Tales from Atlantis, Volume I

By: Clark Ashton Smith

Narrated by: Jim Gallant

This collection includes three stories:

"Atlantis":
A haunting poem from the ghost-like underwater depths.

"The Last Incantation":
With inhuman solemnity, the voice of the necromancer went on in a priest-like chant until the last echoes died out in hollow, sepulchral vibrations. Then the colored vapors cleared away. But the pale, unearthly glow still filled the changer, and between Malygris and the door where hung the unicorn's head there stood the apparition of Nylissa!

"The Death of Malygris":
Groping along tortuous alleys, through blind caverns, and down subterranean halls and steps, 12 of the most-powerful sorcerers of Susran were brought together in a vault of oozing, death-gray granite, far beneath the foundations of the palace. The 12 sorcerers knew that the king had convened them only because of a matter supremely grave and secret. For a while, there was silence in the vault, and the 12, bowing deferentially, waited. Then, in a voice that was little more than a harsh whisper, the king spoke: "What know ye of Malygris?"

©2004 Bob E. Flick (P)2004 Ziggurat Productions

What Know Ye of Malygris?

Clark Ashton Smith wrote five stories in his Atlantis (or more accurately Poseidonis "the last isle of floundering Atlantis") cycle, two of which are performed in this audiobook: the first story in the cycle "The Last Incantation" and the last story in the cycle "The Death of Malygris" both of which star the necromancer Malygris.

In "The Last Incantation" Malygris uses his necromancy to bring back from the dead his lost love Nylissa, but as we know from "The Monkey's Paw" you can't bring back from the grave loved ones and expect them to be the same. However, unlike "The Monkey's Paw," this story gives a very profound and meaningful reason why the object of lost love can not return as it was.

In "The Death of Malygris" the powerful necromancer resurrects his own self. Or does he?

The narrative performance by Jim Gallant is truly remarkable and probably his best performance in all the Ziggurat productions. His narration of the "demonian viper that dwelt in the head of the unicorn" captures perfectly the "low but singularly penetrating hiss" described in the story "The Last Incantation" and his multiple character voices of the different sorcerers in "The Death of Malygris" are suitably varied and wonderful.