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Fritz Leiber


(Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr)
USA flag (1910 - 1992)
Father of Justin Leiber

Fritz Leiber was one of the more interesting of the young writers who came into HP Lovecraft's orbit, and some of his best early short fiction is horror rather than sf or fantasy. He found his mature voice early in the first of the sword-and-sorcery adventures featuring the large sensitive barbarian Fafhrd and the small street-smart-ish Gray Mouser; he returned to this series at various points in his career, using it sometimes for farce and sometimes for gloomy mood pieces--The Swords of Lankhmar is perhaps the best single volume of their adventures. Leiber's science fiction includes the planet-smashing The Wanderer in which a large cast mostly survive flood, fire, and the sexual attentions of feline aliens, and the satirical A Spectre is Haunting Texas in which a gangling, exo-skeleton-clad actor from the Moon leads a revolution and finds his true love. Leiber's late short fiction, and the fine horror novel Our Lady of Darkness, combine autobiographical issues like his struggle with depression and alcoholism with meditations on the emotional content of the fantastic genres. Leiber's capacity for endless self-reinvention and productive self-examination kept him, until his death, one of the most modern of his sf generation.
 

Genres: Science Fiction, Mystery, Horror, Fantasy
 
New Books
June 2023

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Black Cat Weekly #92
(Black Cat Weekly, book 92)
June 2023

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Black Cat Weekly #95
(Black Cat Weekly, book 95)
Series
Fafhrd and Gray Mouser
   Two Sought Adventure (1957)
   Return to Lankhmar (1968)
   1. Swords and Deviltry (1970)
   2. Swords Against Death (1970)
   3. Swords in the Mist (1968)
   4. Swords Against Wizardry (1968)
   5. The Swords of Lankhmar (1968)
   6. Swords and Ice Magic (1975)
   7. Farewell to Lankhmar (1988)

     aka The Knight and Knave of Swords

continued in the series by Robin Wayne Bailey
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Novels
   Gather, Darkness! (1943)
   Destiny Times Three (1945)
   Conjure Wife (1953)
   The Green Millennium (1953)
   The Sinful Ones (1953)
     aka You're All Alone
   The Big Time (1957)
   The Silver Eggheads (1961)
   No Great Magic (1963)
   The Wanderer (1964)
   A Specter is Haunting Texas (1968)
     aka A Spectre is Haunting Texas
   Rime Isle (1977)
   Our Lady of Darkness (1977)
   The Dealings of Daniel Kesserich (1997)
   What's He Doing in There? (2011)
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Collections
   Night's Black Agents (1947)
   The Mind Spider (1961)
   Shadows with Eyes (1962)
   A Pail of Air (1964)
   Ships to the Stars (1964)
   The Night of the Wolf (1966)
   The Secret Songs (1968)
   Night Monsters (1969)
   The Book of Fritz Leiber (1974)
   The Best of Fritz Leiber (1974)
   The Second Book of Fritz Leiber (1975)
   The Worlds of Fritz Leiber (1976)
   Bazaar of the Bizarre (1978)
   Heroes and Horrors (1978)
   The Change War (1978)
   Ship of Shadows (1979)
   Ervool (1980)
   The Mystery of the Japanese Clock (1982)
   The Ghost Light (1984)
   The Leiber Chronicles (1990)
   Gummitch and Friends (1992)
   Dark Ladies (1999)
   Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser (2000)
   The Black Gondolier (2003)
   The Creature from Cleveland Depths and Other Tales (2007)
   Poor Superman and Others (2009)
   The Night of the Long Knives And Other Works (2010)
   Selected Stories (2010)
   The Night of the Long Knives / Creature From The Cleveland Depths (2010)
   Strange Wonders (2010)
   Science Fiction Collection 001 (2011) (with Harry Harrison)
   Smoke Ghost And Other Apparitions (2011)
   Science Fiction Collection 002 (2011) (with Kurt Vonnegut Jr)
   Horror Gems, Volume Two (2011) (with Joseph Payne Brennan)
   Lords of Quarmall / Beacon to Elsewhere (2011) (with Harry Fischer)
   Horror Gems, Volume Three (2012) (with others)
   Horrible Imaginings (2012)
   Day Dark, Night Bright (2012)
   Science Fiction Gems, Volume Four (2012) (with others)
   Hatchery of Dreams (2012)
   The Wildside Book of Fantasy (2012) (with others)
   The Moon is Green and Other Tales (2013)
   The Fantasy Super Pack 2 (2018) (with others)
   The Science Fiction Collection 3 (2018) (with others)
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Anthologies edited
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Novellas and Short Stories
   Later Than You Think (1950)
   The Ship Sails at Midnight (1950)
   The Wolf Pack (1950)
   Coming Attraction (1950)
   The Dead Man (1950)
   The Moon is Green (1952)
   Friends and Enemies (1957)
   Bread Overhead (1958)
   The Last Letter (1958)
   Damnation Morning (1959)
   Schizo Jimmie (1959)
   The Night of the Long Knives (1960)
   Mariana (1960)
   The Snowbank Orbit (1962)
   The Unholy Grail (1962)
   The Creature from Cleveland Depths (1962)
     aka The Lone Wolf
   Gonna Roll the Bones (1967)
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Omnibus editions
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Series contributed to
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Black Cat Weekly
   44. Black Cat Weekly #44 (2022) (with others)
   76. Black Cat Weekly #76 (2023) (with others)
   81. Black Cat Weekly #81 (2023) (with others)
   88. Black Cat Weekly #88 (2023) (with others)
   92. Black Cat Weekly #92 (2023) (with others)
   95. Black Cat Weekly #95 (2023) (with others)
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Anthologies containing stories by Fritz Leiber
The Girl with Hungry Eyes (1949)
Far Boundaries (1951)
The Outer Reaches (1951)
     aka The Time of Infinity
New Worlds for Old (1953)
     aka Worlds of Tomorrow
The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 7th Series (1958)
The Fiend in You (1962)
Fifty Short Science Fiction Tales (1963)
The Unknown (1963)
Over the Edge (1964)
Spectrum 4 (1965)
The Spell of Seven (1965)
An ABC of Science Fiction (1966)
The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 15th Series (1966)
Tomorrow's Children (1966)
Dangerous Visions 2 (1967)
Famous Monster Tales (1967)
Nebula Award Stories 3 (1967)
New Worlds of Fantasy (1967)
     aka Step Outside Your Mind
Time Untamed (1967)
The Midnight People (1968)
One Hundred Years of Science Fiction (1968)
Science Fiction Horizons No. 1 (1968)
Best SF: 1969 (1969)
     aka The Year's Best Science Fiction 3
The Witchcraft Reader (1969)
The Freak Show (1970)
The Hollywood Nightmare (1970)
On Our Way to the Future (1970)
The Hugo Winners: Volume 2, Part 2 (1973)
Worlds Far and Near (1974)
The Hounds of Hell (1974)
Fellowship of the Stars (1974)
Spaced Out (1975)
Universe 5 (1975)
Christopher Lee's 'X' Certificate (1975)
The Ghost's Companion (1975)
The Best from If, Volume III (1976)
The Far Reaches of Fear (1976)
Weird Tales Volume 2 (1976)
The Year's Best Fantasy Stories 2 (1976)
The Black Magic Omnibus Volume 1 (1976)
Roots of Evil (1976)
     aka Weird Stories of Supernatural Plants
The Year's Best Fantasy Stories (1976)
The Ides of Tomorrow (1976)
Nebula Award Stories 11 (1976)
More of Christopher Lee's New Chamber of Horrors (1976)
The Best Science Fiction Stories (1977)
Whispers (1977)
Trips in Time (1977)
The Rivals of Frankenstein (1977)
The Best Science Fiction of the Year 6 (1977)
Universe 7 (1977)
100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories (1978)
The Best Science Fiction of the Year 7 (1978)
Lost Worlds, Unknown Horizons (1978)
The Best Science Fiction of the Year 8 (1979)
The Great SF Stories Two (1979)
Les Meilleurs Recits de Weird Tales Tome 3 (1938-1942) (1979)
Beyond Reality (1979)
The End of Summer (1979)
The Science Fictional Solar System (1979)
Science Fiction of the Fifties (1979)
The Year's Best Fantasy Stories 6 (1980)
A Century of Science Fiction 1950-1959 (1981)
The Giant Book of Horror Stories (1981)
The Great SF Stories 6 (1981)
Fantasy Annual III (1981)
A Treasury of Modern Fantasy (1981)
Elsewhere Two (1982)
The Great SF Stories 7 (1982)
Magic for Sale (1983)
Top Science Fiction (1984)
The Year's Best Fantasy Stories 10 (1984)
The Best from Universe (1984)
The Great SF Stories 13 (1985)
A Century of Horror 1970-1979 (1987)
Great Science Fiction of the 20th Century (1987)
The Colour of Evil (1987)
Rod Serling's Night Gallery Reader (1987)
Masters of Darkness 2 (1988)
Tales of the Occult (1989)
Urban Horrors (1990)
The Night Fantastic (1991)
Uncanny Banquet (1992)
The Norton Book of Science Fiction (1993)
To Sleep, Perchance to Dream...Nightmare (1993)
The Best of Whispers (1994)
Nebula Award-Winning Novellas (1994)
Angels of Darkness (1995)
The Good Old Stuff (1995)
Science Fiction, Science Fact, and You (1995)
The Disciples of Cthulhu (1996)
The Wizards of Odd (1996)
The Way It Wasn't (1996)
100 Tiny Tales of Terror (1996)
The Oxford Book of Twentieth-Century Ghost Stories (1996)
Wild Women (1997)
Blood Thirst (1997)
Modern Classics of Fantasy (1997)
The Fantasy Hall of Fame (1998)
     aka The Mammoth Book of Fantasy All-Time Greats
A Magic-Lover's Treasury of the Fantastic (1998)
Eternal Lovecraft (1998)
100 Twisted Little Tales of Torment (1998)
The SFWA Grand Masters (1999)
Children of the Night (1999)
Armageddons (1999)
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Short stories
The Casket-Demon
Cry Witch!
Induction
Mouser Goes Below
Sea Magic
The Snow Women
The Jewels in the Forest (1939)
     aka Two Sought Adventure
The Automatic Pistol (1940)
The Bleak Shore (1940)
The Howling Tower (1941)
The Power of the Puppets (1941)
Smoke Ghost (1941)
The Hill and the Hole (1942)
The Hound (1942)
The Inheritance (1942)
The Phantom Slayer (1942)
The Sunken Land (1942)
Thieves' House [short story] (1943)
Crazy Wolf (1944)
Sanity (1944)
The Dreams of Albert Moreland (1945)
Wanted - An Enemy (1945)
Adept's Gambit (1947)
Diary in the Snow (1947)
The Man Who Never Grew Young (1947)
The Girl with the Hungry Eyes (1949)
Coming Attraction (1950)
The Dead Man [short story] (1950)
The Enchanted Forest (1950)
Claws from the Night (1951)
     aka Dark Vengeance
A Pail of Air [short story] (1951)
Poor Superman (1951)
The Big Holiday (1952)
The Foxholes of Mars (1952)
I'm Looking For 'Jeff' (1952)
A Bad Day For Sales (1953)
The Night He Cried (1953)
The Seven Black Priests (1953)
The Big Trek (1957)
A Deskful of Girls (1958)Hugo (nominee)
Little Old Miss MacBeth (1958)
Rump-Titty-Titty-Tum-Tah-Tee (1958)Hugo (nominee)
Space-Time for Springers (1958)
Try and Change the Past (1958)
The Haunted Future (1959)
The Mind Spider [short story] (1959)
The Number of the Beast (1959)
The Warlock (1959)
All the Weed in the World (1960)
Mariana (1960)
The Oldest Soldier (1960)
The Wolf Pair (1960)
The Beat Cluster (1961)
The Big Time [short story] (1961)
Scylla's Daughter (1961)Hugo (nominee)
A Bit of the Dark World (1962)
The Creature from Cleveland Depths [short story] (1962)
The Lone Wolf (1962)
The Man Who Made Friends with Electricity (1962)
The Secret Songs [short story] (1962)
The Thirteenth Step (1962)
Bazaar of the Bizarre [short story] (1963)
Game for Motel Room (1963)
Kindergarten (1963)
The Spider (1963)
X Marks the Pedwalk (1963)
The Black Gondolier [short story] (1964)
Midnight in the Mirror World (1964)
Cyclops (1965)Nebula Awards (nominee)
Dr Adams' Garden of Evil (1965)
Four Ghosts in Hamlet (1965)Nebula Awards (nominee)
The Good New Days (1965)Nebula Awards (nominee)
Moon Duel (1965)
Stardock (1965)Hugo (nominee)
Answering Service (1967)Nebula Awards (nominee)
Black Corridor (1967)
Gonna Roll the Bones [short story] (1967)Hugo
Nebula Awards
The Inner Circles (1967)
The Winter Flies (1967)
One Station of the Way (1968)
Endfray of the Ofay (1969)
Ship of Shadows [short story] (1969)Nebula Awards (nominee)
Hugo
America the Beautiful (1970)
Ill Met in Lankhmar [short story] (1970)Hugo
Nebula Awards
The Bait (1973)
Trapped in the Shadowland (1973)
Do You Know Dave Wenzel? (1974)
Midnight by the Morphy Watch (1974)Hugo (nominee)
Mysterious Doings in the Metropolitan Museum (1974)
Belsen Express (1975)World Fantasy (nominee)
Catch That Zeppelin! (1975)Hugo
Nebula Awards
The Glove (1975)
Under the Thumbs of the Gods (1975)
Dark Wings (1976)World Fantasy (nominee)
The Death of Princes (1976)
The Eeriest Ruined Dawn World (1976)
The Terror from the Depths (1976)
A Rite of Spring (1977)Nebula Awards (nominee)
Black Glass (1978)
The Mer She (1978)
The Button Molder (1979)World Fantasy (nominee)
Horrible Imaginings (1982)Nebula Awards (nominee)
World Fantasy (nominee)
The Moon Porthole (1982)
The Curse of the Smalls and the Stars (1983)
The Ghost Light [short story] (1984)


Awards
Hugo Best Novel winner (1958) : The Big Time
Hugo Best Novellette nominee (1959) : A Deskful of Girls
Hugo Best Short Story nominee (1959) : Rump-Titty-Titty-Tum-Tah-Tee
Hugo Best Short Story nominee (1962) : Scylla's Daughter
Hugo Best Short Story nominee (1963) : The Unholy Grail
Hugo Best Novel winner (1965) : The Wanderer
Hugo Best Short Story nominee (1966) : Stardock
Nebula Awards Best Short Story nominee (1966) : Cyclops
Nebula Awards Best Novellette nominee (1966) : Four Ghosts in Hamlet
Nebula Awards Best Short Story nominee (1966) : The Good New Days
Hugo Best Novellette winner (1968) : Gonna Roll the Bones [short story]
Nebula Awards Best Short Story nominee (1968) : Answering Service
Nebula Awards Best Novellette winner (1968) : Gonna Roll the Bones [short story]
Hugo Best Novella winner (1970) : Ship of Shadows [short story]
Nebula Awards Best Novella nominee (1970) : Ship of Shadows [short story]
Hugo Best Novella winner (1971) : Ill Met in Lankhmar [short story]
Nebula Awards Best Novella winner (1971) : Ill Met in Lankhmar [short story]
Hugo Best Novellette nominee (1975) : Midnight by the Morphy Watch
Hugo Best Short Story winner (1976) : Catch That Zeppelin!
Nebula Awards Best Short Story winner (1976) : Catch That Zeppelin!
World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement winner (1976)
World Fantasy Best Short Story nominee (1976) : Belsen Express
World Fantasy Best Short Story nominee (1977) : Dark Wings
Nebula Awards Best Novellette nominee (1978) : A Rite of Spring
World Fantasy Best Novel winner (1978) : Our Lady of Darkness
World Fantasy Best Collection nominee (1979) : Heroes and Horrors
World Fantasy Best Short Story nominee (1980) : The Button Molder
Nebula Awards Best Novella nominee (1983) : Horrible Imaginings
World Fantasy Best Novella nominee (1983) : Horrible Imaginings
World Fantasy Best Collection nominee (1991) : The Leiber Chronicles: Fifty Years of Fritz Leiber


Fritz Leiber recommends
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The Model (1987)
Robert Aickman
"He is a weatherman of the subconscious."
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The Sword Is Forged (1983)
Evangeline Walton
"I hadn't thought it possible to combine a novel of feminism with one of genuine romantic love, but Walton achieves this brilliantly. The language is clear, businesslike, and rises to heights at the climaxes. The story hews to it's thrilling tragic line, avoiding subplots and mere chronicle. This is certainly the best fictional depiction of the Amazons that I've ever encountered."
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The Many-Coloured Land (1981)
(Pliocene Exiles, book 1)
Julian May
"Altogether enchanting and engrossing...it stirs the mind and engages the feelings. I was captivated by its glamorous, sinister movement through the misty forests of Earth's true past."
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The Doll Who Ate His Mother (1976)
Ramsey Campbell
"At once beautiful, shocking and thoroughly terrifying: we see and hear, we smell and feel the acid stench and spider touch of fear. An outstanding achievement."
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The Island Under the Earth (1969)
Avram Davidson
"I was completely caught up in the saga."
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Picnic on Paradise (1968)
Joanna Russ
"Picnic on Paradise is the only science fiction novel I've read in a single sitting in the past ten years. The tough little heroine Alyx grabbed my interest in the first sentence and never let go, any more than she ever lets go of her job of herding a fascinating bunch of future tourists across a winter-resort planet which is the battlefield of an eerie war and glitters with peril. Here is adventure, not romanticized, but as it really is: rough, dangerous and dirty, a-bristle with the unexpected, though with moments of high humor and surprising beauty."

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