Scan barcode
A review by b1llz1lla
Zothique by Clark Ashton Smith
3.0
Zothique, by Clark Ashton Smith, is typically lumped in with the Cthulhu Mythos along with its author, largely because Smtih was a regular correspondent of Lovecraft's. However, Zothique bears more in common with the Arabian Nights than dank, damp Cthulhu.
From the Epilogue by Lin Carter we learn that Smith's Zothique cycle of stores, all published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales between 1932 and 1948, are set in Earth's distant future, where high technology is but a memory and magic has once again become a powerful force. Several of the stories were, IMHO, quite, good; most, however, lacked that certain spark that makes a story interested and engrossing. I wouldn't recommend this book to very many people, largely because I don't think it holds up as well as the stories from the Hyperboria collection. I enjoyed it as a trip through Smith's liberal use of the dictionary for arcane terminology. Smith apparently was largely self-educated beyond grammar school; mostly his further education seems to have consisted of reading every word in the Oxford Unabridged and the complete Britannica, not only once but several times.)
I'm a big fan of Smith's work in general, and have been searching for YEARS for a copy of Zothique, which a friend kindly loaned to me back in November.
From the Epilogue by Lin Carter we learn that Smith's Zothique cycle of stores, all published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales between 1932 and 1948, are set in Earth's distant future, where high technology is but a memory and magic has once again become a powerful force. Several of the stories were, IMHO, quite, good; most, however, lacked that certain spark that makes a story interested and engrossing. I wouldn't recommend this book to very many people, largely because I don't think it holds up as well as the stories from the Hyperboria collection. I enjoyed it as a trip through Smith's liberal use of the dictionary for arcane terminology. Smith apparently was largely self-educated beyond grammar school; mostly his further education seems to have consisted of reading every word in the Oxford Unabridged and the complete Britannica, not only once but several times.)
I'm a big fan of Smith's work in general, and have been searching for YEARS for a copy of Zothique, which a friend kindly loaned to me back in November.