After breezing through the newest Creedence Clearwater Revival bio (highly recommended!), "A Song For Everyone", I am shifting gears and reading The Spell of Seven, a sword and sorcery anthology edited by L. Sprague de Camp. The lead story is "Bazaar of the Bizarre", a tale by Fritz Leiber of his dashing (and often humorous) duo, Fafhrd and The Grey Mouser. Superbly written and as close as you can get to "literary" sword and sorcery (with the exception of the florid prose of Clark Ashton Smith), it first appeared in the August, 1963 issue of FANTASTIC STORIES OF IMAGINATION. Here, too, it was the lead story, as well as garnering the cover with accurately depicted art by Vernon Kramer (see above).
If ever there was a rousing call to arms regarding the subject of Sword & Sorcery, it is Mr. de Camp's introduction to the book (included here along with his introduction to the story). Enthusiastic and exciting, it should alleviate anyone's doubts about the legitimacy of the genre.
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| Cover art by Gail Burwen (2nd Edition). |
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| Illustration by Schelling. |
BONUS! Two short tales by author of the paranormal, Brad Steiger, including the conclusion of "Bazaar of the Bizarre".
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| The Spell of Seven (1st edition). |
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