![]() ![]() She’s a woman of complex contradictions: iron heroism combined with emotional receptivity. Five more adventures followed: “Black God’s Shadow,” “Jirel Meets Magic,” “The Dark Land,” “Hellsgarde,” and “Quest of the Starstone.” The last she co-wrote with her future husband, Henry Kuttner, and it brought together Jirel and Northwest Smith in their only meeting.Īlthough a sword-and-sorcery heroine, Jirel isn’t merely a gender-swapped Conan or Amazonian cliché. Jirel arrived less than a year later in “Black God’s Kiss,” still one of the best stories to appear in Weird Tales. The evocative atmosphere, emotional power, and gripping prose stood out among planetary SF of the time it was a breathtaking performance that launched Moore to the front of the Weird Tales bullpen. “Shambleau” introduced Northwest Smith, Moore’s influential galaxy-wandering rogue. At age twenty-two, while working at a bank in Indianapolis, she made her first writing sale with the oddly titled dark science-fiction piece “Shambleau.” Editor Farnsworth Wright at Weird Tales recognized a brilliant new author and published the story in the November 1933 issue. ![]() “I was reared on a diet of Greek mythology, Oz books and Edgar Rice Burroughs, so you can see I never had a chance,” she remembered of her childhood. The Lady of Joiry would never have had such a lasting impact if it weren’t for Catherine Lucille Moore’s immense writing talent, which was evident from her first published story. ![]() Moore became permanent stars of speculative fiction-the two women who ripped down the “Men Only” sign from the fantasy door. She only appeared in six novelettes between 19, but she and her creator C. She slashed out of the table of contents of Weird Tales with a formidable willpower that still places her in the top ranks of fantasy heroines. Jirel did not come on to the fantasy scene quietly. Flame-haired, tenacious as a she-lion, “a shouting battle-machine,” sojourner in forbidden magical lands-Jirel was the first woman of the sword to do battle against sorcery. The sword-swinging, laser gun-blasting, wooden-stake carrying women who are an enormous part of today’s popular entertainment owe their existence to a medieval lady who first appeared more than eighty years ago in the pulp pages: Jirel of Joiry. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |