Reading Black God’s Kiss made me realize what have I lost at not knowing Catherine Lucille Moore. The five histories (and the crossover with her husband’s character) appearing in Black God’s Kiss (which is both the first story’s name in the volume and the one which marks Jiriel of Joiry as an extraordinaire and quite human character) let me taste something of what Moore really is.

There is no other way to begin talking about Black god’s Kiss and C. L. Moore than analizing Jirel of Joiry, which can be defined with one word: Fire. Jirel is nothing if not passionate; rage and passion and love (in a sort of way) rule her live, more than once this deep rage, this lust for life is what lets her survive the ordeals she confronts; from dark gods, to evil men, to dark wizards and men from the future. But Jirel is not only fire in essence, but also in body, from her long red hair, her lion yellow eyes, to the passion present on the feminine curves of her body, to her expression of eternal defiance or her burly celebration after victory. That is what defines Jirel of Joiry, such passion that forces us, as it does to her men, follow her into battle and sometimes into the abyss and stranger lands.

Yet still, Jirel is quite human herself. She is pasional, courageous and sometimes barbaric… yet she is also honorable, naïve, superstitious, and human in her desires. More than once she has found herself vulnerable and afraid, but most of the time her fury gives her the upper hand… other times she is as much afraid as any other girl… but in the hells she has taken to visit, who would not be afraid.

From the first story to the last France, from where she reigns Joiry, is nothing but a background to give us a frame of reference to understand Jirel. As some say, “Jirel comes from a naiver era”. From this background we rarely see something more than the walls of her castle and those of her enemies, we learn that she has a cousin with a fortress close to her land, an allies and enemies too, yet we heard nothing of her parents or suitors. She is a catholic and has god in high regard, yet she wouldn’t think twice in damn her soul or leave the protection of the cross if that is what she needs to destroy her enemies.

That is France… but the true stories always take… well… elsewhere. From outlandish worlds what when seen in the plain light of day will take your sanity away, fiendish and esoteric worlds that can only be understood under the veil of illusions, fae-like worlds with doors to worlds unimagined by mortal minds, esoteric places between the worlds of reality and fantasy. They all are populated by strange versions of ourselves, or bizarre creatures we hardly imagined in our weirdest dreams, where Jiriel usually travels alone, moving between alien creatures, some of which from human, only have the appearance… and usually it’s never the true one.

Reading Dark God’s Kiss and many of Jirel’s stories is like reading an story of a female medieval Conan crossing in between worlds that H.P. Lovecraft would have imagined. An interesting and dangerous mixture, where she understand the impossibility of what she lives, but only has her senses to guide her and her rage to impulse her to win against, sometimes, impossible odds. But as always, her rage is a two bladed sword, as much times saving her, as making imperiling her, or destroying what she loves… more than once taking her to death’s door if not for outside forces.

So, what can I said about C. L. Moore and Dark God’s Kiss? Simply, I enjoyed deeply her stories and fall deeply in love with Jiriel, so much that the last stories I drank them like sweet wine, unable to stop and taking myself a day to savor the aftertaste this story left me before beginning with something else.

If you have the chance… don’t doubt it, and give Jiriel an opportunity, I am sure she will bewitch you as she did with me.

I am delighted to see that Paizo brought the collected Jirel stories back for a whole new generation to enjoy. These were, and still are to me, some of the very best heroic fantasy ever written. The setting has a sort of fairyland feel to modern readers -- but this is classic Grimm's fairyland, a very dark and frightful land indeed that truly needs someone as brave and stubborn as Jirel to defend it against the ever-encroachng forces of darkness.

Just one complaint: why did they show Jirel as being another Red Sonja in the cover art? But that aside, this is one of the best fantasy books you could ever read. Buy it and marvel.

I could talk about how nice Black God's Kiss is physically. I could thank Mona and Planet Stories for bringing this historic piece forward so that I could discover it. I could talk about how Moore's writing saves me from enjoying story only and holding my nose when it comes to quality of writing, as is not uncommon for me when it comes to pulp stories. Instead, I want to focus on her enigmatic heroine.

Moore produces in Jirel, the sword-swinging Lady of Joiry, a character that left me hungering for more. To compare Jirel a moment to Moore's sci-fi hero, Northwest Smith, it is undoubted that with Northwest she achieves a much fuller explicit portrayal. But there is something magical in her characterization of Jirel. By hints, suggestions, and even absence, Moore somehow painted in my mind a picture of a compelling presence: Jirel is subtle, conflicted, and full-blooded. As I indicated, after reading pulp fantasy, I often feel a deep enjoyment of story beyond the quality of the writing. Just as rarely as I have satisfaction in the writing itself, do I feel the presence of the character as compelling and lingering. But in the Jirel stories, I felt as if a shadow passed me, of a powerful heroine, and I regretted that there were not more of them. Still, I am glad for those we have, and I recommend this volume as a must-read for the genre, both in terms of historic importance and—above all—for pure enjoyment.

Ok, these Paizo Planet Stories books are pretty cool. Rather than some of the cheaper looking flimsy trade paperbacks around with ordinary paper this is nicer, and has one of the covers designed to make it longer last with an indentation before the spine - whatever you call that.

Also, not as tall as I thought they would be - around 20cm by the looks, so going for a bit more retro look, if not all the way to the old mass market. Retro font, too. The cover art is fairly nice, too.

Black God's Kiss is about a bazillion times better a title than 'Jirel of Joiry', too, which an earlier not complete collection of stories was titled. My sister had this book, and the dodgy fairy-sounding title put me off it for a while when I was much younger.

That aside, there a 10 page or so intro by Suzy McKee Charnas detailing the history of Moore's character, and how such an aggressive female heroine was important to her when she was young and looking for heroic fictional role models.

As she points out, Moore has a different style to fellow Weird Tales denizen Robert E. Howard, and while these aren't quite as good as his major the stories overall the quality is high, and the crossover with her other character Northwest Smith is great.

Moore writes in tight and fine prose and animates characters that are well defined. The world she constructs has a consistent and authentic texture and is bolstered by rock solid, practical, internal logic.

Jirel is the seminal female protagonist of fantasy fiction. She exists on her own terms and in her own world. She is strong and fearless and gets to that place on her own terms. She is not a harlot, or shrew or any other male stereotype of female strength. Rather, she is a powerful woman who lives her life on her terms.

As fiction, it is fine and stands alone. As an excellent example of what the genre was built upon, it is outstanding.

I can only say that after the pre-read hype (word of mouth, forum discussion and the introduction writing) I was both prepared for the worst and hoping for the best here.

Thankfully I didn't get what I feared I might, some better-than-men feminist power-trip... Though maybe it appeared as such back when it was written.

Jirel is a well-rounded character. Simple, true, but with the right amount of guts, inner conflict and charm. Not like the copy/paste 'hard girls' I seem to see in films these days, but an actually compelling woman warrior. Very refreshing.

The stories themselves are fine, fun and benefit from the prose style of the 'cosmic weird' writers of H.P.L's circle. I like it, a lot of effort goes into conveying weirdness and wonder, something I enjoy.

Definitely enjoyable, it is only a shame I didn't get a chance to read these stories before now

I just finished the book last night, and found it to be an enjoyable read.

The first thing that stood out to me is Ms. Moore's writing style. Despite being from an earlier era, it rarely felt dated, and made for a fast read.

Of the stories, "Hellsgarde" was definitely my favorite. "Jirel Meets Magic" and "Black God's Kiss" were great as well. "Quest for the Starstone" was fun, but it felt a bit disconnected from the rest.

Jirel is an interesting character...tough as most men of sword & sorcery, but with a definite female perspective which sets her apart from her contemporaries.

The atmosphere of these stories is fantastic! Well worth a read.

I found Moore's stories to be very good from an atmosphere perspective, and I think the characters take a back seat to the atmosphere in some of the stories.

It was a good read, but I didn't connect to the main character very much. I can usually connect with characters in other stories in the genre.

The cover art is very cool!

Skip the pathetically sexist introduction and dive straight in to some cracking good swords & sorcery tales. While Jirel of Joiry obviously earned her fame in conventional battle, the stories herein spread their net wider as she is called on to pit her wits against weird dimensions and their denizens... and ultimately her own nature.

You'll get what you expect from this. A light easy read of gold old fashioned sword and sorcery. I picked this up out of curiousity as I had never read C.L. Moore. Its nothing revolutionary but some solid writing and atmospheres.
And the whole cheesy crossover with Moore's other space character is a hoot (And I mean that in a good way). I recommend it. It won't make you reevaluate fantasy lit but it will remind you why you enjoy it.