The rich description is peppered with a bit more action than the previous stories. Unable to engage in direct combat with the purple-eyed serpent and other creatures she encounters, Jirel still stands strong in barking defiance of her uncanny opponent. Jirel Meets Magic sends Jirel again through a magical portal, this time in pursuit of a wizard that has been plaguing the countryside. Both stories rely on extensive description, sometimes to their detriment, as the pacing drags with Jirel’s reflections upon the shiny alternate world. Perhaps an early example of Stockholm syndrome, Jirel inexplicably professes her love for Guillaume, and journeys to free his tortured spirit. The Black God’s Shadow serves as a companion story, as Jirel returns to the same phantasmagorical land to assuage the guilt of her revenge. The corpse-like face of a green moon shines down on a glittery world that would be a perfect match for a soundtrack composed by Pink Floyd. The origin of the castle’s portal remains unclear, as does Jirel’s conviction regarding the existence of a hidden weapon, but her passage allows for a psychedelic travelogue across a technicolor fantasy landscape. Humiliated by Guillaume, Jirel is convinced that the other realm contains a weapon that will facilitate her revenge.
Jirel escapes through the dungeon of her castle, where a mysterious portal leads to another dimension. In Black God’s Kiss, Jirel’s domain is conquered by the malicious–but somehow fatally attractive–Guillaume. Originally published in Weird Tales magazine in the thirties, this collection of sword-and-sorcery tales features a red-haired female equivalent to Conan the Barbarian, but also forgoes much action to lean heavily into the weird.
Moore | Paperback Library | 1969 (first published 1934) | 175 pages
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