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3.0 out of 5 stars
Good? Sure, I guess., Jul 5 2004
A collection of thirteen fantasy/horror short stories taking place on various different worlds, or stages of Earth during the sun's long decay. All were written between 1931 and 1960.City of the Singing Flame : Writer discovers portal to another world. The White Sybil : A wandering poet enamored with a ghost. The Tale of Satampra Zeiros : A pair of thieves burglaring an ancient temple get more than expected from the resident god. The Theft of the Thirty-nine Girdles : Thieves and magicians use teamwork to steal famous girdles. The Door to Saturn : A wizard and a priest, once enemies, visit Saturn and are forced into cooperation while dealing with the locals. The Dark Eidolon : A dark wizard has a score to settle with an evil king. The Black Abbot of Puthuum : While escorting the newest addition to the king's harem across a desert, two fighter-types are waylaid by the Black Abbot and his disciples. The Garden of Adompha : A demented king and his pet wizard tend a grisly garden of alien plants and grafted body parts. The Maze of Maal Dweb : A simple hunter braves the terrible maze to win back his stolen love from Maal Dweb, the mack-daddy of all evil wizards. The Flower Women : Bored with life and power, Evil Wizard Supreme Maal Dweb visits another world to solve a mystery. The Enchantress of Sylaire : A dreamer is seduced into another world by the sexy Enchantress, who may or may not be what she seems. The Beast of Averoigne : A comet brings a visiting alien to wreak death and havoc on an abbey and the nearby cities. The Hunters from Beyond : A sculptor of the grotesque, seeking living subjects from which to work, summons slavering, soul-eating beasts from hell. Smith was a poet, and it shows in his writing; vivid description is laid on thick, while what dialog there is takes a formal tone. As for the stories themselves, magic features prominently; there is nearly always a sorceress, or magician, or someone dabbling in the arcane: raising demons, conversing with gods, or casting spells - usually for some grotesque purpose. For the most part, the stories seemed to be written purely as an outlet for Smith to describe these strange locales and occult magics.
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