HYPERBOREA » Something from CAS that reflects my Hyperborea campaign

JasonZavoda · 3/02/2014 10:18 pm

Clark Ashton Smith

To The Daemon
(with some liberties taken)

Tell me many tales,
O benign maleficent daemon
but tell me none that I have ever heard
or have even dreamt of...

Nay, tell me not of anything
that lies between the bourns of time
or the limits of space:
For I am... weary of all recorded years

and charted lands;

and the isles that are westward of Cathay,
and the sunset realms if Ind,
are not remote enough
to be made

the abiding-place of my conceptions;

and Atlantis is over-new
for my thoughts to sojourn there,
and Mu itself has gazed upon the sun
in aeons that are too recent.

Tell me many tales,
but let them be of things
that are past the lore of legend
and of which there are no myths

in our world or any world adjoining.

Tell me, if you will,
of the years when the moon was young,
with siren-rippled seas
and mountains that were zoned with flowers

from base to summit;

tell me of the planets
grey with eld,
of the worlds whereon no mortal astronomer
has ever looked.

and whose mystic heavens
and horizons have given pause...

Tell me of the vaster blossoms
within whose cradling chalices
a woman could sleep;

of the seas of fire
that beat on strands
of ever-enduring ice;

of perfumes
that can give
eternal slumber in a breath;

of eyeless titans...
and beings that wander
in the green light

of the twin suns
of azure and orange.

Tell me tales
of inconceivable fear
and unimaginable love,

in orbs whereto our sun
is a nameless star,
or unto which its rays,
have never reached.

Benoist · 3/02/2014 10:36 pm

God I love CAS.

JasonZavoda · 3/02/2014 10:52 pm

So many of these lines could be book titles.

"Between the Bourns of Time"
"Weary of all Recorded Years"
"The Abiding Place of My Conceptions"
"Aeons That Are Too Recent"
"The Years When the Moon Was Young"
"Eternal Slumber in a Breath"

He was first a poet.

Ghul · 3/03/2014 6:05 am

JasonZavoda wrote:
So many of these lines could be book titles.

"Between the Bourns of Time"
"Weary of all Recorded Years"
"The Abiding Place of My Conceptions"
"Aeons That Are Too Recent"
"The Years When the Moon Was Young"
"Eternal Slumber in a Breath"

He was first a poet.

Yes, the wizard of Auburn. Even his prose was so lyrical and rhythmic, it reads like poetry. Like yourself, I was late to CAS, and didn't start reading his work until about 10 years ago. It seems silly, but I wonder if I would have read him much earlier if he'd been an Appendix N author...

Lord Kjeran · 3/03/2014 10:32 am

Read my quote.

Ghul · 3/03/2014 11:42 am

Lord Kjeran wrote:
Read my quote.

Brilliant! Like Jason, I read one sentence from CAS, like the one in your quote, Lord Kjeran, and I want to grab a pencil, lined paper, some graph paper, and start making stuff up for a game. So very inspiring.

Benoist · 3/03/2014 11:50 am

Same. It's the choice of words. Like an impressionist painting.

Ghul · 3/03/2014 11:58 am

Benoist wrote:
Same. It's the choice of words. Like an impressionist painting.

Oh, I know you are cut from the same cloth, Benoist!

joseph · 3/04/2014 5:08 pm

Ghul wrote:
JasonZavoda wrote:
So many of these lines could be book titles.

"Between the Bourns of Time"
"Weary of all Recorded Years"
"The Abiding Place of My Conceptions"
"Aeons That Are Too Recent"
"The Years When the Moon Was Young"
"Eternal Slumber in a Breath"

He was first a poet.
Yes, the wizard of Auburn. Even his prose was so lyrical and rhythmic, it reads like poetry. Like yourself, I was late to CAS, and didn't start reading his work until about 10 years ago. It seems silly, but I wonder if I would have read him much earlier if he'd been an Appendix N author...

Fantastic work from CAS, and great inspiration, thanks for posting Jason! Truly, I didn't start reading CAS until about a year ago, after reading most of Howard's work and Lovecraft's as well. My mission for 2014 is to read the required Appendix N authors that I should have read long ago... can you believe I just bought my first Vance AND Moorcock!?

Last edited by joseph (3/05/2014 11:28 am)

Ghul · 3/05/2014 7:27 pm

For me, now well into my forties, some Moorcock work does not stand the test of time with me, but other stories I think are excellent. Vance is just off the charts brilliant.

Druvas · 3/09/2014 10:59 am

I have yet to read any CAS, but he's on my short list. Any suggestions for what to read first?

I started going through the Appendix N list. Some of it is pretty hard to find, even in the local used book store which is probably 50,000 sq feet. I did manage to find a whole ton of L Sprague De Camp though. Anyone ever read any of his Conan stuff? Looks like he wrote the 'Conan the Barbarian' book used for the original flick. I also snagged some Poul Anderson which I started reading (The Goblin Tower) and it's honestly kind of dull. :-/

Ghul · 3/09/2014 11:40 am

Druvas wrote:
I have yet to read any CAS, but he's on my short list. Any suggestions for what to read first?

I started going through the Appendix N list. Some of it is pretty hard to find, even in the local used book store which is probably 50,000 sq feet. I did manage to find a whole ton of L Sprague De Camp though. Anyone ever read any of his Conan stuff? Looks like he wrote the 'Conan the Barbarian' book used for the original flick. I also snagged some Poul Anderson which I started reading (The Goblin Tower) and it's honestly kind of dull. :-/

As far as Conan pastiche goes, personally, I would try to steer you as far away from De Camp as you can get. While the man may have been responsible for getting REH in paperback back in the 60's, he also decided he was REH's co-author, editing and changing and rewriting REH. His "solo" Conan works are poorly done, IMO. If you want to read Conan pastiche, I would best recommend Karl Edward Wagner. He "got" it, IMO. Seek out his Kane novels, too.

Recently I read Blood and Thunder, a biography on Robert E. Howard by Mark Finn, and it only served to heighten my disdain for De Camp, but I don't want to come across as overly opinionated on the topic. When I was a kid, I read his novelization of the Arnold film, "Conan the Barbarian" and it was fun. Of course, I would probably cringe reading it 30 years later.

For CAS, I recommend his Hyperborea, Zothique, and Averoigne tales the most, but even some of his straight horror stuff, similar to HPL, is fantastic.

Poul Anderson is hit-or-miss with me as well.

Druvas · 3/09/2014 7:46 pm

Wagner it is. I'll check his Conan and Kane novels out. I erred when I wrote earlier. The book "The Goblin Tower" is actualy De Camp, not Poul Anderson. It's really boring and it's the first of a trilogy. How did this guy make the Appendix N list anyway? I've started "The Broken Sword" by Poul Anderson and it is is much better so far.

Going to grab some CAS stuff off Amazon if it's reasonably priced there. Thanks for the tips!

JasonZavoda · 3/09/2014 8:22 pm

Druvas wrote:
Wagner it is. I'll check his Conan and Kane novels out. I erred when I wrote earlier. The book "The Goblin Tower" is actualy De Camp, not Poul Anderson. It's really boring and it's the first of a trilogy. How did this guy make the Appendix N list anyway? I've started "The Broken Sword" by Poul Anderson and it is is much better so far.

Going to grab some CAS stuff off Amazon if it's reasonably priced there. Thanks for the tips!

There is a very reasonably priced CAS collection on kindle. I think it is listed as the wierd tales stories or something, but the Nightshade collected works are also up there for $7.50 a volume. A bit much in my opinion for ebooks but the 5 volume set is fantastic.

As far as Conan goes if you can grab the Delrey volumes they have kept to REH's original work rather than the heavily edited and rewritten work by De Camp and Carter. Lin Carter really disgusted me when I read his book on Lovecraft. He really disparages Lovecraft's work and shows himself as incredibly superior. De Camp at least made his mark with some great short stories and the Complete Enchanter books he did with Fletcher Pratt. Lin Carter couldn't write himself out of a paperbag.

Druvas · 3/12/2014 3:19 pm

JasonZavoda wrote:
Druvas wrote:
Wagner it is. I'll check his Conan and Kane novels out. I erred when I wrote earlier. The book "The Goblin Tower" is actualy De Camp, not Poul Anderson. It's really boring and it's the first of a trilogy. How did this guy make the Appendix N list anyway? I've started "The Broken Sword" by Poul Anderson and it is is much better so far.

Going to grab some CAS stuff off Amazon if it's reasonably priced there. Thanks for the tips!
There is a very reasonably priced CAS collection on kindle. I think it is listed as the wierd tales stories or something, but the Nightshade collected works are also up there for $7.50 a volume. A bit much in my opinion for ebooks but the 5 volume set is fantastic.

As far as Conan goes if you can grab the Delrey volumes they have kept to REH's original work rather than the heavily edited and rewritten work by De Camp and Carter. Lin Carter really disgusted me when I read his book on Lovecraft. He really disparages Lovecraft's work and shows himself as incredibly superior. De Camp at least made his mark with some great short stories and the Complete Enchanter books he did with Fletcher Pratt. Lin Carter couldn't write himself out of a paperbag.

This it?
http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Weird-Tales-Collection-Trilogus-ebook/dp/B004JKNQ5I/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394655407&sr=1-4&keywords=clark+ashton+smith

JasonZavoda · 3/12/2014 3:40 pm

Druvas wrote:
This it?
http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Weird-Tales-Collection-Trilogus-ebook/dp/B004JKNQ5I/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394655407&sr=1-4&keywords=clark+ashton+smith

That is the one. I picked it before I got the dead tree nightshade books versions so I haven't read it, but it seems pretty massive from the page count. There is also some of his poetry available for free on kindle.

joseph · 3/13/2014 10:23 am

JasonZavoda wrote:
Druvas wrote:
This it?
http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Weird-Tales-Collection-Trilogus-ebook/dp/B004JKNQ5I/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394655407&sr=1-4&keywords=clark+ashton+smith
That is the one. I picked it before I got the dead tree nightshade books versions so I haven't read it, but it seems pretty massive from the page count. There is also some of his poetry available for free on kindle.

I have the same one and am content with it for now. There are some occasional typos, but overall it is bearable and its a huge collection at a very reasonable price. It has all Hyperborea and all of Averoigne. I am reading along with "The Double Shadow" Podcast and have not yet arrived at Zothique...I know at least some of the stories are present.

Handy Haversack · 3/13/2014 11:38 am

JasonZavoda wrote:
As far as Conan goes if you can grab the Delrey volumes they have kept to REH's original work rather than the heavily edited and rewritten work by De Camp and Carter. Lin Carter really disgusted me when I read his book on Lovecraft. He really disparages Lovecraft's work and shows himself as incredibly superior. De Camp at least made his mark with some great short stories and the Complete Enchanter books he did with Fletcher Pratt. Lin Carter couldn't write himself out of a paperbag.

True. His Green Star books are pretty terrible, too. But his editing of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy imprint was fantastic, and really important for keeping some authors in print when they could have disappeared. And the covers are amazing. Hollis, Queens!

grodog · 3/23/2014 2:04 am

Ghul wrote:
JasonZavoda wrote:
He was first a poet.
Yes, the wizard of Auburn. Even his prose was so lyrical and rhythmic, it reads like poetry. Like yourself, I was late to CAS, and didn't start reading his work until about 10 years ago. It seems silly, but I wonder if I would have read him much earlier if he'd been an Appendix N author...

Out of curiosity, have any of you read any of George Sterling's works? He was CAS' mentor, but beyond some of his letters, I've not read anything by him. Wondering if he's worth looking up or not?

Ghul · 3/23/2014 6:14 am

I've read about him as well, but never his work.