Thursday, August 14, 2008

Book Report: C.L. Moore - Black God's Kiss

This fine book published under Paizo's Planet Stories imprint collects Catherine L. Moore's Jirel of Joiry stories, which initially appeared in Weird Tales during the 1930s.

An excellent foreword by Suzy McKee Charnas says most of the things that are to say about the Jirel stories and leaves me with nothing much original to add.

Moore was an exceptional representative of the classical Sword & Sorcery writers, in part as one of the few female pulp authors, in part thanks to her lyrical (something that isn't identical with "overwrought") style and a very vivid and original imagination that produced something much better than mere pastiches of Robert E. Howard with a female protagonist.

As with many of the great pulp writers, Moore's stories are something that should be read more than talked about, so I suggest you'll just do that while I shut up.

 

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