Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
A collection of six stories ranging from contemporary horror to weird alternate-world fantasy, this book remains a fascinating introduction and showcase to Smith's decadently jeweled prose. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Lyrical, magical, brooding, horrific
I've known about Smith for years from reading Lovecraft, Leiber, Howard, etc, but this was my first experience.You can easily see his kinship with those other geniuses of the weird tale, but his style is his own, from whimsical to dreadful (in a good way :).Highly recommended as an entertaining intro to his work.

Decadent Delight
Fans of high fantasy in the style of Lord Dunsany get a treat in Clark Ashton Smith's The Double Shadow.One of the "big three" writers of pulp fantasy in the 1920's, along with H. P. Lovecraft and Robert Howard, Ashton Smith wrote numerous well-crafted, stylish, and decadent short stories in several series.The six stories in The Double Shadow are independent of these series, but just as stylish as any of the stories in them were.

"The Voyage of King Euvoran," an ironic tale of a king's quest for a missing crown, should please any fan of the Arabian Nights."The Maze of the Enchanter" is a brooding tale of transfiguration that must have inspired some of the early tales of Jack Vance's Dying Earth."A Nightfall in Malneant" is a tale of a spiritual journey through despair worthy of Poe himself."The Devotee of Evil" follows a quest for the source of evil to its ultimate wellsprings of madness."The Willow Landscape," on the other hand, is a delicately written Chinese fairy tale showing the breadth of Ashton Smith's skill as a writer.The title story, "The Double Shadow," is a masterpiece of dark fantasy, tracing in delicate, poetic, yet malific tones the course of a conjuring of the unknown.

In his work Ashton Smith plumbs all of the dark emotions of a decaying world.Perhaps nowhere else will a devoted reader of fantasy find such variety and value in so small a space as in the collection of six stories published by Wildside Press.

A few of Smith's own favorites
The first edition of this book - a drab, stapled booklet issued at the author's expense in 1933 - was an attempt by the poet and prose fantasist Clark Ashton Smith to save a few of his favorite tales from oblivion after submission of these tales had resulted in either rejection or requests for alterations the author was not willing (at that time) to make. "The Maze of the Enchanter" and "The Voyage of King Euvoran" are both vastly superior to the disembowelled versions published years later as "The Maze of Maal Dweb" and "The Quest of the Gazolba". Three of my favorite tales by Smith appear in this book - "The Maze of the Enchanter", "A Night in Malneant", and "The Double Shadow". Of these, only one, the heavily-edited "The Maze of Maal Dweb" - still impressive in plot, if less precise in action and almost devoid of atmosphere- appears in Arkham House's fine retrospective collection of Smith's work, A RENDEZVOUS IN AVEROIGNE. "The Devotee of Evil", an exercise in contemporary horror not dissimilar to such minor, early Lovecraft efforts as "From Beyond", disappoints, otherwise the contents are chilling, evocative, mournful, and sardonic by turns, with Smith's muse shaping the prose so cunningly that word, image, action, atmosphere, and speech all work toward the same otherworldly end.

Wildside Press has not produced the most elegant edition of the book one could imagine. The binding is not sewn, the paper is thin, and half the title - the words "AND OTHER FANTASIES" - appears only inside the book, a detail which may cause some confusion among those not already familiar with Smith's work. Nonetheless, the book appears reasonably durable, the cover art is attractive, the text is laid out stylishly, and random checks for accuracy suggest this is more carefully proofread than are some of this publisher's earlier books. "The Maze of the Enchanter" in all its unexpurgated glory is alone worth the price of this book.

Weird stories, and Wild cover!!!
A delight to read, especially knowing that Smith wrote this in the late 1920's. Smith is very contemporary in his vision. In fact, "The Willow Landscape" must have influenced Rod Serling and his famous Twilight Zone series. My only complaint is that the book's title made no reference to the fact that it contains six stories, not just "The Double Shadow." The book contains "The Voyage of King Euvoran," "The Maze of the Enchanter," "The Double Shadow," "A Night in Malneant," "The Devotee of Evil," and "The Willow Landscape." Additionally, DiSilvio's cover art is as fantastical as Smith's prose, and sets the scene for"The Voyage of King Euvoran" even more mysteriously than the tale itself. A great artistic keepsake! ... Read more

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Science Fiction, Adventure, Fantasy ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Entertaining
This is an entertaining collection of letters from a fanzine, in which a number of prominent figures in the fantasy / science fiction field argue over the merits of Clark Ashton Smith's work, the aesthetics of fantasy, and so forth. Not essential by any means, but still fun. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent Story
This provides the only unexpurgated publication of this excellent fantasy/horror tale. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good Overview
This is a good overview of Smith's fiction, treating the various story cycles and recurrent themes in his work. Nothing very deep here, but it's the only such treatment around. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Fabulous Edition of a Cosmic Masterpiece
This single volume edition of "The Hashish-Eater" has been edited and includes notes by Donald Sidney-Fryer, who is himself a magnificent poet.As usual, Hippocampus Press gives us a beautiful paperback edition, with a colour front cover illustration by Clark Ashton Smith.This is the kind of book that Hippocampus does very well (another classic of this kind is their edition of H. P. Lovecraft's "The Shadow Out of Time").The entire contents are:
A WIND FROM THE UNKNOWN, introductory preface by Ron Hilger.
ABOUT CLARK ASHTON SMITH AND THE HASHISH-EATER, engaging essay by the editor, followed by these items by Smith:
The Crystals; Argument of THE HASHISH-EATER; The Face from Infinity; Excerpt from a letter by Smith, summer 1950.
THE HASHISH-EATER; OR, THE APOCALYPSE OF EVIL
COMMENTARY, including Glossary, The Final Image, Suggested interpretation, and Conclusion.
As an added bonus, there is included an audio cd of the editor, Donald Sidney-Fryer, reading in his marvelous voice the entire poem!

From the back of the book:

"This expanded edition of Donald Sidney-Fryer's rare scholarly work, an annotated version of Clark Ashton Smith's epic poem THE HASHISH-EATER, presents both the appearance from EBONY AND CRYSTAL (1922) side by side with that from his SELECTED POEMS, as he revised it in the late 1940s.Sidney-Fryer has extensively annotated the poem and provided an exhaustive commentary.Also included are significant related writings by Smith, including 'Argument for The Hashish-Eater,' 'The Crystals,' and 'The Face from Infinity,' as well as a 1950 letter from Smith detailing the genesis of the poem.As a bonus, an audio CD documents a performanceof Donald Sidney-Fryer, himself an accomplished poet, dramatically reading Smith's poem."

I had the great pleasure of meeting Sidney-Fryer last October at the World Fantasy Convention, and he is every inch a poet of the old school.His love of poetry is captured absolutely in his stunning reading of Smith's cosmic masterpiece! ... Read more

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Cross the threshold of fantasy into brilliant worlds of macabre imagination.. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Superb Cosmic Strangeness from the depths of Weird
Clark Ashton Smith is a poet, a real wizard of words, a necromancer of storytelling with a mind that is more far out than the frozen plains Pluto. Like others in his class, Lovecraft, &Lord Dunsany, he spins fantastic short stories, but in my opinion Clark's tales are the most psychedelic and piercing. They have an eerie dreamlike quality as if you're reading a passage from a past life. His descriptions of altered states and hyper surreal scenes are beautiful and deep. Rich imagery and hashish smoke roll off the pages of these stories. Highly recommended for those who seek mind expanding phantasmagoric fantasy. This volume contains some specially chosen by Smith , but other volumes and titles contain great jewels also. ... Read more

Product Description
The thrice-infamous Nathaire, alchemist, astrologer and necromancer, with his ten devil-given pupils, had departed very suddenly and under circumstances of strict secrecy from the town of Vyones. It was widely thought, among the people of that vicinage, that his departure had been prompted by a salutary fear of ecclesiastical thumbscrews and faggots. Other wizards, less notorious than he, had already gone to the stake during a year of unusual inquisitory zeal; and it was well-known that Nathaire had incurred the reprobation of the Church. Few, therefore, considered the reason of his going a mystery; but the means of transit which he had employed, as well as the destination of the sorcerer and his pupils, were regarded as more than problematic.
A thousand dark and superstitious rumours were abroad; and passers made the sign of the Cross when they neared the tall, gloomy house which Nathaire had built in blasphemous proximity to the great cathedral and had filled with a furniture of Satanic luxury and strangeness. Two daring thieves, who had entered the mansion when the fact of its desertion became well established, reported that much of this furniture, as well as the books and other paraphernalia of Nathaire, had seemingly departed with its owner, doubtless to the same fiery bourn. This served to augment the unholy mystery: for it was patently impossible that Nathaire and his ten apprentices, with several cart-loads of household belongings, could have passed the ever-guarded city gates in any legitimate manner without the knowledge of the custodians... ... Read more

Product Description
Included in this volume are four tales by Clark Ashton Smith: "The Empire of the Necromancers," "The Enchantress of Sylaire," "The Invisible City," and "The Mother of Toads." ... Read more