Harry Otto Fischer (1910–1986) was an American science fiction writer and fan best known for helping his college friend

Fritz Leiber Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. ( ; December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theater and films, playwright, and chess expert. With writers such as Robert ...

create the

sword and sorcery Sword and sorcery (S&S) is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy, the tale ...

heroes

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are two sword-and-sorcery heroes appearing in stories written by American author Fritz Leiber. They are the protagonists of what are probably Leiber's best-known stories. One of his motives in writing them was to have ...

and their imaginary world of

Nehwon Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are two sword-and-sorcery heroes appearing in stories written by American author Fritz Leiber. They are the protagonists of what are probably Leiber's best-known stories. One of his motives in writing them was to have ...

. The fictional heroes were based vaguely on their creators, the barbarian Fafhrd on the tall Leiber, and the thief The Gray Mouser on Fischer. During 1937, Fischer and Leiber designed a board game set in this fantasy world and each began composing a story with the same setting, Fischer's being "The Lords of Quarmall" and Leiber's "The Adventure of the Grain Ships." Neither story was finished until much later; Fischer's work on "The Lords of Quarmall" amounted to 10,000 words of the eventual story, which was finished by Leiber. The first professional publication of a story featuring the heroes and their setting was "Two Sought Adventure", in ''

Unknown Unknown or The Unknown may refer to: Film * The Unknown (1915 comedy film), ''The Unknown'' (1915 comedy film), a silent boxing film * The Unknown (1915 drama film), ''The Unknown'' (1915 drama film) * The Unknown (1927 film), ''The Unknown'' (1 ...

'' magazine during 1939. This and most subsequent stories featuring the pair were written by Leiber, and all but one were set in the fantasy world Leiber and Fischer created. The original tales begun by Fischer and Leiber about the pair were completed by Leiber and published during the 1960s. "The Adventure of the Grain Ships" was finally published in the magazine ''

Fantastic The fantastic (french: le fantastique) is a subgenre of literary works characterized by the ambiguous presentation of seemingly supernatural forces. Bulgarian-French structuralist literary critic Tzvetan Todorov originated the concept, characte ...

'' as "Scylla's Daughter" during 1961, and was later expanded into the novel ''The Swords of Lankhmar'' (1968); "The Lords of Quarmall" was finally published, also in ''

'', during 1964. Fischer also wrote "The Childhood and Youth of the Gray Mouser," published during 1978 in The Dragon #18. Fischer and Leiber contributed to the original game design of the board game ''

Lankhmar Lankhmar is a fictional city in the ''Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser'' stories by Fritz Leiber. It is situated on the world of Nehwon, just west of the Great Salt Marsh and east of the River Hlal, and serves as the home of Leiber's two antiheroes. ...

'' – published during 1976 by TSR.

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* 1910 births 1986 deaths American fantasy writers 20th-century American novelists American male novelists 20th-century American male writers {{US-fantasy-writer-stub

Further reading

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