Zothique: Necromancy in Naat, Morthylla, and The Witchcraft of Ulua
We were planning on leaving Necromancy in Naat for last because of the way Clark Ashton Smith usually wrote necromancers. However, after watching the third season of Yellowjackets and the beginning of Gannibal's second season, we decided we might as well go ahead and read it. We also read the disappointing Morthylla and The Witchcraft of Ulua.
NECROMANCY IN NAAT
We have fallen into the grip of that terrible oceanstream which mariners call the Black River. Evermore the stream surges and swiftens toward the place of the sun's outermost setting, till it pours at last from the world's rim. Between us now and that final verge there is no land saving the evil land of Naat, which is called also the Isle of Necromancers. I know not which were the worse fate, to be wrecked on that infamous isle or hurled into space with the waters falling from earth's edge. From either place there is no return for living men such as we. And from the Isle of Naat none go forth except the ill sorcerers who people it, and the dead who are raised up and controlled by their sorcery. In magical ships that breast the Black River, the sorcerers sail at will to other strands; and beneath their necromancy, to fulfl their wicked errands, the dead men swim without pause for many nights and days whithersoever the masters may send them.
Like in The Isle of Torturers, we see this dreaded island through an outsider's eyes. Here, it's Prince Yadar, who's looking for his kidnapped lover, Dalil, and ends up stranded in Naat. There, he meets a trio of necromancers, a father and his 2 sons, who welcome him into their home. The atmosphere is dark and creepy, with the necromancers living surrounded by their dead servants. As if that wasn't enough, they have a demon weasel familiar that must be regularly fed with blood. We're also told that the several households are isolated from each other, which makes everything feel extra gloomy. Oh, and there are cannibal tribes, too. The fight with a nearly dead Vacham after his sons try to kill him with Yadar's help added some bloody excitement, but the ending offered no triumphant escape; instead, things take a darker, twistedly satisfying turn. It's a different horror than the one found in Uccastrog, but we liked it better than the torturers' sadism.
We were beginning to think there wasn't going to be any necrophilia mentions and then...
If thou helpest us not, then shall the weasel Esrit suck thy blood, till the last member of thy body has been emptied thereof; and Dalil shall remain as the bond-slave of Vacham, toiling for his avarice by day in the dark waters . . . and perchance serving his lust by night.
Sure, it's nowhere near as bad as in The Empire of Necromancers, but still.
MORTHYLLA | THE WITCHCRAFT OF ULUA
These are the weakest stories we've read so far. They felt less like Clark Ashton Smith than someone trying to write like him. Both are missing that dark spark that makes Smith's stories stand out, and what worldbuilding there is is dull and fails to truly come alive.
Morthylla sees a bored poet long for darker, supernatural romance look for the titular lamia in an old cemetery. He finds her... or does he?
"In the dreams of slumber," mused Valzain. "I have clasped succubi who were more than flesh, have known delights too keen for the waking body to sustain. Do such dreams have any source, outside the earthborn brain itself? I would give much to find that source, if it exists. In the meanwhile there is nothing for me but despair."
There isn't much to enjoy here. It looked like the revelation about "Morthylla" was going to lead somewhere, but then nothing happened. The story just fizzles out with a clunky ending that made us wonder if there was a paragraph or two missing.
In The Witchcraft of Ulua, an innocent young man finds himself the target of the princess's infatuation, but his constant refusals turn lust to anger and she starts to haunt him.
Her undesired image began to trouble his nightly dreams; and awakening, he heard the warm dulcet languor of her voice, and felt the caress of light and subtle fingers in the darkness. Peering at the pale moon that waxed beyond the windows, above the black cypresses, he saw her dead, corroded face assume the living features of Ulua. The lithe and migniard form of the young witch appeared to move among the fabulous queens and goddesses that thronged the opulent hangings with their amours. Beheld as if through enchantment, her face leaned beside his in the mirrors; and she came and vanished, phantom-like, with seductive murmurs and wanton gestures, as he bent over his books.
Much like Morthylla, this is just boring and we didn't care about any the characters. The description of the OTT decadent court lacked Smith's usual flair, and Amalzain's nightly visitors were too gross. It reminded us of The Empire of Necromancers but with none of that story's redeeming features. Also, while the bad guys usually get punished in some way, here it felt a little too moralizing.
There are only 3 stories left. Hopefully, they'll be better than these two.