Red World of Polaris

by Clark Ashton Smith

“For a long time, Smith’s The Red World of Polaris was assumed to be lost. It was the El Dorado of Smith fanatics. But a copy turned up a few years ago – it was nothing short of a miracle. The people at Nightshade Books published it, along with the rest of Smith’s Captain Volmar stories, of which Red World is one. God bless ya, Nightshade Books.”— Arvidland

Red World of Polaris has for many years been the holy grail for Clark Ashton Smith fans. A tale of Captain Volmar, it's been oft discussed but never seen, until now. Night Shade is proud to present Red World of Mars, a Clark Ashton Smith mini-collection of Smith's Captain Volmar stories, including the never before published novella, "Red World of Polaris.". Along with the title novella, it includes the other Volmar stories as "Marooned in Andromeda", "A Captivity in Serpens", "The Ocean-World of Alioth". Ronald Hilger contributes the introduction, "The Magellan of An Introduction" and Donald Sydney-Fryer the afterword, "Captain Volmar and An Afterword".

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Literature, Speculative Fiction

115 pages, Hardcover

First published July 19, 2005

About the author

Clark Ashton Smith was a poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. It is for these stories, and his literary friendship with H. P. Lovecraft from 1922 until Lovecraft's death in 1937, that he is mainly remembered today. With Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, also a friend and correspondent, Smith remains one of the most famous contributors to the pulp magazine Weird Tales.

His writings are posted at his official website.

Reviews

[Ed Erwin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked this up knowing almost nothing about CAS (Clark Ashton Smith). It turns out that this is some of his earliest "weird" stories, written for the early "weird tales" type magazines. The main thrill of this publication for fans of CAS is the third (of three) stories, "The Red World of Polaris", which had been thought to be lost, but was found and published 75 years later in this volume.

These are nominally SF stories, since they involve travels in a spaceship to other planets. But they feel more like fantasy or horror. (The distinctions are still fuzzy but were much more fuzzy back then.) The plot of the first story can be summed-up as "Some guys get marooned on a planet, see some weird and dangerous plants and animals, almost get killed a few times, and then leave the planet." They don't feel like real human characters, and in fact barely say a word to each other during the story. The imagination behind those weird plants and animals is quite good, and that would have probably been interesting enough to me back in 1930, but I've come to expect more.

Before this work, CAS had been a poet. It shows in his word choices. He uses a stilted, unnatural vocabulary that I expect from mediocre 19th century poetry. The introduction and afterword both point out that this is not his best work, so I won't write him off completely based on this sample, but I'm not likely to go looking for more anytime soon.

[Yael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clark Ashton Smith, a contemporary of H. P. Lovecraft, is known as both a horror and science-fiction writer. His novellas and short stories are actually melds of both genres, the separation of which was actually the result of publisher awareness of public taste and literary marketing decisions that came about in the last half of the 20th century as more and more people began to read works in both genres in job lots. In the works of Smith, Lovecraft, and their contemporaries, however, horror, science-fiction, and fantasy are so intricately intertwined and integrated with one another that it is impossible to say where one ends and another begins. RED WORLD OF POLARIS, a collection of Smith's stories about the interstellar adventurer Captain Volmar and his intrepid crew, is a perfect exemplar of this blend of moods and genres, which in Smith's time weren't rigidly segregated by readers, editors, and publishers. As outdated or false-to-fact as the science is, and archaic as much of the fantasy and horror will be perceived by many modern readers, the stories in RED WORLD OF POLARIS are highly effective, bringing a sense of the marvelous, exotic, and strange to the reader, and graced with a weird but compelling beauty. As many an historian and antique collector has discovered, "old" doesn't necessarily mean outdated, dilapidated, ugly, or unserviceable, and the same is true for those readers discovering for the first time the literary delights created by Clark Ashton Smith and his contemporaries. This richly illustrated book is also a collectible for its gorgeous color cover and interior b&w illustrations. I got my "used - like new" copy on amazon.com for a very reasonable price, in exactly the condition the seller advertised, so it's eminently worth tracking down a copy for your library.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

While it is not unusual for past authors to have unpublished works, it is unusual for us to be able to experience them posthumously, especially when there was only one copy and it had been missing. Thanks to the investigative work of various individuals, The Red World of Polaris is not only available to us, but here grouped with other works involving the same characters. While not the greatest works by any stretch of the imagination, they are still great reads/listens for what they represent to the genre in general. I also really appreciated the inclusion of information about the previously missing work and the biographical information about the author. As I had never heard of this author before, it was nice to have a little bit of information about him included.

[Kars · Rating 3 out of 5]

CAS was never a plot driven writer and this collection kind of suffers for it. The action oriented genre of space opera is kind of a poor fit for his sensibilities it seems. On occasion, we get the trademark vivid, weird, and grotesque imagery he is justifiably famous fore. But more often than not his trademark heavily embellished lyrical prose fights against the flow of the narrative. One for the CAS completionists, I would say.

[Lord English SSBM · Rating 3 out of 5]

The prose is strong enough to elevate what are otherwise unremarkable stories. I'm not surprised that Smith only wrote three stories about Captain Volmar, because he doesn't seem to care about the character.

[Viviana · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Audiobook]
Need dictionary, maybe. Wish for a bit more details, even though a bit too much, sometimes. (It's a bit graphic n disturbing.) Eerie! ..and confusing. Creative!

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

a very generous rating 😌

[Carl Palmateer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories are basic, the plots simplistic. The language and concepts are excellent. This is obviously early work but it does contain a foreshadowing of what was to come for CAS.

[Geoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

What we have here is H.P. Lovecraft in space. Lovecraft's friend in Clark Ashton Smith, had a couple of previously released stories about a Captain Volmar, as well as an outline for a future book, and a lost story in the "Red World of Polaris," that has never been previously published. All these are the contents of this collection.

It's funny that he uses some of the same descriptions as Lovecraft, like 'cyclopean' for example. I've never heard this descriptive term by anyone but Smith and Lovecraft, that was not a Lovecraft emulator. Anyway, Smith does some good work here, and this was a fun read. The stories of Captain Volmar that were previously released, take on a horrific tone. They are interesting in that way, and give a sense of atmosphere, but are not great works. Although, I find "Red World of Polaris," to be an intellectual story of another race, that has survived when their species was on the brink of extinction. This has some meaty text, and was a very interesting story. Overall this collection was great, even the lessor works still provided a great sense of atmosphere. I was very happy to come across this collection. Easily recommended!

[Bryan Worra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is definitely a fine read for a Clark Ashton Smith completist. It won't be everyone's cup of tea. It's experimental even by Clark Ashton Smith's standards, and rough, almost juvenile in places. It's principal value will be in seeing how his style evolves over time. It contains several other Captain Volmar stories in well-bound edition.

[Preston Fordstrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like much I have read from CAS better than this - but still give this five stars. Even when he is down I am awed. He is that good.