Author John Pelan, editor of Centipede’s Conversations with the Weird Tales Circle, has included Robert E. Howard “Pigeons from Hell,” H.P. Lovecraft‘s “The Outsider,” C.L. Moore‘s “Shambleau,” Clark Ashton Smith‘s “The Dark Eidolon,” Fritz Leiber‘s “Horrible Imagings,” Lord Dunsany’s “Thirteen at Table,” H. G. Wells “The Valley of the Spiders,” Karl Edward Wagner‘s “Sticks“ and Ray Bradbury’s “The Jar” in The Century’s Best Horror Fiction.

This massive (one hundred stories, nearly sixteen hundred pages and over seven hundred thousand words of fiction!) two-volume set anthology by Cemetery Dance Publications is heading to the printer this summer. John Pelan did only one selection per author and has chosen one tale per each year of the twentieth century (1901-2000) as the most notable story of that year. Robert E. Howard’s masterpiece fits right in.

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On SF Signal,  John DeNardo asked the questions below to ten science-fiction and fantasy writers and editors:

What are some of the best sword and sorcery stories? What makes them so good?

Martha Wells, Steven Brust, Mercedes Lackey, James Enge, Mary Robinette Kowal, Mark Chadbourn, P.C. Hodgell, Gail Z. Martin, Brandon Sanderson and Lou Anders have all replied. Unsurprisingly, tales by our favorite Texan author, Fritz Leiber and Michael Moorcock are among several authors’ favorites. Clark Ashton Smith, C.L. Moore and Leigh Brackett as well as TC‘s friend –and most excellent writer– Charles R. Saunders‘ stories are cited too.

As John O’Neill  put it over at the Black Gate blog, the list is well worth reading since “you’re sure to find more than a few good recommendations, whether you’re new to S&S or an old sword-brother.” That’s true, though one omission made me cringe: the ludicrous absence of the immense Karl Edward Wagner, who wasn’t listed by any writer and is only mentioned in the comments below the blog entry…

Heritage Auction Galleries is handling the consignment of a Frazetta painting that is probably well-known to most Sword-and-Sorcery art devotees. Here’s the description from the website:

Warrior with Ball and Chain, Flashing Swords #1, paperback cover, 1973

Oil on board

23 x 19 in.

Signed lower right

This stirring, savage, and superb Frazetta masterwork, sometimes titled Warrior with Ball and Chain, first appeared on the cover of the sword and sorcery anthology edited by Lin Carter, Flashing Swords #1, Dell Books #2640, 1973.

One of the top Frazetta paintings in private hands, Warrior with Ball and Chain was purchased in the February 1993 Guernsey’s auction, and according to its listing there, is one of the largest Frazetta covers ever painted. Some aficionados feel his piece may have been originally created for the Lancer Conan series of the late sixties, but not used there, since the Conan figures of two of the Lancer covers are so similar to the Warrior.

A copy of the Flashing Swords #1 paperback is included with this lot.

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Baen Books publishes electronic versions (Kindle, iTouch/iPhone), via Webscription, of several volumes not available in this format through Amazon. The Legions of Fire by David Drake is also available in ebook form. TC readers might be interested to know that Baen is currently proposing a deal on Fritz Leiber‘s complete “Fafhrd and Gray Mouser” collection, at thirty-five dollars instead of sixty-two dollars. Thanks to Paul McNamee for the tip.

The “Fafhrd and Gray Mouser” pencil drawing illustrating this blog, by artist David Petersen, does not come from the volumes sold by Baen.

Strange Wonders: A Collection of Rare Fritz Leiber Works, a volume of mostly uncollected and unpublished Fritz Leiber material, will be published by Subterranean Press in October. It will include over 70,000 words of fiction: several complete stories, some early works dating from the ’30s and ’40s, poetry, fragments and writing exercises including a lengthy Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser story beginning, as well as two poems about the second member of the duo.

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Two tips which might be helpfulf to TC readers. Necronomicon Press is back open for business and is offering a fifteen percent discount on all titles bought on their site. Courtesy of Bill Thom and Coming Attractions, I learned that Wildside Press has a thirty percent off sale going on for orders of three or more books.

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Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser

Night Shade Books has announced the publication in April 15, 2010 of The Best of Fritz Leiber, a 400-page hardcover.

Here’s the blurb:

Fritz Leiber’s work bridges the gap between the pulp era of H. P. Lovecraft and the Paperback era of P. K. Dick, and arguably, is as influential as both these authors. From a historical context, Leiber in fact knew both of the authors, and his work can be seen as a bridge connecting the many different flavors of genres of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Edited by award-winning editors Jonathan Strahan and Charles Brown, this new collection of the grand master’s fiction covers all facets of his work, and features an Introduction by Neil Gaiman and an Afterword by Michael Chabon.

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Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser by Mike Mignola

Science fiction and Fantasy writer Neil Gaiman, author of the famous Sandman comics, has recorded introductions for the audio editions of Fritz Leiber‘s Lankhmar Sword-and-Sorcery series.

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James Maliszewski, the proprietor of Grognardia and a Friend of The Cimmerian, has posted an article on The Escapist website. It is called “The Books That Founded D&D” and I found it quite interesting. I thought it worth some commentary.

Mr. Maliszewski starts his essay noting the various reasons why J.R.R. Tolkien should be dismissed as major influence upon the role-playing game that Gygax and Arneson developed. Most of the evidence used to back this up is cited from Gygax’s own writings. The fact that these writings date from before and after the threatened lawsuit by Tolkien Enterprises means very little, in my view.

Tolkien deeply influenced Dungeons and Dragons. That is my humble opinion and I stand by it. The Elves as portrayed in D&D would be far different if JRRT had never written his novel, The Lord of the Rings. The same for D&D dwarves. Double ditto for “orcs,” which species (with that particular appellation) would never exist, but for Tollers. Triple ditto for the “halflings” in the game (whom I always considered ridiculous, in game terms). All of that, however, is fodder for another blog entry. Now, let’s get to all the stuff that James Maliszkewski and I do agree on (more or less)…

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John Collier • Tennessee Williams • Truman Capote • Shirley Jackson • Vladimir Nabokov • Ray Bradbury • Harlan Ellison • John Crowley • Joyce Carol Oates • Stephen King • Michael Chabon • Tim Powers • and 30 others

“What remains when the conscious and functioning self has been erased is mankind’s fundamental condition — irrational, violent, guilt-wracked, despairing, and mad.” — Peter Straub

In order to provide some closure in regard to my post last week, which discussed Terror and the Uncanny From Poe to the Pulps, I thought it fitting to take a quick look at Volume Two in the Library of America’s American Fantastic Tales series. Above, you can see a list of the marquee authors featured in this volume,as well as a blurb from series editor, Peter Straub (which paraphrases Lovecraft’s “oldest emotion” axiom, by the way).

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