Philip Athans’s Reviews > Jirel of Joiry > Status Update
Philip Athans
is on page 131 of 208
In “The Dark Land” Jirel faces her most powerful foe yet but at the same time the downside of reading all the Jirel of Jory stories in one volume is impossible to ignore. As fun and as weird as the stories are they’re equally formulaic, and by now sadly predictable.
— Sep 16, 2026 08:13AM
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Philip Athans
is on page 164 of 208
"Quest of the Starstone," co-written with her husband, Henry Kuttner, is the first story in the collection that I just did not like at all. I understand the urge to combine her two signature characters of the time, Jirel and the SF character Northwest Smith, but for me it just did not work at all. The overwhelming cosmic weirdness so far established was abandoned for goofy, pedestrian action.
— Sep 25, 2026 10:28AM
Philip Athans
is on page 100 of 208
The story “Jirel Meets Magic” raises the cosmic horror level a few dozen notches… and I’m not complaining! These exercises in vividly described hellscapes continue to fascinate.
— Sep 14, 2026 02:21PM
Philip Athans
is on page 62 of 208
The second story, "Black God's Kiss," is a direct sequel to the first story, so any discussion of plot would be filled with spoilers. Suffice it to say, though, this story kicks things up a notch, adding surrealism to sword & sorcery and weird horror--a trifecta C.L. Moore pulls off admirably.
— Aug 25, 2026 09:23AM
Philip Athans
is on page 33 of 208
BLACK GOD'S KISS
It took me a few pages to grow accustomed to C.L. Moore's particular voice, but having easily passed that hurdle I was 100% in.
This story combines sword & sorcery and weird horror so perfectly it's now hard for me to think of them as in anyway separate sub-genres. This story was spectacular.
— Aug 24, 2026 09:31AM
It took me a few pages to grow accustomed to C.L. Moore's particular voice, but having easily passed that hurdle I was 100% in.
This story combines sword & sorcery and weird horror so perfectly it's now hard for me to think of them as in anyway separate sub-genres. This story was spectacular.