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Northwest Smith

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Northwest Smith is a fictional character, and the hero of a series of stories by science fiction writer C. L. Moore.

Story setting

Smith is a spaceship pilot and smuggler who lives in an undisclosed future time when earth has colonized the solar system.

The stories are set in a milieu common to science fiction stories of the pulp era. All of the planets of the system are able to support life and have their own civilizations. Many of the intelligient races living on the planets have comparitively primitive cultures. The relationship of the planetary primitives to the earth colonists is analogous to the situation of Native Americans, Africans and other indigenous people facing colonialism. Exceptions to this rule are the planets Mars and Venus which Moore depicts as having ancient and decadent cultures. This general melieu was shared by a number of other writers, including Moore's friends Edmond Hamilton and Leigh Brackett.

Character description

Northwest Smith is an anti-hero who is ruthless, self-serving, and cynical. Despite this, he has a core of goodness and often does the right thing in spite of himself. His stories often involve ancient alien beings who have been worshipped as gods. This theme is similar to the tales of H.P. Lovecraft though, unlike Lovecraft's tales, Moore provides a hero who always manages to win out over hopeless odds. The classic Northwest Smith story is Shambleau in which Moore plays with themes of sexuality and addiction in Smith's encounter with a strange female alien.

The story Quest of the Starstone is also worth noting because it connects Smith with Moore's other most famous character, Jirel of Joiry.

There are some interesting parallels between Northwest Smith and Han Solo from the Star Wars series of movies. Smith's physical description as a dark haired man with "space bronzed" skin and pale eyes, who wears brown spacer's leathers and carries a blaster at his side like an old west gunfighter roughly fits Solo. Likewise, Smith's ship, the Maid is small and unspectacular but surprisingly fast and agile, like Solo's Millennium Falcon. Both men are cynical loners who smuggle spices and other goods for a living.

The name "Northwest Smith" also bears some resemblance to the name of Indiana Jones. Like Solo, Jones was created by George Lucas and played by Harrison Ford. Despite the similarities, Smith does not seem to have been an inspiration for either character.

Moore originally created Smith as a western character and kept the name when she switched to science fiction. She reportedly liked the absurdity of a character named "Northwest" in space, where compass points are meaningless.

Story Listing

The Northwest Smith stories include the following:

Northwest Smith stories appear in the following collections:

  • Northwest of Earth (1954): Dust of Gods, Julhi, Lost Paradise, The Cold Gray God, Yvala (collection also includes The Dark Land and Hellsgarde, two Jirel of Joiry stories)
  • Scarlet Dream (1981): Black Thirst, Dust of Gods, Julhi, Lost Paradise, Shambleau, The Cold Gray God, The Tree of Life, Yvala, Scarlet Dream, Song in a Minor Key
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