Books , Mythology and Folklore

"The nostalgia of things unknown, of lands forgotten or unfound, is upon me at times. Often I long for the gleam of yellow suns upon terraces of translucent azure marble, mocking the windless waters of lakes unfathomably calm; for lost, legendary palaces of serpentine, silver and ebony, whose columns are green stalactites; for the pillars of fallen temples, standing in the vast purpureal sunset of a land of lost and marvellous romance. I sigh for the dark-green depths of cedar forests, through whose fantastically woven boughs, one sees at intervals an unknown tropic ocean, like gleams of blue diamond; for isles of palm and coral, that fret an amber morning, somewhere beyond Cathay or Taprobane; for the strange and hidden cities of the desert, with burning brazen domes and slender pinnacles of gold and copper, that pierce a heaven of heated lazuli."

-- CAS, "Nostalgia of the Unknown"

The above quotation is from a work by Clark Ashton Smith , one of a group of truly IMAGINATIVE fantasy/horror fantasy writers who are all dead now but whose works are really worth seeking out (Others include H.P. Lovecraft , Arthur Machen , Algernon Blackwood and William Hope Hodgson ) - a long way from the crude violence and shock- horror of most of todays writers.

I used to read a lot more than I do now - mostly science fiction / fantasy, horror, crime fiction, westerns, war stories etc etc.I was a big Tolkien fan at one time and also of H.P.Lovecraft . I still enjoy occasionally enjoy reading myths and legends - some of these tales showed fantastic imagination!