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Our Lady of Darkness
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Plot Summary of Our Lady of Darkness
"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 Scholar



Review Analysis of Our Lady of Darkness
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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
Most similar books to Our Lady of Darkness
Caught In Crystal by Patricia C. Wrede
The Thirteenth Scroll by Rebecca Neason
Child of Night by Nancy Kilpatrick
Archangel by Sharon Shinn
The Paladin by C.J. Cherryh


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Fritz Leiber Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Charles Smyth  

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