Rank your Top 10 Favorite Clark Ashton Smith Short Stories

[BAYLOR]

You think, after Tolkien’s objections to Testament,” that reading “Yoh-Vombis,” say, would change his mind? Look again at what Tolkien said by way of objection to the stories by Smith and others in the de Camp anthology.

I should say, though, that I won’t carry this discussion further on this thread, which the original poster specified as about readers’ favorites by Smith. But Tolkien was brought up and there was a bit of factual information to share about him reading Smith.

Okay , Fair enough.

 

[BAYLOR]

You think, after Tolkien’s objections to Testament,” that reading “Yoh-Vombis,” say, would change his mind? Look again at what Tolkien said by way of objection to the stories by Smith and others in the de Camp anthology.

I should say, though, that I won’t carry this discussion further on this thread, which the original poster specified as about readers’ favorites by Smith. But Tolkien was brought up and there was a bit of factual information to share about him reading Smith.

I know Im quoting you again , sorry, ran out time on the editing. Extollager , I very much appreciate the information ,observations and incite you provided on Tolkien and, my apologies for being a complete ass . I enjoy and admired his stories to the point where it biases and clouds my thinking on the subject of CAS. You're right , It also takes the thread way way off topic.

 

[Extollager]

Baylor, I think your discussion of one or more CAS stories that you think Tolkien might have liked would fit with the original poster's intentions if the story or stories were liked by you, too.

 

[BAYLOR]

Baylor, I think your discussion of one or more CAS stories that you think Tolkien might have liked would fit with the original poster's intentions if the story or stories were liked by you, too.

Still, I owe you an apology Extollager. I should not have done what I did.

 

[Extollager]

Onward! : )

 

[Die Math]

Any new rankings to contribute?

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

As a group, I like the Averoigne stories* a good deal more than his stories in other settings, many of which seem to have plots so much alike that they blend together in my mind—although there are a few like "The Last Incantation," "The Death of Malygris," and "The Return of the Sorcerer" (this one partly because it seems such a departure from the rest) that stand out and above the others—and I would recommend any of these to anyone who enjoys weird fiction.

But I don't really like to rank my favorite stories for the simple reason that I am an inveterate rereader and my relative opinion of stories I hold in high regard tends to shift around according to what I have read most recently, as new reasons to esteem a story may occur to me with each rereading or I may be reminded most vividly and poignantly of things that had dimmed a bit in memory since the last time. The usual result is that whatever I have just been reading rises toward the top. If I gave you a list today, and another in a few years, there would probably not be much consistency between them.

______
*For those looking for titles to seek out, these would be (in order of publication—not ranked): "The End of the Story, "A Rendezvous in Averoigne, "The Maker of Gargoyles"," "The Mandrakes," The Beast of Averoigne,""The Holiness of Azédarac," "The Colossus of Ylourgne," "The Disinterment of Venus," "Mother of Toads," and "The Enchantress of Sylaire."

 

[Fried Egg]

I haven't read many of his stories recently enough to highlight all of my favourites but one that always stuck in my mind that I haven't seen mentioned in this thread: "The Demon Flower". It's generally a great story but I love it when stories have a great opening paragraph that really grabs you and this one definitely has that:

Not as the plants and flowers of Earth, growing peacefully beneath a simple sun, were the blossoms of the planet Lophai. Coiling and uncoiling in double dawns; tossing tumultuously under vast suns of jade green and balas-ruby orange; swaying and weltering in rich twilights, in aurora-curtained nights, they resembled fields of rooted serpents that dance eternally to an other-worldly music.

 

[Le Panda du Mal]

Isle of the Torturers
The Coming of the White Worm
The Maze of the Enchanter
The Dark Eidolon
The Death of Ilalotha
The City of the Singing Flame
The Double Shadow
The Seven Geases
Genius Loci
Xeethra

 

[Servomoore]

I've only read The Beast of Averoigne, but I liked it enough to feel comfortable giving it the top ten spaces.

 

[BAYLOR]

I've only read The Beast of Averoigne, but I liked it enough to feel comfortable giving it the top ten spaces.

That's an excellent story .