The Best of C.L. Moore

By 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Diversion Books
• Release date: Sep 22, 2015
• ISBN: 9781682301142

Reviews for The Best of C.L. Moore

[librisissimo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Most of the stories were published as serials and it shows (too long, too rambling). That said, the ideas within the stories themselves are very interesting ("Shambleau" especially is intriguing), and "Vintage Season" is a much-anthologized classic for good reason.The cover on my copy (of Shambleau in action) is precisely calculated to appeal to the primary marketing demographic of SF at the time (adolescent - or even adult - boys).

[lyndatrue · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If you read no other part of this, please at least consider the Afterword, by the author, which is instructive.Catherine Moore changed the face of science fiction when she began publishing. Unlike many of the writers of the day (1930s), she used words to paint rich tapestries of reality, to invoke the characters and the places she spoke of, and some of them were hard to shake.

[nighthawk777_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a very very good book. I picked it up in a used bookstore, and I'm glad I did.The intro gives a brief history of C.L. Moore (Catherine Moore). The stories gathered herein were originally published between 1933-1946.There are 10 stories gathered here, of which I highly enjoyed almost every one. Shambleau Sci Fi tale introducing Northwest Smith. He's basically a rogue, i'm not even sure he's a good guy. He might be one of the original anti-heroes. Another fun thing, this story is set on Mars...before writers would know that Mars was uninhabited, they would tales of various peoples and societies on these planets. He takes it upon himself to stick his nose into a lynch mobs business, by rescuing a mysterious female. Lets just say that dude ends up in a soul sucking Lovecraftian nightmare before the story is over. It quickly goes from Sci Fi to a Dark Fantasy/Horror hybrid. The characterizations are nice. Black Thirst Sci Fi (?) Dark FantasyNorthwest is on Venus this time. He is by chance approached by one of the mysterious Minga girls. They have been bred to perfection for kings and royalty. She spies NW and piques his interest enough to investigate her offer. The fact that more regular shmoes have never even gotten an eyeful of a Minga girl drives him on. Before the end of this tale, NW will once again find himself in another Dark Fantasy/Horror hybrid situation. The Bright IllusionSci Fi Dark Fantasy Bizzaro Love storyThe main character here is Dixon. He is dying in a desert and comes upon a being of immense power. Or maybe he's delusional and dying. I'm not sure, lol. He is convinced by this being to become a herald, and go to some distant planet to make the way for it to come and do battle with the god of that world. I recently read a book Parallel Universes by Michio Kaku. This is a physics book of sorts. He describes some of the ideas that Ms. Moore used in this story. Dixon can't observe the planet, because it is apparently in the 4th dimension. The light being has to put an illusion in Dixon's eyes so he can deal with going onto the planet. It also covers the eyes of the inhabitants of the planet, so he appears as one of them. This is where the title comes from. I kid you not, this becomes a tragic love story by the end. Black God's KissSword and Sorcery, Dark FantasyJirel is introduced here. She is the ruler/queen or something of Joiry, which seems like it is based on medieval France? Joiry has been conquered, and she escapes to seek vengeance. She enters something like hell to get a weapon to face her conqueror. Tryst in TimeSci FiSome bored ADHD type guy convinces an oddball scientist to let him try out an experimental time machine. As he wanders through time, he seems to run across a woman in each epoch, that appears to be the same woman. Very interesting. Greater Than GodsSci FiThis tale involves a man who stumbles upon a way to see into potential realities by a choice he makes. This is also fun because this concept was also explained in that book by Michio Kaku. It's actually a fun tale, because of the two situations that are staring him in the face.Fruit of KnowledgeDoomed romance fantasy? Retelling of the story of the Garden of Eden, and Adam and Eve, etc.This story was probably my favorite in the book.In retelling the story of Adam and Eve, she introduces some other players. I don't want to say much about it here, but it is really fun. It's like you know what is going to happen in general, but the additional actors introduced make it a lot of fun. A love triangle involving Adam and Eve? lolNo Woman BornSci FiThis was probably my least favorite. It involves a beloved female entertainer, who has had a serious accident. She is "saved" by some scientist and her agent, by them putting her brain into a mechanical construct. The story is about what would happen if you basically lost your body, but were inhabiting a robot body. Would you slowly lose your connection to humanity? This story has some unintentionally funny moments (for me at least):"There was applause from an invisible audience. Then someone came out and did a dance with lighted torches that streamed long, weaving ribbons of fire among clouds of what looked like cotton wool, but was most probably asbestos." - OOPS, did the audience all die of cancer after this performance? Here's a funny description of one of those old scientists who are teetering on the brink of a nervous breakdown:"He began to pace up and down with quick,uneven steps, striking his hands together. His face was twitching with a little tic that drew up one eye to a squint and released it again at regular intervals. Harris could see how very near collapse the man was."- This vivid description really strikes my funny bone, even though it's meant to be serious :)DaemonDark Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery (maybe like Solomon Kane)This is a story about a poor mentally challenged kid who gets kidnapped by a ship full of pirates. The kid can see demons hanging around these guys. Nobody else can see them. Somehow, she managed to pull the Fey into it lol. Very fun story. Vintage SeasonSci FiWouldn't it be cool if time-travel was common? Some companies might even set up group tours of momentous events in history.

[lisamaria_c · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Once upon a time when I was a little girl, before Buffy and Xena before the likes of Tamora Pierce in the YA section, I yearned for heroines, and found little beyond Wonder Woman comics. Then as a teen, I found Jirel of Joiry, a kickass sword and sorcery heroine in an anthology and was entranced. C.L. Moore was a pioneer among women in modern science fiction and fantasy who isn't as well-known as she should be today, so I'm glad I found this anthology of her pulp era short works in a used book store. She only wrote one novel, Doomsday Morning, which I haven't read and have heard doesn't represent her at her best. She's best known for her shorter stories--stories that don't tend to anthologize well as the introduction explains, since they all tend to be over ten thousand words, at the long end of the spectrum for short fiction. Besides her Jirel of Joiry, Moore was known for her stories about Northwest Smith, a kind of space opera Sam Spade more than a little reminiscent of rogues with a heart of gold such as Han Solo and Mal Reynolds. The stories were written from 1933 to 1946, and the earliest ones have a bit of a purplish pulp age tinge, but are sensuous and just great yarns. The first two stories are ones featuring Northwest Smith, and "Shambleau" for all it's science fiction trappings (it's set on Mars) reads more like a classic horror story with a Lovecraftean feel. Her first published story, it's deliciously creepy with a truly alien character. I was less enamored of the other Northwest Smith story, "Black Thirst," another story with a horror feel set on Venus, I thought it was a bit too reminiscent of the earlier story, while being more than a little bit cheesy. "Black God's Kiss" is the Jirel of Joiry story, and yes I still love it. I wasn't crazy about "The Bright Illusion" or "Tryst in Time"--I find love at first sight eye-rolling. Although I have to say, both had truly striking premises, especially the first. "Greater Than Gods" is...interesting. Published in 1939 it anticipates DNA, a theory of multiverses I've heard connected with quantum physics--and concerns sex selection. Some might consider the premise at its base dated, but I'm not so sure. There's a strain even in some kinds of feminism today that sees matriarchy and the female gender connected to environmentalism and pacifism and patriarchy with war and crime. I even saw a recent book arguing that the growing gender ratio favoring boys may lead to a more aggressive culture. So I found it in the end surprisingly still relevant. The following stories take us into the 40s and a strengthening of style and vigor of ideas that commentators have connected with her marriage and collaborations with her husband. "The Fruit of Knowledge" is a delightfully subversive tale of Adam, Eve, Lucifer--and Lilith. "No Woman Born" is a story about a cyborg that asks what it is that makes us human. "Daemon" is the one first person story in the anthology--and I can see why she chose that form, because in this one the voice is so important. And finally there's the story many consider her best, "Vintage Season," a chilling and powerful tale about vacationing time-travelers.