What do you think?
Rate this book
Northwest of Earth
They call him Northwest Smith and his name is known and respected in every dive and wild outpost on a dozen wild planets. This book contains: Dust of Gods, Julhi, Lost Paradise, The Cold Gray God, Yvala
They call her Jirel of Joiry and her name stirs fears and passions of the savage warrior barons whose lands ring hers. This book contains: The Dark Land, Hellsgarde
They call her Jirel of Joiry and her name stirs fears and passions of the savage warrior barons whose lands ring hers. This book contains: The Dark Land, Hellsgarde
212 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1954
4 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
C.L. Moore
310 books215 followersExcerpted from Wikipedia:
Catherine Lucille Moore was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, as C. L. Moore. She was one of the first women to write in the genre, and paved the way for many other female writers in speculative fiction.
Moore met Henry Kuttner, also a science fiction writer, in 1936 when he wrote her a fan letter (mistakenly thinking that "C. L. Moore" was a man), and they married in 1940.
Afterwards, almost all of their stories were written in collaboration under various pseudonyms, most commonly Lewis Padgett (another pseudonym, one Moore often employed for works that involved little or no collaboration, was Lawrence O'Donnell).
Catherine Lucille Moore was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, as C. L. Moore. She was one of the first women to write in the genre, and paved the way for many other female writers in speculative fiction.
Moore met Henry Kuttner, also a science fiction writer, in 1936 when he wrote her a fan letter (mistakenly thinking that "C. L. Moore" was a man), and they married in 1940.
Afterwards, almost all of their stories were written in collaboration under various pseudonyms, most commonly Lewis Padgett (another pseudonym, one Moore often employed for works that involved little or no collaboration, was Lawrence O'Donnell).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 14, 2022
170731: adventure fiction from the fantastic pulps/golden age sf. short stories featuring Northwest of Earth (science fantasy) and Jirel of Joiry (fantasy). no real science in nw: populated solar system with venusians, martians, jungles, desert planets, moons, plots basically westerns with spaceships and rayguns. on the other, no overarching world for jirel: some continuing characters, unique worlds, much sword and sorcery... these are collected 1954 from pulps of '30s. good images, very sensual, emotional, effective writing, but not complex plots, ideas, tech. nw is sex object more than women/aliens though sex is... disguised. jirel is proto-feminist as her objectives matter most and she can wield her own sword.. if you want to read pulp/golden age sff this and Shambleau and Others are good examples... this is where Han Solo comes from...
read in comparison some very concurrent 'hard sf' but did not finish: yes the natural sciences are extrapolated much more scientific/reasonable but... the human sciences are far too familiar. simplistic, ignored, social relations etc. not the least evolved because of this wondrous tech, not more diverse or different, human motivations/culture are basically like early 2oth century California... thus really no images, no sensual, emotional, effective writing. so it depends what you want to read in sff...?
read in comparison some very concurrent 'hard sf' but did not finish: yes the natural sciences are extrapolated much more scientific/reasonable but... the human sciences are far too familiar. simplistic, ignored, social relations etc. not the least evolved because of this wondrous tech, not more diverse or different, human motivations/culture are basically like early 2oth century California... thus really no images, no sensual, emotional, effective writing. so it depends what you want to read in sff...?
December 19, 2025
cl moore gave the sf establishment a pleasant shock when weird tales published shambleau, her excellent debut short story. She, like Tiptree Junior (Alice Sheldon), was a quality writer, better in fact than many of the men writing macho space pulp, as sf started to grow out of its teenage acne and start shaving.
Unfortunately, although the quality of writing is excellent, she tends to tell the same story 9 times over here. Smith is basically seduced by various exotic alien beings in every 22 page short - with endless descriptions of intoxicating leggy creatures and clouds of orange fuzzy hair.
Her male lead here is often cited as the original Han Solo, an idler of sleazy space port dive bar pool rooms, awaiting the next lucrative pirating gig to fall on his lap. This was many moons before 1977's Star Wars. Other than being pretty trigger happy with his blaster there's actually very little we learn about Smith. I would have liked more bounty hunting and back story. It's all pulpy space romance, really, probably written fast to pay the bills.
Moore was friends with Leigh Brackett, who wrote Empire Strikes Back, so who's to say Star Wars didn't start here. I suspect it did, just as I'd wager Brackett, who was writing about light swords and space princesses long before 1977, wrote much of the first film - despite George Lucas having the vision to make it happen on screen (and taking writing credit).
There's shades of Fifth Element about the superb first story, Shambleau, while Moore channels Howard's Conan and Lieber's fafhrd and the gray mouser as our bumbling duo fall from one scrape into another.
Unfortunately, although the quality of writing is excellent, she tends to tell the same story 9 times over here. Smith is basically seduced by various exotic alien beings in every 22 page short - with endless descriptions of intoxicating leggy creatures and clouds of orange fuzzy hair.
Her male lead here is often cited as the original Han Solo, an idler of sleazy space port dive bar pool rooms, awaiting the next lucrative pirating gig to fall on his lap. This was many moons before 1977's Star Wars. Other than being pretty trigger happy with his blaster there's actually very little we learn about Smith. I would have liked more bounty hunting and back story. It's all pulpy space romance, really, probably written fast to pay the bills.
Moore was friends with Leigh Brackett, who wrote Empire Strikes Back, so who's to say Star Wars didn't start here. I suspect it did, just as I'd wager Brackett, who was writing about light swords and space princesses long before 1977, wrote much of the first film - despite George Lucas having the vision to make it happen on screen (and taking writing credit).
There's shades of Fifth Element about the superb first story, Shambleau, while Moore channels Howard's Conan and Lieber's fafhrd and the gray mouser as our bumbling duo fall from one scrape into another.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews