The Stone of the Witch Queen

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The Stone of the Witch Queen
by L. Sprague de Camp
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Series Pusadian series
Genre(s) Fantasy
Published inWeirdbook
Media typePrint (Magazine)
Publication datefall, 1977
Preceded by"The Hungry Hercynian"
Followed by"Ka the Appalling"

"The Stone of the Witch-Queen" is a fantasy short story by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, part of his Pusadian series. It was first published in the magazine Weirdbook for fall 1977. [1] [2] It has also been translated into Dutch and German. [2] Chronologically, "The Stone of the Witch Queen" is the fifth of de Camp's Pusadian tales, and the third to feature his protagonist Gezun of Lorsk. [1]

Contents

Plot summary

Gezun of Lorsk becomes embroiled in schemes surrounding a magical gem known as the Potent Peridot, which confers control over the opposite sex. Having been once victimized by the gem, he steals it and plans on returning his prize to a previous owner, the witch-queen Bathyllis of Phaiaxia, who has offered a reward for its return. With his ally, the philosopher Aristax, he undertakes the harrowing journey into Phaiaxia to negotiate with the queen. But nothing is straightforward when dealing with a witch, and there are also other interested parties poised to complicate the situation...

Setting

In common with the other Pusadian tales, "The Stone of the Witch Queen" takes place in a prehistoric era during which a magic-based Atlantian civilization supposedly throve in what was then a single continent consisting of Eurasia joined with Africa, and in the islands to the west. It is similar in conception to Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age, by which it was inspired, but more astutely constructed, utilizing actual Ice Age geography in preference to a wholly invented one. In de Camp's scheme, the legend of this culture that came down to classic Greece as "Atlantis" was a garbled memory that conflated the mighty Tartessian Empire with the island continent of Pusad and the actual Atlantis, a barbaric mountainous region that is today the Atlas mountain range.

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"The Hungry Hercynian" is a fantasy short story by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, part of his Pusadian series. It was first published in the magazine Universe Science Fiction for December, 1953, and first appeared in book form in the anthology The Spell of Seven, edited by de Camp. It has also been translated into German, and was first brought together with other works of de Camp in the German collection Die Chronik von Poseidonis.

Ka the Appalling

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The Stronger Spell

"The Stronger Spell" is a fantasy short story by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, part of his Pusadian series. It was first published in the magazine Fantasy Fiction for November 1953, and first appeared in book form in de Camp's collection The Tritonian Ring and Other Pusadian Tales. It has since been reprinted in the anthology The Mighty Barbarians, edited by Hans Stefan Santesson. It was included in the omnibus de Camp collection Lest Darkness Fall/Rogue Queen/The Tritonian Ring and Other Pusadian Tales published in trade paperback by Gollancz in February 2014 and as an ebook by Gateway/Orion in March of the same year. It has also been translated into Dutch and German.

<i>Viagens Interplanetarias</i>

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Bibliography of science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction and nonfiction writer L. Sprague de Camp:

The Animal-Cracker Plot

"The Animal-Cracker Plot" is a science fiction short story by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, a story in his Viagens Interplanetarias series. It is the second (chronologically) set on the planet Vishnu, and the first to feature the interstellar con-man Darius Koshay. It was first published in the magazine Astounding Science-Fiction in the issue for July, 1949. It first appeared in book form in the collection The Continent Makers and Other Tales of the Viagens, published in hardcover by Twayne Publishers in 1953, and in paperback by Signet Books in 1971. The story has been translated into Portuguese, Dutch, and Italian.

The Galton Whistle

"The Galton Whistle" is a science fiction short story by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, a story in his Viagens Interplanetarias series. It is the first (chronologically) set on the planet Vishnu. It was first published, as "Ultrasonic God," in the magazine Future Combined with Science Fiction Stories in the issue for July, 1951. It first appeared in book form under the present title in the collection The Continent Makers and Other Tales of the Viagens, published in hardcover by Twayne Publishers in 1953, and in paperback by Signet Books in 1971. It also appeared in the anthologies Novelets of Science Fiction, The Good Old Stuff, and The Good Stuff. The story has been translated into Portuguese, Dutch, and Italian.

Finished (short story)

"Finished" is a science fiction short story by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, part of his Viagens Interplanetarias series. It was first published in the magazine Astounding Science Fiction in the issue for November, 1949. It first appeared in book form in the collection The Continent Makers and Other Tales of the Viagens, published in hardcover by Twayne Publishers in 1953 and in paperback by Signet Books in November, 1971.

References

  1. 1 2 Laughlin, Charlotte; Daniel J. H. Levack (1983). De Camp: An L. Sprague de Camp Bibliography. San Francisco: Underwood/Miller. p. 245.
  2. 1 2 The Stone of the Witch Queen title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
Preceded by Pusadian series
"The Stone of the Witch Queen"
Succeeded by