User:DoctorWho42/The Door to Saturn
| "The Door to Saturn" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Clark Ashton Smith | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy |
| Publication | |
| Published in | Strange Tales |
| Publication type | Pulp magazine |
| Publisher | The Clayton Magazines, Inc. |
| Media type | |
| Publication date | January 1932 |
| Series | Hyperborean cycle |
"The Door to Saturn" is a short story by American author Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Hyperborean cycle, and first published in the January 1932 issue of Strange Tales.
Publication history[edit]
According to Emperor of Dreams: A Clark Ashton Smith Bibliography (1978) by Donald Sidney-Fryer, "The Door to Saturn" was first published in the January 1932 issue of Strange Tales. It was included in the books Lost Worlds (1944), the November 1964 issue of Magazine of Horror and Strange Stories, and Hyperborea (1971).[1]
Plot[edit]
Morghi the inquisitor, who worships the goddess Yhoundeh, search with twelve of his followers Eibon's home so they may arrest him for heresy since he worships another god, Zhothaqquah. While their search turns up empty, they find their suspicions for his heresy to be true. Morghi begins taking down paintings of Zhothaqquah. Behind one he finds a panel of curious metal. Pushing it inward, Morghi finds it leads to Cynkranosh, which is Saturn in Hyperborean. Eibon was gifted a gateway to Cynkronosh by Zhothaqquah. However, those who enter may never return to Earth. As Morghi enters Cynkranosh and encounters Morghi, they find an alien world with black crystal cacti and liquid metal rivers. There they meet one monster Hziulquoigmnzhah who replies to Eibon's words with "iqhui dlosh odhqlonqh". They travel across Cynkronosh to deliver this message to Bhlemphroims. Along the way, they prod with a sword a stubborn creature who blocks the road. The Bhlemphroims, a race whose heads and torsos are one, receive the message tell the two their relation to Zhothaqquah who they no longer worship but remember. Eventually, they find Bhlemphroims a bore. The Bhlemphroims choose Morghi and Eibon to mate with the female Djhenquomh to beget offspring with heads separate from their torsoes. They decide to flee for another race, the Ydheems. After much journeying, they find the Ydheems more similar to themselves. Telling them "iqhui dlosh odhqlongh," the Ydheems leave their home damaged by an avalanche for a new one. The new town is called Ghlomph. Later, Eibon is treated as a prophet as they still worship Zhothaqquah while Morghi who finds setting up an inquisition among the Ydheems difficult merely gets by. Meanwhile on Earth, worship of Yhoundeh lessens as a revival of Zhothaqquah begins.
Reception[edit]
Reviewing Lost Worlds in the 1983 book The Guide to Supernatural Fiction, E. F. Bleiler remarked "occassional humorous notes."[2]
References[edit]
- ^ Donald Sidney-Fryer (1978). Emperor of Dreams: A Clark Ashton Smith Bibliography. Hampton Falls, New Hampshire: Donald M. Grant, Publisher. p. 165. ISBN 0-937986-10-0.
- ^ Bleiler, Everett (1983). The Guide to Supernatural Fiction. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press. p. 461. ISBN 0873382889.
See also[edit]
External links[edit]
- The Door to Saturn title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Text of "The Door to Saturn"
Category:Short stories by Clark Ashton Smith
Category:Fantasy short stories
Category:1932 short stories