Clark Ashton Smith was an American writer and artist. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Swinburne. As a poet, Smith is grouped with the West Coast Romantics alongside Joaquin Miller, Sterling, and Nora May French and remembered as "The Last of the Great Romantics" and "The Bard of Auburn". Smith's work was praised by his contemporaries. H. P. Lovecraft stated that "in sheer daemonic strangeness and fertility of conception, Clark Ashton Smith is perhaps unexcelled", and Ray Bradbury said that Smith "filled my mind with incredible worlds, impossibly beautiful cities, and still more fantastic creatures".
Linwood Vrooman Carter was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft and Grail Undwin. He is best known for his work in the 1970s as editor of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, which introduced readers to many overlooked classics of the fantasy genre.
Poseidonis is the fictional last remnant of the lost continent of Atlantis, mentioned by Algernon Blackwood in his short story "Sand" in his collection Four Weird Tales and also detailed in a series of short stories by Clark Ashton Smith. Smith based Poseidonis on Theosophical scriptures about Atlantis, and his concept of "the last isle of foundering Atlantis" is echoed by the isle of Númenor in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.
The Ballantine Adult Fantasy series was an imprint of American publisher Ballantine Books. Launched in 1969, the series reissued a number of works of fantasy literature which were out of print or dispersed in back issues of pulp magazines, in cheap paperback form—including works by authors such as James Branch Cabell, Lord Dunsany, Ernest Bramah, Hope Mirrlees, and William Morris. The series lasted until 1974.
Lost Worlds is a collection of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories by the American writer Clark Ashton Smith. It was published in 1944 and was the author's second book published by Arkham House. 2,043 copies were printed.
The Young Magicians is an American anthology of fantasy short stories, edited by American writer Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books in October 1969 as the seventh volume of its Ballantine Adult Fantasy series. It was the second such anthology assembled by Carter for the series, issued simultaneously with the first, Dragons, Elves, and Heroes. The book has been translated into German.
New Worlds for Old is an anthology of fantasy short stories, edited by American writer Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books in September 1971 as the thirty-fifth volume of its Ballantine Adult Fantasy series. It was the fourth such anthology assembled by Carter for the series.
Golden Cities, Far is an anthology of fantasy short stories, edited by American writer Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books in October 1970 as the twenty-second volume of its Ballantine Adult Fantasy series. It was the third such anthology assembled by Carter for the series.
The Spawn of Cthulhu is an anthology of fantasy short stories, edited by American writer Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books in October 1971 as the thirty-sixth volume of its Ballantine Adult Fantasy series. It was the fifth anthology assembled by Carter for the series.
Discoveries in Fantasy is an anthology of fantasy short stories, edited by American writer Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books in March 1972 as the forty-third volume of its Ballantine Adult Fantasy series. It was the seventh such anthology assembled by Carter for the series.
Kingdoms of Sorcery: An Anthology of Adult Fantasy is an anthology of fantasy stories, edited by American writer Lin Carter. It was first published in hardcover by Doubleday in January 1976 as the first of two such anthologies continuing a series of nine assembled by Carter for the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series.
Dragons, Elves, and Heroes is an American anthology of fantasy short stories, edited by American writer Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books in October 1969 as the sixth volume of its Ballantine Adult Fantasy series. It was the first such anthology assembled by Carter for the series, issued simultaneously with the second, The Young Magicians.
Hyperborea is a collection of fantasy short stories by Clark Ashton Smith, edited by Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books as the twenty-ninth volume of its Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in April 1971. It was the second themed collection of Smith's works assembled by Carter for the series. The stories were originally published in various fantasy magazines from the 1930s to the 1950s, notably Weird Tales.
Zothique is a collection of fantasy short stories by Clark Ashton Smith, edited by Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books as the sixteenth volume of its Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in June 1970. It was the first themed collection of Smith's works assembled by Carter for the series. The stories were originally published in various fantasy magazines in the 1930s, notably Weird Tales.
Poseidonis is a collection of fantasy short stories by Clark Ashton Smith, edited by Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books as the fifty-ninth volume of its Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in July 1973. It was the fourth collection of Smith's works assembled by Carter for the series. The stories were originally published in various fantasy magazines in the 1930s and 1940s, notably Weird Tales.
Over the Hills and Far Away is a collection of fantasy short stories by Lord Dunsany, edited by Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books as the sixty-fifth volume of its celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in April 1974. It was the series' sixth Dunsany volume, and the third collection of his shorter fantasies assembled by Carter.
Beyond the Fields We Know is a collection of fantasy short stories by Irish writer Lord Dunsany, and edited by Lin Carter. The title is derived from a description of the location of the border of Elfland used over one hundred times in Lord Dunsany's best-known novel, The King of Elfland's Daughter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books as the forty-seventh volume of its Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in May 1972. It was the series' fourth Dunsany volume, and the second collection of his shorter fantasies assembled by Carter.
The Twilight of the Gods and Other Tales is a collection of fantasy short stories by Richard Garnett, generally considered a classic in the genre. Its title notwithstanding, the collection "has nothing to do with the Norse gods—although it draws upon everything else, from Arabic legends and Chinese fairy tales to Roman history and Greek mythology." The title story actually concerns the release of Prometheus, upon the ultimate eclipse of Greek paganism by Christianity, from the torture to which he was sentenced by Zeus.
The House of Lost Identity is a collection of short stories by Donald Corley, illustrated by the author. Corley did not limit himself to one genre, but the primary distinction of the collection is its inclusion of a number of classic dark fantasies. It was first published in hardcover in New York by Robert M. McBride in May 1927, and had a number of reprintings; printings after the first include an introduction by James Branch Cabell. It was reissued in hardcover by Books for Libraries in 1971, and in hardcover and paperback by Wildside Press in February 2008. The first British edition was published by George G. Harrap and Co. in 1927. The book's importance in the history of fantasy literature was also recognized by the anthologization of two of its tales by Lin Carter in the 1970s; "The Song of the Tombelaine," in Discoveries in Fantasy (1972), for the celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series, and "Figs" in Realms of Wizardry (1976).
Bibliography of science fiction, fantasy, and nonfiction writer Lin Carter:
