''Swords and Ice Magic'' is a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

short story collection, first published in 1977, by American writer

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 ...

, featuring his

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 ...

. It is chronologically the sixth volume of the complete seven volume edition of the collected stories devoted to the characters. It was first published in paperback format during July 1977 by

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns, and soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first scienc ...

company, which reprinted the title numerous times through 1990; a later paperback edition was issued by

Dark Horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might. Origin Th ...

(2007). It has been published in the United Kingdom by

Mayflower Books ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...

and Grafton (1986, 1987). The first hardcover edition was issued by

Gregg Press Gregg Press was founded about 1965 by Charles Gregg in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey to distribute in the United States the antiquarian reprints published in the UK by Gregg Press International. Gregg decided he wanted to publish scholarly repri ...

during December 1977. The book has also been gathered together with others in the series into various omnibus editions; ''Swords' Masters'' (1990), ''Return to Lankhmar'' (1997), and ''The Second Book of Lankhmar'' (2001). The book collects seven short stories and one novella, three of which were published originally in the anthologies '' Flashing Swords! #1'' (1973) and '' Flashing Swords! #3: Warriors and Wizards'' (1976), the collections ''

The Book of Fritz Leiber ''The Book of Fritz Leiber'' is a collection of short stories and articles by American writer Fritz Leiber. It was first published in paperback in January 1974 by DAW Books. It was later gathered together with '' The Second Book of Fritz Leiber'' ...

'' (1974) and '' The Second Book of Fritz Leiber'' (1975), and the magazines ''

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 ...

'' for November 1973 and April 1975, '' Whispers'' for December 1973, and ''

Cosmos Science Fiction and Fantasy David Geddes Hartwell (July 10, 1941 – January 20, 2016) was an American critic, publisher, and editor of thousands of science fiction and fantasy novels. He was best known for work with Signet, Pocket, and Tor Books publishers. He was also no ...

'' for May and July 1977. "The Frost Monstreme" and "Rime Isle" have also been published separately as the novel '' Rime Isle'' (1977). While the stories were ostensibly assembled in chronological order by the author, internal evidence indicates that the third, "Trapped in the Shadowland", which is a direct sequel to the preceding volume, ''

The Swords of Lankhmar ''The Swords of Lankhmar'' is a fantasy novel, first published 1968, by Fritz Leiber, featuring his sword and sorcery heroes Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. It is chronologically the fifth volume of the complete seven volume edition of the collected s ...

'', should actually have been placed first.

*"The Sadness of the Executioner" (1973) *"Beauty and the Beasts" (1974) *"Trapped in the Shadowland" (1973) *"The Bait" (1973) *"Under the Thumbs of the Gods" (1975) *"Trapped in the Sea of Stars" (1975) *"The Frost Monstreme" (1976) *"Rime Isle" (1977)

Plot

The Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories concern the lives of two larcenous but likable rogues as they adventure across the fantasy 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 ...

. In ''Swords and Ice Magic'' the duo face a series of challenges from Death of greater or lesser subtlety ("The Sadness of the Executioner", "Beauty and the Beasts", "Trapped in the Shadowland" and "The Bait"), the pique of deities they formerly worshiped whose names they now rarely even use in vain ("Under the Thumbs of the Gods"), a voyage to the strange equatorial ocean of Nehwon ("Trapped in the Sea of Stars"), and recruitment to succor Nehwon's Iceland, the legendary Rime Isle, menaced by Sea Mingols and a pair of refugee gods ("The Frost Monstreme", "Rime Isle").

Relation to other works

"Under the Thumbs of the Gods" includes an appearance by

Joanna Russ Joanna Russ (February 22, 1937 – April 29, 2011) was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as ''How to Suppress Women's Writing'', as w ...

's heroine Alyx.

Reception

C. Ben Ostrander reviewed ''Swords and Ice Magic'' in ''

The Space Gamer ''The Space Gamer'' was a magazine dedicated to the subject of science fiction and fantasy board games and tabletop role-playing games. It quickly grew in importance and was an important and influential magazine in its subject matter from the la ...

'' No. 12. Ostrander commented that "Included in this book are some of the very best Fafhrd & Gray Mouser stories written. Mr. Leiber's stories help shape the growing field of fantasy literature, and I expect to see the stories in this volume re-written by aspiring writers, and get printed. But remember, Fritz Leiber did it first, and better."

Awards

''Swords and Ice Magic'' was nominated for the 1978 World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology/Collection.

References

External links