Catherine Lucille Moore was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, who first came to prominence in the 1930s writing as C. L. Moore. She was among the first women to write in the science fiction and fantasy genres. Moore's work paved the way for many other female speculative fiction writers.
Sword and sorcery (S&S), or heroic fantasy, 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 tales, though dramatic, focus on personal battles rather than world-endangering matters. The genre originated from the early-1930s works of Robert E. Howard. While there is a chance example from 1953, Fritz Leiber re-coined the term "sword and sorcery" in the 6 April 1961 issue of the fantasy fanzine Ancalagon, to describe Howard and the stories that were influenced by his works. In parallel with "sword and sorcery", the term "heroic fantasy" is used, although it is a more loosely defined genre.
Elements of the supernatural and the fantastic were an element of literature from its beginning. The modern fantasy genre is distinguished from tales and folklore which contain fantastic elements, first by the acknowledged fictitious nature of the work, and second by the naming of an author. Authors like George MacDonald (1824–1905) created the first explicitly fantastic works.
Northwest Smith is a fictional character, and the hero of a series of stories by science fiction writer C. L. Moore.
Swords and Sorcery is an anthology of fantasy short stories in the sword and sorcery subgenre, edited by L. Sprague de Camp and illustrated by Virgil Finlay. It was first published in paperback by Pyramid Books in 1963, but most of the stories were originally from 1930s pulp magazines. This was first sword and sorcery anthology ever assembled, and was followed by three additional such anthologies edited by de Camp. It has also been translated into German.
Warlocks and Warriors is an anthology of fantasy short stories in the sword and sorcery subgenre, edited by American writer L. Sprague de Camp. It was first published in hardcover by Putnam in 1970, and in paperback by Berkley Books in 1971. It was the fourth such anthology assembled by de Camp, following his earlier Swords and Sorcery (1963), The Spell of Seven (1965), and The Fantastic Swordsmen (1967).
Gender has been an important theme explored in speculative fiction. The genres that make up speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy, supernatural fiction, horror, superhero fiction, science fantasy and related genres, have always offered the opportunity for writers to explore social conventions, including gender, gender roles, and beliefs about gender. Like all literary forms, the science fiction genre reflects the popular perceptions of the eras in which individual creators were writing; and those creators' responses to gender stereotypes and gender roles.
Realms of Wizardry: An Anthology of Adult Fantasy is an American anthology of fantasy stories, edited by American writer Lin Carter. It was first published in hardcover by Doubleday in December 1976 as the second of two such anthologies continuing a series of nine assembled by Carter for the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series.
Clifford Nankivell Ball was an American fantasy writer whose primary distinction was having been one of the earliest post-Howard writers in the sword and sorcery subgenre of fantasy. He wrote as Clifford Ball.
The Conan Chronicles: Volume 2: The Hour of the Dragon is a collection of fantasy short stories written by Robert E. Howard featuring his sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. The book was published in 2001 by Gollancz as sixteenth volume of their Fantasy Masterworks series. The book, edited by Stephen Jones, presents the stories in their internal chronological order. Most of the stories originally appeared in the magazines Weird Tales, Fantasy Magazine and The Howard Collector.
Dark Agnes de Chastillon is a fictional character created by Robert E. Howard and the protagonist of three stories set in 16th century France, which were not printed until long after the author's death.
Shambleau and Others is a 1953 collection of science fiction and fantasy short stories by American writer C. L. Moore. The book was originally announced by Arkham House but never published by them. It was first published by Gnome Press in 1953 in an edition of 4,000 copies. The collections contains stories about Moore's characters Northwest Smith and Jirel of Joiry. The stories all originally appeared in the magazine Weird Tales.
Black God's Shadow is a collection of fantasy short stories by American writer C. L. Moore and illustrator Alicia Austin. It was first published in 1977 by Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. in an edition of 2,550 copies, of which 150 were bound in buckram, boxed, and signed by the author and artist. The stories feature Moore's character Jirel of Joiry, and originally appeared in the magazine Weird Tales. The stories were previously collected in a different configuration under the title Jirel of Joiry (1969).
Elak of Atlantis is a collection of sword and sorcery short stories by American author Henry Kuttner (1915-1958), gathering together all his tales featuring the title character. It was first published in trade paperback by Gryphon Books in March 1985; a later trade paperback edition was issued by Paizo Publishing in October 2007. The first British and first ebook edition was issued by Gateway/Orion in March 2013; the first American ebook edition was issued by Diversion Books in July 2014.
Jirel of Joiry is a collection of five fantasy stories by C. L. Moore, often characterized as sword and sorcery. The volume compiles all but one of Moore's stories featuring the title character, a female warrior in an imagined version of medieval France. All the stories were published in Weird Tales during the 1930s. After being published as a paperback original by Paperback Library in 1969, the collection was reissued by Ace Books in the 1980s and 1990s.
Strange Stories was a pulp magazine which ran for thirteen issues from 1939 to 1941. It was edited by Mort Weisinger, who was not credited. Contributors included Robert Bloch, Eric Frank Russell, C. L. Moore, August Derleth, and Henry Kuttner. Strange Stories was a competitor to the established leader in weird fiction, Weird Tales. With the launch, also in 1939, of the well-received Unknown, Strange Stories was unable to compete. It ceased publication in 1941 when Weisinger left to edit Superman comic books.
The Barbarian Swordsmen is an anthology of sword and sorcery stories edited by Peter Haining under the pseudonym of Sean Richards, cover-billed as "the original sword and sorcery adventures." It was first published in paperback by Star Books in 1981.
Savage Heroes is an anthology of sword and sorcery stories edited by Michel Parry under the pseudonym of Eric Pendragon. It was first published in paperback by Star Books in February 1977. The first U.S. edition was issued in hardcover and trade paperback by Taplinger in March 1980. The editor's pseudonym was dropped for the Taplinger edition.
The Best of C. L. Moore is a collection of science fiction and fantasy short stories by American author C. L. Moore, edited by Lester del Rey. It was first published in hardback by Nelson Doubleday in November 1975 and in paperback by Ballantine Books in March 1976 as a volume in its Classic Library of Science Fiction. A second hardcover edition was issued by Taplinger in 1977, and the paperback edition was reissued by Del Rey/Ballantine in December 1980 and January 1981. The book has been translated into German and Italian.
Howard Andrew Jones is an American speculative fiction and fantasy author and editor, known for The Chronicles of Hanuvar series, The Chronicles of Sword and Sand series and The Ring-Sworn trilogy. He has also written Pathfinder Tales, tie-in fiction novels in the world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, published by Paizo. He is the editor of Tales from the Magician's Skull and has served as a Managing Editor at Black Gate since 2004. He assembled and edited a series of eight volumes of the short fiction of Harold Lamb for publication by Bison Books.
