Retro Review of "The Monster of the Prophecy" (1932) by Clark Ashton Smith up on Fantastic Worlds
Introduction: Reviewing Clark Ashton Smith stories is always fun, because first one has to read them, and I don't think that Clark Ashton Smith was capable of writing bad prose. Whatever he writes is always a joy to read. "The Monster of the Prophecy" is no exception, and is indeed one of Smith's better works.
Synopsis: This is a simple but weird little tale, for all that it spans a considerable domain of space and time.
Theophilus Alvor, a young poet, came to New York City hoping for fame and fortune. But his money has run out, he is still unemployed (remember, this is 1932), and nobody appreciates his poetry -- especially a strange "Ode to Antares" especially dear to him. He stands on the Brooklyn Bridge planning to commit suicide.
At this moment a very strange man steps up to Alvor and offers him an unspecified "vastly different fate." The man invites Alvor home for dinner, and Alvor (whose only other alternative appears to be suicide) accepts.
After an excellent meal the man reveals himself to be Vizaphmal, a scientist-sorceror from a planet of the star Antares, and that he wishes to bring back to his planet a volunteer from Earth, and will treat this Earthly guest very well. He shows Alvor his true form, which is quite nonhumanoid.
This being was more than seven feet in height, and had no less than five intricately jointed arms and three legs that were equally elaborate. His head, on a long, swan-like neck, was equipped not only with visual, auditory, nasal and oral organs of un- familiar types, but had several appendages whose use was not readily to be determined. His three eyes, obliquely set and with oval pupils, rayed forth a green phosphorescence; the mouth, or what appeared to be such, was very small and had the lines of a downward-curving crescent; the nose was rudimentary, though with finely wrought nostrils; in lieu of eyebrows, he had a triple series of semicircular markings on his forehead, each of a different hue; and above his intellectually shapen head, above the tiny drooping ears with their complex lobes, there towered a gorgeous comb of crimson, not dissimilar in form to the crest on the helmet of a Grecian warrior. The head, the limbs and the whole body were mottled with interchanging lunes and moons of opalescent colors, never the same for a moment in their unresting flux and reflux.
Alvor accepts his offer, and they travel to Antares in a most peculiar spaceship ...
============
What happens to Theophilus Alvor at Antares? Find out, on Fantastic Worlds!
Synopsis: This is a simple but weird little tale, for all that it spans a considerable domain of space and time.
Theophilus Alvor, a young poet, came to New York City hoping for fame and fortune. But his money has run out, he is still unemployed (remember, this is 1932), and nobody appreciates his poetry -- especially a strange "Ode to Antares" especially dear to him. He stands on the Brooklyn Bridge planning to commit suicide.
At this moment a very strange man steps up to Alvor and offers him an unspecified "vastly different fate." The man invites Alvor home for dinner, and Alvor (whose only other alternative appears to be suicide) accepts.
After an excellent meal the man reveals himself to be Vizaphmal, a scientist-sorceror from a planet of the star Antares, and that he wishes to bring back to his planet a volunteer from Earth, and will treat this Earthly guest very well. He shows Alvor his true form, which is quite nonhumanoid.
This being was more than seven feet in height, and had no less than five intricately jointed arms and three legs that were equally elaborate. His head, on a long, swan-like neck, was equipped not only with visual, auditory, nasal and oral organs of un- familiar types, but had several appendages whose use was not readily to be determined. His three eyes, obliquely set and with oval pupils, rayed forth a green phosphorescence; the mouth, or what appeared to be such, was very small and had the lines of a downward-curving crescent; the nose was rudimentary, though with finely wrought nostrils; in lieu of eyebrows, he had a triple series of semicircular markings on his forehead, each of a different hue; and above his intellectually shapen head, above the tiny drooping ears with their complex lobes, there towered a gorgeous comb of crimson, not dissimilar in form to the crest on the helmet of a Grecian warrior. The head, the limbs and the whole body were mottled with interchanging lunes and moons of opalescent colors, never the same for a moment in their unresting flux and reflux.
Alvor accepts his offer, and they travel to Antares in a most peculiar spaceship ...
============
What happens to Theophilus Alvor at Antares? Find out, on Fantastic Worlds!