Episode 259 – The Tale of Satampra Zeiros
This month we roll around in the works of Clark Ashton Smith, starting with The Tale of Satampra Zeiros!
This week’s reader is the delightful Greig Johnson! Check out his awesome, and hilarious videos at his YouTube Page!
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Next up: The Hunters from Beyond
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Giant sloths are exiting animals. They were probably pretty scary.
I’m guessing the long tooth tiger refer to saber tooth tigers, also extinct.
Why I am typing this with black letters on a dark grey background? So hard to read!
Great episode! I was really scared that you guys weren’t going to like it given your distaste for the Dunsaney and dreamland stuff in general..
Some quick info on Clark Ashton Smith – he invented several worlds so if you are reading on your own, you may want to read certain stories together to keep the flow.
The Tale of Satampra Zeiros is the 1st of the Hyperborea stories (my personal favorite setting which gets a lot more ice age in the other tales) and the other worlds include Averoigne (a dark Medieval France with werewolves and the forces of evil running rampant) and Zothique (the last continent on Earth in a distant future).
I would strongly recommend a story from the Zothique cycle for another Smith show called ‘The Dark Eidolon’
Giant Sloths were Two-Story carnivorous mega-predators, Chris. They were horrifying.
I meant extinct, not exciting!
Well, as for the suppose similitudes between Clark Ashton Smith and Lord Dunsany, here this brief but insightful essay by Donald Sidney-Fryer. To me, the only similitude it´s that both authors dealed with a fantastic setting:
http://www.eldritchdark.com/articles/criticism/14/on-the-alleged-influence-of-lord-dunsany-on-clark-ashton-smith
Stories that I suggest to this month: From Averoigne´s circle: The Colossus of Ylourgne.
From Zothique: The Isle of the Torturers.
Name for Smith special of this month:
Klarkash-June. Believe me, Lovecraft would appreciate it.