Me reading most books: I’ll give it until page 100 to see if it’s grabbed me.
CL Moore: It is page 36 and I have sent my heroine to hell and back (literally, she crawled down a tube to Hell and bargained with a demon who borrowed her face) for a gloriously improbable weapon with which to destroy her enemy, and described Hell in phrases so pulpy and lurid that it’s a wonder they are not burning holes in the page.
Sadly once Jirel of Joiry has come back from Hell and murdered her nemesis, the next part sends her BACK to Hell to *rescue his soul* despite the first story being chock full of how much she loathed him, and he is now being referred to as "her love", eeew, this IS a collection of stories that are about ninety years old, and the second Jirel story sure was cranked out in a hurry compared to the times between the rest. It all feels kinda redundant though.
The third Jirel story in this book begins in the middle of her carving her way through an army like a total badass though, so I'm definitely in for more.
