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Post by Finarvyn on Jun 21, 2012 16:25:01 GMT -6
…there was a series of four anthologies selected by L. Sprague de Camp.
1. Swords and Sorcery (1963)
2. The Spell of Seven (1965)
3. The Fantastic Swordsmen (1967)
4. Warlocks and Warriors (1970)
While I can’t say that de Camp is as reliable a source as Gary Gygax (after all, de Camp didn’t write OD&D or AD&D) it’s interesting to note what stories were selected early on by de Camp as the “best ever” for the Swords & Sorcery genre. Also keep in mind that, since this was an anthology of short stories, no novels appear on the list.
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Post by Finarvyn on Jun 21, 2012 16:25:15 GMT -6
The authors:
Poul Anderson
Robert Bloch
Ray Capella
Lin Carter
L. Sprague de Camp
Luigi de Pascalis
Lord Dunsany ***
Robert E. Howard ***
John Jakes
Henry Kuttner **
Fritz Leiber **
H. P. Lovecraft *
Michael Moorcock *
C. L. Moore *
Clark Ashton Smith **
Jack Vance
H. G. Wells
Roger Zelazny
NOTE that an asterisk (*) signifies multiple selections.
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Post by Finarvyn on Jun 21, 2012 16:25:31 GMT -6
The stories:
Swords and Sorcery
"Introduction: Heroic Fantasy" (L. Sprague de Camp)
"The Valor of Cappen Varra" (Poul Anderson)
"The Distressing Tale of Thangobrind the Jeweler" (Lord Dunsany)
"Shadows in the Moonlight" (Robert E. Howard)
"The Citadel of Darkness" (Henry Kuttner)
"While the Sea King's Away" (Fritz Leiber)
"The Doom that Came to Sarnath" (H. P. Lovecraft)
"Hellsgarde" (C. L. Moore)
"The Testament of Athammaus" (Clark Ashton Smith)
The Spell of Seven
"Introduction: Wizards and Warriors" (L. Sprague de Camp)
"Bazaar of the Bizarre" (Fritz Leiber)
"The Dark Eidolon" (Clark Ashton Smith)
"The Hoard of the Gibbelins" (Lord Dunsany)
"The Hungry Hercynian" (L. Sprague de Camp)
"Kings in Darkness" (Michael Moorcock)
"Mazirian the Magician" (Jack Vance)
"Shadows in Zamboula" (Robert E. Howard)
The Fantastic Swordsmen
"Tellers of Tales" (introduction) (L. Sprague de Camp)
"Black Lotus" (Robert Bloch)
"The Fortress Unvanquishable Save for Sacnoth" (Lord Dunsany)
"Drums of Tombalku" (Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp)
"The Girl in the Gem" (John Jakes)
"Dragon Moon" (Henry Kuttner)
"The Other Gods" (H. P. Lovecraft)
"The Singing Citadel" (Michael Moorcock)
"The Tower" (Luigi de Pascalis, originally in Italian, translated by L. Sprague de Camp)
Warlocks and Warriors
"Introduction" (L. Sprague de Camp)
"Turutal" (Ray Capella)
"The Gods of Niom Parma" (Lin Carter)
"The Hills of the Dead" (Robert E. Howard)
"Thunder in the Dawn" (Henry Kuttner)
"Thieves' House" (Fritz Leiber)
"Black God's Kiss" (C. L. Moore)
"Chu-Bu and Sheemish" (Lord Dunsany)
"The Master of the Crabs" (Clark Ashton Smith)
"The Valley of the Spiders" (H. G. Wells)
"The Bells of Shoredan" (Roger Zelazny)
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Post by Falconer on Jun 25, 2012 0:30:18 GMT -6
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Post by Finarvyn on Jun 25, 2012 5:40:33 GMT -6
I hadn't seen that K&K post but I saw a similar one on the Goodman Games boards, which is what got my interest piqued in the first place.
I bought The Spell of Seven and was reading it when I realized that it was the second anthology. Then I had to track down the first. Then I wondered how many there were in total and found there were four. Then I bought copies and am waiting by the mailbox.
In the meantime I did some research online to determine the contents of each. You're the first one here to actually seem interested in this. :-D
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Post by Falconer on Jun 25, 2012 7:53:57 GMT -6
Well, I’m not huge into anthologies (I guess I tend to prefer “complete works”), but finding such a perfect D&D anthology is definitely interesting! So what was your impression of it? If it was your induction into fantasy, how do you think it would strike you? What was good, what was bad?
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monk
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
Posts: 237
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Post by monk on Jun 25, 2012 8:15:44 GMT -6
I am interested! Just didn't have anything interesting to add. I looked at the post last night and wondered whether I have any of the stories already, since (like most of us) I have quite a few collections of short stories by a lot of those authors. I came to this genre late, and rabidly buy books, so I've purchased many more than I've had a chance to read. It looks like I might have a few of them, but others are unknown to me.
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Post by owlorbs on Jun 25, 2012 9:38:41 GMT -6
I have a handful of these, but it would be neat to have them all. Are they easy to track down through the usual avenues?
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Post by Finarvyn on Jun 26, 2012 5:49:25 GMT -6
Well, I’m not huge into anthologies (I guess I tend to prefer “complete works”), but finding such a perfect D&D anthology is definitely interesting! So what was your impression of it? If it was your induction into fantasy, how do you think it would strike you? What was good, what was bad? Well, I haven't read all four yet, but The Spell of Seven certainly would be high on the "all time best" list. It has a Fafhrd & Grey Mouser story, a Conan story, and an Elric story. That's a pretty darned good start. Add to that a C.A. Smith and a Lord Dunsany story. Not a bad mix overall. To me, the actual stories weren't as interesting as the choice of authors. |
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Post by cadriel on Jun 26, 2012 20:54:33 GMT -6
I ordered all 4 on Amazon, they're still readily available.
One of the things I think they showcase is how swords & sorcery was changing over the period that D&D came out. It had been relatively a medium of short stories before 1970, but over the next decade it would transition to novels - hence why the representation in these volumes is even a bit more dated than it might otherwise have been.
It's also interesting to me how the novels got longer over the course of the 1970s and 1980s. Moorcock's whole Hawkmoon series in 4 volumes was a total of 667 pages, and the 6 Corum novels (collected in two thick books) are 784 pages. The 6-paperback series of Elric books was similarly long. All ten Amber books by Zelazny are in an omnibus totaling 1258 pages. In a modern epic fantasy series, each Eternal Champion saga would be, by pagecount, no more than one single volume. Yet more happened in one volume of Hawkmoon or Elric than two books of the Wheel of Time saga.
I think the story choice itself is interesting, some of it - such as Thieves House and Black God's Kiss - contains thematic material quite appropriate for a D&D campaign. It's amazing how powerfully little reference there is to any fantasy literature (except maybe D&D novels, and that's questionable) there is in the current 3.x/4e/5e stuff. It's a lot more "I want fighters to do x y and z" and a lot less "I want to play the Gray Mouser" (of course, that's the hard thing in the armor-centric combat system of D&D).
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Post by Finarvyn on Jun 27, 2012 5:57:54 GMT -6
One of the things I think they showcase is how swords & sorcery was changing over the period that D&D came out. It had been relatively a medium of short stories before 1970, but over the next decade it would transition to novels - hence why the representation in these volumes is even a bit more dated than it might otherwise have been. And to realize that many of the classic "novels" from back then were actually just collections of short stories all stuck together. I think it was Roger Zelazny who said that each chapter of a novel should essentially be a stand-alone short story, and this seems to have been the approach for many of the "novels" such as those of Elric, Conan, Fafhrd & Mouser, etc. It's also interesting to me how the novels got longer over the course of the 1970s and 1980s. Moorcock's whole Hawkmoon series in 4 volumes was a total of 667 pages, and the 6 Corum novels (collected in two thick books) are 784 pages. The 6-paperback series of Elric books was similarly long. All ten Amber books by Zelazny are in an omnibus totaling 1258 pages. In a modern epic fantasy series, each Eternal Champion saga would be, by pagecount, no more than one single volume. Yet more happened in one volume of Hawkmoon or Elric than two books of the Wheel of Time saga. A wonderful observation to make. It could also apply to RPG books, as OD&D was a thin pile of pamphlets only half the size of a sheet of paper, whereas many new RPG books are bulging volumes of rules. Actually, Goodman Games made a similar observation about RPG modules and their DCC collection is designed to be shorter and less bloated compared to many of the newer modules out there. You look at the old Gygax classics and they're 16 pages or so in length, then look at some of the new 4E modules that are now printed in hardback as epic adventures. (Ironic that the DCC RPG book is gigantic, while their modules are sleek.  ) It's amazing how powerfully little reference there is to any fantasy literature (except maybe D&D novels, and that's questionable) there is in the current 3.x/4e/5e stuff. A good point. In the old days, it seemed like gamers would read stories and books to get ideas for adventures. In the newer days the modules are the stories and then they get books written about them.  |
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