Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. ( ; December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theater and films, playwright, and
chess expert. With writers such as
Robert E. Howard
Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906June 11, 1936) was an American writer. He wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. He is well known for his character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subge ...
and
Michael Moorcock
Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English people, English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy fiction, fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic nov ...
, Leiber is one of the fathers of
sword and sorcery
Sword and sorcery (S&S) is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy, the ...
and coined the term.
Life
Fritz Leiber was born December 24, 1910, in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
, to the actors
Fritz Leiber
Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. ( ; December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theater and films, playwright, and chess expert. With writers such as Robert ...
and Virginia Bronson Leiber. For a time, he seemed inclined to follow in his parents' footsteps; the theater and actors feature in his fiction. He spent 1928 touring with his parents'
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
company (Fritz Leiber & Co.) before entering the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
, where he was elected to
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
and received an undergraduate
Ph.B.
Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil, BPh, or PhB; la, Baccalaureus Philosophiae or ) is the title of an academic degree that usually involves considerable research, either through a thesis or supervised research projects. Unlike many other bachelor's ...
degree in
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
and
physiology
Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemic ...
or
biology
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditar ...
with honors in 1932. From 1932 to 1933, he worked as a
lay reader
In Anglicanism, a licensed lay minister (LLM) or lay reader (in some jurisdictions simply reader) is a person authorised by a bishop to lead certain services of worship (or parts of the service), to preach and to carry out pastoral and teaching ...
and studied as a candidate for the ministry, without taking a degree, at the
General Theological Seminary
The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (GTS) is an Episcopal seminary in New York City. Founded in 1817, GTS is the oldest seminary of the Episcopal Church and the longest continuously operating Seminary in the Anglican Commu ...
in
Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The area's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, the Hudson River and West Street to the west, and Sixth Avenue to the east, with its nort ...
, an affiliate of the
Episcopal Church.
After pursuing graduate studies in
philosophy at the University of Chicago from 1933 to 1934 and again not taking a degree, he remained in Chicago while touring under the stage name of "Francis Lathrop" intermittently with his parents' company and pursuing a literary career. Six short stories later included in the 2010 collection ''Strange Wonders: A Collection of Rare Fritz Leiber Works'' carry 1934 and 1935 dates. He also appeared alongside his father in uncredited parts in
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head of ...
's ''
Camille'' (1936),
James Whale
James Whale (22 July 1889 – 29 May 1957) was an English film director, theatre director and actor, who spent the greater part of his career in Hollywood. He is best remembered for several horror films: ''Frankenstein'' (1931), '' The Old ...
's ''
The Great Garrick
''The Great Garrick'' is a 1937 American historical comedy film directed by James Whale and starring Brian Aherne, Olivia de Havilland, and Edward Everett Horton. The film also features Lionel Atwill, Luis Alberni, Melville Cooper, and future s ...
'' (1937), and
William Dieterle
William Dieterle (July 15, 1893 – December 9, 1972) was a German-born actor and film director who emigrated to the United States in 1930 to leave a worsening political situation. He worked in Hollywood primarily as a director for much of his ...
's ''
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (french: Notre-Dame de Paris, translation=''Our Lady of Paris'', originally titled ''Notre-Dame de Paris. 1482'') is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It focuses on the unfortunate story of ...
'' (1939).
In 1936, he initiated a brief, intense correspondence with
H. P. Lovecraft, who "encouraged and influenced
eiber'sliterary development" before Lovecraft died in March 1937.
Leiber introduced
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are two sword-and-sorcery heroes appearing in stories written by American author Fritz Leiber. They are the protagonists of what are probably Leiber's best-known stories. One of his motives in writing them was to have ...
in "Two Sought Adventure", his first professionally published short story in the August 1939 edition of ''
Unknown
Unknown or The Unknown may refer to:
Film
* ''The Unknown'' (1915 comedy film), a silent boxing film
* ''The Unknown'' (1915 drama film)
* ''The Unknown'' (1927 film), a silent horror film starring Lon Chaney
* ''The Unknown'' (1936 film), a ...
'', edited by
John W. Campbell
John Wood Campbell Jr. (June 8, 1910 – July 11, 1971) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He was editor of ''Astounding Science Fiction'' (later called ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'') from late 1937 until his death ...
.
[Anderson, Poul (1974), "The Wizard of Nehwon", ''The Best of Fritz Leiber'', NY: Doubleday, pp. vii–xv.]
Leiber married Jonquil Stephens on January 16, 1936. Their only child, philosopher and science fiction writer
Justin Leiber
Justin Fritz Leiber (July 8, 1938 – March 22, 2016) was an American philosopher and science fiction writer. He was the son of fantasy, horror and science fiction author Fritz Leiber and the grandson of stage and film actor Fritz Leiber, Sr. Pr ...
, was born in 1938. From 1937 to 1941, Fritz Leiber was employed by Consolidated Book Publishing as a staff writer for the ''Standard American Encyclopedia''. In 1941, the family moved to California, where Leiber served as a speech and drama instructor at
Occidental College
Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldes ...
during the 1941–1942 academic year.
Unable to conceal his disdain for academic politics as the United States entered
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, he decided that the struggle against
fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and th ...
mattered more than his long-held
pacifist
Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaig ...
convictions. He accepted a position with
Douglas Aircraft
The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas; it then operated as a ...
in quality inspection, primarily working on the
C-47 Skytrain
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained ...
. Throughout the war, he continued to regularly publish fiction.
[
Thereafter, the family returned to Chicago, where Leiber served as associate editor of '' Science Digest'' from 1945 to 1956. During this decade (forestalled by a fallow interregnum from 1954 to 1956), his output (including the 1947 ]Arkham House
Arkham House is an American publishing house specializing in weird fiction. It was founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish hardcover collections of H. P. Lovecraft's best works, which ha ...
anthology ''Night's Black Agents
''Night's Black Agents'' is a collection of fantasy and horror short stories by American writer Fritz Leiber. It was released in 1947 and was the author's first book. The book's title is taken from ''Macbeth'', Act III, scene ii. It was publish ...
'') was characterized by Poul Anderson
Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until the 21st century. Anderson wrote also historical novels. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and ...
as "a lot of the best science fiction and fantasy in the business". In 1958, the Leibers returned to Los Angeles. By then, he could afford to relinquish his journalistic career and support his family as a full-time fiction writer.[
]
Jonquil's death in 1969 precipitated Leiber's permanent relocation to San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
and exacerbated his longstanding alcoholism
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...
after twelve years of fellowship in Alcoholics Anonymous. He gradually regained sobriety, an effort impeded by comorbid barbiturate
Barbiturates are a class of depressant drugs that are chemically derived from barbituric acid. They are effective when used medically as anxiolytics, hypnotics, and anticonvulsants, but have physical and psychological addiction potential as ...
abuse, over the next two decades. Perhaps as a result of his substance abuse, Leiber seems to have suffered periods of penury in the 1970s; Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. Robert Bloch, the author of ''Psycho'', ...
wrote of his anger at finding that the much-awarded Leiber had to write his novels on a manual typewriter propped up over the sink in his apartment. Marc Laidlaw
Marc Laidlaw (born August 3, 1960) is an American writer of science fiction and horror, musician, and a former writer for the video game company Valve. He is most famous for working on Valve's ''Half-Life'' series.
Biography
Laidlaw was ...
wrote that, when visiting Leiber as a fan in 1976, he "was shocked to find him occupying one small room of a seedy San Francisco residence hotel, its squalor relieved mainly by walls of books". Other reports suggest that Leiber preferred to live simply in the city, spending his money on dining, movies, and travel. In the last years of his life, royalty checks from TSR, Inc.
TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had been ...
(the makers of ''Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (T ...
'', who had licensed the mythos of the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series) were enough in themselves to ensure that he lived comfortably. In 1977, he returned to his original form with a fantasy novel set in modern-day San Francisco, ''Our Lady of Darkness
''Our Lady of Darkness'' (1977) is an urban fantasy novel by American author Fritz Leiber. The novel is distinguished for three elements: the heavily autobiographical elements in the story, the use of Jungian psychology that informs the narrati ...
'', which is about a writer of weird tales who must deal with the death of his wife and his recovery from alcoholism.
In 1992, the last year of his life, Leiber married his second wife, Margo Skinner, a journalist and poet with whom he had been friends for years. Leiber died a few weeks after a physical collapse while traveling from a science fiction convention in London, Ontario
London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximat ...
, with Skinner. His cause of death was a stroke.
He wrote a 100-page-plus memoir, ''Not Much Disorder and Not So Early Sex'', which can be found in ''The Ghost Light'' (1984).
Leiber's own literary criticism, including several essays on Lovecraft, was collected in the volume ''Fafhrd and Me'' (1990).
Theater
As the child of two Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
an actors, Leiber was fascinated with the stage, describing itinerant Shakespearean companies in stories like "No Great Magic" and "Four Ghosts in Hamlet", and creating an actor/producer protagonist for his novel ''A Specter is Haunting Texas
''A Specter is Haunting Texas'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Fritz Leiber, first published as a novel in 1969. It was originally published as a three-part serial in the magazine ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' in 1968. The title appe ...
''.
Although his ''Change War'' novel, '' The Big Time'', is about a war between two factions, the "Snakes" and the "Spiders", changing and rechanging history throughout the universe, all the action takes place in a small bubble of isolated space-time
In physics, spacetime is a mathematical model that combines the three dimensions of space and one dimension of time into a single four-dimensional manifold. Spacetime diagrams can be used to visualize relativistic effects, such as why differe ...
the size of a theatrical stage, and with only a handful of characters. Judith Merril
Judith Josephine Grossman (January 21, 1923 – September 12, 1997), who took the pen-name Judith Merril around 1945, was an American and then Canadian science fiction writer, editor and political activist, and one of the first women to be wid ...
(in the July 1969 issue of ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'') remarks on Leiber's acting skills when the writer won a science fiction convention costume ball. Leiber's costume consisted of a cardboard military collar over turned-up jacket lapels, cardboard insignia, an armband, and a spider pencilled large in black on his forehead, thus turning him into an officer of the Spiders, one of the combatants in his Change War stories. "The only other component," Merril writes, "was the Leiber instinct for theatre."
Films
The similarity of the names of the father and the son caused some filmographies to incorrectly attribute to Fritz Jr. roles which were in fact played by his father, Fritz Leiber Sr., who was the evil Inquisitor in the Errol Flynn adventure film '' The Sea Hawk'' (1940) and had played in many other movies from 1917 to the late 1950s. It is the elder Leiber, not the younger, who appears in the Vincent Price vehicle ''The Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web s ...
'' (1947) and in Charlie Chaplin's ''Monsieur Verdoux
''Monsieur Verdoux'' is a 1947 American black comedy film directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin, who plays a bigamist wife killer inspired by serial killer Henri Désiré Landru. The supporting cast includes Martha Raye, William Frawley, ...
'' (1947).
The younger Leiber can be seen briefly as Valentin in the 1936 film version of '' Camille'' starring Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragic c ...
, probably his most widely-seen film performance. In the cult horror film ''Equinox
A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears zenith, directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" ...
'' (1970) directed by Dennis Muren
Dennis Muren, A.S.C (born November 1, 1946) is an American film visual effects artist and supervisor. He has worked on the films of George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and James Cameron, among others, and has won nine Oscars in total: eight for Be ...
and Jack Woods, Leiber has a cameo appearance as a geologist, Dr. Watermann. In the edited second version of the movie, Leiber has no spoken dialogue but appears in a few scenes. The original version of the movie has a longer appearance by Leiber recounting the ancient book and a brief speaking role; all were cut from the re-release.
He also appears as Chavez in the 1979 Schick Sunn Classics documentary ''The Bermuda Triangle'', based on the book by Charles Berlitz
Charles Frambach Berlitz (November 22, 1913 – December 18, 2003) was an American polyglot, language teacher and writer, known for his language-learning courses and his books on paranormal phenomena.
Life
Berlitz was born in New York City. He wa ...
.
Writing career
Leiber was heavily influenced by H. P. Lovecraft, Robert Graves, John Webster
John Webster (c. 1580 – c. 1632) was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies ''The White Devil'' and '' The Duchess of Malfi'', which are often seen as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. His life and ca ...
, and Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
in the first two decades of his career. Beginning in the late 1950s, he was increasingly influenced by the works of Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, phil ...
, particularly by the concepts of the anima
Anima may refer to:
Animation
* Ánima (company), a Mexican animation studio founded in 2002
* Córdoba International Animation Festival – ANIMA, in Argentina
Religion and philosophy
* Animism, the belief that objects, places, and creatur ...
and the shadow
A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette ...
. In the mid-1960s, he began incorporating elements of Joseph Campbell's ''The Hero with a Thousand Faces
''The Hero with a Thousand Faces'' (first published in 1949) is a work of comparative mythology by Joseph Campbell, in which the author discusses his theory of the mythological structure of the journey of the archetypal hero found in world myths ...
''. These concepts are often mentioned in his stories, especially the anima, which becomes a method of exploring his fascination with, but estrangement from, the female.
Leiber liked cats, which are featured in many of his stories. Tigerishka, for example, is a cat-like alien who is sexually attractive to the human protagonist yet repelled by human customs in the novel ''The Wanderer''. Leiber's "Gummitch" stories feature a kitten with an I.Q. of 160, just waiting for his ritual cup of coffee so that he can become human, too.
His first stories in the 1930s and 40s were inspired by Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, to identify ...
. A notable critic and historian of the wider Mythos, S. T. Joshi, has singled out Leiber's "The Sunken Land" (''Unknown Worlds'', February 1942) as the most accomplished of the early stories based on Lovecraft's Mythos. Leiber also later wrote several essays on Lovecraft the man, such as "A Literary Copernicus" (1949), the publication of which formed a key moment in the emergence of a serious critical appreciation of Lovecraft's life and work.
Leiber's first professional sale was "Two Sought Adventure" (''Unknown'', August 1939), which introduced his most famous characters, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. In 1943, his first two novels were serialized in ''Unknown'' (the supernatural horror-oriented '' Conjure Wife'', inspired by his experiences on the faculty of Occidental College) and ''Astounding Science Fiction
''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...
'' (''Gather, Darkness'').
1947 marked the publication of his first book, ''Night's Black Agents
''Night's Black Agents'' is a collection of fantasy and horror short stories by American writer Fritz Leiber. It was released in 1947 and was the author's first book. The book's title is taken from ''Macbeth'', Act III, scene ii. It was publish ...
'', a short story collection containing seven stories grouped as 'Modern Horrors', one as a 'Transition', and two grouped as 'Ancient Adventures': "The Sunken Land" and "Adept's Gambit", which are both stories of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.
The science fiction novel ''Gather, Darkness'' followed in 1950. It deals with a futuristic world that follows the Second Atomic Age which is ruled by scientists, until in the throes of a new Dark Age, the witches revolt.
In 1951, Leiber was Guest of Honor at the World Science Fiction Convention in New Orleans. Further novels followed during the 1950s, and in 1958 '' The Big Time'' won the Hugo Award for Best Novel
The Hugo Award for Best Novel is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published in, or translated to, English during the previous calendar year. The novel award is available for works of fiction of 40,00 ...
.[
Leiber continued to publish in the 1960s. His novel '' The Wanderer'' (1964) also won the Hugo for Best Novel.][ In the novel, an artificial planet nicknamed the Wanderer materializes from hyperspace within earth's orbit. The Wanderer's gravitational field captures the moon and shatters it into something like one of Saturn's rings. On Earth, the Wanderer's gravity well triggers earthquakes, tsunamis, and tidal phenomena. The multi-threaded plot follows the exploits of an ensemble cast as they struggle to survive the global disaster.
In the same period, Leiber published "Black Gondolier", a short story in which a protagonist uncovers a cosmic conspiracy in which oil from ancient fossils preys upon human beings and human civilizations. Leiber received the ]Hugo Award for Best Novella
The Hugo Award for Best Novella is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The novella award is available for works of fiction of between ...
in 1970 and 1971 for "Ship of Shadows" (1969) and " Ill Met in Lankhmar" (1970). "Gonna Roll the Bones
"Gonna Roll the Bones" is a fantasy novelette by American writer Fritz Leiber, in which a character plays craps with Death. First published in Harlan Ellison's '' Dangerous Visions'', it won both the Hugo Award and Nebula Award for Best Novelette.
...
" (1967), his contribution to Harlan Ellison's ''Dangerous Visions
''Dangerous Visions'' is a science fiction short story anthology edited by American writer Harlan Ellison and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. It was published in 1967.
A path-breaking collection, ''Dangerous Visions'' helped define the New ...
'' anthology, won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette
The Hugo Award for Best Novelette is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The novelette award is available for works of fiction of ...
and the Nebula Award for Best Novelette
The Nebula Award for Best Novelette is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) to a science fiction or fantasy novelette. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a novelette if it is between 7,50 ...
in 1968.[
''Our Lady of Darkness'' (1977), originally serialized in short form in '']The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence E. Spivak, Lawrence Spiva ...
'' under the title "The Pale Brown Thing" (1977), featured cities as the breeding grounds for new types of elemental
An elemental is a mythic being that is described in occult and alchemical works from around the time of the European Renaissance, and particularly elaborated in the 16th century works of Paracelsus. According to Paracelsus and his subsequent fol ...
s called paramentals, summonable by the dark art of megapolisomancy, with such activities centering on the Transamerica Pyramid
The Transamerica Pyramid is a 48-story futurist skyscraper in San Francisco, California, United States, and the second tallest building in the San Francisco skyline. Located at 600 Montgomery Street between Clay and Washington Streets in the ci ...
. Its main characters include Franz Westen, Jaime Donaldus Byers, and the magician Thibault de Castries. ''Our Lady of Darkness'' won the World Fantasy Award—Novel
The World Fantasy Awards are given each year by the World Fantasy Convention for the best fantasy fiction published in English during the previous calendar year. The awards have been described by book critics such as ''The Guardian'' as a "presti ...
.[
Leiber also wrote the 1966 novelization of the ]Clair Huffaker
Clair Huffaker (September 26, 1926 – April 3, 1990) was an American screenwriter and author of westerns and other fiction, many of which were turned into films.
Biography
Born in Magna, Utah, Huffaker wrote of his childhood in ''One Time I ...
screenplay of ''Tarzan and the Valley of Gold
''Tarzan and the Valley of Gold'' is a 1966 Eastmancolor adventure film starring Mike Henry in his debut as Tarzan. The Panavision film, produced by Sy Weintraub, written by Clair Huffaker, and directed by Robert Day, is remembered for its v ...
''.
Many of Leiber's most acclaimed works are short stories, especially in the horror genre. Owing to such stories as "The Smoke Ghost", "The Girl With the Hungry Eyes", and "You're All Alone" (later expanded as ''The Sinful Ones''), he is one of the forerunners of the modern urban horror story. Leiber also challenged the conventions of science fiction through reflexive narratives such as "A Bad Day For Sales" (first published in ''Galaxy Science Fiction'', July 1953), in which the protagonist, Robie, "America’s only genuine mobile salesrobot", references the title character of Isaac Asimov's idealistic robot story, "Robbie". Questioning Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics
The Three Laws of Robotics (often shortened to The Three Laws or known as Asimov's Laws) are a set of rules devised by science fiction author Isaac Asimov. The rules were introduced in his 1942 short story " Runaround" (included in the 1950 colle ...
, Leiber imagines the futility of automatons in a post-apocalyptic New York City. In his later years, Leiber returned to short story horror in such works as "Horrible Imaginings", "Black Has Its Charms" and the award-winning "The Button Moulder".
The short parallel worlds story "Catch That Zeppelin! "Catch That Zeppelin!" is a 1975 alternate history short story by American writer Fritz Leiber. It was first published in ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction''.
Synopsis
When Fritz Leiber sees a Zeppelin moored at the Empire State Buildin ...
" (1975) won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story
The Hugo Award for Best Short Story is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The short story award is available for works of fiction of ...
and the Nebula Award for Best Short Story
The Nebula Award for Best Short Story is a literary award assigned each year by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy short stories. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a short sto ...
in 1976.[ It presents an alternate reality much better than our own, as opposed to the usual parallel universe story depicting a world worse than our own. "Belsen Express" (1975) won the ]World Fantasy Award—Short Fiction
The World Fantasy Awards are given each year by the World Fantasy Convention for the best fantasy fiction published in English during the previous calendar year. The awards have been described by book critics such as ''The Guardian'' as a "presti ...
. Both stories reflect Leiber's uneasy fascination with Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
, an uneasiness compounded by his mixed feelings about his German ancestry and his philosophical pacifism during World War II.
Leiber was named the second Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy by participants in the 1975 World Science Fiction Convention
Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during ...
(Worldcon), after the posthumous inaugural award to J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...
.[ Next year he won the ]World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
.[ He was Guest of Honor at the 1979 Worldcon in Brighton, England (1979). The ]Science Fiction Writers of America
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. Whil ...
made him its fifth SFWA Grand Master
The Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award is a lifetime honor presented annually by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) to no more than one living writer of fantasy or science fiction. It was inaugurated in 1975 when Robe ...
in 1981;[ the ]Horror Writers Association
The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is a worldwide non-profit organization of professional writers and publishing professionals dedicated to promoting the interests of Horror and Dark fantasy writers.
Overview
HWA was formed in 1985 with t ...
made him an inaugural winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement
The Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement annually recognizes one to three living artists for "superior achievement in an entire career" which has "substantially influenced the horror genre". It is conferred by the Horror Writers Association ...
in 1988 (named in 1987);[ and the ]Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame
The Museum of Pop Culture or MoPOP is a nonprofit museum in Seattle, Washington, dedicated to contemporary popular culture. It was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000 as the Experience Music Project. Since then MoPOP has organized ...
inducted him in 2001, its sixth class of two deceased and two living writers.[
Leiber was a founding member of the ]Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America
The Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America or SAGA was an informal group of American fantasy authors active from the 1960s through the 1980s, noted for their contributions to the "Sword and Sorcery" kind of heroic fantasy, itself a subgenre o ...
(SAGA), a loose-knit group of Heroic fantasy
Heroic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy in which events occur in a world where magic is prevalent and modern technology is nonexistent. The setting may be entirely fictitious in nature or based upon Earth with some additions. Unlike dark fiction ...
authors founded in the 1960s and led by Lin Carter
Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. L ...
. Some works by SAGA members were published in Lin Carter
Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. L ...
's '' Flashing Swords!'' anthologies. Leiber himself is credited with inventing the term sword and sorcery
Sword and sorcery (S&S) is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy, the ...
for the particular subgenre of epic fantasy exemplified by his Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stories.
In an appreciation in the July 1969 "Special Fritz Leiber Issue" of ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', Judith Merril
Judith Josephine Grossman (January 21, 1923 – September 12, 1997), who took the pen-name Judith Merril around 1945, was an American and then Canadian science fiction writer, editor and political activist, and one of the first women to be wid ...
writes of Leiber's connection with his readers: "That this kind of ''personal'' response...is shared by thousands of other readers, has been made clear on several occasions." The November 1959 issue of ''Fantastic
The fantastic (french: le fantastique) is a subgenre of literary works characterized by the ambiguous presentation of seemingly supernatural forces.
Bulgarian-French structuralist literary critic Tzvetan Todorov originated the concept, characte ...
'', for instance: Leiber had just come out of one of his recurrent dry spells, and editor Cele Lalli bought up all his new material until there was enough ive storiesto fill an issue; the magazine came out with a big black headline across its cover — ''Leiber Is Back!''
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
His legacy has been consolidated by his most famous creations, the ''Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser'' stories, written over a span of 50 years. The first, "Two Sought Adventure", appeared in ''Unknown
Unknown or The Unknown may refer to:
Film
* ''The Unknown'' (1915 comedy film), a silent boxing film
* ''The Unknown'' (1915 drama film)
* ''The Unknown'' (1927 film), a silent horror film starring Lon Chaney
* ''The Unknown'' (1936 film), a ...
'', August 1939. The stories are about an unlikely pair of heroes found in and around the city of Lankhmar
Lankhmar is a fictional city in the ''Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser'' stories by Fritz Leiber. It is situated on the world of Nehwon, just west of the Great Salt Marsh and east of the River Hlal, and serves as the home of Leiber's two antiheroes ...
. Fafhrd was based on Leiber himself and the Mouser on his friend Harry Otto Fischer, and the two characters were created in a series of letters exchanged by the two in the mid-1930s. These stories were among the progenitors of many of the tropes
Trope or tropes may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept
* Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device
* Trope (music), any of a variety of different things ...
of sword and sorcery
Sword and sorcery (S&S) is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy, the ...
. They are also notable among sword and sorcery stories in that, over the course of the stories, his two heroes mature, take on more responsibilities, and eventually settle down into marriage.
Some Fafhrd and Mouser stories were recognized by annual genre awards: "Scylla's Daughter" (1961) was "Short Story" Hugo finalist, and "Ill Met in Lankhmar" (1970) won the "Best Novella" Hugo and Nebula Awards.[ Leiber's last major work, ''The Knight and Knave of Swords'' (1991), closed out the series while leaving room for possible sequels. In his last year, Leiber considered allowing other writers to continue the series, but his sudden death made this more difficult. One new Fafhrd and the Mouser novel, '' Swords Against the Shadowland'', by ]Robin Wayne Bailey
Robin Wayne Bailey (born 1952) is an American writer of speculative fiction, both fantasy and science fiction. He is a founder of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame (1996) and a past president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Americ ...
, appeared in 1998.
The stories influenced the shaping of sword and sorcery and other works. Joanna Russ
Joanna Russ (February 22, 1937 – April 29, 2011) was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as '' How to Suppress Women's Writing'', a ...
' stories about thief-assassin Alyx (collected in 1976 in ''The Adventures of Alyx
''The Adventures of Alyx'' is a 1976 collection of feminist science fiction stories by American writer Joanna Russ, initially entitled ''Alyx'' by Gregg Press in hardback without a dustjacket. It was published in 1983 with the title ''The Adventure ...
'') were in part inspired by Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, and Alyx made guest appearances in two of Leiber's stories. Numerous writers have paid homage to the stories. For instance, Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comic fantasy, comical works. He is best known for his ''Discworld'' series of 41 novels.
Pratchet ...
's city of Ankh-Morpork
Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state which features prominently in Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' fantasy novels.
Overview
Pratchett describes Ankh-Morpork as the biggest city in Discworld and its corrupt mercantile capital.
In '' The Art ...
bears something more than a passing resemblance to Lankhmar (acknowledged by Pratchett by the placing of the swordsman-thief "The Weasel" and his giant barbarian comrade "Bravd" in the opening scenes of the first Discworld
''Discworld'' is a comic fantasy"Humorous Fantasy" in David Pringle, ed., ''The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' (pp.31-33). London, Carlton,2006. book series written by the English author Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat ...
novel). More recently, playing off the visit of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser to our world in ''Adept's Gambit'' (set in second century B.C. Tyre), Steven Saylor
Steven Saylor (born March 23, 1956) is an American author of historical novels. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied history and classics.
Saylor's best-known work is his '' Roma Sub Rosa'' historical myste ...
's short story "Ill Seen in Tyre" takes his Roma Sub Rosa
''Roma Sub Rosa'' is a series of historical mystery novels by Steven Saylor set in ancient Rome and therefore populated by famous historic roman citizens. The phrase "Roma Sub Rosa" means, in Latin, "Rome under the rose." If a matter was ''sub ros ...
series hero Gordianus to the city of Tyre a hundred years later, where the two visitors from Nehwon are remembered as local legends.
Fischer and Leiber contributed to the original design of the 1976 wargame ''Lankhmar
Lankhmar is a fictional city in the ''Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser'' stories by Fritz Leiber. It is situated on the world of Nehwon, just west of the Great Salt Marsh and east of the River Hlal, and serves as the home of Leiber's two antiheroes ...
'' from TSR.
Selected works
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series
# ''Two Sought Adventure
''Two Sought Adventure'' is a 1957 collection of fantasy short stories by American writer Fritz Leiber. It was first published by Gnome Press in 1957 in an edition of 4,000 copies. The collections contains all of Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mou ...
'' (1958). Collection of six short stories. Later expanded and retitled as ''Swords Against Death''.
# ''Swords and Deviltry
''Swords and Deviltry'' is a fantasy short story collection, first published 1970, by Fritz Leiber, featuring his sword and sorcery heroes Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. It is chronologically the first volume of the complete seven volume edition of t ...
'' (1970). Collection of 3 short stories.
# ''Swords Against Death
''Swords Against Death'' is a fantasy short story collection by American writer Fritz Leiber, first published in 1970 and featuring his sword and sorcery heroes Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. It is chronologically the second volume of the complete s ...
'' (1970). Collection of 10 short stories; an expanded edition of ''Two Sought Adventure''
# ''Swords in the Mist
''Swords in the Mist'' is a fantasy short story collection, first published in 1968, by American writer Fritz Leiber, featuring his sword and sorcery heroes Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. It is chronologically the third volume of the complete seven v ...
'' (1968). Collection of 6 short stories.
# ''Swords Against Wizardry
''Swords Against Wizardry'' is a fantasy short story collection, first published 1968, by Fritz Leiber and Harry Fischer, featuring their sword and sorcery heroes Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Fischer's contribution was limited to ten thousand wor ...
'' (1968). Collection of 4 short stories.
# ''The Swords of Lankhmar
''The Swords of Lankhmar'' is a fantasy novel, first published 1968, by Fritz Leiber, featuring his sword and sorcery heroes Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. It is chronologically the fifth volume of the complete seven volume edition of the collected s ...
'' (1968). Expanded from "Scylla's Daughter" in ''Fantastic
The fantastic (french: le fantastique) is a subgenre of literary works characterized by the ambiguous presentation of seemingly supernatural forces.
Bulgarian-French structuralist literary critic Tzvetan Todorov originated the concept, characte ...
'', 1963.
# ''Swords and Ice Magic
''Swords and Ice Magic'' is a fantasy short story collection, first published in 1977, by American writer Fritz Leiber, featuring his sword and sorcery heroes Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. It is chronologically the sixth volume of the complete seven ...
'' (1977). Collection of 8 short stories. (Though see ''Rime Isle'' below.)
# ''The Knight and Knave of Swords
''The Knight and Knave of Swords'' is a fantasy short story collection by American writer Fritz Leiber, first published in 1988, featuring his sword and sorcery heroes Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. It is chronologically the seventh and last volume ...
'' (1988). Collection of 4 short stories. Retitled ''Farewell to Lankhmar'' (2000, UK).
# ''Ill Met In Lankhmar'' (Copyright 1970, published in book format 1996, The Science Fiction Collection Book Club.)
Novels and novellas
* '' Conjure Wife'' (originally appeared in '' Unknown Worlds'', April 1943) — This novel relates a college professor's discovery that his wife (and many other women) are regularly using magic
Magic or Magick most commonly refers to:
* Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces
* Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic
* Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
against and for one another and their husbands.
* ''Gather, Darkness!'' (serialized in ''Astounding
''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...
'', May, June, and July 1943) – a dystopian, satirical depiction of a future theocracy
Theocracy is a form of government in which one or more deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the government's daily affairs.
Etymology
The word theocracy originates fr ...
and the revolution that brings it down.
* ''Destiny Times Three
''Destiny Times Three'' is an alternate timeline 1945 science fiction novel by American writer Fritz Leiber. It first appeared in ''Astounding Science Fiction'' in March and April 1945. In 1952 it featured in ''Five Science Fiction Novels
''Fiv ...
'' (1945, first in ''Astounding
''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...
'') (reprinted 1957 as Galaxy Novel number 28)
* ''The Sinful Ones'' (1953), an adulterated version of ''You're All Alone'' (1950 ''Fantastic Adventures
''Fantastic Adventures'' was an American pulp fantasy and science fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1953 by Ziff-Davis. It was initially edited by Raymond A. Palmer, who was also the editor of ''Amazing Stories'', Ziff-Davis's other scien ...
'' abridged); Leiber rewrote the inserted passages and saw published a revised edition in 1980.
* ''The Green Millennium'' (1953)
* ''The Night of the Long Knives'' (''Amazing Science Fiction Stories'', January 1960)
* '' The Big Time'' (expanded 1961 from a version serialized in ''Galaxy
A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar Sys ...
'', March and April 1958, which won a Hugo) — Change War series. Also available in ''Ship of Shadows'' (1979) – see Collections below.
* ''The Silver Eggheads'' (1961; a shorter version was published in ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' in 1959)
* '' The Wanderer'' (1964)
* ''Tarzan and the Valley of Gold
''Tarzan and the Valley of Gold'' is a 1966 Eastmancolor adventure film starring Mike Henry in his debut as Tarzan. The Panavision film, produced by Sy Weintraub, written by Clair Huffaker, and directed by Robert Day, is remembered for its v ...
'' (1966) (novelisation of a Clair Huffaker
Clair Huffaker (September 26, 1926 – April 3, 1990) was an American screenwriter and author of westerns and other fiction, many of which were turned into films.
Biography
Born in Magna, Utah, Huffaker wrote of his childhood in ''One Time I ...
screenplay)
* ''A Specter Is Haunting Texas
''A Specter is Haunting Texas'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Fritz Leiber, first published as a novel in 1969. It was originally published as a three-part serial in the magazine ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' in 1968. The title appe ...
'' (1969)
* ''You're All Alone'' (1972) (the first book edition includes two shorter works as well, a revised version was issued as ''The Sinful Ones'')
* ''Our Lady of Darkness
''Our Lady of Darkness'' (1977) is an urban fantasy novel by American author Fritz Leiber. The novel is distinguished for three elements: the heavily autobiographical elements in the story, the use of Jungian psychology that informs the narrati ...
'' (1977) This novel, the title of which is drawn from Thomas de Quincey
Thomas Penson De Quincey (; 15 August 17858 December 1859) was an English writer, essayist, and literary critic, best known for his '' Confessions of an English Opium-Eater'' (1821). Many scholars suggest that in publishing this work De Quinc ...
's ''Suspiria de Profundis
''Suspiria de profundis'' (a Latin phrase meaning "sighs from the depths") is a collection of essays in the form of prose poems by English writer Thomas De Quincey, first published in 1845. An examination of the process of memory as influenced by ...
'', was published the same year as the release of Dario Argento
Dario Argento (; born 7 September 1940) is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and critic. His influential work in the horror genre during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in the subgenre known as ''giallo'', has led him t ...
's ''Suspiria
''Suspiria'' () is a 1977 Italian supernatural horror film directed by Dario Argento, who co-wrote the screenplay with Daria Nicolodi, partially based on Thomas De Quincey's 1845 essay '' Suspiria de Profundis''. The film stars Jessica Harper a ...
'', which referenced the same idea in de Quincey. It also makes fictional reference to fellow novelists Jack London
John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...
, Clark Ashton Smith and H. P. Lovecraft and others.
* ''Rime Isle'' (1977) (somewhere between a novella
A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) fact ...
and a two-novelette
Novelette may also refer to:
* ''Novelette'' (ballet), a solo modern dance work choreographed by Martha Graham
* Novelette (music), a short piece of lyrical music
* Novelette (literature), a work of narrative prose fiction that is longer than a ...
collection, composed of "The Frost Monstreme" and "Rime Isle" offered as a unitary volume)
* ''Ervool'' (Cheap Street, 1980—limited ed of 200 numbered copies). A standalone edition of a short story originally published in the 1940s fanzine ''The Acolyte''.
* ''The Dealings of Daniel Kesserich'' (1997) — H. P. Lovecraftian novella written in 1936 and lost for decades
* ''Dark Ladies'' (NY: Tor Books, 1999). Omnibus edition of '' Conjure Wife'' and ''Our Lady of Darkness''
Collections
* ''Night's Black Agents
''Night's Black Agents'' is a collection of fantasy and horror short stories by American writer Fritz Leiber. It was released in 1947 and was the author's first book. The book's title is taken from ''Macbeth'', Act III, scene ii. It was publish ...
'' (Arkham House, 1947). Reprinted by Berkley, 1978 with the addition of two stories – "The Girl With the Hungry Eyes" and "A Bit of the Dark World". The definitive hardcover edition is the Gregg Press (1980) edition, which adds a foreword by Richard Powers
Richard Powers (born June 18, 1957) is an American novelist whose works explore the effects of modern science and technology. His novel '' The Echo Maker'' won the 2006 National Book Award for Fiction.[A Pail of Air
"A Pail of Air" is a science fiction short story by American writer Fritz Leiber. It originally appeared in the December 1951 issue of ''Galaxy Magazine'' and was dramatized on the radio show '' X Minus One'' in March 1956.
Plot
The story is nar ...]
'' (1964). Collection of 11 short stories.
* ''Ships to the Stars'' (1964). Collection of 6 short stories.
* ''The Night of the Wolf'' (1966). Collection of 4 short stories.
* ''The Secret Songs'' (1968). Collection of 11 short stories.
* ''Night Monsters'' (1969). Collection of 4 short stories. UK (1974) edition drops 1 story and adds 4.
* '' The Best of Fritz Leiber'' (1974). Collection of 22 short stories. (Introduction by Poul Anderson
Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until the 21st century. Anderson wrote also historical novels. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and ...
, "The Wizard of Nehwon")
* ''The Book of Fritz Leiber
''The Book of Fritz Leiber'' is a collection of short stories and articles by American writer Fritz Leiber. It was first published in paperback in January 1974 by DAW Books. It was later gathered together with '' The Second Book of Fritz Leiber'' ...
'' (1974). Collection of 10 stories and 9 articles.
* ''The Second Book of Fritz Leiber
''The Second Book of Fritz Leiber'' is a collection of short stories and articles by American writer Fritz Leiber. It was first published in paperback in January 1975 by DAW Books. It was later gathered together with ''The Book of Fritz Leiber'' ...
'' (1975). Collection of 4 stories, 1 play, and 6 articles.
* ''The Worlds of Fritz Leiber ''The Worlds of Fritz Leiber'' is a collection of stories by Fritz Leiber published in 1976.
Contents
''The Worlds of Fritz Leiber'' is a collection of twenty-two short stories, including "Catch That Zeppelin! "Catch That Zeppelin!" is a 1975 alter ...
'' (Ace Books, 1976). Collection of 22 short stories including "Catch That Zeppelin! "Catch That Zeppelin!" is a 1975 alternate history short story by American writer Fritz Leiber. It was first published in ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction''.
Synopsis
When Fritz Leiber sees a Zeppelin moored at the Empire State Buildin ...
".
* '' Bazaar of the Bizarre'' (1978)
* ''Heroes and Horrors
''Heroes and Horrors'' is a collection of fantasy and horror short stories by American writer Fritz Leiber, edited by Stuart David Schiff and illustrated by Tim Kirk. It was first published in hardcover in December 1978 by Whispers Press, and in ...
'' (1978). Collection of 9 stories.
* ''Ship of Shadows'' (1979). Collection of 5 award-winning short stories 3 stories 2 novellas & 1 novel''The BigTime''. [Victor Gollancz ublisherDust Jacket bio.]
* ''Changewar'' (1983). Collection of the Changewar short stories (7 stories).
* ''The Ghost Light'' (1984). Collection of 9 stories with illustrations and an autobiographic essay with photographs.
* ''The Leiber Chronicles'' (1990) Collection of 44 short stories.
* ''Gummitch and Friends'' (1992). Leiber's cat stories, the first five of which feature Gummitch.
* ''Ill Met in Lankhmar'' (White Wolf Publishing, 1995, ) combines ''Swords and Deviltry'' (1970) and ''Swords Against Death'' (1970).
* '' Lean Times in Lankhmar'' (White Wolf Publishing, 1996, ) combines ''Swords in the Mist'' (1970) and ''Swords Against Wizardry'' (1970)
* ''Return to Lankhmar'' (White Wolf Publishing, 1997, ) combines ''The Swords of Lankhmar'' (1968) and ''Swords and Ice Magic'' (1977)
* ''Farewell to Lankhmar'' (White Wolf Publishing, 1999, )
* ''The Black Gondolier'' (2000) Collection of 18 short stories.
* ''Smoke Ghost and Other Apparitions'' (2002) Collection of 18 short stories.
* ''Day Dark, Night Bright'' (Collection of 20 short stories, 2002)
* ''Horrible Imaginings'' (2004) Collection of 15 short stories.
* ''Strange Wonders'' (Subterranean Press, 2010). Edited by Benjamin Szumskyj
Benjamin J. Szumskyj is an Australian who used to be an editor, author and critic of weird fiction, horror and fantasy literature. Since becoming a Christian, he has written non-fiction regarding Christianity.
Literary work
Between 2003 and 2008 h ...
. Collection of 48 unpublished and uncollected works (drafts, fragments, poems, essays, and a play).
* ''Fritz Leiber: Selected Stories'' (Night Shade Books, 2010). Edited by Jonathan Strahan
Jonathan Strahan (born 1964, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is an editor and publisher of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. His family moved to Perth, Western Australia in 1968, and he graduated from the University of Western Australia with a ...
and Charles N. Brown
Charles Nikki Brown (June 24, 1937 – July 12, 2009) was an American publishing editor, the co-founder and editor of ''Locus'', the long-running news and reviews magazine covering the genres of science fiction and fantasy literature. Brown was bo ...
. Collection of 17 stories, with an introduction by Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...
.
Plays
* ''Quicks Around the Zodiac: A Farce''. (Newcastle, VA: Cheap Street, 1983). (Reprinted in ''Strange Wonders'', 2010).
Essays
* ''The Mystery of the Japanese Clock''. A standalone essay on the workings of a digital Japanese clock. Montgolfier Press, 1982, with Introduction by his son Justin Leiber
Justin Fritz Leiber (July 8, 1938 – March 22, 2016) was an American philosopher and science fiction writer. He was the son of fantasy, horror and science fiction author Fritz Leiber and the grandson of stage and film actor Fritz Leiber, Sr. Pr ...
. (Reprinted in ''Strange Wonders'', 2010).
Poetry
* ''Demons of the Upper Air'' (Glendale, CA: Roy A. Squires, 1969).
* '' Sonnets to Jonquil and All'' (Glendale, CA: Roy A. Squires, 1978).
Screen adaptations
''Conjure Wife'' has been made into feature films four times under other titles:
* ''Weird Woman
''Weird Woman'' is a 1944 Inner Sanctum film noir mystery and horror film directed by Reginald Le Borg and starring Lon Chaney Jr., Anne Gwynne, and Evelyn Ankers. The "Inner Sanctum" franchise originated with a popular radio series and all ...
'' (1944) starring Lon Chaney Jr.
Creighton Tull Chaney (February10, 1906 – July12, 1973), known by his stage name Lon Chaney Jr., was an American actor known for playing Larry Talbot in the film '' The Wolf Man'' (1941) and its various crossovers, Count Alucard (Drac ...
One of six Inner Sanctum mystery films made by Universal Studios based upon the old Inner Sanctum
Inner Sanctum may refer to:
* ''Inner Sanctum'' (1948 film), an American film directed by Lew Landers
* ''Inner Sanctum'' (1991 film), a film starring Tanya Roberts
* ''Inner Sanctum'' (TV series), an American television series from 1954
* ''In ...
radio series.
* ''Conjure Wife'' was also adapted for the 1960 TV series ''Moment of Fear'' (episode title "The Accomplice")
* ''Night of the Eagle
''Night of the Eagle'' is a 1962 British horror film directed by Sidney Hayers. The script by Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson and George Baxt was based upon the 1943 Fritz Leiber novel '' Conjure Wife''. The film was retitled ''Burn, Wi ...
'' (also known as ''Burn, Witch, Burn!'') (1962) (screenplay by Charles Beaumont
Charles Beaumont (January 2, 1929 – February 21, 1967) was an American author of speculative fiction, including short stories in the horror and science fiction subgenres.Stefan R. Dziemianowicz, "Beaumont, Charles" in David Pringle, ed., ...
, Richard Matheson
Richard Burton Matheson (February 20, 1926 – June 23, 2013) was an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres.
He is best known as the author of '' I Am Legend'', a 1954 science fictio ...
and George Baxt
George Baxt (June 11, 1923 – June 28, 2003) was an American screenwriter and author of crime fiction, best remembered for creating the gay black detective, Pharaoh Love. Four of his novels were finalists for the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Mys ...
, directed by Sidney Hayers
Sidney Hayers (24 August 1921 – 8 February 2000) was a British film and television director, writer and producer.
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Hayers began his career as a film editor. Among the films he directed are ''Circus of Horrors'' (19 ...
, produced by Albert Fennell)
* '' Witches' Brew'' (also known as ''Which Witch is Which?'') (1980) Directed by Richard Shore and starring Teri Garr
Teri Ann Garr (born December 11, 1944) is an American former actress, dancer, and comedian. She frequently appeared in comedic roles throughout her career, which spans four decades and includes over 140 credits in film and television. Her accola ...
and Richard Benjamin
Richard Samuel Benjamin (born May 22, 1938) is an American actor and film director. He has starred in a number of well-known film productions, including '' Goodbye, Columbus'' (1969), based on the novella by Philip Roth; ''Catch-22'' (1970), f ...
.
"The Girl with the Hungry Eyes" was filmed under that title by Kastenbaum Films in 1995. (This film is not to be confused with the 1967 William Rotsler film '' The Girl with the Hungry Eyes'' which is entirely unrelated to Leiber's story).
Two Leiber stories were filmed for TV for Rod Serling's ''Night Gallery
''Night Gallery'' is an American anthology television series that aired on NBC from December 16, 1970, to May 27, 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, ''The Twilight Zone'' ...
''. These were "The Girl with the Hungry Eyes" (1970) (adapted by Robert M. Young and directed by John Badham); and "The Dead Man" (adapted and directed by Douglas Heyes).
See also
* International Fortean Organization
The International Fortean Organization (INFO) is a network of professional Fortean researchers and writers. John Keel, author and parapsychologist, in both his writings and at his appearances at INFO's FortFest, said "the International Fortean ...
Notes
References
Further reading
* ''Fantastic
The fantastic (french: le fantastique) is a subgenre of literary works characterized by the ambiguous presentation of seemingly supernatural forces.
Bulgarian-French structuralist literary critic Tzvetan Todorov originated the concept, characte ...
'', November 1959
* ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence E. Spivak, Lawrence Spiva ...
'', July 1969
* ''The Silver Eel'' (1978). edited by Robert P. Barker.
* ''Fantasy Commentator'' double issue No 57/58 (2004). Edited by Benjamin J. Szumskyj for publisher A. Langley Searles. Contains a wealth of critical essays on Leiber's work, together with three poems by Leiber: "Challenge", "Ghosts" and "The Grey Mouser".
* A bibliography of Leiber's work is ''Fritz Leiber: A Bibliography 1934–1979'' by Chris Morgan (Birmingham, UK: Morgenstern, 1979). It is fairly definitive as to the date of publication but Leiber's work badly needs an updated comprehensive bibliography.
* Jeff Frane. ''Fritz Leiber'' (Mercer Island, WA: Starmont House/Borgo Press, 1980) was the first full-length monograph on Leiber's life and literary work.
* Tom Staicar. ''Fritz Leiber''(NY: Fredrick Ungar Publishing Co, 1983).
* Bruce Byfield
Bruce Byfield (born May 13, 1958) is a Canadian journalist who specializes in writing about free and open source software. He has been a contributing editor at Linux.com, and his articles have appeared on the Datamation, LWN, Linux Developer Net ...
.
* Benjamin J. Szumskyj (ed) ''Fritz Leiber: Critical Essays''. (2007)
* John Howard. "In Smoke and Soot I Will Worship: The Ghost Stories of Fritz Leiber". ''All Hallows'' 4 (1993); ''Fantasy Commentator'' 57/58 (2004); in Howard's ''Touchstones: Essays on the Fantastic''. Staffordshire UK: Alchemy Press, 2014.
* John Howard. "The Addition of Secondary Narratives". ''Fantasy Commentator'' 57/58 (2004); expanded as "Storytelling wonder-questing, mortal me: The transformation of 'The Pale Brown Thing' into ''Our Lady of Darkness'' in Szumskyj (2007); in Howard's ''Touchstones: Essays on the Fantastic''. Staffordshire UK: Alchemy Press, 2014.
* An essay examining Leiber's literary relationship with H. P. Lovecraft ("Passing the Torch: H. P. Lovecraft and Fritz Leiber") appears in S. T. Joshi
Sunand Tryambak Joshi (born June 22, 1958) is an American literary critic whose work has largely focused on weird and fantastic fiction, especially the life and work of H. P. Lovecraft and associated writers.
Career
His literary critic ...
's ''The Evolution of the Weird Tale'' (2004).
External links
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Lankhmar The Fritz Leiber Home Page
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