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Zothique (collection)
''Zothique'' is a collection of fantasy short stories by Clark Ashton Smith, edited by Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books as the sixteenth volume of its Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in June 1970. It was the first themed collection of Smith's works assembled by Carter for the series. The stories were originally published in various fantasy magazines in the 1930s, notably ''Weird Tales''. Background The book collects one poem and all sixteen tales of the author's Zothique cycle, set on the Earth's last continent in a far distant future, with an introduction, map, and epilogue by Carter. They were originally written and published between 1932 and 1951. Most were written in a tar paper and wood cabin in Auburn, California. All were first published in the magazine ''Weird Tales'' with the exception of "The Voyage of King Euvoran" which first appeared in the 1933 book ''The Double Shadow and Other Fantasies'' and later republished under the title "The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WikiProject Novels
A WikiProject, or Wikiproject, is a Wikimedia movement affinity group for contributors with shared goals. WikiProjects are prevalent within the largest wiki, Wikipedia, and exist to varying degrees within sister projects such as Wiktionary, Wikiquote, Wikidata, and Wikisource. They also exist in different languages, and translation of articles is a form of their collaboration. During the COVID-19 pandemic, CBS News noted the role of Wikipedia's WikiProject Medicine in maintaining the accuracy of articles related to the disease. Another WikiProject that has drawn attention is WikiProject Women Scientists, which was profiled by '' Smithsonian'' for its efforts to improve coverage of women scientists which the profile noted had "helped increase the number of female scientists on Wikipedia from around 1,600 to over 5,000". On Wikipedia Some Wikipedia WikiProjects are substantial enough to engage in cooperative activities with outside organizations relevant to the field at issue. For e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1947 In Literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1947. Events *January – The English actor-manager Geoffrey Kendal arrives in British India with his touring repertory theatre company "Shakespeareana." It will perform Shakespeare in towns and villages there for several decades. *January 29 – Arthur Miller's play ''All My Sons'' opens at the Coronet Theater in New York, directed by Elia Kazan and starring Ed Begley, as the writer's first Broadway success. *February 17 – On the death of Montserrat-born British fantasy fiction writer M. P. Shiel aged 81 in Chichester, his supposed title to the Kingdom of Redonda passes to the London poet John Gawsworth. *March – ''Landfall'', a literary magazine, is founded by Charles Brasch and first published by Caxton Press (New Zealand). It will become the country's longest-established literary journal. *April **The opening night of the Swiss dramatist Friedrich Dürrenmatt's first play, ''Es steht geschri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Witchcraft Of Ulua
"The Witchcraft of Ulua" is a short story by American author Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Zothique cycle, and first published in the February 1934 issue of ''Weird Tales''. Plot Sabmon lives in a house made of bones on the edge of a northern desert of Tasuun. He was famous for his dark arts and many sought his advice and divination. Amalzain, a great nephew of Sabmon, visits him and he tells that he will be chosen as cupbearer for king Famorgh in Miraab. Sabmon recommends an amulet that contains the ashes of Yos Ebni who weathered temptation until death. Sabmon tells him to abstain from temptation but should it prove too great he should return to Sabmon and work as his apprentice. Amalzain travels to Miraab and finds much decadence in the court of the king Famorgh. Amid his work, he finds that princess Ulua has inherited some of the sorcery from her mother queen Lunalia. While princess Ulua seeks after Amalzain, Amalzain refutes her advances. However, at night, Amalzain is visi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Weaver In The Vault
"The Weaver in the Vault" is a short story by American author Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Zothique cycle, and first published in the January 1934 in literature, 1934 issue of ''Weird Tales''. Plot The king of Tasuun, Famorgh, sends three henchmen (Yanur, Grotara, Thirlain Ludoch) from Miraab to Chaon Gacca to deliver the remains of King Tnepreez. As they journey from the city in a caravan of camels, they note in the past a similar task. Yanur notes two centuries ago King Mandis asked two of his men for the golden mirror of Queen Avaina as a gift for his favourite leman. However, those two never returned and the king offered a different gift instead. The three remark that Chaon Gacca is occupied by shadows from the desert Dloth. Thirlain Ludoch points out that the shadows would appear in palaces and when touches would render the skin withered. King Ameni suffered an injury to his hand due to this. Yanur remarks Chaon Gacca was also besieged by earthquakes. The three find the t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Death Of Ilalotha
"The Death of Ilalotha" is a short story by American author Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Zothique cycle, and first published in the September 1937 issue of ''Weird Tales''. Plot Amid festivities, Ilalotha who is next in succession to Queen Xantlicha dies of fatal passion. Lord Thulos who is in love with the queen discovers the body. Thulos is suspect since the queen poisoned King Archain and other lovers who do not please the queen. While servants dispatch the body to a necropolis near the palace, the queen and Lord Thulos plan to meet later. However, Thulos is concerned Ilalotha might be a witch. Later that night, Thulos awakes and remembers his appointment but worries he might be late. When he finds he is early, he decides to check the necropolis as he has suspicions Ilalotha might not be dead after all. Something dispatches Lord Thulos. Later, Queen Xantlicha goes to meet Lord Thulos but finds he is absent. Deciding he may have gone to check on Ilalotha, she goes to her to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Empire Of The Necromancers
"The Empire of the Necromancers" is a short story by American author Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Zothique cycle, and first published in the September 1932 issue of ''Weird Tales''. Background When editing the 1970 Smith collection ''Zothique'', Lin Carter noted "The Empire of the Necromancers" as "the first to be published" of the Zothique cycle. Plot Two necromancers, Mmatmuor and Sodosma, from the land of Naat, travel to Tinarath to exhume and reanimate the dead. However, they are soon shunned by its inhabitants and the two have to go elsewhere to continue their necromancy. Thus they go to Cincor where they continue their practice. They begin with a dead traveler and his horse they find on a road. Later, they begin reanimating more of the dead as they travel through Cincor until they arrive at what was once its capital Yethlyreom. There they take refuge in its palace as they reanimate everyone who died. While the dead serve them, one begins to remember his past life. Illeir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Necromancy In Naat
"Necromancy in Naat" is a short story by American author Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Zothique cycle, and first published in the July 1936 issue of ''Weird Tales''. Plot Nomad prince Yadar finds his betrothed Dalili taken up by bandits during his hunt for gazelles in the "half-desert" region Zyra. Yadar begins a quest to find Dalili. With four of his men, they search the capitals of Zothique. While fever takes Yadar's men, Yadar finds that Dalili was sold as a slave girl to the king of Yoros as settlement for a treaty. Taking passage on a galley carrying grain and wine to Yoros, the ship is whisked off in a current called the Black River. Far from shore, Yadar learns from the galley crew that between there and the edge of the world is a land called Naat ruled by necromancers. As the galley shipwrecks onto Naat, Yadar is rescued by an undead woman. Yadar learns that the undead woman is Dalili. Initially happy, Yadar finds that undead Dalili does not reciprocate. On the beach, Y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xeethra
"Xeethra" is a short story by American author Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Zothique cycle, and first published in the December 1934 issue of ''Weird Tales''. Background When editing the 1970 Smith collection ''Zothique'', Lin Carter placed "Xeethra" as chronologically "the true beginning of events." Plot In pastoral Cincor, the young Xeethra wanders his goat herd to an unknown plain. Despite it being late in the day, Xeethra decides to explore. Finding a cave, he follows it through a tunnel to a hidden valley. There he finds a weird field with unusual flora and two giants guarding it. Amid the flora, Xeethra takes a bite of strange fruit and realises he was long ago King Amero of the far-off Calyz. Returning to his guardian Pornos, he admits this realisation while admitting he strayed too far and quite late. While Pornos refutes this thought, he admits there are certain passageways to the underworld of Thassaidon, an evil god. The next day, Xeethra begins his journey to find ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Night Land
''The Night Land'' is a horror/fantasy novel by English writer William Hope Hodgson, first published in 1912. As a work of fantasy it belongs to the Dying Earth subgenre. Hodgson also published a much shorter version of the novel, entitled '' The Dream of X'' (1912). Publication history ''The Night Land'' was revived in paperback by Ballantine Books, which republished the work in two parts as the 49th and 50th volumes of its Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in July 1972. H. P. Lovecraft's essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature" describes the novel as "one of the most potent pieces of macabre imagination ever written". Clark Ashton Smith wrote of it: When the book was written, the nature of the energy source that powers stars was not known: Lord Kelvin had published calculations based on the hypothesis that the energy came from the gravitational collapse of the gas cloud that had formed the sun and found that this mechanism gave the Sun a lifetime of only a few tens of mill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Hope Hodgson
William Hope Hodgson (15 November 1877 – 19 April 1918) was an English author. He produced a large body of work, consisting of essays, short fiction, and novels, spanning several overlapping genres including horror, fantastic fiction, and science fiction.Alder, Emily. "Passing the Barrier or Life: Spiritualism, Psychical Research and Boundaries in William Hope Hodgson's "The Night Land"". in Ramone, Jenni and Twitchen, Gemma, eds. ''Boundaries''. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007. (pp. 120-139). Stableford, Brian, "Hodgson, William Hope", in Pringle, David ed., ''St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers''. London: St. James Press, 1998. (pp. 273-275). Hodgson used his experiences at sea to lend authentic detail to his short horror stories, many of which are set on the ocean, including his series of linked tales forming the "Sargasso Sea Stories". His novels, such as '' The House on the Borderland'' (1908) and ''The Night Land'' (1912), feature more cosm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Darrell Schweitzer
Darrell Charles Schweitzer (born August 27, 1952) is an American writer, editor, and critic in the field of speculative fiction. Much of his focus has been on dark fantasy and horror fiction, horror, although he does also work in science fiction and fantasy. Schweitzer is also a prolific writer of literary criticism and editor of collections of essays on various writers within his preferred genres. Life and career Schweitzer was born in Woodbury, New Jersey,''Contemporary Authors Online'', Detroit: Gale, 2007. son of Francis Edward and Mary Alice Schweitzer. He attended Villanova University from 1970 to 1976, from which he received a B.S. in geography (1974) and an M.A. in English (1976). He started his literary career as a reviewer and columnist. He worked as an editorial assistant for ''Asimov's Science Fiction, Isaac Asimov's SF Magazine'' from 1977 to 1982 and ''Amazing Stories'' from 1982 to 1986, was co-editor with George H. Scithers and John Gregory Betancourt of ''Weird ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arkham House
Arkham House is an American publishing house specializing in weird fiction. It was founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish hardcover collections of H. P. Lovecraft's best works, which had previously been published only in pulp magazines. The company's name is derived from Lovecraft's fictional New England city, Arkham, Massachusetts. Arkham House editions are noted for the quality of their printing and binding. The colophon for Arkham House was designed by Frank Utpatel. Founding In late 1937, after Lovecraft's death, Derleth and Wandrei sought to produce a collection of their friend's best weird fiction from the pulp magazines into a memorial volume. After several failed attempts to interest major publishers in the omnibus volume, the two men realized no publisher would be willing to take a chance with the collection. Derleth and Wandrei then decided to form their own company, Arkham House with the express purpose of p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
