Ka the Appalling

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"Ka the Appalling"
Fantastic universe 195808.jpg
Author L. Sprague de Camp
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Series Pusadian series
Genre(s) Fantasy
Published in Fantastic Universe
Media typePrint (Magazine)
Publication dateAugust, 1958
Preceded by"The Stone of the Witch Queen"
Followed by"The Rug and the Bull"

"Ka the Appalling" is a fantasy story by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, part of his Pusadian series. It was first published in the magazine Fantastic Universe for August, 1958, and first appeared in book form in the anthology The Young Magicians , edited by Lin Carter (Ballantine Books, 1969). It was first brought together with other works of de Camp in his collection The Reluctant Shaman and Other Fantastic Tales (Pyramid Books, 1970). It has also been translated into French, German, [1] [2] and Italian. [2]

Contents

Plot summary

Gezun of Lorsk is saved from a mob in the city of Typhon by the larcenous wizard Ugaph, and enters his service as a hunter to help supply the bats consumed by the wizard's familiar Tety. He is warned away, inevitably futilely, from Ugaph's daughter Ro, his instructor in bat-hunting. After Ugaph is nearly caught attempting to rob the Temple of Ip, he and Gezun plot to con the fanatical Typhonians by pretending to represent a new god, Ka the Appalling, who requires offerings. Unfortunately, they do much too good a job at making their invented god real in the minds of their credulous marks.

Chronologically, "Ka the Appalling" is the sixth of de Camp's Pusadian tales, and the fourth to feature his protagonist Gezun of Lorsk. Gezun is about nineteen at the time of this story.

Setting

In common with the other Pusadian tales, "Ka the Appalling" takes place in a prehistoric era during which a magic-based Atlantian civilization supposedly throve in what was then a single continent consisting of Eurasia joined with Africa, and in the islands to the west. It is similar in conception to Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age, by which it was inspired, but more astutely constructed, utilizing actual Ice Age geography in preference to a wholly invented one. In de Camp's scheme, the legend of this culture that came down to classic Greece as "Atlantis" was a garbled memory that conflated the mighty Tartessian Empire with the island continent of Pusad and the actual Atlantis, a barbaric mountainous region that is today the Atlas mountain range.

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"The Stone of the Witch-Queen" is a fantasy short story by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, part of his Pusadian series. It was first published in the magazine Weirdbook for fall 1977. It has also been translated into Dutch and German. Chronologically, "The Stone of the Witch Queen" is the fifth of de Camp's Pusadian tales, and the third to feature his protagonist Gezun of Lorsk.

"The Rug and the Bull" is a fantasy short story by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, part of his Pusadian series. It was first published in the anthology Flashing Swords! #2, edited by Lin Carter. It has also been translated into Italian, German and Dutch.

The Stronger Spell short story by Lyon Sprague de Camp

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Bibliography of science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction and nonfiction writer L. Sprague de Camp:

The Galton Whistle short story by Lyon Sprague de Camp

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Red Moon of Zembabwei Short story by Lyon Sprague de Camp

"Red Moon of Zembabwei" is a short story by American writers L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, featuring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian created by Robert E. Howard. It was first published in the July 1974 issue of the magazine Fantastic, and was first appeared in book form by Ace Books in the paperback collection Conan of Aquilonia in May 1977, which was reprinted several times through 1994. The first British edition was published by Sphere Books in October 1978.

References

  1. Laughlin, Charlotte; Levack, Daniel J. H. (1983). De Camp: An L. Sprague de Camp Bibliography. San Francisco: Underwood/Miller. pp. 195–196. ISBN   0934438706.
  2. 1 2 Ka the Appalling title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
Preceded by
"The Stone of the Witch Queen"
Pusadian series
"Ka the Appalling"
Succeeded by
"The Rug and the Bull"