Product Details

Classic sword-and-sorcery fantasy anthology edited by legendary fantasy historian L. Sprague de Camp. This collection traces the roots of heroic fantasy from early weird tales to later fantasy writers. Notable stories and authors include: • Robert E. Howard – “The Hills of the Dead” (Conan creator) • Fritz Leiber – “Thieves’ House” (Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser world) • C. L. Moore – “Black God’s Kiss” (Jirel of Joiry classic) • Clark Ashton Smith – “The Master of the Crabs” • Roger Zelazny – “The Bells of Shoredan” • Lord Dunsany – “Chu-Bu and Sheemish” • Henry Kuttner – “Thunder in the Dawn” • Lin Carter – “The Gods of Niom Parma” • H. G. Wells – “The Valley of Spiders” A fascinating survey of heroic fantasy, weird fantasy, and proto–sword & sorcery, connecting pulp legends with later genre writers. Vintage Berkley Medallion paperback with dramatic barbarian cover art.