This is what I believe to be the most accurate listing available online of all the published Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories written by Fritz Leiber. It also includes a vignette written by Harry Otto Fischer—the man who created the characters—and a fragment by Leiber that was posthumously published in 1997. At the end, I’ve listed the estate approved novel and two state approved short stories written by other hands. Note that I have not included information on the poem or poems published variously as “The Grey Mouser” and “The Gray Mouser,” owing to bibliographical complexity. A later post will consist of a variorum of this piece or these pieces.
I very strongly believe that series stories should be read in the order of composition when known, and in order of publication when not. There are several reasons for this, and I’ll probably post about those reasons at some point. This listing uses order of publication, though there is more information about order of composition for the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series available to researchers than there is for many other series characters. It must be said, however, that the ultimate “internal chronological ordering” of the stories, as published in seven collections published between 1968 and 1988, was set by Leiber himself, which I suppose makes a difference. Even there, though, those seven books were not released in the volume order in which they are now offered (though the modern order was Leiber’s preferred reading order).
You will find forty-four entries in what follows. There are forty pieces by Leiber: twenty short stories, ten novelettes, eight novellas, one fragment, and one novel. Note that some of what are listed as short stories, among them those written for the collections Swords against Wizardry, Swords in the Mist, and Swords Against Death, are very brief indeed, to the point of more properly being considered vignettes, though I have never seen them indexed as such. Those in the “Swords” books were written specifically to provide “connective tissue” between previously published stories in the collections, which, as has been said, was Leiber’s attempt to have the stories published in what he wished to present as internal chronological order.
Each entry lists the piece by title, then by the publication in which the piece first appeared with supplemental information as seemed appropriate, then by listed date of publication. Also provided is the length or form of each piece (short story, novelette, etc) and then which of the seven “Swords” books collects them, if any. Finally, many of the entries include a notes section, detailing some of the composition and publishing complexities specific to that item.
After the listing of individual pieces, I’ve listed the seven “Swords” collections twice. The first list details the order in which the books were originally published, and the second list provides the author’s preferred order. Modern reprints universally offer the seven books in this last order.
I took the information I needed to generate this list from four main sources, each of which have their merits and deficiencies. First, I used the original publications where possible, usually in digital facsimile. Many of the magazine appearances of “the Twain,” especially the earliest, are available as pdfs downloadable from the Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction pages of the Luminist Archive of Periodicals. Second, I used the Internet Speculative Database’s bibliographical entry for Fritz Leiber, with its sublisting of the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories. Next, I used the incalculably valuable Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Weird Magazine Index, at which I found no ordering errors, but which lists only those stories that appeared in periodicals. Finally, and no less valuable than the two websites just listed, was the “Bibliography of Newhon Sources” chapter of the Judges Guide to Newhon, published by the current holders of the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser tabletop roleplaying game license, Goodman Games.
[I here note, with no small degree of frustration, that the linking functionality of blogspot does not seem to be working, or at least I can’t make it work. Search engines should be able to find all the mentioned sources easily enough.]
I originally encountered Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser in the “Swords” series of Ace Paperbacks in the 1980s (so, before the release of the last volume, which I only recently read for the first time). Those seven books are now available in print on demand and electronic versions from Open Road Media. Note that the Opern Road editions do not include the valuable author introductions Leiber provided for the originals.
My preferred reading copies of the books are those produced by Centipede Press, who, in 2023, published the seventh book. These were collectible, limited run editions and are now out of print. I recommend finding them on the secondary market, though some may find them prohibitively expensive. I believe the abundant apparatus and gorgeous design and illustrations make them worth it to an afficionado (and indeed, some of the listed material is now only available in this set). Eighth and ninth volumes are forthcoming and will round out the Centipede Press run. They will consist of the estate approved pastiche novel and a book of art.
So, to it.
1) “Two Sought Adventure” | Unknown, vol. 1, # 6, ed. John W. Campbell, Jr. | August 1938 | novelette | Swords Against Death | This was retitled “Jewels in the Forest” when first reprinted in Leiber’s 1957 Gnome Press Fafhrd and Gray Mouser collection, Two Sought Adventure, and has appeared under that title in all subsequent reprints.
2) “The Bleak Shore” | Unknown, vol. 4, # 3, ed. John W. Campbell, Jr. | November 1940 | short story | Swords Against Death
3) “The Howling Tower” | Unknown, vol. 5, # 1, ed. John W. Campbell, Jr. | June 1941 | short story | Swords Against Death
4) “The Sunken Land” | Unknown Worlds, vol. 5, # 5, ed. John W. Campbell, Jr. | February 1942 | short story | Swords Against Death
5) “Thieves’ House” | Unknown Worlds, vol. 6, # 5, ed. John W. Campbell, Jr. | February 1943 | novelette | Swords Against Death
6) Adept’s Gambit | Night’s Black Agents, collection, Arkham House | January 1947 | novella | Swords in the Mist | This was the first Fafhrd and Gray Mouser story written, having been completed in 1936. It was initially published in Leiber’s first book, then did not appear again until it was reprinted in the May 1964 issue of Fantastic Stories of the Imagination, vol. 13, # 5, ed. Cele Goldsmith.
7) “Dark Vengeance” | Suspense Magazine, vol. 1, # 3, ed. Theodore Irwin | Fall 1951 | novelette | Swords Against Death | This was retitled “Claws from the Night” when first reprinted in Leiber’s 1957 Gnome Press Fafhrd and Gray Mouser collection, Two Sought Adventure; it has appeared under that title in all subsequent reprints.
8) “The Seven Black Priests” | Other Worlds, vol. 5, # 5, whole # 29, ed. Bea Mahaffey and Ray Palmer | May 1953 | novelette | Swords Against Death
9) “Induction” | Two Sought Adventure, collection, Gnome Press | January 1957 | short story | Swords and Deviltry
10) “Lean Times in Lankhmar” | Fantastic Science Fiction Stories, vol. 8, # 11, ed. Cele Goldsmith | November 1959 | novelette | Swords in the Mist | The issue of Fantastic Science Fiction Stories in which this story appeared was a special “all Fritz Leiber” issue.
11) “When the Sea King’s Away” | Fantastic Science Fiction Stories, vol. 9, # 5, ed. Cele Goldsmith | May 1960 | novelette | Swords in the Mist
12) Scylla’s Daughter | Fantastic Science Fiction Stories, vol. 10, # 5, ed. Cele Goldsmith | May 1961 | novella | none | This novella was begun as “The Tale of the Grain Ships” in 1936 but set aside. It has only been reprinted twice, in anthologies in 1986 and in 1997, but never appeared in any Leiber-specific collection, having been incorporated into the 1968 novel, The Swords of Lankhmar.
13) “The Unholy Grail” | Fantastic Science Fiction Stories, vol. 11, # 10, ed. Cele Goldsmith | October 1962 | novelette | Swords and Deviltry
14) “The Cloud of Hate” | Fantastic Science Fiction Stories, vol. 12, # 5, ed. Cele Goldsmith | May 1963 | short story | Swords in the Mist
15) “Bazaar of the Bizarre” | Fantastic Science Fiction Stories, vol. 12, # 8, ed. Cele Goldsmith | August 1963 | novelette | Swords Against Death
16) The Lords of Quarmall | Fantastic Science Fiction Stories, vol. 13, #s 1 & 2, both ed. Cele Goldsmith | January 1964 and February 1964 (serial) | novella | Swords Against Wizardry | This must be considered as co-authored with character creator Harry Fischer, who wrote 10,000 words of the piece in 1936.
17) Stardock | Fantastic, vol. 15, # 1, ed. Joseph Ross | September 1965 | novella | Swords Against Wizardry
18) The Swords of Lankhmar | Ace Books | January 1968 | novel | eponymous
19) “In the Witch’s Tent” | Swords Against Wizardry | July 1968 | short story | Swords Against Wizardry
20) “The Two Best Thieves in Lankhmar” | Swords Against Wizardry | July 1968 | short story | Swords Against Wizardry
21) “Their Mistress the Sea” | Swords in the Mist | September 1968 | short story | Swords in the Mist
22) “The Wrong Branch” | Swords in the Mist | September 1968 | short story | Swords in the Mist
23) The Snow Women | Fantastic, vol. 19, # 4, ed. Ted White | April 1970 | novella | Swords and Deviltry
24) Ill Met in Lankhmar | The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, vol. 38, # 4, whole # 227 | April 1970 | novella | Swords and Deviltry
25) “The Circle Curse” | Swords Against Death | July 1970 | short story | Swords Against Death
26) “The Price of Pain-Ease” | Swords Against Death | July 1970 | short story | Swords Against Death
27) “The Sadness of the Executioner” | Flashing Swords! #1, anthology, ed. Lin Carter, Nelson Doubleday | April 1973 | short story | Swords and Ice Magic
28) “Trapped in the Shadowland” | Fantastic, vol. 23, # 1, ed. Ted White | November 1973 | short story | Swords and Ice Magic
29) “The Bait” | Whispers, vol. 1, # 2, ed. Stuart David Schiff | December 1973 | short story | Swords and Ice Magic
30) “Beauty and the Beasts” | The Book of Fritz Leiber, collection, DAW Books | January 1974 | short story | Swords and Ice Magic
31) “Under the Thumbs of the Gods” | Fantastic, vol. 24, # 3, ed. Ted White | April 1975 | short story | Swords and Ice Magic
32) “Trapped in the Sea of Stars” | The Second Book of Fritz Leiber, collection, DAW Books | September 1975 | short story | Swords and Ice Magic
33) “The Frost Monstreme” | Flashing Swords! #3: Warriors and Wizards, anthology, ed. Lin Carter, Dell | August 1976 | novelette | Swords and Ice Magic
34) Rime Isle | Cosmos Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine, vol. 1, #s 1 & 2, ed. David G. Hartwell | May 1977 and July 1977 (serial) | novella | Swords and Ice Magic
35) “Sea Magic” | The Dragon Magazine, vol. 2, # 5, whole # 11, ed. Timothy J. Kask | December 1977 | short story | The Knight and Knave of Swords
36) “The Childhood and Youth of the Gray Mouser” | The Dragon Magazine, vol. 3, # 4, whole # 18, ed. Timothy J. Kask | September 1978 | vignette | This brief piece was written by Harry Fischer. Its only subsequent appearance has been its reprinting in the Centipede Press Swords and Deviltry.
37) “The Mer She” | Heroes and Horrors, collection, Whispers Press | December 1978 | novelette | The Knight and Knave of Swords
38) The Curse of the Smalls and Stars | Heroic Visions, anthology, ed. Jessica Amanda Salmonson, Ace Fantasy Books | March 1983 | novella | The Knight and Knave of Swords
39) “The Mouser Goes Below” | Whispers, vol. 6, #s 3 & 4, whole #s 23 and 24, ed. Stuart David Schiff | October 1987 | short story | This was combined with “Slack Lankhmar Afternoon Featuring Hisvet” when reprinted under this title in The Knight and Knave of Swords.
40) “Slack Lankhmar Afternoon Featuring Hisvet” | Terry’s Universe, collection, ed. Beth Meacham, Tor | June 1988 | short story | This was combined with “The Mouser Goes Below” into “The Mouser Goes Below” in The Knight and Knave of Swords.
41) “The Tale of the Grain Ships: A Fragment” | The New York Review of Science Fiction, ed. Ariel Haméon, David G. Hartwell, & Kevin J. Maroney | May 1997 | fragment | This was reprinted in a collection of Leiber ephemera and rarities in 2010 and is otherwise only in the Centipede Press The Swords of Lankhmar.
42) Pastiche: Swords Against the Shadowland | White Wolf Publishing | August 1998 | novel | none | This is an estate approved pastiche novel by Robin Wayne Bailey.
43) Pastiche: “Guilty Creatures” | Tales From the Magician’s Skull #6 | July 2021 | short story | none | This is an estate approved pastiche short story by Nathan Long.
44) Pastiche: “Pawns’ Gambit” | Tales From the Magician’s Skull #9 | January 2023 | short story | none | This is an estate approved pastiche short story by Nathan Long.
The “Swords” Collections in Order of Initial Publication
1) The Swords of Lankhmar (Vol. 5), January 1968
2) Swords Against Wizardry (Vol. 4), July 1968
3) Swords in the Mist (Vol. 3), September 1968
4) Swords and Deviltry (Vol. 1), May 1970
5) Swords Against Death (Vol. 2), July 1970
6) Swords and Ice Magic (Vol. 6), July 1977
7) The Knight and Knave of Swords (Vol. 7), December 1988
The “Swords” Collections in the Author’s Preferred Reading Order
1) Swords and Deviltry (Vol. 1), May 1970
2) Swords Against Death (Vol. 2), July 1970
3) Swords in the Mist (Vol. 3), September 1968
4) Swords Against Wizardry (Vol. 4), July 1968
5) The Swords of Lankhmar (Vol. 5), January 1968
6) Swords and Ice Magic (Vol. 6), July 1977
7) The Knight and Knave of Swords (Vol. 7), December 1988
No comments:
Post a Comment