It’s been a while since I’ve delved into High Fantasy. This type of fiction is the legacy of J.R.R. Tolkien – fantasy tales with an epic scope set in a world of elves, dwarves, and men. It’s the fantasy I grew up with crafted by Tolkien’s successors: Terry Brooks, David Eddings, Robert Jordan, and, more…
Amazon’s bestseller list for fantasy fiction has long featured books by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, all about his now-famous character called The Witcher. For years, I passed on those books, but once Netflix brought The Witcher to TV, I decided I had to see what all the hype was about. It still took a while,…
When I read all of Michael Moorcock’s Elric novels in the early ‘80s, The Fortress of the Pearl was not part of the story. It wasn’t published in the U.S. until 1989, but I missed it. I only learned about it when I began re-reading the Elric books as part of my recent foray into…
This month, my new novella, Hela’s Bane, is being featured in a BookFunnel promotion called “Witch’s Brew.” All the featured stories involve witches or witchcraft of some type in a mix of genres, from urban fantasy to epic fantasy, paranormal romance, historical fantasy (like Hela’s Bane), and some dark fantasy too. But best of all, they’re…
The Stand miniseries wrapped up last week with the series’ best episode, in my opinion. The episode was an extended epilogue written by Stephen King for the show. It ties to the book’s epilogue, but it’s really a story about Fran Goldsmith and how she finally had to make a stand. I only wish the…
Finally, with The Swords of Lankhmar, I’ve discovered a complete novel about Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser instead of a collection of novellas and short stories! Apparently, this is the only novel Fritz Leiber ever wrote about his famous pair of rascally rogues, which makes this book unique among the series. And fortunately, it’s one…
Fritz Leiber’s stories about Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser have kept me coming back for more. So this week, I’m exploring Swords Against Wizardry. As soon as I finished the underwhelming Swords In The Mist, I dove into the fourth book in the series. More so than any of the books since Swords And Deviltry,…
My recent foray into the works of Fritz Leiber inspired me to re-read one of my favorite fantasy series of all time. So, this weekend I dove into Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné. I grew up on Elric. There was no hero more complex, more tragic, or more dangerous than he was. Elric is a…
My foray into the vintage fantasy of Fritz Leiber continues with Swords In The Mist. And while I’ve enjoyed my time with Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, I found Swords In The Mist to be the weakest of the first three books in the series. Like the first two books, Swords In The Mist is…
Swords Against Death is not a novel but rather a collection of ten short stories that Lieber authored between 1939 and 1970 (most were written in the 1940s) about his famous characters, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.
Of all the titans of fantasy fiction I read growing up – Howard, Moorcock, Eddings, Tolkien – Fritz Leiber was not among them. I knew of his most famous characters, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, yet somehow I never got around to reading any of his books. But when I discovered earlier this year that…