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Lost Worlds: Volume 2: Atlantis, Hyperborea, Xiccarph and Others
Explore the most eerie lands in adult fantasy - The Lost Worlds of Clark Ashton Smith
None strike the note of cosmic horror so well as Clark Ashton Smith...who else has seen such gorgeous, luxuriant, and feverishly distorted visions of infinite spheres and multiple dimensions and lived to tell the tale?...In sheer daemonic strangeness he is unexcelled - H.P. Lovecraft
Incredible worlds, impossibly beautiful cities, and still more fantastic creatures...take one step across the threshold of his stories and you plunge into colour, sound, taste, smell and texture: into language. - Ray Bradbury
Stories like strange ornaments, the metal elaborately inlaid and fired, studded with unknown semi-precious stones, from an unknown and timeless culture. - Fritz Leiber
Cover illustration by Bruce Pennington
None strike the note of cosmic horror so well as Clark Ashton Smith...who else has seen such gorgeous, luxuriant, and feverishly distorted visions of infinite spheres and multiple dimensions and lived to tell the tale?...In sheer daemonic strangeness he is unexcelled - H.P. Lovecraft
Incredible worlds, impossibly beautiful cities, and still more fantastic creatures...take one step across the threshold of his stories and you plunge into colour, sound, taste, smell and texture: into language. - Ray Bradbury
Stories like strange ornaments, the metal elaborately inlaid and fired, studded with unknown semi-precious stones, from an unknown and timeless culture. - Fritz Leiber
Cover illustration by Bruce Pennington
188 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
2 people are currently reading
110 people want to read
About the author
Clark Ashton Smith
713 books974 followersClark Ashton Smith was a poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. It is for these stories, and his literary friendship with H. P. Lovecraft from 1922 until Lovecraft's death in 1937, that he is mainly remembered today. With Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, also a friend and correspondent, Smith remains one of the most famous contributors to the pulp magazine Weird Tales.
His writings are posted at his official website.
His writings are posted at his official website.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 15, 2019
A collection of short fiction by the friend of H P Lovecraft who was generally reckoned to be a better writer than Lovecraft. Smith's prose is baroque and lavish, full of detailed descriptions, long words and some you need to resort to a dictionary to understand. The effect of his prose is stronger in landscape building and imagery than in plot.
Volume 2 of his Lost Worlds collection deals with stories grouped according to setting. I was not that keen on the ones under the 'Atlantis' heading. In the first an ancient sorceror called Malygris conjures the likeness of a long dead love, but discovers that the self who loved her is himself long gone. In the second, two learned brothers create a vehicle to escape to Venus, intending to evade the destruction of the last island left of the once mighty continent which has been gradually innudated over centuries. Going off to another planet seemed a rather extreme method of avoiding a watery grave, and it was also odd that the other inhabitants of Atlantis, who all expected the final end, had not set sale in boats and escaped long before. The brothers' fate on Venus is also rather odd. The third story returns to Malygris and deals with his demise and those who seek to investigate it.
Four stories are grouped under Hyperborea, a fabled continent. A luckless thief tells the story of how he and his friend set out to plunder a lost city, having not done very well in their profession of late and needing some ready cash. In the second story, a sorceror takes a one way escape route to an alien planet to evade arrest by a rival religionist who follows him. This is more of a travelogue in which a strange environment is created, populated by odd alien lifeforms, but does not have much of a plot. In the third story, a wealthy hunter leads his men to a mountain to attack the ferocious hominid creatures that live there, but makes the mistake of offending a powerful wizard who puts him under a compulsion to visit various underground deities (one Lovecraftian) and weird lifeforms, as a sacrificial offering. This also becomes rather a travelogue.
The final story in the Hyperborea section, 'The Coming of the White Worm', is more interesting. A strange iceberg arrives at a fishing village where a warlock has been living as a recluse. The villagers are frozen to death, but he is allowed to survive as a worshipper of a hideous worm, latest recruit among other wizards from different lands. Gradually, as the worm's iceberg travels from land to land laying waste to all within reach of its inimical power, he realises that the worm sustains itself upon his fellow wizards and that he will eventually be on the menu. Unlike many of Smith's protagonists, he is not a passive observer of his own doom.
In the third section, Xiccarph, set on an imaginary alien planet, the two stories centre around a powerful wizard Maal Dweb. In the first, a young warrior undergoes many trials to enter the wizard's palace in a quest to rescue his love who, like many other young and beautiful women previously, has been spirited off there. In the second, the wizard, bored with his own omnipotence, journeys to another planet after putting aside most of his magic, to pit his wits against hostile inhabitants.
The final section is entitled 'Others' and consists of four stories. The first is set on the planet Lophai where a civilisation is in thrall to an evil sentient plant, which demands human sacrifice, and to the other plants it controls. The King conspires to defeat it, in order to try and rescue his love who has been selected as the next victim. As with a lot of Smith's fiction, this is a rich and baroque tale, and, not so commonly in his stories, the protagonist tries to act rather than watch helplessly. The second story reads very oddly to modern readers as, published in 1934 and it seems set in contemporary America, it deals with the effect of a drug upon human time perception - oddly, because the drug, supposedly brought back from Pluto, is called Plutonium! The dangerous element its name conjures up was not produced until December 1940, hence the unfortunate name. Sadly the end is all too predicable and it takes too long reaching it.
In the third tale, an antiques dealer, who is a part-time amateur astronomer, finds himself drawn to a particular star and is pulled bodily into an experience where he has a real existence there in the final days of a dying sun. Unlike his usual loner self, his alter ego has a deep relationship with a beautiful woman, and the story deals with their attempts to spend their last days in mutual bliss absorbed with each other. There is a huge astronomical clanger in this story . The final story, 'The Gorgon', is one of the better ones in the collection and concerns a man who is accosted in a London street by an old man who offers to show him the head of Medusa, the Gorgon in Greek mythology, sight of whose face turned anyone to stone unless viewed in a mirror. This story does succeed in creating an air of menace and suspense.
So as with other collections by this author, the stories are a mixture, but the better ones uphold the rating to a satisfactory 3 stars.
Volume 2 of his Lost Worlds collection deals with stories grouped according to setting. I was not that keen on the ones under the 'Atlantis' heading. In the first an ancient sorceror called Malygris conjures the likeness of a long dead love, but discovers that the self who loved her is himself long gone. In the second, two learned brothers create a vehicle to escape to Venus, intending to evade the destruction of the last island left of the once mighty continent which has been gradually innudated over centuries. Going off to another planet seemed a rather extreme method of avoiding a watery grave, and it was also odd that the other inhabitants of Atlantis, who all expected the final end, had not set sale in boats and escaped long before. The brothers' fate on Venus is also rather odd. The third story returns to Malygris and deals with his demise and those who seek to investigate it.
Four stories are grouped under Hyperborea, a fabled continent. A luckless thief tells the story of how he and his friend set out to plunder a lost city, having not done very well in their profession of late and needing some ready cash. In the second story, a sorceror takes a one way escape route to an alien planet to evade arrest by a rival religionist who follows him. This is more of a travelogue in which a strange environment is created, populated by odd alien lifeforms, but does not have much of a plot. In the third story, a wealthy hunter leads his men to a mountain to attack the ferocious hominid creatures that live there, but makes the mistake of offending a powerful wizard who puts him under a compulsion to visit various underground deities (one Lovecraftian) and weird lifeforms, as a sacrificial offering. This also becomes rather a travelogue.
The final story in the Hyperborea section, 'The Coming of the White Worm', is more interesting. A strange iceberg arrives at a fishing village where a warlock has been living as a recluse. The villagers are frozen to death, but he is allowed to survive as a worshipper of a hideous worm, latest recruit among other wizards from different lands. Gradually, as the worm's iceberg travels from land to land laying waste to all within reach of its inimical power, he realises that the worm sustains itself upon his fellow wizards and that he will eventually be on the menu. Unlike many of Smith's protagonists, he is not a passive observer of his own doom.
In the third section, Xiccarph, set on an imaginary alien planet, the two stories centre around a powerful wizard Maal Dweb. In the first, a young warrior undergoes many trials to enter the wizard's palace in a quest to rescue his love who, like many other young and beautiful women previously, has been spirited off there. In the second, the wizard, bored with his own omnipotence, journeys to another planet after putting aside most of his magic, to pit his wits against hostile inhabitants.
The final section is entitled 'Others' and consists of four stories. The first is set on the planet Lophai where a civilisation is in thrall to an evil sentient plant, which demands human sacrifice, and to the other plants it controls. The King conspires to defeat it, in order to try and rescue his love who has been selected as the next victim. As with a lot of Smith's fiction, this is a rich and baroque tale, and, not so commonly in his stories, the protagonist tries to act rather than watch helplessly. The second story reads very oddly to modern readers as, published in 1934 and it seems set in contemporary America, it deals with the effect of a drug upon human time perception - oddly, because the drug, supposedly brought back from Pluto, is called Plutonium! The dangerous element its name conjures up was not produced until December 1940, hence the unfortunate name. Sadly the end is all too predicable and it takes too long reaching it.
In the third tale, an antiques dealer, who is a part-time amateur astronomer, finds himself drawn to a particular star and is pulled bodily into an experience where he has a real existence there in the final days of a dying sun. Unlike his usual loner self, his alter ego has a deep relationship with a beautiful woman, and the story deals with their attempts to spend their last days in mutual bliss absorbed with each other. There is a huge astronomical clanger in this story . The final story, 'The Gorgon', is one of the better ones in the collection and concerns a man who is accosted in a London street by an old man who offers to show him the head of Medusa, the Gorgon in Greek mythology, sight of whose face turned anyone to stone unless viewed in a mirror. This story does succeed in creating an air of menace and suspense.
So as with other collections by this author, the stories are a mixture, but the better ones uphold the rating to a satisfactory 3 stars.
March 4, 2011
I would like to have given this 4 or 5 stars, and if this were based on description and imagination alone I definitely would, but the plots and action in this collection are pretty substandard. But for crazy-ass, delerious imagination and a descriptive power of mysterious, evil shit that rivals Lovecraft's, this book is a complete winner.
October 11, 2014
Great collection of stories from a real master. The blackly humorous story "The Seven Geases", featuring the god Tsathoggua who became part of the Cthulhu Mythos pantheon, is one of my favourites. "The Planet of the Dead," about the last days of a dying civilisation, is strangely touching.
December 1, 2020
More classic short stories from Clark Ashton Smith - the man who once swallowed a Thesaurus.
May 25, 2025
Lost Worlds: Volume 2 by Clark Ashton Smith is the second volume, published by Panther in 1974, of a book originally issued in 1944. Like Volume 1, it has brilliant wraparound cover art by Bruce Pennington.
The first section of the book has three Atlantis stories, including the two stories about the sorcerer Malygris, "The Last Incantation" and its "The Death of Malygris." Both were reprinted the year before in Poseidonis. These two are some of the best tales from the earlier collection. Likewise, the third section of the book contains the two Maal Dweb stories of Xiccarph, and reprinted in the book of that name in 1972, "The Maze of Maal Dweb" and "The Flower-Women." Between these two sections are four Hyperborea stories, including the excellent "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros" and "The Door to Saturn." All four were reprinted previously in Hyperborea in 1971. The fourth and final section contains a varied selection of four stories, all of which are superb—I particularly liked "The Demon of the Flower" and "The Planet of the Dead" (the latter called "The Doom of Antarion" in the earlier Xiccarph). However, "The Gorgon" is a perfect Medusa short story that reminded me of Thomas Liggotti's work. Perhaps Clark Ashton Smith was an inspiration for Ligotti. Indeed, two stories from the last section, "The Gorgon" and "The Plutonian Drug" are the only two from Lost Worlds: Volume 2 that weren't revived earlier by Lin Carter in Hyperborea, Xiccarph, or Poseidonis.
It's interesting to compare these four Panther volumes, Out of Space and Time, Volumes 1 and 2 and Lost Worlds: Volumes 1 and 2, with the four Pan Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series books, including the three already mentioned and Zothique. Clark Ashton Smith stories have been reprinted multiple times in various collections since Lin Carter took over the presentation of Smith's work from Arkham House in the early 1970's. I'm not familiar with all of these, though Carter's particular groupings of the tales, together with his knowledgeable introductions and analyses, are excellent. However, the four Panther volumes bring together some of the very best of the author's work—selected by the author himself—and the cover art of all four four books is gorgeous. Lost Worlds: Volume 2 is a superb collection of some of the top Clark Ashton Smith tales.
The first section of the book has three Atlantis stories, including the two stories about the sorcerer Malygris, "The Last Incantation" and its "The Death of Malygris." Both were reprinted the year before in Poseidonis. These two are some of the best tales from the earlier collection. Likewise, the third section of the book contains the two Maal Dweb stories of Xiccarph, and reprinted in the book of that name in 1972, "The Maze of Maal Dweb" and "The Flower-Women." Between these two sections are four Hyperborea stories, including the excellent "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros" and "The Door to Saturn." All four were reprinted previously in Hyperborea in 1971. The fourth and final section contains a varied selection of four stories, all of which are superb—I particularly liked "The Demon of the Flower" and "The Planet of the Dead" (the latter called "The Doom of Antarion" in the earlier Xiccarph). However, "The Gorgon" is a perfect Medusa short story that reminded me of Thomas Liggotti's work. Perhaps Clark Ashton Smith was an inspiration for Ligotti. Indeed, two stories from the last section, "The Gorgon" and "The Plutonian Drug" are the only two from Lost Worlds: Volume 2 that weren't revived earlier by Lin Carter in Hyperborea, Xiccarph, or Poseidonis.
It's interesting to compare these four Panther volumes, Out of Space and Time, Volumes 1 and 2 and Lost Worlds: Volumes 1 and 2, with the four Pan Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series books, including the three already mentioned and Zothique. Clark Ashton Smith stories have been reprinted multiple times in various collections since Lin Carter took over the presentation of Smith's work from Arkham House in the early 1970's. I'm not familiar with all of these, though Carter's particular groupings of the tales, together with his knowledgeable introductions and analyses, are excellent. However, the four Panther volumes bring together some of the very best of the author's work—selected by the author himself—and the cover art of all four four books is gorgeous. Lost Worlds: Volume 2 is a superb collection of some of the top Clark Ashton Smith tales.
July 31, 2021
As others have stated, Smith’s plot is not the best. His descriptions and descriptions are awesome though. This has so many quotes from authors like Leiber, Howard, de Camp, but there is a quote from Lovecraft that is in three forms on the front, back, and in the first page. “None strikes the note of cosmic horror so well”, is the shortest version.
I’ve read very little Lovecraft and Charles Williams but i got similar vibes to those. I think fans of Lovecraft should read Clark Ashton Smith as he seems underrated.
I’ve read very little Lovecraft and Charles Williams but i got similar vibes to those. I think fans of Lovecraft should read Clark Ashton Smith as he seems underrated.
June 28, 2018
A tough book to review. The stories contained within are a mix of fantasy, science fiction and horror stories, most mixing at least two of those genres together.
I felt that the further they leaned to the fantasy side of the spectrum, the more generic they felt. Like some random dungeons and dragon campaign. While the more they leaned into the cosmic horror side of things, the more original it felt. And often being really captivating.
My favorite stories in the book all belonged to the Hyperborean cycle of stories and if I were to read more of Smith’s stories in the future then that’s definitely where I’d start looking.
Edit: ok so I just found out that the story The Coming of the White Worm is a censored version in this collection, which sucks since it’s one of the better stories too.
I felt that the further they leaned to the fantasy side of the spectrum, the more generic they felt. Like some random dungeons and dragon campaign. While the more they leaned into the cosmic horror side of things, the more original it felt. And often being really captivating.
My favorite stories in the book all belonged to the Hyperborean cycle of stories and if I were to read more of Smith’s stories in the future then that’s definitely where I’d start looking.
Edit: ok so I just found out that the story The Coming of the White Worm is a censored version in this collection, which sucks since it’s one of the better stories too.
June 1, 2021
Master of the macabre and beautiful. Clark Ashton Smith’s language drips with wine and fear. Dreamlike, realistic, paradoxical. For short tales of the fantastic and terrifying, heartbreaking yet inspiring, I can’t recommend Smith enough. This collection is a good sample of the master at his finest. Highly recommend.
July 30, 2019
I don’t think I will ever fully comprehend how one person can create such staggeringly original and imaginative worlds. As always, his prose can get a bit ridiculous, but the worlds he conjures...magnificent.
April 6, 2024
Another great compilation of tales from Clark Ashton Smith. I really thought the Hyperborea stories were the best, but truly they're all great. A must-read for scholars of science fiction and fantasy.
February 14, 2015
Yet again, I have been utterly enthralled by the pyrotechnic, linguistic mastery of Clark Ashton Smith. But I shall leave it to the master himself to elucidate the heady experience of his wildly iridescent prose.
'The user seems to be living and moving at a furious whirlwind rate - even though he may in reality be lying quiescent on a couch. He exists in a headlong torrent of sense-impressions, and seems, in a few minutes, to undergo the experience of years.' 'The Plutonium Drug Clark Ashton Smith.
His prose is so elegantly beguiling that I spent much of the time repeatedly re-reading especially glorious passages, all of which glittered playfully on the yellowing pages like magnificently evanescent jewels.
I especially enjoyed 'The Death of Malygris', 'The Coming of The White Worm' and 'The Plutonium Drug'.
'The user seems to be living and moving at a furious whirlwind rate - even though he may in reality be lying quiescent on a couch. He exists in a headlong torrent of sense-impressions, and seems, in a few minutes, to undergo the experience of years.' 'The Plutonium Drug Clark Ashton Smith.
His prose is so elegantly beguiling that I spent much of the time repeatedly re-reading especially glorious passages, all of which glittered playfully on the yellowing pages like magnificently evanescent jewels.
I especially enjoyed 'The Death of Malygris', 'The Coming of The White Worm' and 'The Plutonium Drug'.
December 14, 2014
Clark Ashton Smith is a great exponent and pioneer of the crossover genres of sci-fi, horror and fantasy. If you are fascinated by the dark and macabre, I highly recommend him.
Considering he wrote during the 1930's, his prose doesn't feel dated. His stories are eloquently written, flow well and are easy to read.
I would describe his genre as more akin to cosmic horror ... Many stories relate to alternate realities, and other dimensions where fantastic creatures both alien and horrifying enter our realm, and unfortunate victims who are drawn into theirs!
Considering he wrote during the 1930's, his prose doesn't feel dated. His stories are eloquently written, flow well and are easy to read.
I would describe his genre as more akin to cosmic horror ... Many stories relate to alternate realities, and other dimensions where fantastic creatures both alien and horrifying enter our realm, and unfortunate victims who are drawn into theirs!
April 16, 2011
A few of the short stories are great, all are interesting. Smith is definitely a kindred spirit to Lovecraft, only his protagonists often die. The Seven Geases was fun to read to discover what the reference to Mount Voormithdadreth from Deities & Demigods is all about. The Tale of Satampra Zeiros and the Gorgon were riveting.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews