps the populace cowed by controlling the panther goddess Hess. And in the story's extended climax, Rald and Thwaine are dropped into the arena and forced to combat the gigantic, stonelike cat creature to the death. A marvelously detailed and exciting story, "The Goddess Awakes" tips the hat again to Haggard, having that arena lie at the base of an extinct volcano, reminiscent of Ayesha's kingdom of Kor in the seminal classic "She."
Very much a tale of hard fantasy but set in modern times, "The Swine of Aeaea" (3/39) is, for me, the most impressive offering in this volume. The story is narrated by a fiction writer who is perhaps Ball's overly modest conception of himself and the publishing world of the pulps: "...I am a writer; not a good one...more civilized persons read these things later and laugh--when they have been set into the convenient sanity of printed type. They are temporarily amused by a crackpot writer and his opium-laden imagination. So they laugh. They are entertained; my publishers pay me...." Our narrator meets a down-on-his-luck sailor at the seedy tavern where he is wont to pick up ideas for stories, and is told a tale of the sea like none that he--or the reader--has ever come across. The sailor, Sam Mercer, 10 years earlier, had been serving on a tramp steamer when a stowaway had been discovered on board, while the ship was off the coast of Greece. The stowaway was an English sophisticate named Charles Brighton, who'd told the captain that he was engaged in a search for the mythical isle of Aeaea, whereon the enchantress Circe had changed Ulysses' men into swine in Homer's "The Odyssey." The captain and crew were amused by Brighton's talk, but their attitudes soon changed when an uncharted island appeared in a morning fog, and when two men who were sent ashore to search for fresh water failed to return.... A highly atmospheric story just brimming with marvelous touches, "The Swine of Aeaea" combines nautical adventure, fantasy, and glints of Lovecraftian horror into one very potent brew, and even pleases with some unexpected surprises (such as the actual background of that Mercer character). A bravura effort by Clifford Ball here!
"The Little Man" (8/39) again takes place in modern times, on the mean streets of what the reader can only gather is NYC. Here, the diminutive pipsqueak of the title, later revealed to be one Prof. Lucian Peters, goes on a killing spree, offing all the men who had previously scoffed at his work. Despite his small stature, Peters is somehow able to snap the necks of his much burlier victims; indeed, in the story's opening pages, we see the little man hurl a brawny cop (to whom he had been confessing his first murder) five feet through the air! Could Peters' theory about "concentrating power into molecules or compressing atoms" indeed have any basis in fact? What do YOU think? Anyway, this tale conflates science fiction and the hard-boiled detective story to winning effect, generously laced with a goodly dose of humor. A very entertaining winner.
Ball's final story for "Weird Tales" (and in his short career) was the traditional horror outing "The Werewolf Howls" (11/41). In this one, set in an indeterminate time period, a large wolf--believed to be the werewolf of myth by the populace--has been terrorizing the region surrounding the vineyards and chateau of Etienne Delacroix, in France. The elderly estate owner instructs his three sons that the wolf must be killed and then burned that very evening, when the full moon would emerge. He provides the trio with the requisite silver bullets to do the job right. And perhaps I should say no more, as a twist ending (that, in truth, most readers will see coming) does cap off this beautifully written little story...capping off Ball's career as a purveyor of fiction, as well.
To read DMR's "The Thief of Forthe and Other Stories" is to make the acquaintance of a pulp author who most assuredly deserves to be reintroduced to readers, now 72 years since his passing. Inevitably, the reader will regret Clifford Ball's decision to quit the field after creating these six marvelous tales, as the man was undoubtedly possessed of more than a modicum of talent. A very pleasing volume, this one, and more than highly recommended....
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of sword and sorcery and pulp fiction in general....)
June 24, 2018
Not lost classics, but generally enjoyable and of historical interest. Clifford Ball apparently only published six stories (all collected here) in Weird Tales back in the late 1930s/early 1940s. Of particular note: His first few stories were Conanesque sword & sorcery, written in the immediate aftermath of Robert E. Howard's suicide and aimed at filling the massive hole that left in the pages of Weird Tales.
(Was he successful? Eh ...)
So, the stories themselves: There are the three sword & sorcery tales -- "Duar the Accursed", "The Thief of Forthe", and "The Goddess Awakes". All share a loose setting; the latter two feature the same main characters, the thief Rald and his companion the warrior Thwaine. "Duar the Accursed" is a bit of an outlier, with a bit more of a mythic feel to it (being the tale of the eponymous Duar); the other two are relatively straightforward sword & sorcery adventure tales; interestingly, they're relatively early examples of a Fafhrd & Mouser-style pair of adventurers, although in this case Rald is definitely the protagonist and Thwaine is just kind of along for the ride.
The other three stories: "The Swine of Ææa" has a bit of a Dunsanian or William Hope Hodgson feel to it, being told by a writer who hangs around in seedy seaport bars and is relaying the story told to him by a down-on-his-luck sailor. (And if you think the title gives away exactly where this sailor ended up, well, you're not wrong.) And last, and probably least, "The Little Man" and "The Werewolf Howls" are bog-standard, if competently written, contemporary horror stories (complete with entirely predictable "twist" endings) that you'd expect to find in any random issue of Weird Tales.
(Was he successful? Eh ...)
So, the stories themselves: There are the three sword & sorcery tales -- "Duar the Accursed", "The Thief of Forthe", and "The Goddess Awakes". All share a loose setting; the latter two feature the same main characters, the thief Rald and his companion the warrior Thwaine. "Duar the Accursed" is a bit of an outlier, with a bit more of a mythic feel to it (being the tale of the eponymous Duar); the other two are relatively straightforward sword & sorcery adventure tales; interestingly, they're relatively early examples of a Fafhrd & Mouser-style pair of adventurers, although in this case Rald is definitely the protagonist and Thwaine is just kind of along for the ride.
The other three stories: "The Swine of Ææa" has a bit of a Dunsanian or William Hope Hodgson feel to it, being told by a writer who hangs around in seedy seaport bars and is relaying the story told to him by a down-on-his-luck sailor. (And if you think the title gives away exactly where this sailor ended up, well, you're not wrong.) And last, and probably least, "The Little Man" and "The Werewolf Howls" are bog-standard, if competently written, contemporary horror stories (complete with entirely predictable "twist" endings) that you'd expect to find in any random issue of Weird Tales.
March 2, 2020
Thanks to the Goodreads Sword & Sorcery group for bringing Clifford Ball's The Thief of Forthe and Other Stories, with vintage cover art by Virgil Finley, to my attention; also, thanks to DMR Dave Ritlzin for compiling great collections like this one (and others like The Sapphire Goddess: The Fantasies of Nictzin Dyalhis).
As the introduction reviews, these tales emerged on the wake of the death of S&S "father" Robert E. Howard in 1936. Clifford Ball was one author stepping up to try and fill the void in pulp magazine collections (Weird Tales). He is relatively obscure, but I speculate that these tales may have been very influential to others (like Leiber and Wagner). There are six in this collection. Conan the Barbarian Marvel Issue #264 (1993, Roy Thomas and John Watkiss) reintroduce Karlk, the evil sorcerer, as an enemy of Conan in a tribute to Clifford Ball (along with Throll, and the white apes of Sorjoon).
The Sword & Sorcery Tales (stories 1-3): These occur in kingdoms adjacent to Ygoth, called Forthe and Livia. There are explicit call-outs to Burrough's white apes from Barsoom. In all three, the protagonist(s) are held captive or in jail and escape.
(1) “Duar the Accursed” May 1937 Weird Tales. 5-star
The mysterious barbarian king Duar battles Lovecraftian horror while searching for the powerful Rose of Gaon. This was dark, fun adventure that set the stage for lots more Duar...but that never seems to have materialized. As an immortal, intelligent barbarian, Duar seems to be a precursor to Karl Edward Wagner's Kane. Duar's companion is a female spirit, Shar, who monitors him via the ether and counsels him on demons.Unlike the following stories, Duar's capture is more intense and his escape more interesting.
(2)“The Thief of Forthe” July 1937 Weird Tales3-star ...and...
(3)“The Goddess Awakes” Feb. 1938 Weird Tales.3-star
The "Thief of Forthe" introduces us to the thief Rald. Rald is contracted by Karlk, an evil wizard, since a mission requires some sort of corporeal brawn, which is simply to lift a bar from a door. The melodramatic interactions with the King and Queen are full of incongruity; they seem to like Rald despite his criminal nature. The wizard and Rald are eventually caught and tied up, and then left alone to escape!
"The Goddess Awakes" continues with Rald, this time gaining a partner. Most S&S prior had a lead protagonist (ie Conan) and a semi-serious delivery, but here we have a humorous duo featuring a barbarian thief (Rald) and a sly, philosophical mercenary (Thwaine). This screamed of a Fritz Leiber's "Fafhrd & Gray Mouser" influence (ie The Swords of Lankhmar. However, Leiber's first story of his own duo was published the following year (1939, "Two Sought Adventure" in Unknown). The end-boss had a Sphinx quality to it, but was too easily dispatched. In any event, this was slightly better than the second tale, but still too shallow for my tastes.
(4)“The Swine of Ææa” Mar. 1939 Weird Tales.5-star
Having sought out this collection for the first three, these others were just unexpected fun. This one has a slow setup, but the characters are engaging. They include an author documenting a wild story from a drunk sailor. There are echoes of statuesque end-bosses (Buddha and the Sphinx) that began in "The Goddess Awakes". The story is delivered with care and the descriptions are cool too:
The mystery island
Beautiful Goddess:
Ruins:
(5)“The Little Man” Aug. 1939 Weird Tales.5-star
What's this? A noir mystery with a self-confessed serial killer walking the streets? Fast and very fun. Will you understand how a thin, lithe man murders bigger men? Well...to quote the story: "Men lack faith in a thing simply because they are not able to understand it."
(6) “The Werewolf Howls” Nov. 1941 Weird Tales. 4-star
Monsieur Etienne Delacroix has a secret, and a canine-cryptid to deal with. An obvious denouement ends a short story, but the delivery was enjoyable.
As the introduction reviews, these tales emerged on the wake of the death of S&S "father" Robert E. Howard in 1936. Clifford Ball was one author stepping up to try and fill the void in pulp magazine collections (Weird Tales). He is relatively obscure, but I speculate that these tales may have been very influential to others (like Leiber and Wagner). There are six in this collection. Conan the Barbarian Marvel Issue #264 (1993, Roy Thomas and John Watkiss) reintroduce Karlk, the evil sorcerer, as an enemy of Conan in a tribute to Clifford Ball (along with Throll, and the white apes of Sorjoon).
The Sword & Sorcery Tales (stories 1-3): These occur in kingdoms adjacent to Ygoth, called Forthe and Livia. There are explicit call-outs to Burrough's white apes from Barsoom. In all three, the protagonist(s) are held captive or in jail and escape.
(1) “Duar the Accursed” May 1937 Weird Tales. 5-star
The mysterious barbarian king Duar battles Lovecraftian horror while searching for the powerful Rose of Gaon. This was dark, fun adventure that set the stage for lots more Duar...but that never seems to have materialized. As an immortal, intelligent barbarian, Duar seems to be a precursor to Karl Edward Wagner's Kane. Duar's companion is a female spirit, Shar, who monitors him via the ether and counsels him on demons.Unlike the following stories, Duar's capture is more intense and his escape more interesting.
(2)“The Thief of Forthe” July 1937 Weird Tales3-star ...and...
(3)“The Goddess Awakes” Feb. 1938 Weird Tales.3-star
The "Thief of Forthe" introduces us to the thief Rald. Rald is contracted by Karlk, an evil wizard, since a mission requires some sort of corporeal brawn, which is simply to lift a bar from a door. The melodramatic interactions with the King and Queen are full of incongruity; they seem to like Rald despite his criminal nature. The wizard and Rald are eventually caught and tied up, and then left alone to escape!
"The Goddess Awakes" continues with Rald, this time gaining a partner. Most S&S prior had a lead protagonist (ie Conan) and a semi-serious delivery, but here we have a humorous duo featuring a barbarian thief (Rald) and a sly, philosophical mercenary (Thwaine). This screamed of a Fritz Leiber's "Fafhrd & Gray Mouser" influence (ie The Swords of Lankhmar. However, Leiber's first story of his own duo was published the following year (1939, "Two Sought Adventure" in Unknown). The end-boss had a Sphinx quality to it, but was too easily dispatched. In any event, this was slightly better than the second tale, but still too shallow for my tastes.
(4)“The Swine of Ææa” Mar. 1939 Weird Tales.5-star
Having sought out this collection for the first three, these others were just unexpected fun. This one has a slow setup, but the characters are engaging. They include an author documenting a wild story from a drunk sailor. There are echoes of statuesque end-bosses (Buddha and the Sphinx) that began in "The Goddess Awakes". The story is delivered with care and the descriptions are cool too:
The mystery island
“That’s queer shrubbery for these parts, isn’t it?” It was. I never saw such strangely shaped trees, with limbs that twisted like writhing snakes, or such oddly formed, three-cornered leaves as those growing on this island. Now that we were closer, things did not appear to be entirely green; there was a red network through some of the leaves, a patter of tiny lurid veins running wild at strange angles. No two of them seemed alike. The influence of jungle odors which we now encountered must have affected me; for the thought came into my mind that the colors of the brush were continually changing, like some lizards I had seen that were readily able to merge their outlines and coloration with their surroundings. It gave me the creeps, I tell you."
Beautiful Goddess:
"It was her eyes. They burned with a submerged fire that might have been stolen from Vulcan after he pilfered it from Olympus. I can’t tell you what color they were; they must have taken on all the tints of the rainbow, for one minute I thought them to be blue and the next I decided they were either gray or green. Another look, and I was prepared to swear her eyes were as yellow as a panther’s. You can’t describe the color of flame-tips; they keep changing too rapidly. The next best thing is to discover the source and look at the fuel. It was her eyes, not her features, that registered the “here-I-am” invitations, yet the woman, or girl, owned an aura of virginal sweetness..."
Ruins:
The whole floor of the inner courtyard was strewn with projecting rock formations which might once have been statues, but were now worn so smooth by the hands of Time and changing climates that they had lost all bold outlines a sculptor may have executed upon them. Chunks of shapeless stone, some formed groups oddly suggestive of women gossiping in the market place, or leaned toward one another as men engaged in desperate struggle. I selected one piece, in particular, which resembled a crucified man with his head thrown backward as he stared in hopeless pleading toward a silent sky. All were so worn that any carven facial contours some ancient artist may once have been proud of had been erased forever, and perhaps my impression of lines defining corded muscles and rounded limbs was a fantasy of the brain alone.
...The worn images seemed to have recovered whatever original forms they had once enjoyed; they, too, were laughing and gesticulating with queer movements. The whole courtyard was a fantastic scene, such as may have been drawn by imaginative artists depicting lost souls in Hell.
(5)“The Little Man” Aug. 1939 Weird Tales.5-star
What's this? A noir mystery with a self-confessed serial killer walking the streets? Fast and very fun. Will you understand how a thin, lithe man murders bigger men? Well...to quote the story: "Men lack faith in a thing simply because they are not able to understand it."
(6) “The Werewolf Howls” Nov. 1941 Weird Tales. 4-star
Monsieur Etienne Delacroix has a secret, and a canine-cryptid to deal with. An obvious denouement ends a short story, but the delivery was enjoyable.
June 7, 2019
Recently I've seen this title quite a lot on FB and GR. Up until now I had no clue who Clifford Ball was. In fact, I had him confused with Clifford Simak. I plead ignorance. What is interesting is that this book comprises his body of work. That's it. Makes you wonder what happened to Mr. Ball.
The Thief of Forthe is six stories. Three share the same world. Those same three are classic S & S. These are what sparked my interest initially.
Duar the Accursed is my favorite. I only wish that there were more adventures with him.
The Thief of Forthe is a brief tale of Rald the thief. Making bargains with Magicians is perilous. This time it might just be fatal.
The Goddess Awakens is probably the longest story in the collection. Rald, and his companion, Thwaine are down on their luck. Being fed to a living goddess is not on their bucket list. Thwaine seems to take the lead for the most part. Another more famous duo spring to mind, but I feel like any similarities are tenuous.
The Swine of Aeaea makes for a standard pulp story. A stowaway, an uncharted isle, pigs. It was okay.
The Little Man. A killer is on the loose. I enjoyed this short tale. I could easily see this as an episode of the Twilight Zone.
The Werewolf Howls is really short. A flash piece.
To today's jaded audience these stories might not be of interest. But to those who enjoy S & S, I would heartily recommend this collection. I am thankful to DMR books for collecting these stories and publishing them together; otherwise I might not have had the pleasure of reading them.
The Thief of Forthe is six stories. Three share the same world. Those same three are classic S & S. These are what sparked my interest initially.
Duar the Accursed is my favorite. I only wish that there were more adventures with him.
The Thief of Forthe is a brief tale of Rald the thief. Making bargains with Magicians is perilous. This time it might just be fatal.
The Goddess Awakens is probably the longest story in the collection. Rald, and his companion, Thwaine are down on their luck. Being fed to a living goddess is not on their bucket list. Thwaine seems to take the lead for the most part. Another more famous duo spring to mind, but I feel like any similarities are tenuous.
The Swine of Aeaea makes for a standard pulp story. A stowaway, an uncharted isle, pigs. It was okay.
The Little Man. A killer is on the loose. I enjoyed this short tale. I could easily see this as an episode of the Twilight Zone.
The Werewolf Howls is really short. A flash piece.
To today's jaded audience these stories might not be of interest. But to those who enjoy S & S, I would heartily recommend this collection. I am thankful to DMR books for collecting these stories and publishing them together; otherwise I might not have had the pleasure of reading them.
December 29, 2019
DMR Books is an adventurous small press that has been publishing new works in the old S&S style and also resurrecting lost works from the pulps. This collection brings all of Clifford Ball's stories into one place, for the very first time. Is the effort worth it?
My answer is: absolutely yes, but this review has two ratings, really -- one for students of pulp fiction and the evolution of sword & sorcery, and one for those who could care less about all of that and just like blood & thunder heroic tales, creepy occult stories, etc.
Clifford Ball was himself in the latter category and, stunned by news of Robert E. Howard's suicide in 1936, decided to try and fill the gulf himself. In the next two years he penned four fantasy stories -- three in a shared world very much in the Hyborian vein, one a contemporary fantasy -- then over the next three, Ball wrote a sci-fi tale and a shorter, werewolf story, before disappearing from the page in 1941. He is believed to have died in '47.
The S&S trilogy is really one tale of a King Conan clone: Duar the Accursed and then two stand-alone stories about Rald the Thief. The first is interesting in that Duar, while at first a Conan knock-off, has complete amnesia, and as the tale unfolds, we see hints that he may be a time-traveler, from another universe, or even a member of a dying "master race" -- all very Theosophical/Bulwer-Lyton in style, but sadly, poor in delivery. While these scenes, with glimpses at Duar's lost love (or perhaps a femme-fatale that would have him believe so?) hint at a cycle of stories and might have created an interesting meta-plot to come, it was not to be, and the end result is that they really detract from the tale with what becomes pseudo-science babble. On the other hand, without them, the story becomes another straight-forward S&S tale.
The Thief of Forthe introduces a new hero, Rald, who is another massive warrior, but...well...let's say a bit dense. Not dumb, but hardly a deep-thinker, and Ball clearly plays on this in the next two tales. The story itself is a McGuffin heist with a twist, two, actually, and probably introduces the most interesting characters of the three.
The third tale "the Goddess Wakes" is long, probably 20K words or more, and features a lost kingdom of amazons, as well as a side-kick for Rald, that almost transforms them into precursors for another famous S&S pair: Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser. In many ways it is the most interesting of the three stories, because it is clear that Ball is becoming a better writer, and his world is starting to gel. Surprisingly, we begin to see that his mysterious land of lost kingdoms is tied to our own world -- we here about "the distant Nile" and other hints that suggest that Ygroth and its other odd lands may be a lost civilization contemporary to the Old Kingdom of Egypt. Conversely, some of the embarrassingly bad lifts from Burroughs (he actually refers to "white apes of Barsoom" in the first tale!) are gone or renamed, and one suspects that Ball was starting to have a feel for what he wanted his little fantasy world to be.
On the other hand, as a modern reader, this tale suffers the most from Burroughs Warrior-Maiden Syndrome, so typical of fiction of the period: we are introduced to amazons and their warrior queen, who generally never fight, need saving and mostly are there to instantly fall for the hero. Done well, one can generally just roll their eyes, remember the era and get on with it...here, it's a bit goofy -- an entire kingdom of warrior women, who it turns out, are completely bossed around by one male priest.
Ah well. In the end, it doesn't much matter, because wherever Ball was going with his world -- he didn't get there. This marks the end of his exploration of sword & sorcery and the other three tales are radically different, from a modern take on a bit of classical mythology, to a short werewolf story in 19th c France that, while predictable, shows that by '41, Ball's prose had tightened, streamlined and had begun to hum....just in time for him to disappear.
I said this is two reviews in one. If you are a student of the pulps or of sword and sorcery, I think you should absolutely read this collection, and it is a four star review. Most folks think it was Kuttner's Elak of Atlantis stories that stepped into the gulf, but Kuttner was the second author to fill that role. Ball came first, and his tales show us both what a huge shadow Howard cast, but also how flexible and undefined this sort of heroic fantasy still was. For all the Conan clones that came in the 60s and 70s, in many ways with Ball's work we see someone trying to figure out what it was that made Howard's work -- and his loss -- so important. The later "formula" isn't obvious, and he's experimenting in each tale. I'd say each story has at least one big misstep, but it is interesting to see him trying to find a path. IMO, he should have kept going.
OTOH, if you just want to read some good S&S, then Ball really adds nothing to the canon, and only half of the collection will fill that niche. For you, it's probably two stars.
My answer is: absolutely yes, but this review has two ratings, really -- one for students of pulp fiction and the evolution of sword & sorcery, and one for those who could care less about all of that and just like blood & thunder heroic tales, creepy occult stories, etc.
Clifford Ball was himself in the latter category and, stunned by news of Robert E. Howard's suicide in 1936, decided to try and fill the gulf himself. In the next two years he penned four fantasy stories -- three in a shared world very much in the Hyborian vein, one a contemporary fantasy -- then over the next three, Ball wrote a sci-fi tale and a shorter, werewolf story, before disappearing from the page in 1941. He is believed to have died in '47.
The S&S trilogy is really one tale of a King Conan clone: Duar the Accursed and then two stand-alone stories about Rald the Thief. The first is interesting in that Duar, while at first a Conan knock-off, has complete amnesia, and as the tale unfolds, we see hints that he may be a time-traveler, from another universe, or even a member of a dying "master race" -- all very Theosophical/Bulwer-Lyton in style, but sadly, poor in delivery. While these scenes, with glimpses at Duar's lost love (or perhaps a femme-fatale that would have him believe so?) hint at a cycle of stories and might have created an interesting meta-plot to come, it was not to be, and the end result is that they really detract from the tale with what becomes pseudo-science babble. On the other hand, without them, the story becomes another straight-forward S&S tale.
The Thief of Forthe introduces a new hero, Rald, who is another massive warrior, but...well...let's say a bit dense. Not dumb, but hardly a deep-thinker, and Ball clearly plays on this in the next two tales. The story itself is a McGuffin heist with a twist, two, actually, and probably introduces the most interesting characters of the three.
The third tale "the Goddess Wakes" is long, probably 20K words or more, and features a lost kingdom of amazons, as well as a side-kick for Rald, that almost transforms them into precursors for another famous S&S pair: Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser. In many ways it is the most interesting of the three stories, because it is clear that Ball is becoming a better writer, and his world is starting to gel. Surprisingly, we begin to see that his mysterious land of lost kingdoms is tied to our own world -- we here about "the distant Nile" and other hints that suggest that Ygroth and its other odd lands may be a lost civilization contemporary to the Old Kingdom of Egypt. Conversely, some of the embarrassingly bad lifts from Burroughs (he actually refers to "white apes of Barsoom" in the first tale!) are gone or renamed, and one suspects that Ball was starting to have a feel for what he wanted his little fantasy world to be.
On the other hand, as a modern reader, this tale suffers the most from Burroughs Warrior-Maiden Syndrome, so typical of fiction of the period: we are introduced to amazons and their warrior queen, who generally never fight, need saving and mostly are there to instantly fall for the hero. Done well, one can generally just roll their eyes, remember the era and get on with it...here, it's a bit goofy -- an entire kingdom of warrior women, who it turns out, are completely bossed around by one male priest.
Ah well. In the end, it doesn't much matter, because wherever Ball was going with his world -- he didn't get there. This marks the end of his exploration of sword & sorcery and the other three tales are radically different, from a modern take on a bit of classical mythology, to a short werewolf story in 19th c France that, while predictable, shows that by '41, Ball's prose had tightened, streamlined and had begun to hum....just in time for him to disappear.
I said this is two reviews in one. If you are a student of the pulps or of sword and sorcery, I think you should absolutely read this collection, and it is a four star review. Most folks think it was Kuttner's Elak of Atlantis stories that stepped into the gulf, but Kuttner was the second author to fill that role. Ball came first, and his tales show us both what a huge shadow Howard cast, but also how flexible and undefined this sort of heroic fantasy still was. For all the Conan clones that came in the 60s and 70s, in many ways with Ball's work we see someone trying to figure out what it was that made Howard's work -- and his loss -- so important. The later "formula" isn't obvious, and he's experimenting in each tale. I'd say each story has at least one big misstep, but it is interesting to see him trying to find a path. IMO, he should have kept going.
OTOH, if you just want to read some good S&S, then Ball really adds nothing to the canon, and only half of the collection will fill that niche. For you, it's probably two stars.
February 2, 2020
Clifford Ball was a minor pulp fiction writer, solely for Weird Tales, the legendary fantasy and horror pulp. This is a reprint of his complete works.
The first 3 stories, Ball's historically important contribution to sword and sorcery fiction, are good to great; the fourth story, a contemporary fantasy about the isle of Circe, was very good, as was the final short about a werewolf, but the fifth story, a fantasy/detective mishmash, was pretty bad.
The first 3 stories, Ball's historically important contribution to sword and sorcery fiction, are good to great; the fourth story, a contemporary fantasy about the isle of Circe, was very good, as was the final short about a werewolf, but the fifth story, a fantasy/detective mishmash, was pretty bad.
August 30, 2023
The Thief of Forthe & Other Stories by Clifford Ball presents, for the first time, all of Ball’s stories as an anthology. He is probably the first tribute author after Robert Howard’s tragic suicide, and as such, you can definetly see elements of Howard’s style, tone, and genre in Ball’s writing, though I guess I don’t see Duar as a Clonan. Nor is the writing; true, the word choices are strong and poetic, as Howard’s were, though these are Ball’s own words and phrases. As for Duar, well, he comes with his own mythos and personality, and while he is as amoras and free and at times amoral as Conan, I actually think he seems a bit more rude and full of bluster than Howard’s barbarian. He also has a cool supernatural back story that reminds me a bit of Jordan’s Dragon Reborn plot, albeit written decades before all that.
The first story “Duar the Acursed” was a great introduction with some near comic interactions between Duar and the two female side characters, the divine sorceress and the Queen. The writing was superb; I feel like some of these passages would be great examples of how to do word choices and keep the energy alive in a story. While a lot of the tension was left unresolved there was enough of a blatant hint at Duar’s seduction of the Queen and the mystery of the elder blood and future lives for a reader to play with all that in their minds and keep the story alive - not that this was the last story of course. Before we delve further, I felt note worthy two things: the name Duar, rather similar to the name of a famous beast master in a different story series, no? And a passage using the word “the force” involving a pushing, pulling power … intriguing, no, a la Star Wars. As this was from 1937 well before both Beast Master and Star Wars, I just found it incredibly interest regarding the meta play of the migration of story memes over time. Sadly Duar disappears after this first tale; regrettable as I felt there was a lot more story left in him.
“The Thief of Forthe” was just as good in its own way, this time staring a barbarian thief apparently (which is probably a minor error as we find Rald is actually from the city?) working with a strange wizard to steal a kingship. While the romance, as in the first tale, seems a touch abrupt, the story was very enjoyable with good writing, action, and a few interesting twists and comedy thrown in. The cover comes from a scene in this story, which was interesting as a lot of fantasy art has a very dreamy style, so that the more realistic art of this piece was very striking in a good way.
“The Goddess Awakes” made me laugh for a surprising reason - probably about half a year ago, without ever reading this story, I had written a story (for an anthology I am writing) with a very similar plot, I.e. hero (or heroine in my story’s case) stumbles upon a feminist ruled society…adventure continues with introduction of sorcery elements … battle against a giant cat … end of the sorcerous element and then feminist society. Granted, all the other details were different for the most part, but still amusing to me. But anyway, enough digression. By this point in the reading I could kind of anticipate the good and the bad of Ball’s work. The prose is once more enjoyable with enough good poetic energy. The women seem to fall in love or lust with our heroes to easily and often in ways that are pretty much guaranteed to destroy their lives. No, Ball is not a feminist’s writer I would think. And then while probably the first half or two thirds of the story are strong and engaging, the story is gift wrapped closed far to neatly in ways that just don’t ring true to me. Idk, it is what it is, some of the writing was exhilarating, some a bit droll and eye rolling for the stated reasons; bit of inconsistency here and there. Still, overall it was descent, though probably not amazing.
“The Swine of Aeaea” differs from the earlier stories by being set in the modern world and being something of an adventure story with a bit of magic; not to unusual a thing for the pulp adventure mags of yesteryear. While I felt the story started strong enough, I definitely had some criticisms: the constantly shifting narrative seemed overly complex and diverting from the actual story (when you read this you’ll see what I mean), the nearly two page description of the woman seemed laughable - to much, far to much. That all said the premise is interesting, so much so that given 80+ years it had been stolen and copied many times. Worth reading though don’t expect perfection.
“The Little Man” is the next story in the anthology and the penultimate story Ball ever published, at least under that pen name. This story was fun and interesting in a few ways though not a masterpiece. It’s sort of a weird tale detective story … slightly, though it reads nearly as comedy. Overall, I found the story interesting for all of the historic depictions (I.e., police boxes, cultural mores such as the dancing girl trying to hide that she had keys to a man’s apartment, the language) which, nearly regardless of the time period, seem so fascinating to me. While the story was interesting and the twist was amusing, I don’t know that any of the characters evoked enough sympathy that I cared about them or what was going on; nor was the comedy so amazing that it would save the story either. If you love the author’s stories it’s worth reading, but idk probably a 2.5 in my book.
Lastly there was “The Werewolf Howls” which is a French themed werewolf tale, again straying from the sword and sorcery that started his literary career, though a safe bet for the pulp magazines of the time. While I liked what was there and we can guess two possible endings for this story or maybe a third and some subvariants, the truth is that this story is only half written - which is sort of a shame as it would have only taken a couple more pages to complete. While this abrupt “ending” allows for a playground of the mind as to what happens next - who lives? Who dies? Who is changed? How did this begin? When it ends will it end? What is really written in that envelope? - but now we will never know for sure. Idk. I’ve ended some of my stories in similar ways before to, though the effect is kind of jarring.
And it is also the last story he ever wrote. Unless Ball continued to write under another pen name, one must wonder if he just got sick and tired of writing, bored of it, etc. I’ve never really had true writers block, but maybe Ball did - I suppose perma-writers block would be a fine career killer as well.
What we are left with is a few good stories; not great stories, and not free from critiscm, but a fine sampling for the medium and publishing of the times Ball lived in. He did continue on Sword & Sorcery, so, if nothing else, we ought to be thankful to Ball for that. In the end I give this collection 3 out of 5 barbarian - thieves and would recommend it for fans of classic S&S and weird pulp stories.
The first story “Duar the Acursed” was a great introduction with some near comic interactions between Duar and the two female side characters, the divine sorceress and the Queen. The writing was superb; I feel like some of these passages would be great examples of how to do word choices and keep the energy alive in a story. While a lot of the tension was left unresolved there was enough of a blatant hint at Duar’s seduction of the Queen and the mystery of the elder blood and future lives for a reader to play with all that in their minds and keep the story alive - not that this was the last story of course. Before we delve further, I felt note worthy two things: the name Duar, rather similar to the name of a famous beast master in a different story series, no? And a passage using the word “the force” involving a pushing, pulling power … intriguing, no, a la Star Wars. As this was from 1937 well before both Beast Master and Star Wars, I just found it incredibly interest regarding the meta play of the migration of story memes over time. Sadly Duar disappears after this first tale; regrettable as I felt there was a lot more story left in him.
“The Thief of Forthe” was just as good in its own way, this time staring a barbarian thief apparently (which is probably a minor error as we find Rald is actually from the city?) working with a strange wizard to steal a kingship. While the romance, as in the first tale, seems a touch abrupt, the story was very enjoyable with good writing, action, and a few interesting twists and comedy thrown in. The cover comes from a scene in this story, which was interesting as a lot of fantasy art has a very dreamy style, so that the more realistic art of this piece was very striking in a good way.
“The Goddess Awakes” made me laugh for a surprising reason - probably about half a year ago, without ever reading this story, I had written a story (for an anthology I am writing) with a very similar plot, I.e. hero (or heroine in my story’s case) stumbles upon a feminist ruled society…adventure continues with introduction of sorcery elements … battle against a giant cat … end of the sorcerous element and then feminist society. Granted, all the other details were different for the most part, but still amusing to me. But anyway, enough digression. By this point in the reading I could kind of anticipate the good and the bad of Ball’s work. The prose is once more enjoyable with enough good poetic energy. The women seem to fall in love or lust with our heroes to easily and often in ways that are pretty much guaranteed to destroy their lives. No, Ball is not a feminist’s writer I would think. And then while probably the first half or two thirds of the story are strong and engaging, the story is gift wrapped closed far to neatly in ways that just don’t ring true to me. Idk, it is what it is, some of the writing was exhilarating, some a bit droll and eye rolling for the stated reasons; bit of inconsistency here and there. Still, overall it was descent, though probably not amazing.
“The Swine of Aeaea” differs from the earlier stories by being set in the modern world and being something of an adventure story with a bit of magic; not to unusual a thing for the pulp adventure mags of yesteryear. While I felt the story started strong enough, I definitely had some criticisms: the constantly shifting narrative seemed overly complex and diverting from the actual story (when you read this you’ll see what I mean), the nearly two page description of the woman seemed laughable - to much, far to much. That all said the premise is interesting, so much so that given 80+ years it had been stolen and copied many times. Worth reading though don’t expect perfection.
“The Little Man” is the next story in the anthology and the penultimate story Ball ever published, at least under that pen name. This story was fun and interesting in a few ways though not a masterpiece. It’s sort of a weird tale detective story … slightly, though it reads nearly as comedy. Overall, I found the story interesting for all of the historic depictions (I.e., police boxes, cultural mores such as the dancing girl trying to hide that she had keys to a man’s apartment, the language) which, nearly regardless of the time period, seem so fascinating to me. While the story was interesting and the twist was amusing, I don’t know that any of the characters evoked enough sympathy that I cared about them or what was going on; nor was the comedy so amazing that it would save the story either. If you love the author’s stories it’s worth reading, but idk probably a 2.5 in my book.
Lastly there was “The Werewolf Howls” which is a French themed werewolf tale, again straying from the sword and sorcery that started his literary career, though a safe bet for the pulp magazines of the time. While I liked what was there and we can guess two possible endings for this story or maybe a third and some subvariants, the truth is that this story is only half written - which is sort of a shame as it would have only taken a couple more pages to complete. While this abrupt “ending” allows for a playground of the mind as to what happens next - who lives? Who dies? Who is changed? How did this begin? When it ends will it end? What is really written in that envelope? - but now we will never know for sure. Idk. I’ve ended some of my stories in similar ways before to, though the effect is kind of jarring.
And it is also the last story he ever wrote. Unless Ball continued to write under another pen name, one must wonder if he just got sick and tired of writing, bored of it, etc. I’ve never really had true writers block, but maybe Ball did - I suppose perma-writers block would be a fine career killer as well.
What we are left with is a few good stories; not great stories, and not free from critiscm, but a fine sampling for the medium and publishing of the times Ball lived in. He did continue on Sword & Sorcery, so, if nothing else, we ought to be thankful to Ball for that. In the end I give this collection 3 out of 5 barbarian - thieves and would recommend it for fans of classic S&S and weird pulp stories.
April 26, 2024
A fairly decent collection of short stories, Clifford Ball certainly piques my interest. A couple of stories ended more abruptly, not giving us enough meat to chew upon, as the stories easily set up for a good adventure. The Little Man is my least favorite here for such but like I said, it didn't give you enough of what it was, and it was worth getting into. The environment of The Goddess Awakes turned out to be a very potent take on modern sensibilities, for Clifford's time and ours, where Evil tends to demonize the Righteous in order to garner power, especially through identity prejudices.
Duar the Accursed
"Poor Duar, housing a spirit too great for himself! Do you ever dream you are not as other men?" - Shar
The Thief of Forthe
The Goddess Awakes
The Swine of Ææa
The Little Man
"My friend, we have authority to strive for human welfare - as far as mankind's authority extends!" - Commissioner
The Werewolf Howls
Duar the Accursed
"Poor Duar, housing a spirit too great for himself! Do you ever dream you are not as other men?" - Shar
The Thief of Forthe
The Goddess Awakes
The Swine of Ææa
The Little Man
"My friend, we have authority to strive for human welfare - as far as mankind's authority extends!" - Commissioner
The Werewolf Howls
January 13, 2026
Robert E. Howard's Tribute Writer
Clifford Ball, a regular jack-of-all-trades, had been a loyal reader of Weird Tales magazine since 1925 when he sent a letter to "The Eyrie", that magazine's letters section, in January of 1937. The subject of the letter was the tragic and untimely death of Robert E. Howard, and Ball opined that not even Tarzan, Northwest Smith or Jirel of Joiry could "supplant the glory" of Howard's Conan the Cimmerian, despite the excellence of Smith and Jirel's creator, the incomparable C L Moore.
Despite his belief in the inherent futility of even attempting to match Howard's skill at crafting a sword and sorcery tale, Ball made a valiant effort in the May 1937 issue of the Unique Magazine with a story entitled "Duar the Accursed". These would be followed by two stories featuring Rald the Thief, and then three more pieces of weird fiction set more or less in the modern day. Overall, Ball's sword and sorcery efforts are the most readable and most fun. Ball had a knack for depicting the supernatural, even if his action was a little light, and mostly consisted of Duar and Rald giving one well-placed sword swing to save the day. His characters were well drawn and enjoyable. His other stories are also interesting reads; Ball has a narrative voice that is almost modern in its dry humor and sardonic style, particularly in "The Little Man".
This is an excellent collection and it's sad that Clifford Ball didn't continue his writing career, as I would have loved to have read more stories set in the land of Ygoth. However, Ball's last story appeared in the November 1941 issue of Weird Tales, just before the United States' entry into World War 2. He joined up in January of 1942, married a year later, but then tragically passed away at the age of 38 in 1947. Life probably just got too busy for a writing career, and then it ended all too soon.
Who knows what really inspired Clifford Ball. Perhaps he was only writing to recreate those magical moments when the name "Robert E. Howard" appeared on the newsstands every few months, amid a wonderfully lurid cover painting by the great Margaret Brundage. As the grief settled, perhaps Ball's desire to recreate those moments settled as well, and as the world faced an uncertain future, it was time to move on.
Clifford Ball, a regular jack-of-all-trades, had been a loyal reader of Weird Tales magazine since 1925 when he sent a letter to "The Eyrie", that magazine's letters section, in January of 1937. The subject of the letter was the tragic and untimely death of Robert E. Howard, and Ball opined that not even Tarzan, Northwest Smith or Jirel of Joiry could "supplant the glory" of Howard's Conan the Cimmerian, despite the excellence of Smith and Jirel's creator, the incomparable C L Moore.
Despite his belief in the inherent futility of even attempting to match Howard's skill at crafting a sword and sorcery tale, Ball made a valiant effort in the May 1937 issue of the Unique Magazine with a story entitled "Duar the Accursed". These would be followed by two stories featuring Rald the Thief, and then three more pieces of weird fiction set more or less in the modern day. Overall, Ball's sword and sorcery efforts are the most readable and most fun. Ball had a knack for depicting the supernatural, even if his action was a little light, and mostly consisted of Duar and Rald giving one well-placed sword swing to save the day. His characters were well drawn and enjoyable. His other stories are also interesting reads; Ball has a narrative voice that is almost modern in its dry humor and sardonic style, particularly in "The Little Man".
This is an excellent collection and it's sad that Clifford Ball didn't continue his writing career, as I would have loved to have read more stories set in the land of Ygoth. However, Ball's last story appeared in the November 1941 issue of Weird Tales, just before the United States' entry into World War 2. He joined up in January of 1942, married a year later, but then tragically passed away at the age of 38 in 1947. Life probably just got too busy for a writing career, and then it ended all too soon.
Who knows what really inspired Clifford Ball. Perhaps he was only writing to recreate those magical moments when the name "Robert E. Howard" appeared on the newsstands every few months, amid a wonderfully lurid cover painting by the great Margaret Brundage. As the grief settled, perhaps Ball's desire to recreate those moments settled as well, and as the world faced an uncertain future, it was time to move on.
November 18, 2019
I’m really glad DMR is rereleasing some fo these old S&S Weird Tales authors works.
Clifford Ball, unfortunately, did not write many stories. His S&S has Greta potential. Which, unfortunately was never fully realized.
The S&S stories are
Duar the Accursed - This story has a great sense of character and atmosphere. It’s a pity he only wrote one story about this character as there are hints at greater things. It’s my favorite of the collection by far.
The Thief of Forthe - This story is the same world but has the new protagonist Rald. The atmosphere in the beginning, is again great, then the story is kinda okay but the ending is very different, and unexpected, especially for that time period. It’s good.
The Goddess Awakes - Its a very run of the mill S&S. Rald isn’t super likable in it and it made me wish he had stuck with Duar.
It’s a pity that there are only 3 stories in Ball’s S&S world. We could use another dozen!
The others:
The Swine of Aeaea - this one is a decent tall tale.
The Little Man - this story was just bad.
The Werewolf Howls. - very predictable but decent.
Overall this collection I would recommend to S&S fans who want a glimpse into a world that should have been further expounded on. I’m not sure if it’s really for anyone outside the diehard REH fan.
Clifford Ball, unfortunately, did not write many stories. His S&S has Greta potential. Which, unfortunately was never fully realized.
The S&S stories are
Duar the Accursed - This story has a great sense of character and atmosphere. It’s a pity he only wrote one story about this character as there are hints at greater things. It’s my favorite of the collection by far.
The Thief of Forthe - This story is the same world but has the new protagonist Rald. The atmosphere in the beginning, is again great, then the story is kinda okay but the ending is very different, and unexpected, especially for that time period. It’s good.
The Goddess Awakes - Its a very run of the mill S&S. Rald isn’t super likable in it and it made me wish he had stuck with Duar.
It’s a pity that there are only 3 stories in Ball’s S&S world. We could use another dozen!
The others:
The Swine of Aeaea - this one is a decent tall tale.
The Little Man - this story was just bad.
The Werewolf Howls. - very predictable but decent.
Overall this collection I would recommend to S&S fans who want a glimpse into a world that should have been further expounded on. I’m not sure if it’s really for anyone outside the diehard REH fan.
February 22, 2022
The book contains the following stories~
A) Fantasy— Sword & Sorcery:
1. Duar the Accursed;
2. The Thief of Forthe;
3. The Goddess Awakes.
B) Fantasy— Mythical: The Swine of Ææa
C) Supernatural:
1. The Little Man;
2. The Werewolf Howls.
The first question that came to my mind after reading these six stories was, why haven't I read any works by this author before this?
Immediately followed another question— where can I find more of his works?
Alas! D.M. Ritzlin, in his brief but informative 'Introduction' answered both of my questions with a finality that was gasp-inducing. Apparently, this slim collection is all that we have.
A great loss indeed. These are brilliant stories, with free-flowing narrative allowing construction of rich & vivid worlds, believable characters, action, wit, humour and pathos. In short, Clifford Ball seems to be a writer who was vastly ahead of his times, and would have been a model for modern writers of fantasy if only his output had been a little more prolific.
Alas! But don't miss this collection. It's absolutely brilliant— the only weakness being lack of illustrations inside. Nevertheless, highly recommended.
A) Fantasy— Sword & Sorcery:
1. Duar the Accursed;
2. The Thief of Forthe;
3. The Goddess Awakes.
B) Fantasy— Mythical: The Swine of Ææa
C) Supernatural:
1. The Little Man;
2. The Werewolf Howls.
The first question that came to my mind after reading these six stories was, why haven't I read any works by this author before this?
Immediately followed another question— where can I find more of his works?
Alas! D.M. Ritzlin, in his brief but informative 'Introduction' answered both of my questions with a finality that was gasp-inducing. Apparently, this slim collection is all that we have.
A great loss indeed. These are brilliant stories, with free-flowing narrative allowing construction of rich & vivid worlds, believable characters, action, wit, humour and pathos. In short, Clifford Ball seems to be a writer who was vastly ahead of his times, and would have been a model for modern writers of fantasy if only his output had been a little more prolific.
Alas! But don't miss this collection. It's absolutely brilliant— the only weakness being lack of illustrations inside. Nevertheless, highly recommended.
Read
November 30, 2025Ritzlin's introduction nails the author: an unknown who produced a small crop of stories, possibly written over the five years or so when they were published, possibly written at once and sold over time, who may well have treated writing as one of a list of jobs necessary to make ends meet.
Much of the output could be classified charitably as "outsider art". Ball has little technical refinement to his craft and makes strange narrative choices. "The Thief of Forthe" doubles down on a twist ending, and "The Goddes Awakes" can't seem to decide if it exists in some invented world or fantasy-infused ancient world and mashes together the names "Hess", "Bast", and "Bubaste". "The Swine of Aeaea" wraps the story in a double layer of narration, the inner layer of which has a completely unnecessary twist.
But there's enough here to make me wish that Ball had continued to pursue writing, and that he had received more encouragement or editing or mentoring. Even when the reader absolutely knows how the story will play out, there's always something buried in the story to notice and appreciate.
Much of the output could be classified charitably as "outsider art". Ball has little technical refinement to his craft and makes strange narrative choices. "The Thief of Forthe" doubles down on a twist ending, and "The Goddes Awakes" can't seem to decide if it exists in some invented world or fantasy-infused ancient world and mashes together the names "Hess", "Bast", and "Bubaste". "The Swine of Aeaea" wraps the story in a double layer of narration, the inner layer of which has a completely unnecessary twist.
But there's enough here to make me wish that Ball had continued to pursue writing, and that he had received more encouragement or editing or mentoring. Even when the reader absolutely knows how the story will play out, there's always something buried in the story to notice and appreciate.
February 15, 2024
Duar the Accursed
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...
The Thief of Forthe
https://archive.org/details/Weird_Tal...
The Goddess Awakes
https://archive.org/details/Weird_Tal...
The Swine of Ææa
https://archive.org/details/weird-tal...
The Little Man
https://archive.org/details/Weird_Tal...
The Werewolf Howls
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...
The Thief of Forthe
https://archive.org/details/Weird_Tal...
The Goddess Awakes
https://archive.org/details/Weird_Tal...
The Swine of Ææa
https://archive.org/details/weird-tal...
The Little Man
https://archive.org/details/Weird_Tal...
The Werewolf Howls
https://archive.org/details/WeirdTale...
October 8, 2025
Ball was the first post-Robert E. Howard fan turned pro in Weird Tales, and the stories are enjoyable quick reads in that style. Nothing exceptional, but pleasant coffee break reading, probably like the original magazine was back in the day. Did they have coffee breaks in the 1930s?
September 10, 2023
These stories are quite good. I'm not sure how they weren't grabbed by Roy Thomas to convert into stories for Marvel's various Conan comics.
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