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Post by andydecker on Sept 19, 2023 8:40:21 GMT
Fritz Leiber - Swords' Masters (Science Fiction Book Club, 2004, hc, Reissue of the 1990 edition)  Cover: Dean Morrissey
Contents: Swords Against Wizardry (1968):
Author's Introduction (1974)
The West Walls of Stardock and Obelisk Polaris (map) Jeff Jones
In the Witch's Tent (1968)
Stardock (1965)
The Two Best Thieves in Lankhmar (1968)
The Lords of Quarmall (1964)
The Swords of Lankhmar (1968):
Author's Note
The Land of Nehwon (map) (1961) James Cawthorn
Swords and Ice Magic (1977):
The Sadness of the Executioner (1973)
Beauty and the Beasts (1974)
Trapped in the Shadowland (1973)
The Bait (1973)
Under the Thumbs of the Gods (1975)
Trapped in the Sea of Stars (1975)
The Frost Monstreme (1976)
Rime Isle (1977)
A SFBC book club edition as a small hardcover. This is a two book collection of the Swords material. As in other collections the last four stories of our heroes collected in The Knight and Knave of Swords in 1988 are missing. The only complete collection of all material (if ISFDB is to be believed) is acutally Gollancz The First Book of Lankhmar and The Second Book of Lankhmar in their Fantasy Masterworks imprint.
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Post by Michael Connolly on Sept 19, 2023 10:04:24 GMT
Fritz Leiber - Swords' Masters (Science Fiction Book Club, 2004, hc, Reissue of the 1990 edition) Cover: Dean Morrissey
Contents: Swords Against Wizardry (1968):
Author's Introduction (1974)
The West Walls of Stardock and Obelisk Polaris (map) Jeff Jones
In the Witch's Tent (1968)
Stardock (1965)
The Two Best Thieves in Lankhmar (1968)
The Lords of Quarmall (1964)
The Swords of Lankhmar (1968):
Author's Note
The Land of Nehwon (map) (1961) James Cawthorn
Swords and Ice Magic (1977):
The Sadness of the Executioner (1973)
Beauty and the Beasts (1974)
Trapped in the Shadowland (1973)
The Bait (1973)
Under the Thumbs of the Gods (1975)
Trapped in the Sea of Stars (1975)
The Frost Monstreme (1976)
Rime Isle (1977) A SFBC book club edition as a small hardcover. This is a two book collection of the Swords material. As in other collections the last four stories of our heroes collected in The Knight and Knave of Swords in 1988 are missing. The only complete collection of all material (if ISFDB is to be believed) is acutally Gollancz The First Book of Lankhmar and The Second Book of Lankhmar in their Fantasy Masterworks imprint. I have the two-volume Gollancz edition. In retrospect, I wish I had bought Swords Against Death only. |
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Post by Knygathin on Sept 19, 2023 11:57:57 GMT
Comparing this bland artwork with the original vibrant Jeff Jones paintings for the Ace paperbacks, there is a certain quality of magic missing. This dearth of magic in artwork seems to have become a solidly entrenched habit since after the 1980s.
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Post by andydecker on Sept 19, 2023 14:09:46 GMT
Comparing this bland artwork with the original vibrant Jeff Jones paintings for the Ace paperbacks, there is a certain quality of magic missing. This dearth of magic in artwork seems to have become a solidly entrenched habit since after the 1980s. Yeah, I also thought this cover very bland. The one for the first volume by the same artist is a bit better. I considered to scan some of the translations for this thread, but they used some of Moorcock's Bob Haberfield covers to give them the same look.
Leiber's Sword books have very uneven cover-art. The Jones' ones are among the best. A lot of artists made the IMHO error to try to picture Fafrhd and the Grey Mouser. In this case it can only result in failure.
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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on Sept 19, 2023 14:47:25 GMT
I'd be tempted to try fantasy fiction, but most of it seems Dungeons and Dragons film level rubbish. I'm sure there are good books out there, these sound interesting.
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Post by Michael Connolly on Sept 19, 2023 18:49:50 GMT
I'd be tempted to try fantasy fiction, but most of it seems Dungeons and Dragons film level rubbish. I'm sure there are good books out there, these sound interesting. I am rereading and would recommend in particular the short stories in Fritz Leiber's Swords Against Death. Predating Lord of the Rings and all of the mostly bad books that Tolkien inspired, they remain fresh and entertaining. |
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Post by andydecker on Sept 19, 2023 21:56:10 GMT
I am rereading and would recommend in particular the short stories in Fritz Leiber's Swords Against Death. Predating Lord of the Rings and all of the mostly bad books that Tolkien inspired, they remain fresh and entertaining. Now that you mention it, I never thought of that. LotR is such a presence in the field that I often forget that it was not written before the war, while Leiber began his series in 1939. I really have to reread it in the near future.
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Post by jamesdoig on Sept 20, 2023 7:12:11 GMT
I am rereading and would recommend in particular the short stories in Fritz Leiber's Swords Against Death. Predating Lord of the Rings and all of the mostly bad books that Tolkien inspired, they remain fresh and entertaining. Now that you mention it, I never thought of that. LotR is such a presence in the field that I often forget that it was not written before the war, while Leiber began his series in 1939. I really have to reread it in the near future.
I'd say Leiber's Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stuff is more derivative of Robert E. Howard. I reread all the Lankhmar stories a few years ago and they hold up well - my favourite is also Swords Against Death. |
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Post by andydecker on Sept 20, 2023 8:52:14 GMT
I'd say Leiber's Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stuff is more derivative of Robert E. Howard. I reread all the Lankhmar stories a few years ago and they hold up well - my favourite is also Swords Against Death. I meant the enduring influence that LotR had inside and especially outside the genre. It has become part of the pop culture, like Dracula or Sherlock Holmes. But I don't think a lot of the contemporary audience would even recognize the name of Leiber.
And he is derivative of Howard.
Swords against Death is indeed a bit of a 'best of' collection. I will post it later.
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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on Sept 20, 2023 11:21:12 GMT
I am rereading and would recommend in particular the short stories in Fritz Leiber's Swords Against Death. Predating Lord of the Rings and all of the mostly bad books that Tolkien inspired, they remain fresh and entertaining. It's on Archive so I will borrow it. Conjure Wife is there too, I believe it is highly regarded. Also The Silver Eggheads; on the cover it says it is "A hilarious peek into the publishing world of the future". |
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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on Sept 21, 2023 11:07:35 GMT
I'd say Leiber's Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stuff is more derivative of Robert E. Howard. I reread all the Lankhmar stories a few years ago and they hold up well - my favourite is also Swords Against Death. I meant the enduring influence that LotR had inside and especially outside the genre. It has become part of the pop culture, like Dracula or Sherlock Holmes. But I don't think a lot of the contemporary audience would even recognize the name of Leiber.
And he is derivative of Howard.
Swords against Death is indeed a bit of a 'best of' collection. I will post it later.
Were there stories like Conan before Howard? I'd guess the the stories were influenced by the Irish myth cycles. The name is Irish and appears in them. Also were there copies of Conan appearing in pulp magazines in Howard's fleeting lifetime? Were they popular enough to spawn them? |
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