Lyon Sprague de Camp was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and works of non-fiction, including biographies of other fantasy authors. He was a major figure in science fiction in the 1930s and 1940s.
Ancient Ruins and Archaeology is a 1964 science book by L. Sprague de Camp and Catherine Crook de Camp, one of their most popular works. It was first published in hardcover by Doubleday in 1964, and reprinted under the same title by Barnes & Noble Books in 1992. The first British and paperback edition was issued by Fontana in 1972 under the title Citadels of Mystery, which was the de Camps' original working title; this title was retained by the first American paperback edition, issued by Ballantine Books in April 1973 and reprinted in February 1974. Translations into French, German and Portuguese have also appeared. Portions of the work had previously appeared as articles in the magazines Astounding Science Fiction, Fate, Frontiers, Natural History Magazine, Other Worlds Science Stories, Science Fiction Quarterly, and Travel.
The Honorable Barbarian is a fantasy novel by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, the fifth and final book of his Novarian series. It is a sequel both to the "Reluctant King" trilogy and to the Novarian sequence's only short story, "The Emperor's Fan". It was first published in hardcover by Del Rey Books in July 1989, with a limited edition hardcover following from The Easton Press in its "Signed First Editions of Science Fiction" series in August of the same year. Another hardcover edition issued by Del Rey in conjunction with the Science Fiction Book Club appeared in January 1990. The first paperback edition was issued by Del Rey in May 1990. The novel has also been translated into French. An E-book edition was published as The Honourable Barbarian by Gollancz's SF Gateway imprint on September 29, 2011 as part of a general release of de Camp's works in electronic form.
The Goblin Tower is a fantasy novel by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, the first book of both his Novarian series and the "Reluctant King" trilogy featuring King Jorian of Xylar. It is not to be confused with the collection of poetry by the same title by Frank Belknap Long. De Camp's novel was first published as a paperback by Pyramid Books in 1968. It was reprinted by Del Rey Books in December 1983, July 1987, and July 1989. It was later gathered together with its sequels The Clocks of Iraz (1971) and The Unbeheaded King (1983) into the omnibus collection The Reluctant King. The first independent hardbound edition was issued by HarperCollins in 1987. An E-book edition was published by Gollancz's SF Gateway imprint on September 29, 2011 as part of a general release of de Camp's works in electronic form. The novel has been translated into French, Italian and German.
The Hand of Zei is a science fiction novel by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, the second book of his Viagens Interplanetarias series and its subseries of stories set on the fictional planet Krishna. The book has a convoluted publication history.
Phantoms and Fancies is a 1972 collection of poetry by science fiction and fantasy author L. Sprague de Camp, illustrated by Tim Kirk. It was published by Mirage Press.
Conan the Barbarian is a 1982 fantasy novel written by L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter and Catherine Crook de Camp featuring Robert E. Howard's seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian, a novelization of the feature film of the same name. It was first published in paperback by Bantam Books in May 1982. The first hardcover edition was issued by Robert Hale in 1983, and the first British edition by Sphere Books in April 1988. A later novel with the same title by Michael A. Stackpole was issued by Berkley Books in 2011 as a tie-in with the 2011 remake of the 1982 film.
Conan of Aquilonia is a collection of four linked fantasy short stories by American writers L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. The stories were originally published in Fantastic in August 1972, July 1973, July 1974, and February 1975. The collected stories were intended for book publication by Lancer Books, but this edition never appeared due to Lancer's bankruptcy, and the first book edition was issued in paperback by Ace Books in paperback in May 1977. It was reprinted by Ace in July 1981, April 1982, November 1982, August 1983, July 1984, 1986, June 1991, and April 1994. The first British edition was published by Sphere Books in October 1978, and reprinted in July 1988. The book has also been translated into French.
The Pixilated Peeress is a fantasy novel by American writers L. Sprague de Camp and Catherine Crook de Camp. It is the second book in their sequence of two Neo-Napolitanian novels, following The Incorporated Knight. It was first published in hardcover by Del Rey Books in August 1991, and in paperback by the same publisher in September 1992. An E-book edition was published by Gollancz's SF Gateway imprint on September 29, 2011 as part of a general release of de Camp's works in electronic form.
Sagas of Conan is a 2004 omnibus collection of three previously issued fantasy books written by L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter and Björn Nyberg featuring Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books.
The Reluctant King is the overall title of a trilogy of fantasy novels written by L. Sprague de Camp as part of his Novarian series, as well as the 1983 omnibus collection gathering the books together into one volume. The trilogy features de Camp's sword and sorcery hero King Jorian of Xylar, and is composed of The Goblin Tower (1968), The Clocks of Iraz (1971) and The Unbeheaded King (1983). The omnibus was first published in hardcover by Nelson Doubleday in 1983 as an offering for its Science Fiction Book Club, and was reissued in paperback by Baen Books in 1996.
The Fallible Fiend is a fantasy novel by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, the third book of his Novarian series. It was first published as a two-part serial in the magazine Fantastic for December 1972 and February 1973, and subsequently expanded and revised for book publication. The novel was first published in book form as a paperback by Signet Books in 1973; it was later reprinted by Remploy (1974), Sphere (1978), Del Rey/Ballantine (1981), Baen (1992) and the Thorndike Press (2002). The Remploy edition was both the first British and first hardcover edition. An e-book edition was published by Gollancz's SF Gateway imprint on September 29, 2011 as part of a general release of de Camp's works in electronic form. It has also been translated into German and Italian.
"The Emperor's Fan" is a fantasy short story by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, the fourth of his Novarian series. It was first published in Astounding: The John W. Campbell Memorial Anthology, edited by Harry Harrison, in 1973. It has since been reprinted in other anthologies, including The Year's Best Fantasy Stories, edited by Lin Carter (1975), as well as such collections of de Camp's work as The Best of L. Sprague de Camp (1978) and Footprints on Sand (1981). It has also been translated into German.
The Novarian series is a sequence of fantasy stories by L. Sprague de Camp, published between 1968 and 1989. The series contains some of de Camp's most innovative works of fantasy, featuring explorations of various political systems, an inversion of the "rags to royalty" pattern characteristic of much heroic fantasy, a satiric look at the foibles of humanity through the eyes of a demon, and a consistently wry and ironic take on conventions of the genre that plays out by taking them to their logical conclusions. Another singular feature of the series is its frequent use of folk tales integrated into the plot to painlessly convey something of the background and history of the invented world. This device obviates the need for lengthy appendices, as in The Lord of the Rings.
The Tritonian Ring is a heroic fantasy novel written by L. Sprague de Camp as part of his Pusadian series. It was first published in the magazine Two Complete Science Adventure Books for Winter, 1951, and first appeared in book form in de Camp's collection The Tritonian Ring and Other Pusadian Tales. Its first publication as a stand-alone novel was as a paperback by Paperback Library in 1968; the first hardcover edition was from Owlswick Press in 1977. An E-book edition was published as The Tritonian Ring and Other Pasudian [sic] Tales by Gollancz's SF Gateway imprint on September 29, 2011 as part of a general release of de Camp's works in electronic form.
The Unbeheaded King is a fantasy novel by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, the fourth book of his Novarian series and the third in the "Reluctant King" trilogy featuring King Jorian of Xylar. It was first published as a hardcover by Del Rey Books in March 1983 and later reprinted in paperback in December 1983 and July 1989 by the same publisher. It was later gathered together with the other books in the trilogy, The Goblin Tower (1968) and The Clocks of Iraz (1971), into the omnibus collection The Reluctant King. An E-book edition was published by Gollancz's SF Gateway imprint on September 29, 2011 as part of a general release of de Camp's works in electronic form.
The Tower of Zanid is a science fiction novel by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, the sixth book of his Viagens Interplanetarias series and the fourth of its subseries of stories set on the fictional planet Krishna. Chronologically it is the seventh Krishna novel. It was first published in the magazine Science Fiction Stories for May 1958. It was first published in book form in hardcover by Avalon Books, also in 1958, and in paperback by Airmont Books in 1963. It has been reissued a number of times since by various publishers. For the later standard edition of Krishna novels it was published together with The Virgin of Zesh in the paperback collection The Virgin of Zesh & The Tower of Zanid by Ace Books in 1983. An E-book edition was published by Gollancz's SF Gateway imprint on September 29, 2011 as part of a general release of de Camp's works in electronic form. The novel has also been translated into Italian and German.
Bibliography of science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction and nonfiction writer L. Sprague de Camp:
The Green Magician is a fantasy novella by American writers L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt. The fifth story in their Harold Shea series, it was first published in the November 1954 issue of the fantasy pulp magazine Beyond Fiction. It first appeared in book form, together with "The Wall of Serpents", in the collection Wall of Serpents, issued in hardcover by Avalon Books in 1960; the book has been reissued by a number of other publishers since. It has also been reprinted in various magazines, anthologies and collections, including The Dragon, The Complete Compleat Enchanter (1989), Masterpieces of Fantasy and Enchantment (1988), and The Mathematics of Magic: The Enchanter Stories of L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt (2007). It has been translated into Italian and German.
Lest Darkness Fall and Related Stories is an anthology of time travel alternate history stories by American writers L. Sprague de Camp, Frederik Pohl, S. M. Stirling and David Drake. It was first published in ebook by Arc Manor under its Phoenix Pick imprint in February 2011, with a trade paperback following in March of the same year and a hardcover edition in October 2017. Arc Manor issued a second edition under its CAEZIK SF & Fantasy imprint in hardcover and ebook in February 2021, under the alternate title Lest Darkness Fall and Timeless Tales Written in Tribute; the new edition added two newly commissioned stories by David Weber and Harry Turtledove.
