Klarkashton has always been a great favorite of mine with his quaint and rather uneasy-making stories, leaving that little feeling of not being sure after reading. This whole series of his complete stories is much appreciated and awaited and I truly enjoy the remarks of editors and others which help to put things more in a perspective. His language is like some good wine sometimes and the ideas for the stories are really original and softspoken than Lovecraft ro Howard. He is truly an author where the others sometimes were mainly storytellers and not always 100% in control of the language.

Undoubtedly.the best writer of the weird,fantastic,and cosmic evil--beautifully written prose by a man who had poetry as his first love---and it shows.

Along with Lovecraft and Howard,this nearly forgotten master helped invent the whole genre.Lovecraft put the dark imagination into the dark cosmic evil;Howard,the muscle;and Smith put the odd beauty into it.Along with some other key players such as Frank Belknap Long(also unjustly forgotten),Robert Bloch and several others that were part of that group,Smith put his mark on it.

Many writers,including Stephen King,Brian Lumley,Dean KoontzPeter Straub,and most every writer in horror or fantasy owe these people a tip of the hat.

By all means get this book,and the other 4 companion volumes,plus his fifth book of general writings which are in and of themselves great writing---keep Smith and the others from being forgotten.

This series of books finally gives the readers an opportunity to read Smith's stories in the order he wrote them. One gets to watch his work progess in style and theme as he creates his incredible fantasy locals. Highly recommended for the CAS enthusiast.

The stories collected in the first and second volumes of “The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith” are very solid, memorable, thrilling, and enjoyable. The contents of the third volume, “A Vintage from Atlantis” are even stronger. It’s probably the best volume in this collected series I’ve read yet, and I assume the sequential two volumes will be even better. Smith keeps pushing the envelope of the weird, fantastic, macabre, and disturbing with his tales the further into his career one gets. I enjoyed this volume immensely, and while I wasn’t so crazy about the title story, the tales I did enjoy are as follows…..

– “The Maker of Gargoyles:” An episode in the “Averoigne Cycle” in which a sculptor who is responsible for the creation of a cathedral’s gargoyles deeply regrets his trade as a wave of demonic terror sweeps his city brought about by his creations.

– “Beyond the Singing Flame:” When a friend of the two individuals who have disappeared in their pilgrimage to the trans-dimensional City of the Singing Flame wonders just what happened to them, he decides to take up a journey to the strange, otherworldly location himself.

– “The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis;” A gothic tale of archaeological terror set on Mars in an ancient and darksome necropolis, where unspeakable evil awaits.

– “The Eternal World:” When an obsessed scientist makes a journey to transcend dimensions, nothing could ever prepare him for the mind-blasting experience that awaits him.

– “The Nameless Offspring:” A rich family has been haunted by a sinister secret, and when a friend of the family uncovers said secret, he finds that he is in over his head.

– “The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan:” A story set in the “Hyperborean Sequence” where a greedy money-lender receives his just desserts.

– “The Immortals of Mercury:” A human explorer encounters alien wonders and terrors alike as he voyages deep into the planet Mercury.

– “The Empire of the Necromancers:” The first installment of the post-apocalyptic “Zothique Cycle” where a dark empire is built by two sinister necromancers who raise and enslave a vast army of the undead. The undead, it would seem, have other plans in mind….

– “The Seed from the Sepulcher:” Two explorers unearth an ancient horror deep in the heart of the Venezuelan jungles.

– “The Second Internment:” A tale heavily inspired by the works of Edgar Alan Poe where a paranoid, disturbed individual meets the very end he fears; being buried alive.

– “Ubbo-Sathla:” When an overly-curious individual seeks the occult secrets of his previous life as a Hyperborean wizard, he finds that the price for unlocking said secrets may be too high to pay.

– “The Double Shadow:” A tale set in the “Poseidonis Cycle” where a sorcerer and his apprentice delve too deeply into the darksome powers that were wielded in the distant past by the Serpent-Men of Valusia.

“The Colossus of Ylourgne:” This tale returns to Averoigne where an evil, disfigured sorcerer seeks the ultimate revenge upon those who persecuted him, through very macabre means.

All in all a great collection. I give “The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith Vol III: A Vintage from Atlantis” a 4.5 out of 5.

Genre of weird fiction of the early 30's - 50's was the best.....along with Lovecraft and Howard.

Good collection.

I am so happy to be able to buy this book at last! Do to the fact that the hardback editions have been bought by greedy craven jerks that are suppressing this literary Masters works by jacking the price up so high that only a member of the 1% can afford to buy them.

The letters are large enough to read and the paper is white so you can actually see them.

I would describe his writing by saying if you took the best of A.E. Van Vogt & the most inspired writing of H.P. Lovecraft you approach this author's work.

Part 3 of 5 of the complete fiction of CAS. Includes some really great tales. Highly recommend.

This often overlooked author is well worth searching out and thankfully, this collection has plenty of his classic work.

Very original and imaginative.

Great book, another one in a series of reissued stories by a master of wierd fiction.

I had already bought the previous three books of the serie.

Clark Ashton Smith is an interesting author and his works are Worth the reading.

He had been appreciated by HPL himself.

* CAS Content 10/10, 5+ stars

* Paperback edition material 7/10

* Delivery condition 8/10

The sheer power of CAS's texts is a supernova of language and escapism. One can certainly appreciate the passion, respect and dedication of NightShade's team to compile and distribute such a monumental series of hypnotic depth, breadth and wonder, which exposes CAS to a new generation. Thank you Ron, Scott and Co. These, along with Joshi's Penguin Classic: Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasises, and I'm hooked.

The book/s I received were all a little tatty to start with, and even after a single through read of each of the 5 books with the utmost care, and they are now unbelievably tatty. The William Hope Hodgson series by NightShade had similar qualities/issues. If only the hardback versions were not so insanely priced.

Even so, I highly recommend these books for the content, for the sheer exposure of readers to the wonders of CAS and that NightShade and the author/scholar team, are dedicated to exhibiting such a marvellous creator to us, to me. With the success of these particular books, who knows, maybe we will get affordable luxury hard back editions for CAS, as has occurred for HPL.

Happy reading.