Review of "The Charnel God" by Clark Ashton Smith

I've read several of Smith's works and his contributions always seem more akin to adventures than the usual fanfare of Lovecraft. Perhaps that was what Lovecraft enjoyed about Smith, a change in perspective. Lovecraft's own stories are more about trips into an insane world while Smith's remind me of the scifi adventures of the time. The Charnel God is of the Zothique cycle and takes place on the last continent on Earth with the same name. It follows Phariom who tries to rescue his unconscious bride Elaith from the hands of the story's namesake Mordighian. I enjoyed the imagery Smith's paints from the robbed ghouls in their purple robes and silver skull masks to the ordinary people who are impossible to differentiate their sex due to their robes. There's a rich, futuristic world here, where mankind has forgotten all the technologies we've made and reverted to the age of horses and camels. As Phariom tries to find his bride he sees his wife's near doppelganger. A dead princess named Arctela is carried through the streets which leads him to the temple of the Charnel God. Again, Smith peppers in lore when Pharoim hears how the princess was likely poisoned and is being sought by the priest Aenon-tha. The priest manages to steal Arctela and Elaith from the temple with Pharoim following them. Aenon-tha prepares a spell to make Arctela his slave and to resurrect Elaith for some reason. I didn't get why the magician wanted Elaith. Was it because they confused the two? It's never explained. Pharoim prepares himself to fight the priest and his followers just as his wis wife wakes up. Again, it's never explained why his wife has this disease that makes her unconscious. There feels like a lot of loose ends in this story. Ghouls burst into the room as the charnel god swallows up Arctela. There's barely a description of Mordiggian besides that he's a towering mass of shadows and large, "like a dragon." Elaith and Pharoim are spared as the ghouls deal with Aenon-tha for stealing from their god.

As I said earlier, this feels more like an adventure than a horror story. To be honest I'm not sure what Lovecraft enjoyed about Smith's contributions. I could be missing something but I feel there are other authors who do a better job of adding to the Eldritch universe. It feels like a story without a moral. Many aspects like Pharoim's journey through the city are skipped over while a single room in the temple is given great detail. Its like Smith avoided certain parts either to keep the story short or because he didn't have the imagination for them. Lovecraft knew where (usually) where to expand and where to contract a narrative.