What do you think?
Rate this book
Lin Carter's Simrana Cycle
Lin Carter, enthralled by the “Dreamland” tales of Lord Dunsany and others, contributed to the growing genre with a series of his own stories, dubbed “The Simrana Tales.” Some of them were published in a variety of small-press magazines and other publications, but they were never collected into a book, and many tales have never been published at all.
Until now. As Carter himself commented in his afterword to Lord Dunsany’s Beyond the Fields We Know , “The most Dunsanian of my fiction is the Simrana series … the name was coined many years ago and lay in my notebooks awaiting the right kind of story to occur to me.” A complete collection of his Simrana tales could hardly be called complete without including the stories that inspired him to write them in the first Lord Dunsany’s masterpieces of fantasy. Here at last is the complete Simrana Cycle, accompanied by outstanding stories in the genre including Dunsany’s own “The Sword of Welleran” and others; Henry Kuttner’s 1937 Weird Tales gem “The Jest of Droom-avista,” and new stories by leading authors in the Gary Myers, Darrell Schweitzer, Adrian Cole, Charles Garofalo, and Glynn Barrass, as well as six ink drawings by Roy G. Krenkel, originally done for the publication of Carter’s “The Gods of Neol Shendis.”
Until now. As Carter himself commented in his afterword to Lord Dunsany’s Beyond the Fields We Know , “The most Dunsanian of my fiction is the Simrana series … the name was coined many years ago and lay in my notebooks awaiting the right kind of story to occur to me.” A complete collection of his Simrana tales could hardly be called complete without including the stories that inspired him to write them in the first Lord Dunsany’s masterpieces of fantasy. Here at last is the complete Simrana Cycle, accompanied by outstanding stories in the genre including Dunsany’s own “The Sword of Welleran” and others; Henry Kuttner’s 1937 Weird Tales gem “The Jest of Droom-avista,” and new stories by leading authors in the Gary Myers, Darrell Schweitzer, Adrian Cole, Charles Garofalo, and Glynn Barrass, as well as six ink drawings by Roy G. Krenkel, originally done for the publication of Carter’s “The Gods of Neol Shendis.”
252 pages, Hardcover
Published February 1, 2018
4 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Lin Carter
412 books168 followersLin Carter was an American author, editor, and critic best known for his influential role in fantasy literature during the mid-20th century. Born in St. Petersburg, Florida, he developed an early passion for myth, adventure stories, and imaginative fiction, drawing inspiration from authors such as Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, H. P. Lovecraft, and J. R. R. Tolkien. After serving in the U.S. Army, Carter attended Columbia University, where he honed his literary skills and deepened his knowledge of classical and medieval literature, myth, and folklore — elements that would become central to his work.
Carter authored numerous novels, short stories, and critical studies, often working within the sword-and-sorcery and high fantasy traditions. His own creations, such as the “Thongor of Lemuria” series, paid homage to pulp-era adventure fiction while adding his distinctive voice and world-building style. His nonfiction book Tolkien: A Look Behind The Lord of the Rings was one of the first major studies of Tolkien’s work and its mythological roots, and it helped establish Carter as a knowledgeable commentator on fantasy literature.
Beyond his own writing, Carter was a central figure in bringing classic and forgotten works of fantasy back into print. As editor of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series from 1969 to 1974, he curated and introduced dozens of volumes, reintroducing readers to authors such as William Morris, Lord Dunsany, E. R. Eddison, and James Branch Cabell. His introductions not only contextualized these works historically and literarily but also encouraged a new generation to explore the breadth of the fantasy tradition.
Carter was also active in the shared literary universe of the “Cthulhu Mythos,” expanding upon the creations of H. P. Lovecraft and other members of the “Lovecraft Circle.” His collaborations and solo contributions in this genre further cemented his reputation as both a creative writer and a literary preservationist.
In addition to fiction and criticism, Carter was an active member of several science fiction and fantasy organizations, including the Science Fiction Writers of America. He frequently appeared at conventions, where he was known for his enthusiasm, deep knowledge of the genre, and willingness to mentor aspiring writers.
Though sometimes critiqued for the derivative nature of some of his work, Carter’s influence on the fantasy revival of the late 20th century remains significant. His combination of creative output, editorial vision, and scholarly enthusiasm helped bridge the gap between the pulp traditions of the early 1900s and the expansive fantasy publishing boom that followed.
Lin Carter’s legacy endures through his own imaginative tales, his critical studies, and the many classic works he rescued from obscurity, ensuring their place in the canon of fantasy literature for generations to come.
Carter authored numerous novels, short stories, and critical studies, often working within the sword-and-sorcery and high fantasy traditions. His own creations, such as the “Thongor of Lemuria” series, paid homage to pulp-era adventure fiction while adding his distinctive voice and world-building style. His nonfiction book Tolkien: A Look Behind The Lord of the Rings was one of the first major studies of Tolkien’s work and its mythological roots, and it helped establish Carter as a knowledgeable commentator on fantasy literature.
Beyond his own writing, Carter was a central figure in bringing classic and forgotten works of fantasy back into print. As editor of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series from 1969 to 1974, he curated and introduced dozens of volumes, reintroducing readers to authors such as William Morris, Lord Dunsany, E. R. Eddison, and James Branch Cabell. His introductions not only contextualized these works historically and literarily but also encouraged a new generation to explore the breadth of the fantasy tradition.
Carter was also active in the shared literary universe of the “Cthulhu Mythos,” expanding upon the creations of H. P. Lovecraft and other members of the “Lovecraft Circle.” His collaborations and solo contributions in this genre further cemented his reputation as both a creative writer and a literary preservationist.
In addition to fiction and criticism, Carter was an active member of several science fiction and fantasy organizations, including the Science Fiction Writers of America. He frequently appeared at conventions, where he was known for his enthusiasm, deep knowledge of the genre, and willingness to mentor aspiring writers.
Though sometimes critiqued for the derivative nature of some of his work, Carter’s influence on the fantasy revival of the late 20th century remains significant. His combination of creative output, editorial vision, and scholarly enthusiasm helped bridge the gap between the pulp traditions of the early 1900s and the expansive fantasy publishing boom that followed.
Lin Carter’s legacy endures through his own imaginative tales, his critical studies, and the many classic works he rescued from obscurity, ensuring their place in the canon of fantasy literature for generations to come.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 7, 2024
How Nicolai Alexander Came to Read Lin Carter’s Simrana Cycle and Had a Really Good Time
They say in Simrana that when time came in the site of Goodreads and the group of Weird fiction to nominate a tome for the sacrosanct May group read ritual, high-moderator Dan thus nominated the reverent tome of “Lin Carter’s Simrana Cycle”, only previously heard of in song.
“I hereby bestow my gratitude upon high-moderator Dan, for I have rejoiced, by liturgical avocations, in the teachings of Lin Carter, passionately paid in homage to our Lord Dunsany, transcended of his soul, accomplished of his prose, for all eternity!” proclaims Nicolai Alexander before the Gods in the fields we know.
And to his peers he thus turns and nimbly moderates his speech in address - as is befit for their mortal intellect to comprehend without much catastrophe:
Wow, this is such a delightful anthology of Lord Dunsany-inspired weird fantasy by mainly Lin Carter. It also contains eight of Dunsany’s own stories, so as to showcase what inspired Carter. Some of Carter’s stories were a bit like a fairy tale, some a bit like sword and sorcery, some a bit more … cosmic in scale - or even better: pantheonic, but most of them were downright funny. Unexpectedly so, thanks to a prose drenched in strange eons. And despite many of them pointing a stern, didactic finger at you. But that doesn’t matter as … ah, they were just so entertaining! The humor was more refined, I have to say. Not the childish, exaggerated and in-your-face kind, but a bit more sophisticated, understated, playful and/or unexpected. I smiled, chuckled and laughed out loud at regular intervals! And so, fortunately, most of these pastiches were, to me, successful ones. They emulated or, yes, transcended Dunsany and had even a voice of their own. Absolutely amazing!
It's hard to pick a favorite, but here are my ratings:
The Gods of Niom Parma (1970) by Lin Carter - ★★★★★
Gods assemble to determine the fate of a city. Some are intent on destroying it, for the inhabitants worship newer Gods. Some want to protect them, for humankind do have redeeming qualities and are able to make beautiful art. To settle the agreement, they decide to send a neutral God down to the humans to make a more informed decision.
An ode to the wonders of the world and the wonder that is the world.
Splendid story. Glorious writing.
“One by one, great clouds drifted past over his head, cities and galleons and castles and fantastic dragons of dawn-colored vapor borne on mysterious journeys by the young winds of morning through the upper regions of the sky” (6)
“But now, in the form of a man, and through the dim, small perspective of mortal senses, the wonder of the shore at dawn was breathtaking and humbling to him; he felt small before the glory of the world.” (7)
The Whelming of Oom (1969) by Lin Carter - ★★★★★
Another five star story! And more to come. This one is about a people who decides to create a new God, and how the old ones (all 800 of them) respond to it.
Zingazar (1971) by Lin Carter - ★★★★★
Legendary heroes use legendary weapons, and this is a story about those weapons when all the heroes are long gone. What do they do when evil silently approaches from the forest outside their castle when all humans are asleep? The strongest of them all, the legendary sword of Zingazar, is powerful enough to defeat it, but he needs to be wielded by human hands.
An interesting perspective. Very cool.
“They knew the cold bitter kiss of Zingazar from of old: deep in blood and bone and brain were stamped the old, ancestral terrors of that bright length of terrible steel; they fell, and fled, and turned aside in terror from the flashing circle of Zingazar.” (25)
How Sargoth Lay Siege to Zaremm (1972) by Lin Carter - ★★★★★
The title says it all. Short and very to the point.
A mighty conqueror indeed!
“And he mounted his destrier, while the orphaned daughters of extinguished dynasties held the reins.” (30)
The Laughter of Han (1982) by Lin Carter - ★★★★★
A story about yet another legendary man. This time, the fierce and feared warrior Zun. He “feared one thing only and the name of that thing was Laughter. It was as a terror to Zun that he might ever seem ridiculous in the eyes of men; therefore did he make himself very terrible to men. “(33)
And that’s all this story is about, but that’s all you need when it’s written like this!
The Benevolence of Yib (1987) by Lin Carter - ★★★★★
And then you get a story about what appears to be a common beggar. A beggar who, funnily enough, also makes his own Gud, and who becomes greedier than thou! And too proud. I won’t say how and what ultimately happens, but it’s yet another great story.
“And nightly the servants of Hish burnt costly myrrh on golden plates before Yab, and each dawn they slaughtered a white peacock upon the altars of Yab, and smeared his brazen heels with its blood.” (43)
How Ghuth Would Have Hunted the Silth (1988) by Lin Carter - ★★★
The legendary master hunter Ghuth has is eyes set on slaying the Silth. This one was a bit too short for my liking, based on what kind of story this was. It was well written and all that, but I needed more.
The Thievery of Yish (1988) by Lin Carter - ★★★★
Yish, a very special thief attempts to steal some legendary treasure. Ah, I see. So that’s what Carter is writing about for the 87th time. And it doesn’t matter. It’s good and fun.
How Her Doom Came Down at Last on Adrazoon (1988) by Lin Carter - ★★★
This one was okay. I didn’t quite get it, though. Not enough to explain here. Oh well.
How Jal Set Forth on His Journeying (2018) by Lin Carter - ★★★★★
And we’re back to a five star rating! The title says it all, really, but it’s a wonderful tale about a man who’s going out on an adventure into some mysterious forest to find … the truth.
The Gods of Neol-Shendis (1966) by Lin Carter - ★★★★
Dan’s review of this one is precise and succinct, so I’ll copy it here:
“This is an earlier version of "The Gods of Niom Parma," the first story in this collection. It is longer and more detailed, which adds nothing and actually subtracts from some of its power. Lin Carter was right to shorten it when he rewrote it four years later. I do love the illustrations in this version though."
I love the illustrations too!
How Shand Became King of Thieves (2018) by Lin Carter and Robert M. Price - ★★★★
The titles are very revealing, huh? The king of a brotherhood of thieves die, and a new king must be crowned. How, you say? Well, an apprentice thief, Shand, seems to be the least likely choice. I agree.
Caolin the Conjurer (Or, Dzimdazoul) (2018) by Lin Carter and Glynn Owen Barrass - ★★★★★
The least ambitious and least powerful magician in the world sees a horrifying vision of a devastating fire curse in a magical Google Maps glass. I think it’s safe to say he’s haunted by forbidden knowledge. This reminds me of Clark Ashton Smith, which is probably why I love it so much. Dark, weird and beautiful!
The Philosopher Thief (2018) by Darrell Schweitzer - ★★★★
The king of thieves wants to hear a really good story, but only a true one, so the philosopher thief Pharnaces sets out on a looooong journey to verify his own story first. That’s commitment! Another funny story. Let me give you two examples of something that made me chuckle:
“ (…) an emperor’s laughter is not mere noise like that of other men, but is indeed an affirmation, containing ineffable wisdom and numerous legal precedents (…)” (95)
“The emperor, whose sacred foot never touched the ground, traveled in his own more grand conveyance, his massive flesh rippling as he chortled softly to himself (…)” (96)
Hah!
The Sorcerer's Satchel (2018) by Gary Myers - ★★★★
A story about yet another thief. Very simple, but still great.
An Unfamiliar Familiar (2018) by Adrian Cole - ★★★★★
I’m veeery close to calling this my favorite story in the book. It was so much fun, so incredibly funny! A minor wizard called Umptus Underbung, whose “ambitions were not matched by his abilities” (108) wants to reach something called the 13th level of enlightenment, and the only one who can help him achieve that, is the sorceress Zeleshti. And he intends to get what he wants with the help of a mischievous multidimensional-travelling being called Elfloch.
What can I say? I loved it! And I must find more of Adrian Cole’s stuff. And read it. I simply must.
“Zelesthi tried to lean forward, but the heap of pillows held her fast and threatened to engulf her.” (114)
“Great and illustrious master, I bring you the incomparable Zelesthi, Mistress of the Million Magics, Queen of the Quintessentials, Empress of the Everlasting Excellences.” (115)
The Summoning of a Genie in Error (2018) by Adrian Cole - ★★★★★
And here he is again. And I give it another five star. Wonderful!
“Mirimis Carpetuka the Third (though no one seems to have any records of the former two version)” (120) desires a strong gin, so her ever loyal servant Anderpang seeks to obtain one for her from Mallumunce the Merchant.
And it’s hilarious!
The Sad But Instructive Fable of Mangroth's Tomes (2018) by Charles Garofalo - ★★★
Mangroth, the wizard scribe, made a mistake, and the consequences were nothing short of dangerous, but legendary. It was interesting and funny, but not quite as funny and interesting as most of the other stories.
How Frindolf Got His Fill of Revenge (2018) by Charles Garofalo - ★★★★★
A story about Frindol’fs unfortunate life and his treatment of Vulg. Harsh, but cool. These last two stories were more like fantasy stories, by the way; they don't quite fit in as weird stories from Simrana, and their overall style seems more ... detached. As part of a collection, they certainly fell short, but I still enjoyed them.
The Good Simranatan (2018) by Robert M. Price - ★★★★
A very short story of a man who is attacked and left for dead. Even though it’s short, it gets its point across very effectively, and I actually think the length is perfect here.
The Devil's Mine (2018) by Robert M. Price ★★
A lazy man dies and ends up in some kind of mine in the afterlife and have to work for all eternity. Or so it seems. I … didn’t like it that much, tbh. It’s a bit silly, but not in a good way.
How Thongor Conquered Zaremm (2018) by Robert M. Price - ★★★
This one, I think, was a bit too long. A multi planar invasion happens, and there is a lot of action here. There’s a war god and advanced technology too. Very sword and sorcery and kinda cool.
Then we have the Dunsany tales, which I’m surprisingly conflicted about. Before this, I’ve only read The King of Elfland's Daughter by Dunsany, which I found truly inspiring. This was a bit of a mixed bag, though, there are many more of his that I still haven't read, and despite my mild enthusiasm for these ones, I remain optimistic and will definitely explore another collection eventually.
The River (1905) by Lord Dunsany - ★★★
Felt like a prose poem.
The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth (1908) by Lord Dunsany - ★★★★★
I initially rated this one three stars, but after listening to the podcast “Strange Studies of Strange Stories”, episode 021, about this very story, I couldn’t help but rate it five stars instead. The podcasters reminded me of how much fun this story actually is, and they convinced me its merits and entertainment value. Quintessential sword and sorcery. Lots of adventuring, defeating an evil bad guy and a little bit of ridiculousness along the way.
The Sword of Welleran (1908) by Lord Dunsany- ★★
Yawn!
Carcassonne (1910) by Lord Dunsany - ★★★★
Aaah. So beauuuuutifully written!
“And the night-wind blew, arising like a ghost, and passed between the tree-trunks, and slipped down shimmering glades, and waked the prowling beasts still dreaming of day, and drifted nocturnal birds afield to menace timorous things, and beat the roses against cottager’s panes, and whispered news of the befriending night, and wafted to the ears of wandering men the sound of a maiden’s song, and gave a glamour to the lutanist’s tune played in his loneliness on distant hills, and the deep eyes of moths glowed like a galleon’s lamps, and they spread their wings and sailed their familiar sea.” (213)
I rest my case.
How Nuth Would Have Practiced His Art Upon the Gnoles (1911) by Lord Dunsany - ★★
Boring!
The Distressing Tale of Thangobrind the Jeweller, and of the Doom That Befell Him (1911) Lord Dunsany - ★★
A thief called Thangobrind wants to steal a large diamond from the statue of the creator. I see. And … that’s kinda it.
In Zaccarath (1909) by Lord Dunsany - ★★
Just a description of Zaccarath and a glimpse of life within it. And a prophesy of doom. Not much else to see here.
How the Enemy Came to Thlūnrāna (1910) by Lord Dunsany - ★★
?
The Jest of Droom Avista (1937) by Henry Kuttner - ★★★★★
A high-priest summons the Dweller beyond. And this story is beyond awesome.
I would definitely recommend this anthology to anyone who fancies a bit of humorously entertaning, thrilling, poetic, weird, classic high fantasy-esque adventures. I definitely had a really good time reading these stories (most of them, anyway), and I even found some new authors I’d like to explore.
Or so they tell the tale in Simrana.
They say in Simrana that when time came in the site of Goodreads and the group of Weird fiction to nominate a tome for the sacrosanct May group read ritual, high-moderator Dan thus nominated the reverent tome of “Lin Carter’s Simrana Cycle”, only previously heard of in song.
“I hereby bestow my gratitude upon high-moderator Dan, for I have rejoiced, by liturgical avocations, in the teachings of Lin Carter, passionately paid in homage to our Lord Dunsany, transcended of his soul, accomplished of his prose, for all eternity!” proclaims Nicolai Alexander before the Gods in the fields we know.
And to his peers he thus turns and nimbly moderates his speech in address - as is befit for their mortal intellect to comprehend without much catastrophe:
Wow, this is such a delightful anthology of Lord Dunsany-inspired weird fantasy by mainly Lin Carter. It also contains eight of Dunsany’s own stories, so as to showcase what inspired Carter. Some of Carter’s stories were a bit like a fairy tale, some a bit like sword and sorcery, some a bit more … cosmic in scale - or even better: pantheonic, but most of them were downright funny. Unexpectedly so, thanks to a prose drenched in strange eons. And despite many of them pointing a stern, didactic finger at you. But that doesn’t matter as … ah, they were just so entertaining! The humor was more refined, I have to say. Not the childish, exaggerated and in-your-face kind, but a bit more sophisticated, understated, playful and/or unexpected. I smiled, chuckled and laughed out loud at regular intervals! And so, fortunately, most of these pastiches were, to me, successful ones. They emulated or, yes, transcended Dunsany and had even a voice of their own. Absolutely amazing!
It's hard to pick a favorite, but here are my ratings:
The Gods of Niom Parma (1970) by Lin Carter - ★★★★★
Gods assemble to determine the fate of a city. Some are intent on destroying it, for the inhabitants worship newer Gods. Some want to protect them, for humankind do have redeeming qualities and are able to make beautiful art. To settle the agreement, they decide to send a neutral God down to the humans to make a more informed decision.
An ode to the wonders of the world and the wonder that is the world.
Splendid story. Glorious writing.
“One by one, great clouds drifted past over his head, cities and galleons and castles and fantastic dragons of dawn-colored vapor borne on mysterious journeys by the young winds of morning through the upper regions of the sky” (6)
“But now, in the form of a man, and through the dim, small perspective of mortal senses, the wonder of the shore at dawn was breathtaking and humbling to him; he felt small before the glory of the world.” (7)
The Whelming of Oom (1969) by Lin Carter - ★★★★★
Another five star story! And more to come. This one is about a people who decides to create a new God, and how the old ones (all 800 of them) respond to it.
Zingazar (1971) by Lin Carter - ★★★★★
Legendary heroes use legendary weapons, and this is a story about those weapons when all the heroes are long gone. What do they do when evil silently approaches from the forest outside their castle when all humans are asleep? The strongest of them all, the legendary sword of Zingazar, is powerful enough to defeat it, but he needs to be wielded by human hands.
An interesting perspective. Very cool.
“They knew the cold bitter kiss of Zingazar from of old: deep in blood and bone and brain were stamped the old, ancestral terrors of that bright length of terrible steel; they fell, and fled, and turned aside in terror from the flashing circle of Zingazar.” (25)
How Sargoth Lay Siege to Zaremm (1972) by Lin Carter - ★★★★★
The title says it all. Short and very to the point.
A mighty conqueror indeed!
“And he mounted his destrier, while the orphaned daughters of extinguished dynasties held the reins.” (30)
The Laughter of Han (1982) by Lin Carter - ★★★★★
A story about yet another legendary man. This time, the fierce and feared warrior Zun. He “feared one thing only and the name of that thing was Laughter. It was as a terror to Zun that he might ever seem ridiculous in the eyes of men; therefore did he make himself very terrible to men. “(33)
And that’s all this story is about, but that’s all you need when it’s written like this!
The Benevolence of Yib (1987) by Lin Carter - ★★★★★
And then you get a story about what appears to be a common beggar. A beggar who, funnily enough, also makes his own Gud, and who becomes greedier than thou! And too proud. I won’t say how and what ultimately happens, but it’s yet another great story.
“And nightly the servants of Hish burnt costly myrrh on golden plates before Yab, and each dawn they slaughtered a white peacock upon the altars of Yab, and smeared his brazen heels with its blood.” (43)
How Ghuth Would Have Hunted the Silth (1988) by Lin Carter - ★★★
The legendary master hunter Ghuth has is eyes set on slaying the Silth. This one was a bit too short for my liking, based on what kind of story this was. It was well written and all that, but I needed more.
The Thievery of Yish (1988) by Lin Carter - ★★★★
Yish, a very special thief attempts to steal some legendary treasure. Ah, I see. So that’s what Carter is writing about for the 87th time. And it doesn’t matter. It’s good and fun.
How Her Doom Came Down at Last on Adrazoon (1988) by Lin Carter - ★★★
This one was okay. I didn’t quite get it, though. Not enough to explain here. Oh well.
How Jal Set Forth on His Journeying (2018) by Lin Carter - ★★★★★
And we’re back to a five star rating! The title says it all, really, but it’s a wonderful tale about a man who’s going out on an adventure into some mysterious forest to find … the truth.
The Gods of Neol-Shendis (1966) by Lin Carter - ★★★★
Dan’s review of this one is precise and succinct, so I’ll copy it here:
“This is an earlier version of "The Gods of Niom Parma," the first story in this collection. It is longer and more detailed, which adds nothing and actually subtracts from some of its power. Lin Carter was right to shorten it when he rewrote it four years later. I do love the illustrations in this version though."
I love the illustrations too!
How Shand Became King of Thieves (2018) by Lin Carter and Robert M. Price - ★★★★
The titles are very revealing, huh? The king of a brotherhood of thieves die, and a new king must be crowned. How, you say? Well, an apprentice thief, Shand, seems to be the least likely choice. I agree.
Caolin the Conjurer (Or, Dzimdazoul) (2018) by Lin Carter and Glynn Owen Barrass - ★★★★★
The least ambitious and least powerful magician in the world sees a horrifying vision of a devastating fire curse in a magical Google Maps glass. I think it’s safe to say he’s haunted by forbidden knowledge. This reminds me of Clark Ashton Smith, which is probably why I love it so much. Dark, weird and beautiful!
The Philosopher Thief (2018) by Darrell Schweitzer - ★★★★
The king of thieves wants to hear a really good story, but only a true one, so the philosopher thief Pharnaces sets out on a looooong journey to verify his own story first. That’s commitment! Another funny story. Let me give you two examples of something that made me chuckle:
“ (…) an emperor’s laughter is not mere noise like that of other men, but is indeed an affirmation, containing ineffable wisdom and numerous legal precedents (…)” (95)
“The emperor, whose sacred foot never touched the ground, traveled in his own more grand conveyance, his massive flesh rippling as he chortled softly to himself (…)” (96)
Hah!
The Sorcerer's Satchel (2018) by Gary Myers - ★★★★
A story about yet another thief. Very simple, but still great.
An Unfamiliar Familiar (2018) by Adrian Cole - ★★★★★
I’m veeery close to calling this my favorite story in the book. It was so much fun, so incredibly funny! A minor wizard called Umptus Underbung, whose “ambitions were not matched by his abilities” (108) wants to reach something called the 13th level of enlightenment, and the only one who can help him achieve that, is the sorceress Zeleshti. And he intends to get what he wants with the help of a mischievous multidimensional-travelling being called Elfloch.
What can I say? I loved it! And I must find more of Adrian Cole’s stuff. And read it. I simply must.
“Zelesthi tried to lean forward, but the heap of pillows held her fast and threatened to engulf her.” (114)
“Great and illustrious master, I bring you the incomparable Zelesthi, Mistress of the Million Magics, Queen of the Quintessentials, Empress of the Everlasting Excellences.” (115)
The Summoning of a Genie in Error (2018) by Adrian Cole - ★★★★★
And here he is again. And I give it another five star. Wonderful!
“Mirimis Carpetuka the Third (though no one seems to have any records of the former two version)” (120) desires a strong gin, so her ever loyal servant Anderpang seeks to obtain one for her from Mallumunce the Merchant.
And it’s hilarious!
The Sad But Instructive Fable of Mangroth's Tomes (2018) by Charles Garofalo - ★★★
Mangroth, the wizard scribe, made a mistake, and the consequences were nothing short of dangerous, but legendary. It was interesting and funny, but not quite as funny and interesting as most of the other stories.
How Frindolf Got His Fill of Revenge (2018) by Charles Garofalo - ★★★★★
A story about Frindol’fs unfortunate life and his treatment of Vulg. Harsh, but cool. These last two stories were more like fantasy stories, by the way; they don't quite fit in as weird stories from Simrana, and their overall style seems more ... detached. As part of a collection, they certainly fell short, but I still enjoyed them.
The Good Simranatan (2018) by Robert M. Price - ★★★★
A very short story of a man who is attacked and left for dead. Even though it’s short, it gets its point across very effectively, and I actually think the length is perfect here.
The Devil's Mine (2018) by Robert M. Price ★★
A lazy man dies and ends up in some kind of mine in the afterlife and have to work for all eternity. Or so it seems. I … didn’t like it that much, tbh. It’s a bit silly, but not in a good way.
How Thongor Conquered Zaremm (2018) by Robert M. Price - ★★★
This one, I think, was a bit too long. A multi planar invasion happens, and there is a lot of action here. There’s a war god and advanced technology too. Very sword and sorcery and kinda cool.
Then we have the Dunsany tales, which I’m surprisingly conflicted about. Before this, I’ve only read The King of Elfland's Daughter by Dunsany, which I found truly inspiring. This was a bit of a mixed bag, though, there are many more of his that I still haven't read, and despite my mild enthusiasm for these ones, I remain optimistic and will definitely explore another collection eventually.
The River (1905) by Lord Dunsany - ★★★
Felt like a prose poem.
The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth (1908) by Lord Dunsany - ★★★★★
I initially rated this one three stars, but after listening to the podcast “Strange Studies of Strange Stories”, episode 021, about this very story, I couldn’t help but rate it five stars instead. The podcasters reminded me of how much fun this story actually is, and they convinced me its merits and entertainment value. Quintessential sword and sorcery. Lots of adventuring, defeating an evil bad guy and a little bit of ridiculousness along the way.
The Sword of Welleran (1908) by Lord Dunsany- ★★
Yawn!
Carcassonne (1910) by Lord Dunsany - ★★★★
Aaah. So beauuuuutifully written!
“And the night-wind blew, arising like a ghost, and passed between the tree-trunks, and slipped down shimmering glades, and waked the prowling beasts still dreaming of day, and drifted nocturnal birds afield to menace timorous things, and beat the roses against cottager’s panes, and whispered news of the befriending night, and wafted to the ears of wandering men the sound of a maiden’s song, and gave a glamour to the lutanist’s tune played in his loneliness on distant hills, and the deep eyes of moths glowed like a galleon’s lamps, and they spread their wings and sailed their familiar sea.” (213)
I rest my case.
How Nuth Would Have Practiced His Art Upon the Gnoles (1911) by Lord Dunsany - ★★
Boring!
The Distressing Tale of Thangobrind the Jeweller, and of the Doom That Befell Him (1911) Lord Dunsany - ★★
A thief called Thangobrind wants to steal a large diamond from the statue of the creator. I see. And … that’s kinda it.
In Zaccarath (1909) by Lord Dunsany - ★★
Just a description of Zaccarath and a glimpse of life within it. And a prophesy of doom. Not much else to see here.
How the Enemy Came to Thlūnrāna (1910) by Lord Dunsany - ★★
?
The Jest of Droom Avista (1937) by Henry Kuttner - ★★★★★
A high-priest summons the Dweller beyond. And this story is beyond awesome.
I would definitely recommend this anthology to anyone who fancies a bit of humorously entertaning, thrilling, poetic, weird, classic high fantasy-esque adventures. I definitely had a really good time reading these stories (most of them, anyway), and I even found some new authors I’d like to explore.
Or so they tell the tale in Simrana.
October 10, 2019
A collection of Lin Carter's very consciously Dunsanian pastiche, together with stories by other authors (Adrian Cole, Robert M. Price and a few others) set in Carter's imaginary land of Simrana, and rounded out by a selection of the original Lord Dunsany that Carter was copying.
And to my surprise, this turned out to be some of Carter's better original fiction, whether that's because they were short stories, whether it's because the Dunsanian style lends itself better to Carter's inclinations than, say, Burroughs or Howard, or whether because the Carter stories tended to hew pretty closely (in some cases, uncomfortably so) to Dunsany's original tales.
Recommended if you've already read lots of Dunsany, more than your share of H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands tales ("The Doom That Came to Sarnath", etc.), and want more in that mode.
And to my surprise, this turned out to be some of Carter's better original fiction, whether that's because they were short stories, whether it's because the Dunsanian style lends itself better to Carter's inclinations than, say, Burroughs or Howard, or whether because the Carter stories tended to hew pretty closely (in some cases, uncomfortably so) to Dunsany's original tales.
Recommended if you've already read lots of Dunsany, more than your share of H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands tales ("The Doom That Came to Sarnath", etc.), and want more in that mode.
December 20, 2021
After reading this carefully and taking the time to consider the problem, I can say this for certain: the addition of Roy Krenkel line art improves any story it is attached to. You may think differently, but you would be wrong.
I find it strange that Lovecraft's dreamland series is not represented, and wonder what the collection would look like if Carter himself curated it. Like the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, perhaps, with heavy curation, a sense of structure, and plenty of commentary?
The Simrana stories themselves are confections that attempt to capture Dunsany's irony but not the sadness or sense of loss. That is, when they're not cleaving so close to Dunsany that you can see where the serial numbers were filed off.
I find it strange that Lovecraft's dreamland series is not represented, and wonder what the collection would look like if Carter himself curated it. Like the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, perhaps, with heavy curation, a sense of structure, and plenty of commentary?
The Simrana stories themselves are confections that attempt to capture Dunsany's irony but not the sadness or sense of loss. That is, when they're not cleaving so close to Dunsany that you can see where the serial numbers were filed off.
May 28, 2024
Lin Carter's Simrana Cycle is an anthology of fantasy, according to Wikipedia, weird fiction according to me, selected and edited by Robert M. Price.
The Gods of Niom Parma (1970) by Lin Carter ★★★★★
What a fantastic start! Here are the first two sentences: "The gods of Niom Parma met on a mountaintop near the sea. Tremendous, fierce-eyed, robed in glory, they were come to decide the fate of the alabaster city." It's the lament of gods everywhere, even of the one in the Old Testament. People have turned away and dare worship newer gods. Their destruction, half the gods say, is the answer. "Wait!" cry the others. "These people have value. They can be redeemed."
So the gods agree to send an emissary to study the matter personally and determine a resolution, getting back to them with a recommendation. They all pledge to bind themselves to follow whatever the emissary returns to them with. This story is of what that emissary finds and then determines the course of the city's fate upon. It was riveting and brilliant. I loved it!
The Whelming of Oom (1969) by Lin Carter ★★★★★
Another wonderful story. A community of people in Simrana decide to create their own god, a unique one that only they worship, named Oom. The other 800 gods of Simrana usually don't pay much attention to men and their doings, but this is an affront so egregious they can't ignore it. The 800 gods determine to destroy this community's one god. This is the story of what happened as a result of that conflict.
I loved the creative aspect of character generation in this story, all the god names, so imaginative. Where did this come from? Again, Lin Carter's ending is perfect, the same type of understated twist that answers the story's set-up that we find in the first story. We are in the hands of a masterful storyteller in Lin Carter! I really had no idea we would be.
Zingazar (1971) by Lin Carter ★★★★
Zingazar is the name of the sword who is the protagonist of our story. A fabled warrior city is being encroached upon, but has forgotten how to defend itself. It's time to remember how to fight off an enemy. This story is unique for me in that people aren't the main characters. The city itself and the weapons the warriors of yore used in its defense are. I loved it!
How Sargoth Lay Siege to Zaremm (1972) by Lin Carter ★★★★1/2
Fierce warrior-king Sargoth conquers all he surveys and brings the booty back to his home city, enriching his fighters. However, there is one city Zaremm dare not attempt to invade. At least not until he hears that he dares not. This story made its point beautifully.
The Laughter of Han (1982) by Lin Carter ★★★★1/2
Accomplished warrior named Zun is so fierce that everyone fears him. Even the gods tread carefully. The one thing Zun cannot tolerate is being laughed at. This wonderful story shows what happens when someone just can't help but laugh. Just like Game of Thrones, one of the keys to Carter's success in his stories is by never meeting expectations in a way that can be anticipated.
The Benevolence of Yib (1987) by Lin Carter ★★★1/2
This story is about the rising fortunes of beggars as they perfect their craft of beggary. It contains dos and don't for what it takes to be a successful beggar. The story is entertaining enough with unexpected twists well told. I don't get into beggars as protagonists though and the story has one gaping whole. How did the beggar increase his wealth once rich? Despite these faults, the story is short and still has the Lin Carter magic working for it.
How Ghuth Would Have Hunted the Silth (1988) by Lin Carter ★★★★★
A wonderful tale of how the master hunter, Ghuth, bagged a specimen of the ultimate beast, the silth. This story was particularly rich in its detailed background of mythical monsters and the word choices in the story were the highest of nearly poetical form. Beautiful story!
The Thievery of Yish (1988) by Lin Carter ★★★★
Yish the thief goes against common sense and decides to try to burgle a wizard. A fun story, but not unlike some others we just read.
How Her Doom Came Down at Last on Adrazoon (1988) by Lin Carter ★★★1/2
The city of Adrazoon took great pride in it ancient history and power of place. But gods' preferences tend to the fickle.
How Jal Set Forth on His Journeying (2018) by Lin Carter ★★★1/2
This is a slightly longer and unusual quest tale, one of Jal who sets forth to explore the lands adjacent to a river that goes through his childhood village. He enters a "dubious wood", gets the better over some threats, and then meets a mysterious stranger.
Apparently, this story was not previously published. Maybe Price found it amongst some Lin Carter estate manuscripts. The story is of some interest, but differs in tone, style, and format of others in the cycle. For example, although only 14 pages long, it is broken down into seven chapters, the best of which is the last because that one breaks from the fairy talish tone of the first six in order to convey the heart of the story.
The Gods of Neol-Shendis (1966) by Lin Carter ★★★★
This is an earlier version of "The Gods of Niom Parma," the first story in this collection. It is longer and more detailed, which adds nothing and actually subtracts from some of its power. Lin Carter was right to shorten it when he rewrote it four years later. I do love the illustrations in this version though.
How Shand Became King of Thieves (2018) by Lin Carter and Robert M. Price ★★★1/2
When two authors are listed here who obviously did not collude together on the story, what often happens is that the latter author takes notes for a story idea or sometimes even an outline found in papers from the original author's estate and writes a story based on this, crediting both authors for the work. Occasionally, I imagine, an author simply uses another author's world or characters and gives partial credit to the original author even though all the writing and story ideas are the latter author's. I have no idea what the case here is.
In any event, Robert M. Price comes close to approximating Lin Carter's style here. It's clear he's really trying to. The result is a decent story that is fun to read, interesting, but not quite as clear or crisp as Carter's writing. I'm grateful Price presented this story even if it's not quite at the same level as Carter's. The ending in particular lacks some of the twist Carter was so good at supplying. Still, it was fun to find out just how Shand became the king of thieves.
Caolin the Conjurer (Or, Dzimdazoul) (2018) by Lin Carter and Glynn Owen Barrass ★★★
This is the last of the stories credited in whole or in part to the originator of Simrana, Lin Carter. We learn of a low-level conjurer named Caolin, and how he came to be cursed in three elements: fire, ice, and water. Air is left for dealing with later. The story is long on narrative, short on conflict or dialogue, and sort of unclear, anchored only by the elementals structure. It was okay, but I was glad it ended earlier than expected, given the set-up.
The author made less of an attempt to mirror Lin Carter's style than Price did in the last story. In fact, I see a lot more of an attempt to channel Clark Ashton Smith's work in this story. Barrass used some of his place names and concepts. For example, he uses geas, and that not correctly. A geas is a task or mission assigned to someone usually in the assigner's power, which is clearly not Barrass's understanding of the term. But I nitpick. I see that Barrass has written a body of work in the weird fiction field, most of it well regarded. I may need to revisit some of his other writing. Perhaps he's better when writing entirely original work.
The Philosopher Thief (2018) by Darrell Schweitzer ★★★★
I was a bit concerned that once we left the Carter stories, the following stories set in Simrana by other authors might not be as good. Other reviewers have indicated as much. But I am not finding that to be the case. This story was well written and a pleasure, though it started slower than it finished.
The story is set in the same thieves' enclave mentioned for the first time two stories ago by Robert M. Price. The present king of thieves likes stories, but only true ones. This limits the potential stories some. A philosopher thief agrees to tell a story, but first has to investigate something to make sure it's true. Schweitzer's story is about that investigation and where it leads the philosopher thief's story. The twist of Carter's endings lacks here somewhat in this story, but there is a profound point to it I enjoyed pondering.
I am glad to see Darrell Schweitzer having success with this story. I have not read his fiction work that much, but he is a former editor of Weird Tales and has done a lot of publishing and popularizing work in the field of weird fiction, all of it of high quality.
The Sorcerer's Satchel (2018) by Gary Myers ★★★★1/2
This was a fun story that for the first time since we left Carter's recaptures Carter's simplicity and directness of plot. Another thief--funny how we're getting so many thieves all of a sudden--comes upon a friendly sorcerer who shares his resources to eat a meal with our hungry thief. The sorcerer falls asleep and so what does out thief do? Of course, what any thief would do, kindnesses notwithstanding. I love the ending here.
I looked the author Gary Myers up and discovered he has been publishing in the field of fantasy and weird fiction for a long time. His first sale was in 1970. He writes almost entirely short stories, but has written one novel that looks worth checking out, if only my life were so long I could read every possibly worthy novel. It's Gray Magic: An Episode of Eibon (2013). It's based on a Hyperborean story of Clark Ashton Smith we read a month or two ago.
An Unfamiliar Familiar (2018) by Adrian Cole ★★★★1/2
A low-level mage of Simrana gets leverage over a powerful being and requests a boon. However, he may not have wanted quite what he receives. This was one of the funniest stories I have read all year. I never expect humor in a weird tale, and I'm not usually susceptible to comedy anyway, but this was so low-key and well-told. The story lost a half star only at the end when the ending really didn't do anything.
The Summoning of a Genie in Error (2018) by Adrian Cole ★★★1/2
This story had more narrative (the entire first third has no dialogue or dramatic scenes, just explanation) and less humor than the previous story, but was still a lot of fun. A faithful servant drives a hard bargain to get his beloved mistress the bottle of liquor she desperately wants. But does she? This story, at least, has the ending the first one lacked.
I have not heard of Adrian Cole previously. He is a British author now in his seventies who has been publishing fiction since 1973. He has approximately 25 novels to his credit. His latest two comprise his War on Rome series (so far): Arminius, Bane of Eagles (2022) and Germanicus, Lord of Eagles (2023). He's also still publishing a lot of short fiction this decade. Given these strong two stories, I'd read some of his other writing at some point, especially given his association with Weirdbook, a modern magazine devoted to weird things Cthulhu, of which Darrell Schweitzer (another author in this anthology) is also a frequent contributor.
The Sad But Instructive Fable of Mangroth's Tomes (2018) by Charles Garofalo ★
How Frindolf Got His Fill of Revenge (2018) by Charles Garofalo ★
These two stories have little to do with Simrana as far as I can tell. Even as stories alone they have problems. There's not traditional scenes in them, and thus virtually no dialogue. They are mostly descriptions. They describe interesting people and have good worldbuilding. Maybe I could learn to like that style of writing. The stories clearly don't belong in this anthology.
The Good Simranatan (2018) by Robert M. Price ★★★
This is the shortest story in the anthology so far, just three e-pages and a line. It's based on the Bible story of The Good Samaritan, but has a clever twist. Price has a day job as a preacher, and the dye job of writing in a fantasy background doesn't quite get the roots. But that's okay. It's a fun story nonetheless, and I can buy that it's set in Simrana.
The Devil's Mine (2018) by Robert M. Price ★★★1/2
A resident of the human part of the realm of Simrana dies and finds himself in a level of Hell in Simrana's afterlife. I really liked this substantial look at this afterlife aspect of Simrana and found the characters of Mufastos and his wife Gurtrulla funny and compelling.
How Thongor Conquered Zaremm (2018) by Robert M. Price ★1/2
Okay, this story, like both of Charles Garofalo's above, are the three to not belong in this anthology. It's not about Simrana. Lin Carter had another, slightly earlier series, called Thongor, the name of the titular character, a barbarian along the lines of Conan. Carter wrote six novels, a poem, and then six short stories set in Lemuria, where Thongor resided, all between 1965 and 1980. The first of these is Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria, if you're curious. Robert M. Price came along in 1998 and has contributed 18 more short stories in this series, by my count, the last four of which were published just last year (2023). I imagine Price intends to continue writing them. This story, 32 e-pages long, makes no real sense out of context like this with no Thongor background to ease us in.
Next are eight Lord Dunsany stories.
The River (1905) by Lord Dunsany
The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth (1908) by Lord Dunsany
The Sword of Welleran (1908) by Lord Dunsany
Carcassonne (1910) by Lord Dunsany
How Nuth Would Have Practiced His Art Upon the Gnoles (1911) by Lord Dunsany
The Distressing Tale of Thangobrind the Jeweller, and of the Doom That Befell Him (1911) Lord Dunsany
In Zaccarath (1909) by Lord Dunsany
How the Enemy Came to Thlūnrāna (1910) by Lord Dunsany
I am going to lump these stories all together, not discuss them individually, and give them 2.5 stars as a collective rating. Three stars means I like the work. Two stars means I like something about the story, but am pretty much neutral overall. Two stars is where I am with Lord Dunsany's stories, except I really respect the writing craft, the world creation skills, the sophisticated names of places and people, the serious atmosphere, therefore 2.5 stars.
My problem with all of the stories is the plot. If the story has a plot at all, half of them don't, plot is a secondary concern, a distant one at that. Some people can just enjoy a story for its good writing and its atmosphere. They don't always need a plot. I'm not among that group.
The Jest of Droom Avista (1937) by Henry Kuttner ★★★★
This story is actually a sequel to an earlier story of Kuttner's set in the world of Bel Yarnak, "Eater of Souls," but set in Bel Yarnak's future, long after it has fallen. A sorcerer named Thorazor tries to compel his god Droom-avista to revive his world. And Droom-avista does indeed preserve Bel Yarnak, in a way.
I love the ponderous writing found in these two Bel Yarnak stories. They would fit well into Lovecraft's Dream Cycle. I suppose I should not be too surprised that Kuttner would want to make a series based on this far-off world. He must have spent a great deal of time in the world-building aspect of preparing the original story. To tell only one short story in it at one or two cents a word, whatever Farnsworth Wright was then paying, doesn't seem as if it would pay enough. But if one can make a series based on that world, now we're talking. I hope Kuttner returns us to Bel Yarnak in another story.
Kuttner was actually writing Dunsanian tales, much as Lovecraft's Dream Cycle is also based directly on groundwork laid by Dunsany. Dunsany's narrators in these Dunsany "stories" keep referring to the fact that everything taking place in them is a dream, that cityscapes are being viewed through the lens of a dream, etc. That Kuttner's story is based on Dunsany's work doesn't make me appreciate Kuttner's story any less. Nor do I discount Lovecraft's or Carter's Dunsanian writings to any degree for being Dunsanian. All three writers, especially Carter in my view, transcend Dunsany, first because even when trying to write like Dunsany they're off a little, usually in a good way. All three writers plot to varying degrees, or I couldn't appreciate them.
This brings me to the problem of evaluating a work because it borrows from another's, or leans on it heavily, commonly called in popular modern-day parlance, writing a pastiche. I absolutely don't care what a writer borrows, whether that be another writer's characters, tone, world, style, whatever! I form my opinion of a work solely based on the words on the page from the work's story itself. If the writer does some skillful borrowing of the better features of another writer's work, that can only enhance my appreciation. I would never subtract from a writer anything based on the fact he borrowed. I think one only has to look at Shakespeare's work to understand why. That man stole from everyone!
The Gods of Niom Parma (1970) by Lin Carter ★★★★★
What a fantastic start! Here are the first two sentences: "The gods of Niom Parma met on a mountaintop near the sea. Tremendous, fierce-eyed, robed in glory, they were come to decide the fate of the alabaster city." It's the lament of gods everywhere, even of the one in the Old Testament. People have turned away and dare worship newer gods. Their destruction, half the gods say, is the answer. "Wait!" cry the others. "These people have value. They can be redeemed."
So the gods agree to send an emissary to study the matter personally and determine a resolution, getting back to them with a recommendation. They all pledge to bind themselves to follow whatever the emissary returns to them with. This story is of what that emissary finds and then determines the course of the city's fate upon. It was riveting and brilliant. I loved it!
The Whelming of Oom (1969) by Lin Carter ★★★★★
Another wonderful story. A community of people in Simrana decide to create their own god, a unique one that only they worship, named Oom. The other 800 gods of Simrana usually don't pay much attention to men and their doings, but this is an affront so egregious they can't ignore it. The 800 gods determine to destroy this community's one god. This is the story of what happened as a result of that conflict.
I loved the creative aspect of character generation in this story, all the god names, so imaginative. Where did this come from? Again, Lin Carter's ending is perfect, the same type of understated twist that answers the story's set-up that we find in the first story. We are in the hands of a masterful storyteller in Lin Carter! I really had no idea we would be.
Zingazar (1971) by Lin Carter ★★★★
Zingazar is the name of the sword who is the protagonist of our story. A fabled warrior city is being encroached upon, but has forgotten how to defend itself. It's time to remember how to fight off an enemy. This story is unique for me in that people aren't the main characters. The city itself and the weapons the warriors of yore used in its defense are. I loved it!
How Sargoth Lay Siege to Zaremm (1972) by Lin Carter ★★★★1/2
Fierce warrior-king Sargoth conquers all he surveys and brings the booty back to his home city, enriching his fighters. However, there is one city Zaremm dare not attempt to invade. At least not until he hears that he dares not. This story made its point beautifully.
The Laughter of Han (1982) by Lin Carter ★★★★1/2
Accomplished warrior named Zun is so fierce that everyone fears him. Even the gods tread carefully. The one thing Zun cannot tolerate is being laughed at. This wonderful story shows what happens when someone just can't help but laugh. Just like Game of Thrones, one of the keys to Carter's success in his stories is by never meeting expectations in a way that can be anticipated.
The Benevolence of Yib (1987) by Lin Carter ★★★1/2
This story is about the rising fortunes of beggars as they perfect their craft of beggary. It contains dos and don't for what it takes to be a successful beggar. The story is entertaining enough with unexpected twists well told. I don't get into beggars as protagonists though and the story has one gaping whole. How did the beggar increase his wealth once rich? Despite these faults, the story is short and still has the Lin Carter magic working for it.
How Ghuth Would Have Hunted the Silth (1988) by Lin Carter ★★★★★
A wonderful tale of how the master hunter, Ghuth, bagged a specimen of the ultimate beast, the silth. This story was particularly rich in its detailed background of mythical monsters and the word choices in the story were the highest of nearly poetical form. Beautiful story!
The Thievery of Yish (1988) by Lin Carter ★★★★
Yish the thief goes against common sense and decides to try to burgle a wizard. A fun story, but not unlike some others we just read.
How Her Doom Came Down at Last on Adrazoon (1988) by Lin Carter ★★★1/2
The city of Adrazoon took great pride in it ancient history and power of place. But gods' preferences tend to the fickle.
How Jal Set Forth on His Journeying (2018) by Lin Carter ★★★1/2
This is a slightly longer and unusual quest tale, one of Jal who sets forth to explore the lands adjacent to a river that goes through his childhood village. He enters a "dubious wood", gets the better over some threats, and then meets a mysterious stranger.
Apparently, this story was not previously published. Maybe Price found it amongst some Lin Carter estate manuscripts. The story is of some interest, but differs in tone, style, and format of others in the cycle. For example, although only 14 pages long, it is broken down into seven chapters, the best of which is the last because that one breaks from the fairy talish tone of the first six in order to convey the heart of the story.
The Gods of Neol-Shendis (1966) by Lin Carter ★★★★
This is an earlier version of "The Gods of Niom Parma," the first story in this collection. It is longer and more detailed, which adds nothing and actually subtracts from some of its power. Lin Carter was right to shorten it when he rewrote it four years later. I do love the illustrations in this version though.
How Shand Became King of Thieves (2018) by Lin Carter and Robert M. Price ★★★1/2
When two authors are listed here who obviously did not collude together on the story, what often happens is that the latter author takes notes for a story idea or sometimes even an outline found in papers from the original author's estate and writes a story based on this, crediting both authors for the work. Occasionally, I imagine, an author simply uses another author's world or characters and gives partial credit to the original author even though all the writing and story ideas are the latter author's. I have no idea what the case here is.
In any event, Robert M. Price comes close to approximating Lin Carter's style here. It's clear he's really trying to. The result is a decent story that is fun to read, interesting, but not quite as clear or crisp as Carter's writing. I'm grateful Price presented this story even if it's not quite at the same level as Carter's. The ending in particular lacks some of the twist Carter was so good at supplying. Still, it was fun to find out just how Shand became the king of thieves.
Caolin the Conjurer (Or, Dzimdazoul) (2018) by Lin Carter and Glynn Owen Barrass ★★★
This is the last of the stories credited in whole or in part to the originator of Simrana, Lin Carter. We learn of a low-level conjurer named Caolin, and how he came to be cursed in three elements: fire, ice, and water. Air is left for dealing with later. The story is long on narrative, short on conflict or dialogue, and sort of unclear, anchored only by the elementals structure. It was okay, but I was glad it ended earlier than expected, given the set-up.
The author made less of an attempt to mirror Lin Carter's style than Price did in the last story. In fact, I see a lot more of an attempt to channel Clark Ashton Smith's work in this story. Barrass used some of his place names and concepts. For example, he uses geas, and that not correctly. A geas is a task or mission assigned to someone usually in the assigner's power, which is clearly not Barrass's understanding of the term. But I nitpick. I see that Barrass has written a body of work in the weird fiction field, most of it well regarded. I may need to revisit some of his other writing. Perhaps he's better when writing entirely original work.
The Philosopher Thief (2018) by Darrell Schweitzer ★★★★
I was a bit concerned that once we left the Carter stories, the following stories set in Simrana by other authors might not be as good. Other reviewers have indicated as much. But I am not finding that to be the case. This story was well written and a pleasure, though it started slower than it finished.
The story is set in the same thieves' enclave mentioned for the first time two stories ago by Robert M. Price. The present king of thieves likes stories, but only true ones. This limits the potential stories some. A philosopher thief agrees to tell a story, but first has to investigate something to make sure it's true. Schweitzer's story is about that investigation and where it leads the philosopher thief's story. The twist of Carter's endings lacks here somewhat in this story, but there is a profound point to it I enjoyed pondering.
I am glad to see Darrell Schweitzer having success with this story. I have not read his fiction work that much, but he is a former editor of Weird Tales and has done a lot of publishing and popularizing work in the field of weird fiction, all of it of high quality.
The Sorcerer's Satchel (2018) by Gary Myers ★★★★1/2
This was a fun story that for the first time since we left Carter's recaptures Carter's simplicity and directness of plot. Another thief--funny how we're getting so many thieves all of a sudden--comes upon a friendly sorcerer who shares his resources to eat a meal with our hungry thief. The sorcerer falls asleep and so what does out thief do? Of course, what any thief would do, kindnesses notwithstanding. I love the ending here.
I looked the author Gary Myers up and discovered he has been publishing in the field of fantasy and weird fiction for a long time. His first sale was in 1970. He writes almost entirely short stories, but has written one novel that looks worth checking out, if only my life were so long I could read every possibly worthy novel. It's Gray Magic: An Episode of Eibon (2013). It's based on a Hyperborean story of Clark Ashton Smith we read a month or two ago.
An Unfamiliar Familiar (2018) by Adrian Cole ★★★★1/2
A low-level mage of Simrana gets leverage over a powerful being and requests a boon. However, he may not have wanted quite what he receives. This was one of the funniest stories I have read all year. I never expect humor in a weird tale, and I'm not usually susceptible to comedy anyway, but this was so low-key and well-told. The story lost a half star only at the end when the ending really didn't do anything.
The Summoning of a Genie in Error (2018) by Adrian Cole ★★★1/2
This story had more narrative (the entire first third has no dialogue or dramatic scenes, just explanation) and less humor than the previous story, but was still a lot of fun. A faithful servant drives a hard bargain to get his beloved mistress the bottle of liquor she desperately wants. But does she? This story, at least, has the ending the first one lacked.
I have not heard of Adrian Cole previously. He is a British author now in his seventies who has been publishing fiction since 1973. He has approximately 25 novels to his credit. His latest two comprise his War on Rome series (so far): Arminius, Bane of Eagles (2022) and Germanicus, Lord of Eagles (2023). He's also still publishing a lot of short fiction this decade. Given these strong two stories, I'd read some of his other writing at some point, especially given his association with Weirdbook, a modern magazine devoted to weird things Cthulhu, of which Darrell Schweitzer (another author in this anthology) is also a frequent contributor.
The Sad But Instructive Fable of Mangroth's Tomes (2018) by Charles Garofalo ★
How Frindolf Got His Fill of Revenge (2018) by Charles Garofalo ★
These two stories have little to do with Simrana as far as I can tell. Even as stories alone they have problems. There's not traditional scenes in them, and thus virtually no dialogue. They are mostly descriptions. They describe interesting people and have good worldbuilding. Maybe I could learn to like that style of writing. The stories clearly don't belong in this anthology.
The Good Simranatan (2018) by Robert M. Price ★★★
This is the shortest story in the anthology so far, just three e-pages and a line. It's based on the Bible story of The Good Samaritan, but has a clever twist. Price has a day job as a preacher, and the dye job of writing in a fantasy background doesn't quite get the roots. But that's okay. It's a fun story nonetheless, and I can buy that it's set in Simrana.
The Devil's Mine (2018) by Robert M. Price ★★★1/2
A resident of the human part of the realm of Simrana dies and finds himself in a level of Hell in Simrana's afterlife. I really liked this substantial look at this afterlife aspect of Simrana and found the characters of Mufastos and his wife Gurtrulla funny and compelling.
How Thongor Conquered Zaremm (2018) by Robert M. Price ★1/2
Okay, this story, like both of Charles Garofalo's above, are the three to not belong in this anthology. It's not about Simrana. Lin Carter had another, slightly earlier series, called Thongor, the name of the titular character, a barbarian along the lines of Conan. Carter wrote six novels, a poem, and then six short stories set in Lemuria, where Thongor resided, all between 1965 and 1980. The first of these is Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria, if you're curious. Robert M. Price came along in 1998 and has contributed 18 more short stories in this series, by my count, the last four of which were published just last year (2023). I imagine Price intends to continue writing them. This story, 32 e-pages long, makes no real sense out of context like this with no Thongor background to ease us in.
Next are eight Lord Dunsany stories.
The River (1905) by Lord Dunsany
The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth (1908) by Lord Dunsany
The Sword of Welleran (1908) by Lord Dunsany
Carcassonne (1910) by Lord Dunsany
How Nuth Would Have Practiced His Art Upon the Gnoles (1911) by Lord Dunsany
The Distressing Tale of Thangobrind the Jeweller, and of the Doom That Befell Him (1911) Lord Dunsany
In Zaccarath (1909) by Lord Dunsany
How the Enemy Came to Thlūnrāna (1910) by Lord Dunsany
I am going to lump these stories all together, not discuss them individually, and give them 2.5 stars as a collective rating. Three stars means I like the work. Two stars means I like something about the story, but am pretty much neutral overall. Two stars is where I am with Lord Dunsany's stories, except I really respect the writing craft, the world creation skills, the sophisticated names of places and people, the serious atmosphere, therefore 2.5 stars.
My problem with all of the stories is the plot. If the story has a plot at all, half of them don't, plot is a secondary concern, a distant one at that. Some people can just enjoy a story for its good writing and its atmosphere. They don't always need a plot. I'm not among that group.
The Jest of Droom Avista (1937) by Henry Kuttner ★★★★
This story is actually a sequel to an earlier story of Kuttner's set in the world of Bel Yarnak, "Eater of Souls," but set in Bel Yarnak's future, long after it has fallen. A sorcerer named Thorazor tries to compel his god Droom-avista to revive his world. And Droom-avista does indeed preserve Bel Yarnak, in a way.
I love the ponderous writing found in these two Bel Yarnak stories. They would fit well into Lovecraft's Dream Cycle. I suppose I should not be too surprised that Kuttner would want to make a series based on this far-off world. He must have spent a great deal of time in the world-building aspect of preparing the original story. To tell only one short story in it at one or two cents a word, whatever Farnsworth Wright was then paying, doesn't seem as if it would pay enough. But if one can make a series based on that world, now we're talking. I hope Kuttner returns us to Bel Yarnak in another story.
Kuttner was actually writing Dunsanian tales, much as Lovecraft's Dream Cycle is also based directly on groundwork laid by Dunsany. Dunsany's narrators in these Dunsany "stories" keep referring to the fact that everything taking place in them is a dream, that cityscapes are being viewed through the lens of a dream, etc. That Kuttner's story is based on Dunsany's work doesn't make me appreciate Kuttner's story any less. Nor do I discount Lovecraft's or Carter's Dunsanian writings to any degree for being Dunsanian. All three writers, especially Carter in my view, transcend Dunsany, first because even when trying to write like Dunsany they're off a little, usually in a good way. All three writers plot to varying degrees, or I couldn't appreciate them.
This brings me to the problem of evaluating a work because it borrows from another's, or leans on it heavily, commonly called in popular modern-day parlance, writing a pastiche. I absolutely don't care what a writer borrows, whether that be another writer's characters, tone, world, style, whatever! I form my opinion of a work solely based on the words on the page from the work's story itself. If the writer does some skillful borrowing of the better features of another writer's work, that can only enhance my appreciation. I would never subtract from a writer anything based on the fact he borrowed. I think one only has to look at Shakespeare's work to understand why. That man stole from everyone!
November 15, 2021
I’m definitely a Lin Carter apologist, and feel he is generally better than his detractors would have you believe. Some of his writing can really be dreadful, but plenty of it is escapist fun and occasionally he reaches for brilliance, but admittedly always falls a little built short. Though not for a lack of trying.
When I found out he had a cycle of short stories imitating Lord Dunsany (who I think is the GOAT) I had to check it out. I think these stories are for the most part some of the best stuff Carter ever wrote. They’re not as elegant as their inspiration, and they where their inspiration on their sleeves, but these stories are nonetheless quite charming. Great examples of Fantasy before all the sub divisions and sub genres took solid root. I particularly enjoyed; The Gods of Niom Parma, Zingazar, How Sargoth Lay Siege to Zaremm, and the Benevolence of Yib.
However, the full Simrana cycle, even with the two unfinished stories completed posthumously by other authors comes to less than 100 pages. So the editor, Robert Price, had other authors write pastiches in the Simrana world. I have to be honest, I did not particularly like most of these. They did not, to me, feel like Carter’s work in theme, style, or emotion. A common thread was that it seemed like the authors were trying to imitate Jack Vance’s Dying Earth style more so than Carter’s Simrana. (I should note I am detractor of Vance.) I think Charles Garafolo felt the closest to Carter, and I enjoyed his contributions the most. Adrian Cole’s I thought were decent as well, but the rest did not click with me. I read the Young Thongor collection that Robert Price put together. (I think the Young Thongor stories are Carter’s best work.). Price wrote some Thongor pastiches in that collection that I didn’t really enjoy. I have to say the Thongor pastiche here, where he travels to Simrana, I did find much more enjoyable than Price’s shorts in Young Thongor. I have yet to read the 8th Thongor which is all Price’s pastiches. I digress, overall I found the pastiches mostly superfluous and I did not feel like they elevated the collection.
Finally, the anthology concludes with some of the Dunsany stories that inspired Carter. What can I say? Dunsany is the GOAT in my opinion and some of these stories are on a short list of his best stuff. In particular, I adore Carcassonne. Finally, there is a story from Henry Kuttner, who I’ve loved everything I’ve read by, and wish he was as well known as other Weird Tale authors. It’s a nice little gem, though the afterword mentions two Kuttner stories and I wonder why the other wasn’t included?
Overall, I think this is a good anthology and lovingly put together. Carter may not have been the best author, but he loved the genre more than probably anyone. You can tell from the forward written by Carter and the adorably awkward bio-pic in the jacket.
When I found out he had a cycle of short stories imitating Lord Dunsany (who I think is the GOAT) I had to check it out. I think these stories are for the most part some of the best stuff Carter ever wrote. They’re not as elegant as their inspiration, and they where their inspiration on their sleeves, but these stories are nonetheless quite charming. Great examples of Fantasy before all the sub divisions and sub genres took solid root. I particularly enjoyed; The Gods of Niom Parma, Zingazar, How Sargoth Lay Siege to Zaremm, and the Benevolence of Yib.
However, the full Simrana cycle, even with the two unfinished stories completed posthumously by other authors comes to less than 100 pages. So the editor, Robert Price, had other authors write pastiches in the Simrana world. I have to be honest, I did not particularly like most of these. They did not, to me, feel like Carter’s work in theme, style, or emotion. A common thread was that it seemed like the authors were trying to imitate Jack Vance’s Dying Earth style more so than Carter’s Simrana. (I should note I am detractor of Vance.) I think Charles Garafolo felt the closest to Carter, and I enjoyed his contributions the most. Adrian Cole’s I thought were decent as well, but the rest did not click with me. I read the Young Thongor collection that Robert Price put together. (I think the Young Thongor stories are Carter’s best work.). Price wrote some Thongor pastiches in that collection that I didn’t really enjoy. I have to say the Thongor pastiche here, where he travels to Simrana, I did find much more enjoyable than Price’s shorts in Young Thongor. I have yet to read the 8th Thongor which is all Price’s pastiches. I digress, overall I found the pastiches mostly superfluous and I did not feel like they elevated the collection.
Finally, the anthology concludes with some of the Dunsany stories that inspired Carter. What can I say? Dunsany is the GOAT in my opinion and some of these stories are on a short list of his best stuff. In particular, I adore Carcassonne. Finally, there is a story from Henry Kuttner, who I’ve loved everything I’ve read by, and wish he was as well known as other Weird Tale authors. It’s a nice little gem, though the afterword mentions two Kuttner stories and I wonder why the other wasn’t included?
Overall, I think this is a good anthology and lovingly put together. Carter may not have been the best author, but he loved the genre more than probably anyone. You can tell from the forward written by Carter and the adorably awkward bio-pic in the jacket.
September 25, 2024
This is a rather week effort at emulating Lord Dunsany, but it includes Dunsany's own tales along with awesome story The Jest of Droom-Avista by Henry Kuttner, and hence the 4 stars.
June 4, 2019
Lin Carter (1930-1988), an accomplished fantasist in his own right, probably did his most important work editing the fantasies of others. Under his guidance, the old Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series infused new life into writers like Lord Dunsany, James Branch Cabell, Hope Mirrlees and Clark Ashton Smith, all at a time when one could reasonably expect their literary careers to be over. With the present book, editor Robert M. Price performs the same service for Carter himself.
The book is built, as the title suggests, around Lin Carter’s stories of Simrana the Dreamworld, stories written under the heady influence of the early tales of Lord Dunsany. The book falls easily into three parts, with each part comprising about a third of the whole. It begins with the complete Carter cycle, the Simrana stories written by Carter or, in a couple of cases, begun by him and completed by later writers after his death. It continues with a collection of stories written in tribute to Carter and Simrana by later writers. It ends with a selection of some classic stories, all but one by Dunsany, that influenced Carter’s Simrana work.
Readers of Dr. Price’s other Cycle anthologies will have noticed that this structure subverts his usual plan. Where earlier books trace the literary geneology of a story or theme from a parent work down through some of its more important children, this book starts with one of those children and only later works back to the parent. It is easy to see why Price had to do this. Even today, a hundred years and more since he wrote his earliest and most influential fantasies, Dunsany still stands tall enough to overshadow any and all of his imitators. Price could not give him primacy of place in the book without throwing the book out of balance, without changing its emphasis as well as its title to Lord Dunsany’s Pegana Cycle. Nor is that all. Of all Dunsany’s imitators, Lin Carter is the most faithful to his model, faithful to a fault. It would serve him ill to have his imitations placed too close behind the originals they imitate. It does not serve him all that well to have them placed together in the same book.
But we must not make too much of this. Carter’s pastiches are charming in themselves, the tribute stories accompanying them are as imaginative as one could wish, and the selections of classic Dunsany make a very nice introduction to the form. The book is as much a celebration of Dunsany and Dunsanianism as it is a tribute to Carter and Simrana. Not everyone cares for this kind of thing, but we who do tend to love it. If you love it too, you can do worse than give this book a try.
The book is built, as the title suggests, around Lin Carter’s stories of Simrana the Dreamworld, stories written under the heady influence of the early tales of Lord Dunsany. The book falls easily into three parts, with each part comprising about a third of the whole. It begins with the complete Carter cycle, the Simrana stories written by Carter or, in a couple of cases, begun by him and completed by later writers after his death. It continues with a collection of stories written in tribute to Carter and Simrana by later writers. It ends with a selection of some classic stories, all but one by Dunsany, that influenced Carter’s Simrana work.
Readers of Dr. Price’s other Cycle anthologies will have noticed that this structure subverts his usual plan. Where earlier books trace the literary geneology of a story or theme from a parent work down through some of its more important children, this book starts with one of those children and only later works back to the parent. It is easy to see why Price had to do this. Even today, a hundred years and more since he wrote his earliest and most influential fantasies, Dunsany still stands tall enough to overshadow any and all of his imitators. Price could not give him primacy of place in the book without throwing the book out of balance, without changing its emphasis as well as its title to Lord Dunsany’s Pegana Cycle. Nor is that all. Of all Dunsany’s imitators, Lin Carter is the most faithful to his model, faithful to a fault. It would serve him ill to have his imitations placed too close behind the originals they imitate. It does not serve him all that well to have them placed together in the same book.
But we must not make too much of this. Carter’s pastiches are charming in themselves, the tribute stories accompanying them are as imaginative as one could wish, and the selections of classic Dunsany make a very nice introduction to the form. The book is as much a celebration of Dunsany and Dunsanianism as it is a tribute to Carter and Simrana. Not everyone cares for this kind of thing, but we who do tend to love it. If you love it too, you can do worse than give this book a try.
February 2, 2023
This is a (presumably complete) collection of fantasy stories set in Lin Carter's dreamworld of Simrana, by Carter and others, together with stories by Lord Dunsany that inspired them. As Lin Carter's stories are then pastiches of Lord Dunsany's tales - Carter generally writing relatively slavish pastiches of stories by different authors - the stories here that are pastiches of Carter's tales are therefore pastiches of pastiches. The stories will still appeal to those who love the Dunsanian style and are not purists about Dunsany (as well as to fans of Carter himself, though they may be few). The stories by Dunsany himself in this collection may unfortunately be redundant, as most readers interested in this collection would probably already possess them in other collections.
Simrana is not the most detailed (or perhaps even most coherent) of fantasy worlds. (Two of Carter's stories - The Gods of Niom Parma and The Laughter of Han - have appearances by Simrana's pantheon of gods, and present entirely different lists of gods (with the exception of one god, Dzelim, the lord of the pantheon). On the other hand Simrana is supposed to have LOTS of gods - eight hundred of them according to the Laughter of Han! - so this is not an explicit contradiction between the stories.)
Many of the stories included in this book could therefore have been set in any other fantasy world. Inded, in one of the stories that is otherwise one of the best in the collection, The Philosopher Thief by Darrell Schweitzer - one of the best current fantasy writers using a roughly Dunsanian style - the author slips and implies that it is set on Earth!
The editor Robert M. Price's own How Thongor Conquered Zaremm is one of the most interesting of the stories. It is a crossover between Simrana stories and another cycle of stories from Carter, the Thongor sword and sorcery stories set in ancient Lemuria. Unlike most of the Carter pastiches in this book, it actually refers in detail to Carter's stories. However, Price actually has Simrana destroyed in this story. Can you speak of fridging a world?
Adrian Cole's story An Unfamiliar Familiar is also a crossover, between the Simrana stories and Cole's own Voidal stories, stories set in a multiverse and inspired by Moorcock's Elric stories.
Two of the stories, Price's The Good Simranatan and Arian Cole's The Summoning of a Genie in Error, are based on groanworthy puns. Price's story is also appallingly cynical.
Price's Outroduction provides quite interesting background information and commentary on the stories.
Simrana is not the most detailed (or perhaps even most coherent) of fantasy worlds. (Two of Carter's stories - The Gods of Niom Parma and The Laughter of Han - have appearances by Simrana's pantheon of gods, and present entirely different lists of gods (with the exception of one god, Dzelim, the lord of the pantheon). On the other hand Simrana is supposed to have LOTS of gods - eight hundred of them according to the Laughter of Han! - so this is not an explicit contradiction between the stories.)
Many of the stories included in this book could therefore have been set in any other fantasy world. Inded, in one of the stories that is otherwise one of the best in the collection, The Philosopher Thief by Darrell Schweitzer - one of the best current fantasy writers using a roughly Dunsanian style - the author slips and implies that it is set on Earth!
The editor Robert M. Price's own How Thongor Conquered Zaremm is one of the most interesting of the stories. It is a crossover between Simrana stories and another cycle of stories from Carter, the Thongor sword and sorcery stories set in ancient Lemuria. Unlike most of the Carter pastiches in this book, it actually refers in detail to Carter's stories. However, Price actually has Simrana destroyed in this story. Can you speak of fridging a world?
Adrian Cole's story An Unfamiliar Familiar is also a crossover, between the Simrana stories and Cole's own Voidal stories, stories set in a multiverse and inspired by Moorcock's Elric stories.
Two of the stories, Price's The Good Simranatan and Arian Cole's The Summoning of a Genie in Error, are based on groanworthy puns. Price's story is also appallingly cynical.
Price's Outroduction provides quite interesting background information and commentary on the stories.
January 11, 2020
Bleak attempt at copying off of Dunsany by people who would have written poor Lovecraft impressions. The Heat of Droom-Avista by Henry Kuttner was a bit of a gem in this collection, but well hidden at the end.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews