James Branch Cabell

[Sand]

A new website for the American master of ornate and ironic fantasy, James Branch Cabell, author of Jurgen and The Cream of the Jest has just been launched: The Silver Stallion. It aims to offer a new bibliography of Cabell's works and works about him, a picture gallery, notes and essays on Cabell and related topics, reprints from the classic Cabell journals "Kalki" and "The Cabellian", book reviews, a discussion forum and more. The website welcomes contributions from readers.

[Michael]

Thank you so much for this info. Cabell, although an acquired taste for a great many, is an incredible writer. I think his most underrated aspect is his wit; he's actually a pretty funny writer. I'm very glad there's another source of Cabell discussion so thank you for bringing this to light.

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

I've been looking around this site a bit but as with every other time I've tried to research Cabell I haven't been able to find if his books are standalone, because I've seen a suggested sequence in a few places. Also which books are best for the fantastical elements.
I've seen Beyond Life being called the best but also heard it is not for the newcomer.

In my search on this forum it seems Rhys Hughes is a big fan but I don't think he has been around here for a while.

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

After more looking around it seems that most Cabell books do stand alone but are often connected in some way.

Consensus seems to highlight..

Nightmare Has Triplets (trilogy)
Witch Woman (trilogy)
High Place
Cream Of The Jest
Jurgen
Figures Of Earth
Silver Stallion
Something About Eve
Beyond Life (essays)
Straws And Prayer Books (essays)

[Michael]

My understanding was that the order Cabell preferred was the sequence in the Storisende Edition. As a result, there is a loose connection (The Biography of Dom Manuel) but the majority of books stand alone and can be read without the others. So, to oversimplify, it is similar to King's Castle Rock books (very loose, unnecessary to understand the other books connection) rather than Lovecraft's Mythos works where each story stands independently but the connection is fairly strong and connects heavily to the others. Don't know if that helps.