I read some online critiques of The Night Land. It looks like people really dislike it a lot. The stuff I read reminded me of some of the flaws in The Night Land which are:

Spoiler

• Hodgson was tediously repetitive in parts. This is true.
• Hodgson included fiddly details in parts where he didn't need to. This is true.
• Hodgson used a fake, archaic-sounding language. This is true, but I liked it.
• Naani acted too childish and playful when she was trekking with the hero back to the Last Redoubt. This seemed weird to me. Hodgson did indeed write that she was playful and silly on the way to the Last Redoubt, but I forgave it by thinking that life must go on. Even though she was miserable at the time that she was rescued, people can't stay miserable every second of the day. Also, her age was not stated; she may have been a teenager, meaning that she may have been immature and acted innapropriately. Of course, it could just be poor writing on Hodgson's part.

The name of Naani's home was the Lesser Redoubt, not the Little Redoubt like I had misremembered.

Even with The Night Land's flaws, I still really like it. I'm going to reread it some day.

The Door to Saturn: The Collected Fantasies, Vol. 2 (Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith)

This collection of short stories by Clark Ashton Smith is very good. If you like early 20th century horror short stories, this is the book for you.

Just like the other book of short stories from CAS that I read, this one is loaded with fancy words that I had to look up. I had to look up an average of 3 words per page. It was a nuisance and it interrupted the mood while reading.

The guy on the cover of the book, with the robe, is an illustration of Clark Ashton Smith when he was young.

A few notes on individual stories.

• The Door to Saturn. Two enemy wizards travel to Saturn and they have to put their differences aside to survive.
• The Red World of Polaris. Spacers are exploring the environs of a star and they encounter what looks like an artificial planet. The horror in this story comes subtly and slowly and it's very well done.
• A Rendezvous in Averoigne. Judging by the notes at the end of the book, this is his most popular story in this volume. It's a very good story. Very creepy.
• The Kingdom of the Worm. As far as I can remember, this story was creepy, but it didn't end well. In any case, I really liked it. A guy is traveling somewhere, and he decides to go through some forbidden territory as a shortcut. He shouldn't have done that, as you can guess.
• The City of the Singing Flame. I remember that CAS's prose made me see the environment within my mind while reading it.
• An Adventure in Futurity. CAS's prose style had the same subtle and slow horror feel as The Red World of Polaris. The ending was sad.

After writing those notes, I'm reminded that a lot of the stories had a sort of Dungeons and Dragons setting to them. Not literally D&D, of course, but the stories felt like D&D, at least a little.

Recommendation: Overall, I loved the book, and I can recommend it.

i wrote a 2nd book..

king arthur looked to sky exclaiming, heavens, does thou dispel my crown, does i is destined to die by the hands of men, or of a dragons fire, yay

da dragon was all like, *breathes mad fire* u cant fuck w/ me, son.. im da winner all day. lights get dimmer down biggies hallway