Fritz Leiber Resident Scholar Profiles TOP SCHOLAR: Charles Smyth SCHOLARS:
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Review Summaries
"A writer, Franz Westen, falls prey to a curse put upon another - Clark Ashton Smith - by the long dead founder of Megapolisomancy, Thibaut de Castries. This is the consequence of three chance happenings: (1) Buying a second-hand book inside of which Thibaut de Castries has secreted a text between lightly gummed together pages. (2) Residing at 607 Rhodes, a room in an apartment building that had been lived in by Thibaut de Castries and frequented by Clark Ashton Smith. And concealed within the walls of which is hidden another text, ‘The Fifty Cipher'. (3) The viewing of a brown robed figure on the peak of Corona heights - a hilltop directly in front of Franz Westen's living room window. For Franz Westen this episode will prove to be even more weird than the ‘Weird Underground' TV episodes he converts into short stories. "
Charles Smyth, Resident Fritz Leiber Scholar
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Overall Review
Our unique search engine breaks down books and movies into
dozens of literary elements, all of which are searchable.
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book
- very upbeat
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION?
- fantasy world/fantasy past
Romance
Yes
Tech./$$$/Info hunt
Yes
Stealing/recovering/destroying
- weapon
- info about lifeform(s)/society/phenomena
Mental/magical powers focus
Yes
Inner Struggle
Yes
Plotlet:
- fighting a personal illness/handicap
- search for identity/new understanding
War or Invasion
Yes
Major kinds of combat:
- hand to hand
- mental powers battles
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- writer
Age:
- 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- druggie/wino disease
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 60's-90's
Profession/status:
- mastermind
Has magical powers?
Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist:
- telekinesis
- mind control
- can see into the future
- can cast all sorts of spells
Eccentric:
Yes
- eccentric
- obsessed
- emotionally unstable
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- an average amount
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
Earth setting:
- 20th century
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Style
Person?
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
scientific jargon? (SF only)
- some scientific explanation
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references only
How much dialogue?
- significantly more descript than dialog
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