--- product_id: 1587039 title: "The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies (Penguin Classics)" price: "₨403" currency: SCR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.sc/products/1587039-the-dark-eidolon-and-other-fantasies-penguin-classics store_origin: SC region: Seychelles --- # The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies (Penguin Classics) **Price:** ₨403 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies (Penguin Classics) - **How much does it cost?** ₨403 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.sc](https://www.desertcart.sc/products/1587039-the-dark-eidolon-and-other-fantasies-penguin-classics) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description A much-awaited collection of prose and poetry from one of the great cosmic masters of the supernatural Not just any fantasy, horror, and science fiction author could impress H. P. Lovecraft into calling him “unexcelled by any other writer, dead or living” or compel Fritz Lieber to employ the worthy term sui generis . Clark Ashton Smith—autodidact, prolific poet, amateur philosopher, bizarre sculptor, and unmatched storyteller—simply wrote like no one else, before or since. This new collection of his very best tales and poems is selected and introduced by supernatural literature scholar S. T. Joshi and allows readers to encounter Smith’s visionary brand of fantastical, phantasmagorical worlds, each one filled with invention, terror, and a superlative sense of metaphysical wonder. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. Review: Great book, Great formatting, get it! - There was absolutely nothing wrong with the Kindle version of this book so I have no idea what these dunces below are talking about their iPhone probably doesn’t work and they shouldn’t blame it on desertcart or Clark Ashton Smith. I assure you there is nothing wrong with the eBook, having read the entire thing on my Kindle. User error, perhaps? This is a fabulous collection of fabulous tales, and collects stories from the Zothique, Hyperborea, and Averiogne cycles, as well as some other stories to provide a wide scope and breadth of the authors work, which of course also includes selections of his prose poems and poetry, making it a truly unique and expansive collection of Smith’s thought and writing. S.T. Joshi’s introduction is superb and discusses the chrysalis of Smith from auto-didact, to poet, to Weird Tales author, and is itself a great contribution to supernatural literature. The collection is paced very well and I would recommend reading from start to finish to appreciate the arc in the selection, with the mystifying title story as the climax, and albeit, one of the most stirring and deeply confounding and transcendent story I have read. Clark Ashton Smith’s evocative prose leaps off the page and takes you to worlds that are beyond imaginig. Some of his stories are horrific, some are weirdly beautiful, and all of them will transport you in some way from the mundane to the fantastical. Smith is a wizard in the way he can suspend disbelief and ensnare even the most skeptical reader in his realms of fantasy, as his words are like potions. Review: The Singing Of Black Stars - Where to begin? Well, since this is intended as introductory volume of Clark Ashton Smith's literary work, perhaps a few brief remarks about Smith himself are in order. Clark Ashton Smith (1893-1961) was a poet, short story writer, sculptor, and painter. He is primarily remembered today as a friend and colleague of H.P. Lovecraft (of Cthulhu Mythos fame) and Robert E. Howard (creator of Conan), but, although his writing resembles that of both men, he was most assuredly his own man, both as a writer and an individual. Primarily a poet, Smith took to writing fiction, in part to earn income to support his ailing parents. Writing mostly in a genre that would now probably be described as dark fantasy fiction, his work was perhaps more aptly referred to by the great speculative fiction writer Fritz Leiber as simply sui generis. On to the book itself. This volume is divided into five sections: a mid-length (15-20 page) introduction by editor S.T. Joshi, a lengthy section (about 250 pages, comprising the majority of the book) of short stories, a brief section (about 20 pages) of prose poetry, a longer section (about 60 pages) of non-prose poetry, and about 30 pages of explanatory notes. The short story selection is excellent, and probably does as good of a job is as possible in a relatively constrained space to demonstrate to the Smith neophyte the range of the author's fiction. The prose poetry is, for lack of a better word, delightful; Joshi has referred to Smith as the finest prose poet in the English language, and, after reading the selections included here, I think the reader will find it very hard to argue the point. I found the non-prose poems to be slightly more problematic, as Smith's (in)famous fondness for recondite words is more readily on display here than elsewhere; nevertheless, there is much to admire here, and a work like his long poem "The Hashish-Eater" probably surpasses anything I have ever read in terms of sheer phantasmagoric imagination. Finally, the footnotes, as they always are in Joshi-edited works, are excellent. Should you purchase this? If you are a fan of writers like Dunsany, Lovecraft, Howard, and Tolkien, the answer is a resounding "yes". Smith is most certainly not to all tastes, but if you enjoy his work, you will almost certainly be an admirer of his for life. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #105,463 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #391 in American Poetry (Books) #563 in Classic American Literature #1,246 in Short Stories Anthologies | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 537 Reviews | ## Images ![The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies (Penguin Classics) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81x4xYPXjDL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great book, Great formatting, get it! *by J***R on May 24, 2020* There was absolutely nothing wrong with the Kindle version of this book so I have no idea what these dunces below are talking about their iPhone probably doesn’t work and they shouldn’t blame it on Amazon or Clark Ashton Smith. I assure you there is nothing wrong with the eBook, having read the entire thing on my Kindle. User error, perhaps? This is a fabulous collection of fabulous tales, and collects stories from the Zothique, Hyperborea, and Averiogne cycles, as well as some other stories to provide a wide scope and breadth of the authors work, which of course also includes selections of his prose poems and poetry, making it a truly unique and expansive collection of Smith’s thought and writing. S.T. Joshi’s introduction is superb and discusses the chrysalis of Smith from auto-didact, to poet, to Weird Tales author, and is itself a great contribution to supernatural literature. The collection is paced very well and I would recommend reading from start to finish to appreciate the arc in the selection, with the mystifying title story as the climax, and albeit, one of the most stirring and deeply confounding and transcendent story I have read. Clark Ashton Smith’s evocative prose leaps off the page and takes you to worlds that are beyond imaginig. Some of his stories are horrific, some are weirdly beautiful, and all of them will transport you in some way from the mundane to the fantastical. Smith is a wizard in the way he can suspend disbelief and ensnare even the most skeptical reader in his realms of fantasy, as his words are like potions. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Singing Of Black Stars *by A***R on May 28, 2014* Where to begin? Well, since this is intended as introductory volume of Clark Ashton Smith's literary work, perhaps a few brief remarks about Smith himself are in order. Clark Ashton Smith (1893-1961) was a poet, short story writer, sculptor, and painter. He is primarily remembered today as a friend and colleague of H.P. Lovecraft (of Cthulhu Mythos fame) and Robert E. Howard (creator of Conan), but, although his writing resembles that of both men, he was most assuredly his own man, both as a writer and an individual. Primarily a poet, Smith took to writing fiction, in part to earn income to support his ailing parents. Writing mostly in a genre that would now probably be described as dark fantasy fiction, his work was perhaps more aptly referred to by the great speculative fiction writer Fritz Leiber as simply sui generis. On to the book itself. This volume is divided into five sections: a mid-length (15-20 page) introduction by editor S.T. Joshi, a lengthy section (about 250 pages, comprising the majority of the book) of short stories, a brief section (about 20 pages) of prose poetry, a longer section (about 60 pages) of non-prose poetry, and about 30 pages of explanatory notes. The short story selection is excellent, and probably does as good of a job is as possible in a relatively constrained space to demonstrate to the Smith neophyte the range of the author's fiction. The prose poetry is, for lack of a better word, delightful; Joshi has referred to Smith as the finest prose poet in the English language, and, after reading the selections included here, I think the reader will find it very hard to argue the point. I found the non-prose poems to be slightly more problematic, as Smith's (in)famous fondness for recondite words is more readily on display here than elsewhere; nevertheless, there is much to admire here, and a work like his long poem "The Hashish-Eater" probably surpasses anything I have ever read in terms of sheer phantasmagoric imagination. Finally, the footnotes, as they always are in Joshi-edited works, are excellent. Should you purchase this? If you are a fan of writers like Dunsany, Lovecraft, Howard, and Tolkien, the answer is a resounding "yes". Smith is most certainly not to all tastes, but if you enjoy his work, you will almost certainly be an admirer of his for life. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fun read. *by W***S on July 16, 2026* Good collection of stories with poems and other important information for the book. Well written and at times else. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.sc/products/1587039-the-dark-eidolon-and-other-fantasies-penguin-classics](https://www.desertcart.sc/products/1587039-the-dark-eidolon-and-other-fantasies-penguin-classics) --- *Product available on Desertcart Seychelles* *Store origin: SC* *Last updated: 2026-08-22*