Fraser Sherman's Reviews > Zothique

Clark Ashton Smith was, in hindsight, one of the big names to come out of the 1930s Weird Tales (at the time neither he, Robert E. Howard or Lovecraft were as big as they've been since). These stories of the far future dying Earth where necromancers rule, everything is corrupt and decadent and dark magics intrude on human life are very stylish (Smith's prose is ornate and elegant) and rather on the dark side (a happy ending is where the villains die too). Well worth reading.