Author Profile - Clark Ashton Smith

Clark Ashton Smith came from a poor background and spent much of his early life trying to earn money for his family. But even while young he displayed a love of story and a passion for language. Some of his earliest works were written as a teenager and they were strongly influenced by the Arabian Tales, an influence that would linger.

He abandoned prose for some years and was a fairly successful poet. After his first published volume he was taken under the arm by George Sterling and mingled with fellow poets of the time including Ambrose Bierce.

Nowadays he’s remembered for his short fiction works which he wrote primarily for pulp magazines like Weird Tales. In fact, in terms of the ‘weird’ fiction of the pulp era he was one of the three heavyweights along with Lovecraft and Robert E Howard, and while those two may be better known these days I would argue Smith is the better writer of the group.

The ties between the three, while primarily through letters, were highly influential however as they borrowed names and ideas from each other frequently. So the building and weaving of certain famous or infamous mythos began. Smith set many tales in Hyboria which shared and helped build Howard’s Hyperborean setting where Kull, Conan and Red Sonja ran about; and he used names from Lovecraft’s Cthulu mythos thus building on their renown and our knowledge of them within that crazy mixed-up universe.

Smith’s stories I must admit are not strong in plot, some of them barely even have one. Take The Abomination of Yondo, it tells of a man exiled from a harsh country into a desert known to contain horrors. We learn a little of why he was exiled but not a great deal, otherwise he simply walks on, encounters one monstrosity, continues on then encounters something so utterly terrifying he flees back to face torture and execution to escape the mad fear. Not much of a plot, but as we read it we drink in the details of the desert and its horrors, we sense the dread and the unnatural atmosphere of the place.

And that’s the key to Smith’s fiction – atmosphere. He creates the world we are reading about so vividly it really is like visiting the places ourselves. His use of language is rich and exorbitant, you may need a dictionary at times I know I did, and he clear took great delight in playing with words to build up these fantastic vistas and horrific scenes of death and worse. Make no mistake, these stories can be highly macabre, some seem to exist for no other reason than creeping you out. In that regard he was something of a successor to Poe.

I could say lots more about him of course but the best way to experience his writing is for yourself and I highly, highly recommend you do.

Keep dreaming!

August Reading Roundup At Last

Since my promise of regular posts I’ve been quiet, sorry about that. I have been busy though – preparing the house for a baby, which is ongoing, writing some freelance articles, studying some free courses via Coursera and watching my wife get a kiss from Amanda Palmer. I’ll write more about that last one soon, but first, before I completely forget, an August Reading Round-up.

I finished Clarke Ashton Smith’s Emperor of Dreams. I really recommend it to anyone who enjoys visiting distant vistas of the imagination; the places I went to while reading it are amazing. I wouldn’t want to go to them for real but I’m very happy I could tour them in my mind. Some of the stories were a bit lack-lustre I admit and most of the plots weren’t great, but that wasn’t the reason for reading them. The atmosphere and the landscapes of these stories are their real strength.

I also finished the Legends II anthology put together by Robert Silverberg. I had read most of this book years ago but still had three stories left – and, as we’re boxing some books to make way for the baby, I figured I’d knock this one over and put it away. The first story I read was Feist’s The Messenger, which follows a messenger travelling between camps on the front line and getting more than he bargained for. It was an interesting perspective to take and made for a fun read.

Then there was Elizabeth Haydon’s Threshold, which is set in the world of her Symphony of Ages series. I knew nothing of this series coming into this beyond the short introduction before it, but it was an engrossing story of people essentially waiting to die in a catastrophe, being lured by a gleam of hope, then utterly betrayed. Sorry, mild spoiler there.

Finally there was Terry Brooks’ Indomitable, set in Shannara. I actually found this a bit dull, there was too much introspection and recollection; I haven’t read any other Shannara works so I don’t know if that’s the norm or if the story being told just didn’t work without back story so Terry Brooks overcompensated, but it didn’t work for me.

Wil Wheaton’s Just a Geek was a surprise for me. I don’t read many autobiographical works but as Tabletop has inspired me to play more games and Wil has become something of a role model for me in his attitudes, and it was part of the last Humble Bundle ebook collection, I thought I’d read it. It was very honest, reading it feels like Wil telling you what happened then reading excerpts of his blog to you to fully paint the picture. It’s witty too and really grabbed me. I read it much more quickly than I would normally, even choosing to read it at times I reserve for physical paper books. Wil tells his own journey to a self-realisation and it’s inspiring and helps put things in perspective if you’re also wandering somewhat.

I think that’s all I read last month. At least to completion; I started Kevin J Anderson’s Hopscotch but I’ll discuss that next month along with Frank Herbert’s High-Opp and some other things.

Keep dreaming!

Reading Round-up

Having said I’d blog more I’ve not done much at all, sorry about that. So I figure a little reading round-up wouldn’t go astray.

I finally got through Clash of Kings – that’s Game of Thrones Season 2 for TV folks – and I’m looking forward to A Storm of Daggers. I also decided not to watch season 2 of the show; I watched season one and enjoyed it but it lacks some of the depth, the story is shifting away from the book and … I don’t need to see that stuff.

Finishing it opened the way for me to read Neil Gaiman’s latest, The Ocean at the End of the Lane. It really dragged me in and was a charming tale; I don’t think it’s a match for his other novels but it’s still an addictive read with some great characters and ideas.

And finishing that, which didn’t take long, meant I could finally read Shine Light, the third book in Marianne de Pierre’s Night Creatures trilogy. It took me a couple of chapters to get back into the world but once there the story moved along at a good pace. I thought I knew what was happening, then bang, something shifted dramatically and kept me interested. The ending seemed somewhat sudden in a way but with time I see it’s the right way.

Actually, before those two I finished reading another YA fantasy, Crewel by Gennifer Ablin. I was lured to this book by a moment of serendipity. I was doing NaNoWriMo and I read one of the pep talks, which was by Ablin; and I found it pepped me quite successfully. I switched tabs to Twitter after reading it and someone tweeted their review of Crewel. It seemed to me to be a sign, so I tracked it down on Angus & Robertson and bought the ebook.

Unfortunately, when I went to read it on my reader I found passages went missing between pages. It turns out that why A&R uses the epub file format, it formats the books specifically for the Kobo, which handles the whole reading experience differently to my Sony. So the only way I could read it was on my computer, using the A&R program. Which was okay but not something I’m keen to do often.

Anyway, while very YA at times and occasionally a little rough around the edges, Crewel is a truly fascinating story. It’s a dystopia with a difference as the world of the story, Arras , is wound by Spinsters – women with an ability to see the threads of reality and to manipulate them on special looms. It’s a great concept and the intrigues we’re drawn into make it well worth reading.

Speaking of ebooks, I’ve recently read the classic fantasy novel The King of Elfland’s Daughter by Lord Dunsany, a poetic tale of mundane meets faery, and Tim Powers’ The Anubis Gates, an interesting mix of magic and time-travel set, mostly, in 19th century London , with a detour to Egypt . Now I’m working my way through Emperor of Dreams, a huge collection of short stories by Clark Ashton Smith; brilliant. I’ll likely have more to say on them later.

For now, I think that’s your lot.

Keep dreaming.