The Emperor of Dreams
by Clark Ashton Smith
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From the vampire-haunted alleyways of mediaeval Averoigne to the shining spires of dying Zothique, Clark Ashton Smith weaves his literary sorcery, transporting us to forgotten realms of necromancies and nightmares, lost worlds and other dimensions. In the enchanted regions of Hyperborea, Atlantis and Xiccarph, encounter malefic magic and demonic deeds beneath the last rays of a fading sun . . . For the first time ever, this volume encompasses Clark Ashton Smith's entire career as a writer. show more Smith virtually stopped writing stories in 1937, for reasons that have never been satisfactorily explained, but he left behind a unique legacy of fantasy fiction which is as imaginative and decadent today as when it was first published in the pulp magazines more than half a century ago. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Ah, Clark Ashton Smith. For those of you unfamiliar with this writer imagine someone with the fevered imagination of Lovecraft and the lyrical stylistic chops of Lord Dunsany and you'll get an idea of what you're in for. For my money Smith is perhaps the best of the "Weird Tales Triumvirate" of Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard and Ashton Smith. I would probably place Howard as a close second on that list...heresy I know, but for all of the coolness of Lovecraft's ideas he really was just a god-awful writer.
Take a dip into this tome and visit one of Smith's created worlds: medieval Averoigne, antediluvian Poseidonis, far future Zothique, or ancient Hyperborea, all tinged with the dark fantasy Cthulhoid elements borrowed from his friend show more Lovecraft and embellished with his delicious prose.
I'd heartily recommend the tales "The Double Shadow", "The Beast of Averoigne", "Mother of Toads", and the 'Malygris tales' "The Last Incantation" & "The Death of Malygris" as good starting points, though there are few places to go wrong here. show less
Take a dip into this tome and visit one of Smith's created worlds: medieval Averoigne, antediluvian Poseidonis, far future Zothique, or ancient Hyperborea, all tinged with the dark fantasy Cthulhoid elements borrowed from his friend show more Lovecraft and embellished with his delicious prose.
I'd heartily recommend the tales "The Double Shadow", "The Beast of Averoigne", "Mother of Toads", and the 'Malygris tales' "The Last Incantation" & "The Death of Malygris" as good starting points, though there are few places to go wrong here. show less
Truly yours is a melancholy case.' There was concern in Famurza's voice. 'I have been reading some of your late verses. You write only of tombs and yew-trees, of maggots and phantoms and disembodied loves. Such stuff gives me the colic. I need at least a half-gallon of honest vine-juice after each poem.'
Clark Ashton Smith was a short story writer, poet and illustrator. A friend of H.P. Lovecraft, some of his stories belong to the Cthulu Mythos.
Although the quotation above is from one of his stories, it could well apply to Smith himself. His stories contain necromancers, demons, otherworldly gods, liches, ghouls, tombs and doom . . . lots and lots of doom (mostly of the eldritch kind). I read over half of the stories in this book a few show more months ago, and then stopped because all that doom was getting a bit much. I read the rest a story at a time, and have just finished. They are good stories but 550 pages all at once is too much, and spreading them out was a great improvement. I couldn't believe it when I was almost at the end and came upon a couple of humorous stories! show less
Clark Ashton Smith was a short story writer, poet and illustrator. A friend of H.P. Lovecraft, some of his stories belong to the Cthulu Mythos.
Although the quotation above is from one of his stories, it could well apply to Smith himself. His stories contain necromancers, demons, otherworldly gods, liches, ghouls, tombs and doom . . . lots and lots of doom (mostly of the eldritch kind). I read over half of the stories in this book a few show more months ago, and then stopped because all that doom was getting a bit much. I read the rest a story at a time, and have just finished. They are good stories but 550 pages all at once is too much, and spreading them out was a great improvement. I couldn't believe it when I was almost at the end and came upon a couple of humorous stories! show less
I don't remember when I started reading Clark Ashton Smith, but I do keep track of the stories I've read, so I know that as of yesterday (12-27-19) I have read all the stories in this book. I didn't love all of them (or may any of them), but there were plenty of interesting, horrific, cool stories there. There are 45 entries in this book and the back says it is "the first ever to encompass CAS's entire career as a writer", which may or may not mean it includes everything he ever published.
I have to say I enjoyed the "purple prose" more when I was younger, though his vocabulary is more humbling now that I've got almost 50 years under my belt. The number of words per page that I haven't heard before or don't recognize is sometimes show more stunning (to a life long reader). show less
I have to say I enjoyed the "purple prose" more when I was younger, though his vocabulary is more humbling now that I've got almost 50 years under my belt. The number of words per page that I haven't heard before or don't recognize is sometimes show more stunning (to a life long reader). show less
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- Canonical title
- The Emperor of Dreams
- Original title
- The Emperor of Dreams
- Original publication date
- 2002-03 (collection) (collection); 1933 (The Beast of Averoigne) (The Beast of Averoigne); 1936 (The Black Abbot of Puthuum) (The Black Abbot of Puthuum); 1934 (The Charnel God) (The Charnel God); 1941 (The Coming of the White Worm) (The Coming of the White Worm); 1934 (The Dark Eidolon) (The Dark Eidolon) (show all 46); 1937 (The Death of Ilalotha) (The Death of Ilalotha); 1934 (The Death of Malygris) (The Death of Malygris); 1931 (The Door to Saturn) (The Door to Saturn); 1939 (The Double Shadow) (The Double Shadow); 1932 (The Empire of the Necromancers) (The Empire of the Necromancers); 1935 (The Flower-Women) (The Flower-Women); 1938 (The Garden of Adompha) (The Garden of Adompha); 1933 (Genius Loci) (Genius Loci); 1934 (The Ghoul) (The Ghoul); 1989 (A Good Embalmer) (A Good Embalmer); 1932 (The Gorgon) (The Gorgon); 1932 (The Hunters From Beyond) (The Hunters From Beyond); 1933 (The Isle of the Torturers) (The Isle of the Torturers); 1933 (The Kiss of Zoraida) (The Kiss of Zoraida); 1930 (The Last Incantation) (The Last Incantation); 1953 (Morthylla) (Morthylla); 1971 (The Mortuary) (The Mortuary); 1938 (Mother of Toads) (Mother of Toads); 1932 (The Nameless Offspring) (The Nameless Offspring); 1936 (Necromancy in Natt) (Necromancy in Natt); 1928 (The Ninth Skeleton) (The Ninth Skeleton); 1953 (An Offering to the Moon) (An Offering to the Moon); 1977 (Prince Alcouz and the Magician) (Prince Alcouz and the Magician); 1931 (A Rendezvous in Averoigne) (A Rendezvous in Averoigne); 1931 (The Return of the Sorcerer) (The Return of the Sorcerer); 1949 (The Root of Ampoi) (The Root of Ampoi); 1933 (The Seed From the Sepulcher) (The Seed From the Sepulcher); 1934 (The Seven Geases) (The Seven Geases); 1937 (Song of the Necromancer) (Song of the Necromancer); 1958 (Symposium of the Gorgon) (Symposium of the Gorgon); 1931 (The Tale of Satampra Zeiros) (The Tale of Satampra Zeiros); 1958 (The Theft of Thirty-Nine Girdles) (The Theft of Thirty-Nine Girdles); 1964 (Told in the Desert) (Told in the Desert); 1934 (The Tomb-Spawn) (The Tomb-Spawn); 1936 (The Treader of the Dust) (The Treader of the Dust); 1933 (Ubbo-Sathla) (Ubbo-Sathla); 1934 (The Weaver in the Vault) (The Weaver in the Vault); 1932 (The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan) (The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan); 1934 (Xeethra) (Xeethra); 1926 (The Abominations of Yondo) (The Abominations of Yondo)
- Original language
- English
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- Reviews
- 3
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- (4.12)
- Languages
- English
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- ISBNs
- 1
