Judgment Night
Page 18
In the temple of the Ancients a small figure stood before the high, dark altar like a wall, too high for it to see the gods. It clasped and unclasped the facile, fingery paws, like a sea-anemone’s tendrils—so many-fingered, so dexterous, so nervously eager to be about the great task of testing the limits of their skill.
Its mind was not here in the temple. It was seeing the warm, sand-floored caverns of its people, lit by a garden of colored windows, multi-shaped in the twilight of the cave. It was not alone, though it sat here nervously twisting those eager, impatient fingers. No llar is ever alone. The warm awareness of its unity with its city lies behind that poise and quiet pride. It looks out of the strange round eyes with a wisdom and benignity which is of the race, not the individual. This race alone, of all thinking species, finds deity in itself, in the warm closed circle of its own unity. Once it gains the little foothold it needs on which to found its soaring possibilities, this race alone need not depend upon the gods.
Serene in its own confidence, in its own warm knowledge of identity with its race, the llar sat clasping and unclasping those eager fingers and listening to the oracle it knew it could not trust.
More from C.L. Moore
Black God’s Kiss
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 five classic stories included in this volume prove that C.L. Moore’s Jirel is a rival to Conan the Barbarian and Elric of Melnibone, making BLACK GOD’S KISS an essential addition to any fantasy library.
Doomsday Morning
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’ 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 which 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.
Jirel of Joiry
With her red hair flowing, her yellow eyes glinting like embers, and her face streaked with blood, Jirel is strong, fearless, and driven by honor. Her legendary debut, BLACK GOD’S KISS, begins as her castle, Joiry, is overrun by invaders, but knowing that this is one battle she cannot fight, she summons her courage and cunning and descends into the castle’s hidden reaches, where she crosses through a doorway into Hell itself…
JIREL OF JOIRY collects the classic tales of blood and vengeance that secured C.L. Moore’s place among legendary authors of sword and sorcery like Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Originally published in the magazine Weird Tales, Moore’s fantastic tales of warriors, gods, and magic are defined by a fierce, romantic vision that helped define the genre, earning her the title of Grand Master for lifetime achievement by the World Fantasy Convention.
Includes BLACK GOD’S KISS, BLACK GOD’S SHADOW, JIREL MEETS MAGIC, THE DARK LAND, and HELLSGARDE.
Northwest Smith
The collected adventures of the iconic space outlaw, Northwest Smith.
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, C.L. Moore was among the first to gain critical and popular acclaim, drawing comparisons to contemporaries like H.P. Lovecraft and Fritz Leiber.
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.
Shambleau
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.
The Best of C.L. Moore
C.L. Moore broke new ground as one of the first female authors of science fiction, and was an undisputed pioneer of the genre. This stunning collection brings together her most imaginative and groundbreaking stories.
With a special introduction by Lester Del Rey, one of the founders of the modern sci-fi/fantasy genre, this anthology includes C.L. Moore’s best-known and most beloved tales, including:
SHAMBLEAU, Moore’s bizarre, imaginative, and wildly acclaimed debut, featuring 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…
Filled with ten 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.
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