Category Archives: fantasy

Swords Against Redundancy: Leiber’s TWO SOUGHT ADVENTURE and SWORDS AGAINST DEATH

Posted on February 20, 2023 by JE

In summary: these two books collect the earliest stories Fritz Leiber published about Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, ergo one or the other is essential reading for the sword-and-sorcery fan. Both are probably essential only to the Leiberian completist, so … Continue reading →

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SWORDS AND DEVILTRY by Fritz Leiber

Posted on February 11, 2023 by JE

Summary: this is essential reading for the fan of sword-and-sorcery, written by the guy who coined the name of the genre. Some mild spoilers follow. In terms of internal chronology, Swords and Deviltry (Ace, May 1970) is the first volume … Continue reading →

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Goa, Going, Gone

Posted on January 31, 2023 by JE

I was scrolling through an electronic edition of a venerable Latin dictionary, which is a totally normal thing to do, and I was brought up short by the entry for superstitio: “excessive fear of the goas; unreasonable religious belief.” I … Continue reading →

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The Road to Amber

Posted on January 21, 2023 by JE

I try to fight my internal hype machine when I hear about my favorite books being adapted to the screen. But: this seems like incredibly good news.

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The Strife of Camlann

Posted on January 10, 2023 by JE

Mordred vs. Arthur (by Arthur Rackham).

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Get the Hnakkr!

Posted on January 2, 2023 by JE

I’m rereading Snorri’s Edda and Tacitus’ Historiae in tandem, and it’s an interesting experience. With Snorri, this involves a lot of adventures in the dictionary, as the vocabulary of Old Icelandic is definitely less familiar to me than the vocabulary … Continue reading →

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Forever Blowing Bubbles

Posted on January 2, 2023 by JE

Frank Kelly Freas, “The Piper”–a WEIRD TALES cover in 1950 and 1990. (See Deuce Richardson’s writeup at the DMR Books site.)

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“Look Up, Not Down!”

Posted on January 1, 2023 by JE

Κύκλοψ: βλέπετ᾽ ἄνω καὶ μὴ κάτω. Χορός: ἰδού: πρὸς αὐτὸν τὸν Δί᾽ ἀνακεκύφαμεντά τ᾽ ἄστρα, καὶ τὸν Ὠρίωνα δέρκομαι. —Euripides, Cyclops Cyclops: Look up, not down. Chorus: I am looking up! I’m looking ‘way up!

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In Moria, in Khazad-dûm…

Posted on December 30, 2022 by JE

The Bridge of Khazad-dûm from Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings movie. If only the film had been as great as its background art.

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Looking Forward

Posted on December 29, 2022 by JE

Gearing up to teach one of my favorite courses, “Medieval Legends”.

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