Several months ago I read an
article, I believe it was in Reason Magazine, about a relatively obscure author
from the 1930s & 40s, Catherine L. Moore, popularly referred to as C.L.
Moore. In addition to being a contemporary of H.P. Lovecraft (HPL) and
Robert E. Howard (REH), she also wrote stories for Weird Tales, and I’ve read
at least one letter between her and Lovecraft, so they knew each other.
I managed to snag a compendium of
her stories, used, The Best of
C.L. Moore. Incidentally, she tended to use “C.L.” to avoid being
typecast as a female author, but given the subject matter my guess is that any
experienced reader would be able to tell anyway.
Shambleau. Her protagonist, Northwest Smith (possibly an inspiration for Indiana Jones) barely escapes the clutches of a seductive Medusa-like alien he saved from a lynch mob.
Black Thirst. Northwest again. A Minga woman invites Northwest into the forbidden Venusian fortress where she lives. It turns out to be far larger than expected. WHOA.
The Bright Illusion. True love between a human male and an alien woman. Kinda trippy and romantic.
The Black God's Kiss. Moore introduces us to Jirel of Joiry, a female equivalent of Conan. She too kills - in a different way. This appeared in Weird Tales, and is truly weird.
Tryst In Time. More love - a love that transcends and spans several different ages and epochs, souls reborn yet still the same.
Greater Than Gods. A man is forced to choose between two very beautiful but very different women, and is shown the consequences, throughout his future lifetime, of each choice. How can he choose? Stay tuned.
Fruit of Knowledge. The story of Lilith, Adam's first wife, before Eve. Scandal! Betrayal! Jealousy! It's Blake, Miranda, and Gwen in the Garden of Eden.
No Woman Born. A beautiful woman suffers a terrible accident which disfigures her - until she's turned into a beautiful robot - imagine those "Marilyn Monroe robot" posters from the 1970s. What happens now?
Daemon. No women in this one. A feebleminded, soul-less Brazilian from Rio de Janeiro is stranded on an island with a wise old man, who dies on the island. The pirate captain who stranded them both comes back to kill him off.
Vintage Season. This features an amazing clique of eccentric tourists renting an oddly nondescript house in L.A. It turns out that these are tourists from another time coming to witness a historic natural disaster they know will soon occur. This was turned into a movie, "Timescape", with Jeff Daniels, which I haven't seen.
Her style is densely verbose, similar to HPL and REH. The majory difference is how often women and their issues become involved. HPL himself almost completely ignored women, which led some to speculate that he was gay. His wife, Sonia Greene, dismissed those rumors, and you would imagine she would be in a position to know. For REH, women are mostly tagalong companions, except for Red Sonya ("Shadow of the Vulture"). Give HPL and REH a vagina and a heavy dose of estrogen, and you might wind up with CL Moore. If you can tolerate their writing style you might enjoy hers. They're all fairly long, but that aspect is at least novel. Go for it.
Shambleau. Her protagonist, Northwest Smith (possibly an inspiration for Indiana Jones) barely escapes the clutches of a seductive Medusa-like alien he saved from a lynch mob.
Black Thirst. Northwest again. A Minga woman invites Northwest into the forbidden Venusian fortress where she lives. It turns out to be far larger than expected. WHOA.
The Bright Illusion. True love between a human male and an alien woman. Kinda trippy and romantic.
The Black God's Kiss. Moore introduces us to Jirel of Joiry, a female equivalent of Conan. She too kills - in a different way. This appeared in Weird Tales, and is truly weird.
Tryst In Time. More love - a love that transcends and spans several different ages and epochs, souls reborn yet still the same.
Greater Than Gods. A man is forced to choose between two very beautiful but very different women, and is shown the consequences, throughout his future lifetime, of each choice. How can he choose? Stay tuned.
Fruit of Knowledge. The story of Lilith, Adam's first wife, before Eve. Scandal! Betrayal! Jealousy! It's Blake, Miranda, and Gwen in the Garden of Eden.
No Woman Born. A beautiful woman suffers a terrible accident which disfigures her - until she's turned into a beautiful robot - imagine those "Marilyn Monroe robot" posters from the 1970s. What happens now?
Daemon. No women in this one. A feebleminded, soul-less Brazilian from Rio de Janeiro is stranded on an island with a wise old man, who dies on the island. The pirate captain who stranded them both comes back to kill him off.
Vintage Season. This features an amazing clique of eccentric tourists renting an oddly nondescript house in L.A. It turns out that these are tourists from another time coming to witness a historic natural disaster they know will soon occur. This was turned into a movie, "Timescape", with Jeff Daniels, which I haven't seen.
Her style is densely verbose, similar to HPL and REH. The majory difference is how often women and their issues become involved. HPL himself almost completely ignored women, which led some to speculate that he was gay. His wife, Sonia Greene, dismissed those rumors, and you would imagine she would be in a position to know. For REH, women are mostly tagalong companions, except for Red Sonya ("Shadow of the Vulture"). Give HPL and REH a vagina and a heavy dose of estrogen, and you might wind up with CL Moore. If you can tolerate their writing style you might enjoy hers. They're all fairly long, but that aspect is at least novel. Go for it.
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