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Clark Ashton Smith
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The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith Volume 2: The Door To Saturn: The Collected Fantasies, Vol. 2 Hardcover – 1 Jun. 2007

by Clark Ashton Smith (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars 159 ratings
The second of five volumes collecting the complete stories of renowned “weird fiction” author Clark Ashton Smith.

“None strikes the note of cosmic horror as well as Clark Ashton Smith. In sheer daemonic strangeness and fertility of conception, Smith is perhaps unexcelled by any other writer.”
—H. P. Lovecraft

Clark Ashton Smith, considered one of the greatest contributors to seminal pulp magazines such as Weird Tales, helped define and shape “weird fiction” in the early twentieth century, alongside contemporaries H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, drawing upon his background in poetry to convey an unparalleled richness of imagination and expression in his stories of the bizarre and fantastical.

The Collected Fantasies series presents all of Smith’s fiction chronologically. Authorized by the author’s estate and endorsed by Arkham House, the stories in this series are accompanied by detailed background notes from editors Scott Connors and Ron Hilger, who in preparation for this collection meticulously compared original manuscripts, various typescripts, published editions, and Smith’s own notes and letters. Their efforts have resulted in the most definitive and complete collection of the author’s work to date.

The Door to Saturn is the second of five volumes collecting all of Clark Ashton Smith’s tales of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. It includes all of his stories from “The Door to Saturn” (1930) to “The Hunters from Beyond” (1931), as well as an introduction by Tim Powers.
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  1. Book 2 of 5
    The Collected Fantasies
  2. Print length
    350 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Night Shade Books
  5. Publication date
    1 Jun. 2007
  6. Dimensions
    15.24 x 3.18 x 22.86 cm
  7. ISBN-10
    1597800295
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1597800297
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Product description

About the Author

Clark Ashton Smith was a self-educated poet and author best remembered for his short stories of fantasy, horror, and the supernatural published in genre pulp magazines such as Wonder Stories and Weird Tales in the late 1920s and 1930s. Smith died in 1961 in California.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Night Shade Books
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ 1 Jun. 2007
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 350 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1597800295
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1597800297
  • Item weight ‏ : ‎ 680 g
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.24 x 3.18 x 22.86 cm
  • Book 2 of 5 ‏ : ‎ The Collected Fantasies
  • Customer reviews:
    4.7 out of 5 stars 159 ratings

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Clark Ashton Smith

Clark Ashton Smith

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4.7 out of 5 stars
159 global ratings

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Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Dodwell
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great classics back again.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 March 2013
    Verified Purchase
    I remember reading all the C.A.S I could get hold of, many years ago when Panther Books began to reissue all of his works in paperback.

    After reading all of Lovecrafts ouvre, I discovered that he knew and admired Clark Ashton Smith greatly and spoke in glowing terms of his friends writings. That lead me onto discovering them myself; the same goes for Robert E Howard, too. Alas, over the years, I've lost or lent out my copies of his works, never to see them again, so it's great to have them available again and on Kindle.

    His stories are always entertaining and are a mixture of horror, fantasy and science fiction and their use of language is extremely poetic; a cut above some of the contributors to "Weird Tales", for who Smith wrote many of his works. Amongst my favourites are "The Abominations of Yondo" and the classic "The Colossus of Ylorgne", which, in my humble opinion, is one of the classiest fantasy "novelettes" ever written; a real tour de force of the imagination.

    So, do yourself a favour, purchase, settle down and become immersed in the terrifying but strangely beautiful world of Clark Ashton Smiths fertile imagination. 10 stars, at least.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Eric Faragher
    5.0 out of 5 stars Better Formatting than Volume One Kindle Edition
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 April 2022
    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
    Being a committed Clark Ashton Smith fan, I had to get all the Volumes in this series and was much relieved to find that the frequent and upsetting Kindle formatting errors of the first Volume in the series are not a factor throughout every subsequent Volume, thank goodness. It has to be said, though, that the decision to separate paragraphs by no more than a single space, rather than a decent indent or even a clear line, is a great mistake in my opinion.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Kindle Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars Clark Ashton Smith Content 10/10, 5+ stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 May 2020
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    * CAS Content 10/10, 5+ stars
    * Paperback edition material 7/10
    * Delivery condition 8/10

    The sheer power of CAS's texts is a supernova of language and escapism. One can certainly appreciate the passion, respect and dedication of NightShade's team to compile and distribute such a monumental series of hypnotic depth, breadth and wonder, which exposes CAS to a new generation. Thank you Ron, Scott and Co. These, along with Joshi's Penguin Classic: Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasises, and I'm hooked.

    The book/s I received were all a little tatty to start with, and even after a single through read of each of the 5 books with the utmost care, and they are now unbelievably tatty. The William Hope Hodgson series by NightShade had similar qualities/issues. If only the hardback versions were not so insanely priced.

    Even so, I highly recommend these books for the content, for the sheer exposure of readers to the wonders of CAS and that NightShade and the author/scholar team, are dedicated to exhibiting such a marvellous creator to us, to me. With the success of these particular books, who knows, maybe we will get affordable luxury hard back editions for CAS, as has occurred for HPL.

    Happy reading.
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  • Manly Reading
    4.0 out of 5 stars Prose poetry from ages of wonder
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 October 2011
    Format: Hardcover
    I read this book right after reading Vance's Tales of the Dying Earth, and that may have helped a little: Vance is a beautiful user of language, and so is CAS, perhaps to an even greater degree. He was a poet who turned to pulp writing to support aged parents, and never stopped writing poetry in creating his pulp fiction.

    A Door to Saturn is volume 2 of the 5 volume Night Shade complete collected works, so I guess its not for everyone in that there are cheaper collections of CAS's best work out there. But oh! the moments of beauty in every tale in the book, even in those "weaker" tales.

    The best stories in the book are the titular "The Door to Saturn", with a superb opening sentence that not only packs a punch, but also contains so much information, despite a potential over-use of commas: "When Morghi, the high priest of the goddess Yhoundeh, together with twelve of his most ferocious and efficient underlings, came at morning twilight to seek the infamous heretic, Eibon, in his house of black gneiss on a headland above the northern main, they were surprised as well as disappointed to find him absent." And it only gets better from there, full of dark humour and dire consequences for all involved.

    "A Rendezvous in Averoigne" is a chilling little vampire tale from when vampires were evil, and scary, and would dominate your will and drink your blood. "The Ghoul" is unforgettable, as is "The Good Embalmer": both are short tales with a big impact.

    CAS tells a wonderfully descriptive parable in "The City of the Singing Flame". The possible meanings vary from reader to reader - is it about religion, money, drugs, obsession, or something else altogether.

    "The Return of the Sorcerer" is a horror story full of boding dread and impending doom.

    There are a host of other stories - 20 in all - all with endnotes containing discussion of the stories, usually by way of correspondence between CAS and HP Lovecraft. Sometimes this is perhaps a little too much of a glimpse at the man behind the curtain, but in a definitive collection of work I can certainly understand its place.

    This is a superb collection of works, and should be more widely read.
    6 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Matt
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent product and service!
    Reviewed in Canada on 26 February 2024
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Ordered and received in great condition, very well packaged. Thank you!
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  • S. Grant
    5.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly enjoyable and well researched!
    Reviewed in the United States on 9 May 2024
    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
    An excellent job collecting the work of an author too often overlooked. An absolute essential read for those interested in modern horror.
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  • Amazon Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars La colección completa es excepcional
    Reviewed in Mexico on 2 November 2018
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    La colección de 6 libros es extraordinaria, toda la ficción de Smith en una edición de buena calidad, con notas y comentarios. Este segundo volumen, sin embargo, no incluye los mejores cuentos del autor. Trae varios clásicos e imprescindibles pero la mayoría son medianos. De todos modos, sus ideas son fantásticas y cualquiera que se interese en la ficción extraña (weird), o en el círculo de Lovecraft, necesita este libro (y todos los demás).
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  • JMac
    4.0 out of 5 stars Great content, shoddy delivery
    Reviewed in Canada on 8 May 2023
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    The book is five stars. Service is one star.
    Clark Ashton Smith is one of my favourite "Weird Tales" authours but the first time I ordered this book it arrived damaged. The replacement arrived soon after, also damaged. I had to contact Amazon by phone and they promised a third replacement would come intact. Guess what? Damaged.

    A shame because the actual stories are classic.
    Customer image
    JMac
    4.0 out of 5 stars
    Great content, shoddy delivery

    Reviewed in Canada on 8 May 2023
    The book is five stars. Service is one star.
    Clark Ashton Smith is one of my favourite "Weird Tales" authours but the first time I ordered this book it arrived damaged. The replacement arrived soon after, also damaged. I had to contact Amazon by phone and they promised a third replacement would come intact. Guess what? Damaged.

    A shame because the actual stories are classic.
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  • Christian Reyes
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great collection of short stories
    Reviewed in the United States on 20 September 2018
    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
    Great collection of macabre and bizarre short stories. The science fiction is a bit naive but still an interesting look at the times it was written in.
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