The Best Of C L Moore

Short stories by a pioneering female author who went on to become a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. This anthology includes some of C.L. Moore’s best-known and most beloved tales, including: “Shambleau” First published in Weird Tales, Moore’s bizarre, imaginative, and wildly acclaimed debut features space outlaw Northwest Smith and his meeting on Mars with a strange young lady whose turban hides a terrifying secret . . . “Black God’s Kiss” The debut of Jirel of Joiry, one of the classic heroes of sword and sorcery and fantasy’s first true strong female protagonist. As cunning as she is fierce, Jirel descends into a nightmarish land beneath her castle to find the instruments of her revenge . . . “The Bright Illusion” One man’s journey to a mind-bending, terrifying planet of blinding colors and impossible angles, filled with unutterable horrors and strange temptations . . . With these and seven additional stories that evoke the enduring spirit of sci-fi and fantasy’s early days, The Best of C.L. Moore is a treasure that belongs on the shelf of any reader of speculative fiction. “Her contributions to the field are instrumental in the formation of the modern face of science fiction.” —Kirkus Reviews

Meet the iconic space outlaw who “could be Han Solo’s grandfather,” in these stories by a pioneer of Golden Age science fiction (SF Signal). First published in Weird Tales in the early 1930s, C.L. Moore’s Northwest Smith stories, especially “Shambleau,” were hailed as some of the most imaginative and vivid science fiction stories ever to come out of the golden age of sci-fi. At a time when women were heavily underrepresented in the genre, Moore was among the first to gain critical and popular acclaim, and decades later was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. Northwest Smith, now recognized by many as the archetypal space smuggler and gunslinger, is an adventurer in the classic sense of the word, and these thirteen stories chronicle the bizarre dangers, interstellar wonders, and titillating romances that captured the imagination of a generation.

Two legendary masters of science fiction and fantasy come together in this landmark anthology, filled with gems from the Weird Tales era and beyond. During the weird fiction boom that gave birth to H.P. Lovecraft’s Necronomicon and Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian, Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore produced some of the most enduring pieces of speculative fiction in the genre’s history: the sagas of Jirel of Joiry, Northwest Smith of Earth, Galloway Gallegher, and more. Working closely, Kuttner and Moore became a husband and wife team whose work appeared in everything from television and print to the Cthulhu mythos. Both Moore and Kuttner have a legacy that is as acclaimed as it is widely read: Moore received a World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement by the SFWA while Ray Bradbury called Kuttner a "neglected master." Now, for the first time, some of their best work is collected in one anthology, including “Black God’s Kiss,” “Shambleau,” “Graveyard Rats,” “Mimsy Were the Borogoves,” and “The Proud Robot.”

Meet “the first lady of sword-and-sorcery, Jirel of Joiry . . . in all her ferocious mailed glory and defiance” in these classic tales from a sci-fi pioneer (Tor.com). Originally published in the legendary magazine Weird Tales in 1934, C. L. Moore’s Jirel of Joiry is fantasy’s first true strong female protagonist, as well as one of the most striking and memorable characters to come out of the golden age of science fiction and fantasy. Published alongside landmark stories by H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, the six classic stories included in this volume prove that C. L. Moore’s Jirel is a rival to Conan the Barbarian and Elric of Melniboné, making Black God’s Kiss an essential addition to any fantasy library. “I was looking for tales of dire conflict, hot-blooded honor and impetuosity, leadership and courage—all the qualities that my culture told me were reserved for males . . . what a joy it was to run across Jirel, who at some levels of my soul I longed desperately to be.” —Suzy McKee Charnas, Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author

Four WWII combatants travel to a distant and dangerous future in this novel by “two of the most revered names from [science fiction’s] Golden Age” (SFReviews.net). During World War II, four bitter enemies are pulled forward a billion years in time by a master being from an alien galaxy. They arrive on a dying Earth—to Carcasilla, Earth’s last citadel—where the mutated remnants of humanity are making their final stand against the monstrous creations of a fading world. Thrust in the middle of this desperate struggle for survival, the last humans must put aside their differences and stop the looming Armageddon. Praise for Henry Kuttner “One of the all-time major names in science fiction.” —The New York Times “A neglected master.” —Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451 “Kuttner is magic.” —Joe R. Lansdale, author of The Thicket

A classic, post-apocalyptic vision of America created by C. L. Moore, an undisputed master of science fiction’s golden age. In the wake of a nuclear war, the totalitarian system known as Comus has restored order in a shattered America. Comus controls every aspect of American life, from communications to transportation to law enforcement, but cracks are beginning to show: rumors of a rebellion in California are brewing, and Comus’s leadership is aging. History is at a crossroads, and the man who will decide the outcome is a washed-up actor named Howard Rohan. Leading a troupe of theatre players to perform in the heart of rebel territory, Howard’s true mission is to gather intelligence on a device that could bring down Comus. But Rohan finds himself slipping between his roles as a double agent and supposed revolutionary sympathizer, to the point where even he isn’t sure where he stands. As America edges closer to its reckoning, Rohan will need to decide who he’s been lying to: the rebels, Comus, or himself. “A finely wrought dystopic vision where an oppressive future government utilizes communication networks to spread its tentacles across the United States.” —Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations “It need hardly be mentioned at this late date what a gloriously fine writer Moore was . . . she combined elegant yet colorful prose with a distinctive emotional flair and one helluva imagination.” —Fantasy Literature

Praised by H.P. Lovecraft as a “magnificent” debut, C.L. Moore’s first story is still one of the most famous and enduring tales in science fiction. Passing through the streets of Lakkdarol, the newest human colony on Mars, Northwest Smith witnesses a bizarre sight: a young woman, clad in scarlet, being chased by a mob chanting “Shambleau! Shambleau!” As beautiful as she is frightened, Northwest shields her from death at the hands of the mob, but alone in his quarters, she reveals how she intends to thank him and what lies inside the closely wrapped turban on her head... One of the strangest, and surely one of the most imaginative stories ever written, SHAMBLEAU was hailed by readers, authors, and editors as the debut of a truly gifted writer during the golden age of science fiction.