The Last Hieroglyph (The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton S...

The fifth 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. LovecraftClark 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 Last Hieroglyph is the fifth 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 Dark Age" (1933) to "The Dart of Rasasfa" (1961).

From Publishers Weekly

The fifth and final volume in this definitive collection (following Red World of Polaris and The Maze of the Enchanter) reveals Smith in the twilight of his career. As the editors note, Smith, "A stranger in a world he never made nor lived in happily or comfortably," excelled at creating vivid, phantasmagorical worlds, from the rugged Hyperboria of "The Seven Geases" to the lush post-apocalyptic setting of "The Dark Age." Ordered chronologically as they were composed, these works also reveal recurring themes, like deadly obsession in "The Treader of the Dust," "The Garden of Adompha," and "Nemesis of the Unfinished." Heroes strive but fail against power-hungry sorcerers in "The Death of Malygris," "The Seven Geases," and "Necromancy in Naat." Alternate worlds claim the unwary in "The Primal City," "Symposium of the Gorgon," and "The Great God Awto," while "The Chain of Aforgomon," "Double Cosmos," and the title story draw readers into recursive realities worthy of Borges. Readers seeking dense, ornate fantasies will enjoy these classic stories knit from flickering shadows, dark secrets, and twisted magic. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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.

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