Posted by Mick Scannell on October 07, 1997 at 04:58:09:
In Reply to: Re: Vance and Edgar Rice Burroughs posted by Mike Asher on October 06, 1997 at 03:37:11:
: Don Herron's thesis (fr. 'Writers of the 21st Century'') makes a strong case for Clark Ashton Smith as a Vance influence. Actually reading CAS, though, leaves me less convinced.
.... personally, I'm not so sure I agree with this theory, at least w.r.t two of CAS's more famous settings. I've recently read his powerful Tales of Zothique collection and could see certain similarities between JV and CAS in terms of descriptive style, and of course the setting of Earth's last continent Zothique, although CAS's take on humanity gone to debauched and decadent seed in the earth's latter days is far more bleak in outlook and style to JVs (but no less brilliant for that). If you especially liked Shea's Nifft the Lean then my guess is you'll like CAS's Zothiquean stuff : dark but as visceral as Shea, highly evocative of the latter days of the world, brilliantly inventive. The dog's bollocks!
As for CAS's Hypoborean stories, there is IMO a vein of humour present in this sequence which bears some similarity to Vance's humourous wordplay, if a little mordant. I don't have it here at work (ha!) to quote from, but if you get a chance check out the banter between the moneylender and the cursing beggar in The Weird of (Whatever-His-Bloody-Name-Was!), which put me in mind of the exchange twixt Cugel and those mischevious sea creatures in EotO. IMO not as good as the Zothique stories, but light years ahead of the endless trilogies of fantasy shite that's put out today.
As was written some time ago by another poster, if you don't want to endlessly keep re-reading the Blue World and fancy reading something of quality, then check out CAS's Zothique tales.
Best Regards,
Mick