#henrykuttner — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #henrykuttner, aggregated by home.social.
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RE: https://bookstodon.com/@astralcomputing/116347573715620010
Born this day: 04/07/1915 (d. 02/03/1958)
Henry Kuttner was an American SF writer who, with wife C.L. Moore as Lewis Padgett, created some of the best pulp-era short fiction. His Retro Hugo-winning "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" inspired the film The Last Mimzy, and his Gallegher stories remain beloved classics.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kuttner
#Literature #SciFi #ScienceFiction #books #bookstodon #coverart #bookart #bookcovers
@books @scifi @Scifiart @sciencefiction
#HenryKuttner -
RE: https://bookstodon.com/@astralcomputing/116347573715620010
Born this day: 04/07/1915 (d. 02/03/1958)
Henry Kuttner was an American SF writer who, with wife C.L. Moore as Lewis Padgett, created some of the best pulp-era short fiction. His Retro Hugo-winning "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" inspired the film The Last Mimzy, and his Gallegher stories remain beloved classics.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kuttner
#Literature #SciFi #ScienceFiction #books #bookstodon #coverart #bookart #bookcovers
@books @scifi @Scifiart @sciencefiction
#HenryKuttner -
RE: https://bookstodon.com/@astralcomputing/116347573715620010
Born this day: 04/07/1915 (d. 02/03/1958)
Henry Kuttner was an American SF writer who, with wife C.L. Moore as Lewis Padgett, created some of the best pulp-era short fiction. His Retro Hugo-winning "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" inspired the film The Last Mimzy, and his Gallegher stories remain beloved classics.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kuttner
#Literature #SciFi #ScienceFiction #books #bookstodon #coverart #bookart #bookcovers
@books @scifi @Scifiart @sciencefiction
#HenryKuttner -
RE: https://bookstodon.com/@astralcomputing/116347573715620010
Born this day: 04/07/1915 (d. 02/03/1958)
Henry Kuttner was an American SF writer who, with wife C.L. Moore as Lewis Padgett, created some of the best pulp-era short fiction. His Retro Hugo-winning "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" inspired the film The Last Mimzy, and his Gallegher stories remain beloved classics.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kuttner
#Literature #SciFi #ScienceFiction #books #bookstodon #coverart #bookart #bookcovers
@books @scifi @Scifiart @sciencefiction
#HenryKuttner -
#sciencefiction #fantasy #HenryKuttner Der Autor Henry Kuttner wurde am heutigen Tag, dem 7. April, im Jahr 1915 geboren.
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#sciencefiction #fantasy #HenryKuttner Der Autor Henry Kuttner wurde am heutigen Tag, dem 7. April, im Jahr 1915 geboren.
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Titelbild von Harold S. de Lay für
Weird Tales, January 1941
u.a. mit "Dragon Moon" von Henry Kuttner
(archive.org)#fantasy #sciencefiction #WeirdTales #HenryKuttner #HaroldSdeLay
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Titelbild von Harold S. de Lay für
Weird Tales, January 1941
u.a. mit "Dragon Moon" von Henry Kuttner
(archive.org)#fantasy #sciencefiction #WeirdTales #HenryKuttner #HaroldSdeLay
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Innen-Illustration von Hannes Bok für
"Dragon Moon" von Henry Kuttner
aus Weird Tales, January 1941
(archive.org)#fantasy #sciencefiction #WeirdTales #HenryKuttner #HannesBok
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Innen-Illustration von Hannes Bok für
"Dragon Moon" von Henry Kuttner
aus Weird Tales, January 1941
(archive.org)#fantasy #sciencefiction #WeirdTales #HenryKuttner #HannesBok
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Innen-Illustration von Hannes Bok für
"Dragon Moon" von Henry Kuttner
aus Weird Tales, January 1941
(archive.org)#fantasy #sciencefiction #WeirdTales #HenryKuttner #HannesBok
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Innen-Illustration von Hannes Bok für
"Dragon Moon" von Henry Kuttner
aus Weird Tales, January 1941
(archive.org) -
RE: https://bookstodon.com/@astralcomputing/114297677765985892
Died this Day:
Henry Kuttner (April 7, 1915 – February 3, 1958) was a prolific American master of science fiction and fantasy, often writing in close collaboration with his wife, C.L. Moore, under pseudonyms like Lewis Padgett.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kuttner
#Literature
#SciFi
#ScienceFiction
#books
#bookstodon
#coverart
#HenryKuttner -
RE: https://bookstodon.com/@astralcomputing/114297677765985892
Died this Day:
Henry Kuttner (April 7, 1915 – February 3, 1958) was a prolific American master of science fiction and fantasy, often writing in close collaboration with his wife, C.L. Moore, under pseudonyms like Lewis Padgett.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kuttner
#Literature
#SciFi
#ScienceFiction
#books
#bookstodon
#coverart
#HenryKuttner -
RE: https://bookstodon.com/@astralcomputing/114297677765985892
Died this Day:
Henry Kuttner (April 7, 1915 – February 3, 1958) was a prolific American master of science fiction and fantasy, often writing in close collaboration with his wife, C.L. Moore, under pseudonyms like Lewis Padgett.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kuttner
#Literature
#SciFi
#ScienceFiction
#books
#bookstodon
#coverart
#HenryKuttner -
RE: https://bookstodon.com/@astralcomputing/114297677765985892
Died this Day:
Henry Kuttner (April 7, 1915 – February 3, 1958) was a prolific American master of science fiction and fantasy, often writing in close collaboration with his wife, C.L. Moore, under pseudonyms like Lewis Padgett.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kuttner
#Literature
#SciFi
#ScienceFiction
#books
#bookstodon
#coverart
#HenryKuttner -
Updates: Recent Science Fiction Purchases No. CCCXLVII (Edgar Pangborn, Rudy Rucker, Sally Miller Gearhart, and a SF anthology)
Which books/covers/authors intrigue you? Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed?
The first purchases of 2026!
1. A Mirror For Observers, Edgar Pangborn (1954)
- Richard Powers’ cover for the 1985 edition
From the back cover: “We would call them Martians, though they refer to themselves as Salvayans. Refugees from their dying planet, they arrived on our world almost 30,000 years ago to make new lives for themselves. From their vast underground cities, hidden from discovery, the Salvayans have ben observing us with care and concern, waiting for the day when humans will be ready to meet them. The Salvayans are not many, but they are long-lived and patient….
…Most of them, that is. for some have already tired of waiting. They call themselves Abdicators, setting themselves apart from the more passive Observers; they’d like to rid the Earth once and for all of the greedy, petty race that populates its surface. And with a little help from the Abdicators, perhaps the humans will destroy themselves.
In the small town of Latimer, Massachusetts, dwells a 12-year-old boy named Angelo Pontevicchio. Angelo is no ordinary human child, though he often wishes he would be. The handicap of his polioed leg and his unassuming gentleness are more than compensated for by his soaring mind. To Namir the Abdicator, Angelo is the human tool he needs. Angelo’s genius, his read-to-mold-personality, give him the potential of a Ghandi–or a Hitler. For Namir, it is but a matter of careful manipulation…
Learning of Namir’s plans, the Observers send in their own agent, poet-historian Elmis. Alone in the field, disguised as a mild, middle-aged ex-school teacher, Elmis must reach Angelo and somehow counteract the influence of the renegade Namir, whose resources and determination will stop at nothing–including murder. Elmis’ weapons: only the power of love and truth… and an ancient bronze mirror from the last civilization of Crete, a mirror that can show what one really is–or could be.
Following Elmis, Namir and Angelo over nine years–years in which the boy will be drawn into corruption, violence and, ultimately, a Nazi-like cult that threatens to fulfill Namir’s sinister wishes for human catastrophe–A Mirror for Observers showcases the captivating talents of of one of the SF’s most brilliant, most human and most innovative writers.”
Initial Thoughts: I love Pangborn. This is actually a second copy as my 1st edition paperback crumbled as I attempted to read it.
2. The 57th Franz Kafka, Rudy Rucker (1983)
- Uncredited cover for the 1st edition
From the back cover: “Mathematical philosopher, former unground cartoonist, aruthor of three wild sf novels and two works of mathematical non-fiction, great-great-great-grandson of G. W. F. Hegel and father of three, Rudolf von Bitter Rucker has a mind and a wit all of his own. Come enter his bizarre and delightful world in this collection of fact, fancy, and mangled history.”
Contents: “The 57th Franz Kafka” (1982), “Schrödinger’s Cat” (1981), “A New Golden Age” (1981), “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” (1983), “Sufferin’ Succotash” (1983), “Faraway Eyes” (1980), “Hyperspherical Space and Beyond” (1980), “The Indian Rope Trick Explained” (1983), “A New Experiment with Time” (1982), “The Man Who Age Himself” (1982), “The Facts of Life” (1983), “Tales of Houdini” (1981), “Buzz” (1981), “The Last Einstein-Rosen Bridge” (1983), “Pac-Man” (1982), “Pi in the Sky” (1983), “Inertia” (1983), “Message Found in a Copy of Flatland” (1983), “The Jack Kerouac Disembodied School of Poetics” (1982).
Initial Thoughts: Rudy Rucker remains a complete unknown to me. I’ve read a few reviews here and there and picked up a copy of Software (1982) (which remains unread). I’ve heard good things about White Light (1980) in particular.
3. Wanderground: Stories of the Hill Women, Sally Miller Gearhart (1978)
- Jim Hanlon’s cover for the 1984 edition
From the back cover: No summary provided. See my quote from SF Encyclopedia below.
Initial Thoughts: According to SF Encyclopedia, Gearhart’s first sf book, one of the most extreme of those that envisage men and women as effectively different races, is The Wanderground: Stories of the Hill Women (coll of linked stories 1978). It is set in the outlaw, all-women, Utopian hill communities of a future when men are restricted to the Cities and dependent on Technology, while women (in a somewhat New Age manner) have developed Psi Powers through harmony with Nature. Even the Gentles, men no longer driven by violence, know that “maleness touched women only with the accumulated hatred of centuries.” She’s an author I’ve frequently encounter in scholarship of feminist SF but hadn’t picked up a copy, until now.
4. Science-Fiction Carnival, ed. Fredric Brown and Mack Reynolds (1953)
- Uncredited cover for the 1957 edition
From the back cover: “….in science fiction carnival you’ll find out how a screenwriter traded personalities with Ivan the Terrible in THE EGO MACHINE.
What happens when thinking machines can give the answers to any question in A LOGIC NAMED JOE.
When a hillbilly finds a Martian is easier to handle than a “revenoer” in THE MARTIANS AND THE COYS.
How a glorified slot machine solved the problem of interplanetary travel in THE COSMIC JACKPOT.
What Jeremiah Jupiter, “mad scientist” deluxe, thought in THE WHEEL OF TIME.
And six other yarns of the fabulous future collected for your enjoyment.”
Contents: Robert Arthur’s “The Wheel of Time” (1950), Murray Leinster’s “A Logic Named Joe” (1946), Larry T. Shaw’s “Simworthy’s Circus” (1950), H. B. Fyfe’s “The Well-Oiled Machine” (1950), Clive Jackson’s “The Swordsmen of Varnis” (1950), Fredric Brown’s “Paradox Lost” (1943), Eric Frank Russell’s “Muten” (1948), Mack Reynolds’ “The Martians and the Coys” (1951), Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore’s “The Ego Machine” (1952), George O. Smith’s “The Cosmic Jackpot” (1948), Nelson S. Bond’s “The Abduction of Abner Greer” (1941).
Initial Thoughts: Sometimes I cast my eyes on anthologies as a way to finally read SF authors that have escaped my focus. In this instance, I haven’t read anything by Robert Arthur, H. B. Fyfe, Larry T. Shaw, George O. Smith, or Nelson S. Bond.
For book reviews consult the INDEX
For cover art posts consult the INDEX
For TV and film reviews consult the INDEX
#1950s #1970s #1980s #CLMoore #EdgarPangborn #FredricBrown #HenryKuttner #MackReynold #MurrayLeinster #paperbacks #RudyRucker #SallyMillerGearhart #sciFi #scienceFiction #technology
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Updates: Recent Science Fiction Purchases No. CCCXLVII (Edgar Pangborn, Rudy Rucker, Sally Miller Gearhart, and a SF anthology)
Which books/covers/authors intrigue you? Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed?
The first purchases of 2026!
1. A Mirror For Observers, Edgar Pangborn (1954)
- Richard Powers’ cover for the 1985 edition
From the back cover: “We would call them Martians, though they refer to themselves as Salvayans. Refugees from their dying planet, they arrived on our world almost 30,000 years ago to make new lives for themselves. From their vast underground cities, hidden from discovery, the Salvayans have ben observing us with care and concern, waiting for the day when humans will be ready to meet them. The Salvayans are not many, but they are long-lived and patient….
…Most of them, that is. for some have already tired of waiting. They call themselves Abdicators, setting themselves apart from the more passive Observers; they’d like to rid the Earth once and for all of the greedy, petty race that populates its surface. And with a little help from the Abdicators, perhaps the humans will destroy themselves.
In the small town of Latimer, Massachusetts, dwells a 12-year-old boy named Angelo Pontevicchio. Angelo is no ordinary human child, though he often wishes he would be. The handicap of his polioed leg and his unassuming gentleness are more than compensated for by his soaring mind. To Namir the Abdicator, Angelo is the human tool he needs. Angelo’s genius, his read-to-mold-personality, give him the potential of a Ghandi–or a Hitler. For Namir, it is but a matter of careful manipulation…
Learning of Namir’s plans, the Observers send in their own agent, poet-historian Elmis. Alone in the field, disguised as a mild, middle-aged ex-school teacher, Elmis must reach Angelo and somehow counteract the influence of the renegade Namir, whose resources and determination will stop at nothing–including murder. Elmis’ weapons: only the power of love and truth… and an ancient bronze mirror from the last civilization of Crete, a mirror that can show what one really is–or could be.
Following Elmis, Namir and Angelo over nine years–years in which the boy will be drawn into corruption, violence and, ultimately, a Nazi-like cult that threatens to fulfill Namir’s sinister wishes for human catastrophe–A Mirror for Observers showcases the captivating talents of of one of the SF’s most brilliant, most human and most innovative writers.”
Initial Thoughts: I love Pangborn. This is actually a second copy as my 1st edition paperback crumbled as I attempted to read it.
2. The 57th Franz Kafka, Rudy Rucker (1983)
- Uncredited cover for the 1st edition
From the back cover: “Mathematical philosopher, former unground cartoonist, aruthor of three wild sf novels and two works of mathematical non-fiction, great-great-great-grandson of G. W. F. Hegel and father of three, Rudolf von Bitter Rucker has a mind and a wit all of his own. Come enter his bizarre and delightful world in this collection of fact, fancy, and mangled history.”
Contents: “The 57th Franz Kafka” (1982), “Schrödinger’s Cat” (1981), “A New Golden Age” (1981), “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” (1983), “Sufferin’ Succotash” (1983), “Faraway Eyes” (1980), “Hyperspherical Space and Beyond” (1980), “The Indian Rope Trick Explained” (1983), “A New Experiment with Time” (1982), “The Man Who Age Himself” (1982), “The Facts of Life” (1983), “Tales of Houdini” (1981), “Buzz” (1981), “The Last Einstein-Rosen Bridge” (1983), “Pac-Man” (1982), “Pi in the Sky” (1983), “Inertia” (1983), “Message Found in a Copy of Flatland” (1983), “The Jack Kerouac Disembodied School of Poetics” (1982).
Initial Thoughts: Rudy Rucker remains a complete unknown to me. I’ve read a few reviews here and there and picked up a copy of Software (1982) (which remains unread). I’ve heard good things about White Light (1980) in particular.
3. Wanderground: Stories of the Hill Women, Sally Miller Gearhart (1978)
- Jim Hanlon’s cover for the 1984 edition
From the back cover: No summary provided. See my quote from SF Encyclopedia below.
Initial Thoughts: According to SF Encyclopedia, Gearhart’s first sf book, one of the most extreme of those that envisage men and women as effectively different races, is The Wanderground: Stories of the Hill Women (coll of linked stories 1978). It is set in the outlaw, all-women, Utopian hill communities of a future when men are restricted to the Cities and dependent on Technology, while women (in a somewhat New Age manner) have developed Psi Powers through harmony with Nature. Even the Gentles, men no longer driven by violence, know that “maleness touched women only with the accumulated hatred of centuries.” She’s an author I’ve frequently encounter in scholarship of feminist SF but hadn’t picked up a copy, until now.
4. Science-Fiction Carnival, ed. Fredric Brown and Mack Reynolds (1953)
- Uncredited cover for the 1957 edition
From the back cover: “….in science fiction carnival you’ll find out how a screenwriter traded personalities with Ivan the Terrible in THE EGO MACHINE.
What happens when thinking machines can give the answers to any question in A LOGIC NAMED JOE.
When a hillbilly finds a Martian is easier to handle than a “revenoer” in THE MARTIANS AND THE COYS.
How a glorified slot machine solved the problem of interplanetary travel in THE COSMIC JACKPOT.
What Jeremiah Jupiter, “mad scientist” deluxe, thought in THE WHEEL OF TIME.
And six other yarns of the fabulous future collected for your enjoyment.”
Contents: Robert Arthur’s “The Wheel of Time” (1950), Murray Leinster’s “A Logic Named Joe” (1946), Larry T. Shaw’s “Simworthy’s Circus” (1950), H. B. Fyfe’s “The Well-Oiled Machine” (1950), Clive Jackson’s “The Swordsmen of Varnis” (1950), Fredric Brown’s “Paradox Lost” (1943), Eric Frank Russell’s “Muten” (1948), Mack Reynolds’ “The Martians and the Coys” (1951), Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore’s “The Ego Machine” (1952), George O. Smith’s “The Cosmic Jackpot” (1948), Nelson S. Bond’s “The Abduction of Abner Greer” (1941).
Initial Thoughts: Sometimes I cast my eyes on anthologies as a way to finally read SF authors that have escaped my focus. In this instance, I haven’t read anything by Robert Arthur, H. B. Fyfe, Larry T. Shaw, George O. Smith, or Nelson S. Bond.
For book reviews consult the INDEX
For cover art posts consult the INDEX
For TV and film reviews consult the INDEX
#1950s #1970s #1980s #CLMoore #EdgarPangborn #FredricBrown #HenryKuttner #MackReynold #MurrayLeinster #paperbacks #RudyRucker #SallyMillerGearhart #sciFi #scienceFiction #technology
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Please BOOST!
SPECIAL COLLECTORS EDITION of
Tomorrow and Tomorrow/The Fairy Chessmen by Lewis Padgett (a pseudonym for Henry Kuttner)
US $190.00
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31238821284
or see the full collection here:
https://astralcomputing.com
#Literature
#SciFi
#ScienceFiction
#books
#bookstodon
#coverart
#HenryKuttner
#LewisPadgett
Groups:
@scifi
@Scifiart
@sciencefiction -
Fantastic Fiction: What’s in a Name? The Birth of the Term “Sword and Sorcery”: If you’re of a certain age, the phrase “sword and sorcery” conjures up visions of muscular barbarians and busty damsels fighting monsters or evil wizards on paperback covers illustrated by Frank Frazetta, Boris Vallejo, or Jeffrey Catherine… (#CLMoore #ClarkAshtonSmith #Conan #FritzLeiber #HenryKuttner #LSpragueDeCamp #RobertEHoward #SwordsAndSorcery)
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Fantastic Fiction: What’s in a Name? The Birth of the Term “Sword and Sorcery”: If you’re of a certain age, the phrase “sword and sorcery” conjures up visions of muscular barbarians and busty damsels fighting monsters or evil wizards on paperback covers illustrated by Frank Frazetta, Boris Vallejo, or Jeffrey Catherine… (#CLMoore #ClarkAshtonSmith #Conan #FritzLeiber #HenryKuttner #LSpragueDeCamp #RobertEHoward #SwordsAndSorcery)
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Fantastic Fiction: What’s in a Name? The Birth of the Term “Sword and Sorcery”: If you’re of a certain age, the phrase “sword and sorcery” conjures up visions of muscular barbarians and busty damsels fighting monsters or evil wizards on paperback covers illustrated by Frank Frazetta, Boris Vallejo, or Jeffrey Catherine… (#CLMoore #ClarkAshtonSmith #Conan #FritzLeiber #HenryKuttner #LSpragueDeCamp #RobertEHoward #SwordsAndSorcery)
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Fantastic Fiction: What’s in a Name? The Birth of the Term “Sword and Sorcery”: If you’re of a certain age, the phrase “sword and sorcery” conjures up visions of muscular barbarians and busty damsels fighting monsters or evil wizards on paperback covers illustrated by Frank Frazetta, Boris Vallejo, or Jeffrey Catherine… (#CLMoore #ClarkAshtonSmith #Conan #FritzLeiber #HenryKuttner #LSpragueDeCamp #RobertEHoward #SwordsAndSorcery)
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If you’re of a certain age, the phrase “sword and sorcery” conjures up visions of muscular barbarians and busty damsels fighting monsters or evil wizards on paperback covers illustrated by Frank Frazetta, Boris Vallejo or Jeffrey Catherine Jones. If you’re a little younger or a certain Seattle-based online retailer, “sword and sorcery” might be a synonym for fantasy in general.
However, “sword and sorcery” designates a very specific subgenre of fantasy. Brian Murphy, author of 2019’s Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery, identifies the following key elements of the subgenre: sword-and-sorcery tales are short and episodic, flourishing mostly in short fiction, novellas, and very short novels. The protagonists are men and women of action. They are often outsiders, and their motivations are personal, i.e., they’re looking for treasure or revenge, not to save the world or defeat the dark lord. The worldbuilding is based on real world history. Their magic is dark, wild, dangerous, and strongly influenced by horror; there are no magic systems here.
As a distinct subgenre, sword and sorcery is almost 100 years old; Robert E. Howard’s 1929 story “The Shadow Kingdom,” which introduced Kull of Atlantis, is considered the first true sword-and-sorcery story, though some would argue that it had its predecessors. The subgenre emerged in the 1930s and early 1940s, with Robert E. Howard giving us the adventures of Kull of Atlantis, Bran Mak Morn, and of course his most famous creation, Conan the Cimmerian (also known as Conan the Barbarian). Clark Ashton Smith emphasised the horror element of sword-and-sorcery tales in his darkly poetic tales, while Fritz Leiber played up the comedy with rogues Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Henry Kuttner gave us Elak of Atlantis and Prince Raynor, and C.L. Moore proved with the adventures of the medieval swordswoman Jirel of Joiry that sword-and-sorcery adventures weren’t just for men.
But even as those authors created this subgenre, there was one problem: This new genre didn’t have a name. In correspondence with fellow writers and friends, Robert E. Howard only referred to the Conan, Kull, and Bran Mak Morn stories as “weird fiction,” a term H.P. Lovecraft also used for his cosmic horror stories. And in a 1924 editorial for Weird Tales, where many of these stories appeared, Assistant Editor Otis Adalbert Kline struggled to explain what sort of fiction the magazine published—science fiction, fantasy, and horror—because none of those terms existed at the time.
After lying dormant for almost 20 years, the genre of sword and sorcery re-emerged in the early 1960s, when editors like Cele Goldsmith Lalli of Fantastic or John Carnell of Science Fantasy started to publish such of stories from new authors like Poul Anderson, Roger Zelazny, John Jakes, and Lin Carter. However, the genre still didn’t have a name.
By now it was becoming painfully clear that this newly revived subgenre needed a name, since “that Conan stuff” didn’t really cut it. One of the new authors, a young Englishman named Michael Moorcock, suggested calling these stories “epic fantasy,” a term which ultimately stuck to a very different type of fantasy.
Meanwhile, Fritz Leiber, the only remaining veteran from the first sword-and-sorcery boom—everyone else was either retired or dead—had a suggestion of his own. In issue two of the fanzine Ancalgon, dated March/April 1961 (1.88 MB .pdf), later reprinted in the fanzine Amra, Leiber wrote:
[…] fantasy adventure—a field which I feel more certain than ever should be called the sword-and-sorcery story. This accurately describes the points of culture-level and supernatural element and also immediately distinguishes it from the cloak-and-sword (historical adventure) story—and (quite incidentally) from the cloak-and-dagger (international espionage) story, too! The word sorcery implies something more and other than historical human witchcraft, so even the element of an alien-yet-human world background is hinted at. At any rate, I’ll use sword-and-sorcery as a good popular catchphrase for the field.
Other writers joined the conversation. Lin Carter suggested “heroic fantasy,” and L. Sprague de Camp “non-historical fantasy adventure.” Ultimately, it was Leiber’s suggestion that stuck because it was descriptive, alliterative, and easy to remember.
In 1963, L. Sprague de Camp edited an anthology of such stories and called it Sword and Sorcery, further popularising the term. And when Lancer reprinted the adventures of Conan the Cimmerian in paperback form with striking Frank Frazetta covers, “sword and sorcery” was cemented as the name of the genre, which is currently undergoing another revival.
Do you enjoy sword-and-sorcery stories? Did you know how the genre originated and who created it? Who are your favourite writers and characters? Let’s continue the conversation in Seattle, as this genre from the past is alive and well in our present and will undoubtedly continue into the future!
#CLMoore #ClarkAshtonSmith #Conan #FritzLeiber #HenryKuttner #LSpragueDeCamp #RobertEHoward #SwordsAndSorcery
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If you’re of a certain age, the phrase “sword and sorcery” conjures up visions of muscular barbarians and busty damsels fighting monsters or evil wizards on paperback covers illustrated by Frank Frazetta, Boris Vallejo or Jeffrey Catherine Jones. If you’re a little younger or a certain Seattle-based online retailer, “sword and sorcery” might be a synonym for fantasy in general.
However, “sword and sorcery” designates a very specific subgenre of fantasy. Brian Murphy, author of 2019’s Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery, identifies the following key elements of the subgenre: sword-and-sorcery tales are short and episodic, flourishing mostly in short fiction, novellas, and very short novels. The protagonists are men and women of action. They are often outsiders, and their motivations are personal, i.e., they’re looking for treasure or revenge, not to save the world or defeat the dark lord. The worldbuilding is based on real world history. Their magic is dark, wild, dangerous, and strongly influenced by horror; there are no magic systems here.
As a distinct subgenre, sword and sorcery is almost 100 years old; Robert E. Howard’s 1929 story “The Shadow Kingdom,” which introduced Kull of Atlantis, is considered the first true sword-and-sorcery story, though some would argue that it had its predecessors. The subgenre emerged in the 1930s and early 1940s, with Robert E. Howard giving us the adventures of Kull of Atlantis, Bran Mak Morn, and of course his most famous creation, Conan the Cimmerian (also known as Conan the Barbarian). Clark Ashton Smith emphasised the horror element of sword-and-sorcery tales in his darkly poetic tales, while Fritz Leiber played up the comedy with rogues Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Henry Kuttner gave us Elak of Atlantis and Prince Raynor, and C.L. Moore proved with the adventures of the medieval swordswoman Jirel of Joiry that sword-and-sorcery adventures weren’t just for men.
But even as those authors created this subgenre, there was one problem: This new genre didn’t have a name. In correspondence with fellow writers and friends, Robert E. Howard only referred to the Conan, Kull, and Bran Mak Morn stories as “weird fiction,” a term H.P. Lovecraft also used for his cosmic horror stories. And in a 1924 editorial for Weird Tales, where many of these stories appeared, Assistant Editor Otis Adalbert Kline struggled to explain what sort of fiction the magazine published—science fiction, fantasy, and horror—because none of those terms existed at the time.
After lying dormant for almost 20 years, the genre of sword and sorcery re-emerged in the early 1960s, when editors like Cele Goldsmith Lalli of Fantastic or John Carnell of Science Fantasy started to publish such of stories from new authors like Poul Anderson, Roger Zelazny, John Jakes, and Lin Carter. However, the genre still didn’t have a name.
By now it was becoming painfully clear that this newly revived subgenre needed a name, since “that Conan stuff” didn’t really cut it. One of the new authors, a young Englishman named Michael Moorcock, suggested calling these stories “epic fantasy,” a term which ultimately stuck to a very different type of fantasy.
Meanwhile, Fritz Leiber, the only remaining veteran from the first sword-and-sorcery boom—everyone else was either retired or dead—had a suggestion of his own. In issue two of the fanzine Ancalgon, dated March/April 1961 (1.88 MB .pdf), later reprinted in the fanzine Amra, Leiber wrote:
[…] fantasy adventure—a field which I feel more certain than ever should be called the sword-and-sorcery story. This accurately describes the points of culture-level and supernatural element and also immediately distinguishes it from the cloak-and-sword (historical adventure) story—and (quite incidentally) from the cloak-and-dagger (international espionage) story, too! The word sorcery implies something more and other than historical human witchcraft, so even the element of an alien-yet-human world background is hinted at. At any rate, I’ll use sword-and-sorcery as a good popular catchphrase for the field.
Other writers joined the conversation. Lin Carter suggested “heroic fantasy,” and L. Sprague de Camp “non-historical fantasy adventure.” Ultimately, it was Leiber’s suggestion that stuck because it was descriptive, alliterative, and easy to remember.
In 1963, L. Sprague de Camp edited an anthology of such stories and called it Sword and Sorcery, further popularising the term. And when Lancer reprinted the adventures of Conan the Cimmerian in paperback form with striking Frank Frazetta covers, “sword and sorcery” was cemented as the name of the genre, which is currently undergoing another revival.
Do you enjoy sword-and-sorcery stories? Did you know how the genre originated and who created it? Who are your favourite writers and characters? Let’s continue the conversation in Seattle, as this genre from the past is alive and well in our present and will undoubtedly continue into the future!
#CLMoore #ClarkAshtonSmith #Conan #FritzLeiber #HenryKuttner #LSpragueDeCamp #RobertEHoward #SwordsAndSorcery
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If you’re of a certain age, the phrase “sword and sorcery” conjures up visions of muscular barbarians and busty damsels fighting monsters or evil wizards on paperback covers illustrated by Frank Frazetta, Boris Vallejo or Jeffrey Catherine Jones. If you’re a little younger or a certain Seattle-based online retailer, “sword and sorcery” might be a synonym for fantasy in general.
However, “sword and sorcery” designates a very specific subgenre of fantasy. Brian Murphy, author of 2019’s Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery, identifies the following key elements of the subgenre: sword-and-sorcery tales are short and episodic, flourishing mostly in short fiction, novellas, and very short novels. The protagonists are men and women of action. They are often outsiders, and their motivations are personal, i.e., they’re looking for treasure or revenge, not to save the world or defeat the dark lord. The worldbuilding is based on real world history. Their magic is dark, wild, dangerous, and strongly influenced by horror; there are no magic systems here.
As a distinct subgenre, sword and sorcery is almost 100 years old; Robert E. Howard’s 1929 story “The Shadow Kingdom,” which introduced Kull of Atlantis, is considered the first true sword-and-sorcery story, though some would argue that it had its predecessors. The subgenre emerged in the 1930s and early 1940s, with Robert E. Howard giving us the adventures of Kull of Atlantis, Bran Mak Morn, and of course his most famous creation, Conan the Cimmerian (also known as Conan the Barbarian). Clark Ashton Smith emphasised the horror element of sword-and-sorcery tales in his darkly poetic tales, while Fritz Leiber played up the comedy with rogues Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Henry Kuttner gave us Elak of Atlantis and Prince Raynor, and C.L. Moore proved with the adventures of the medieval swordswoman Jirel of Joiry that sword-and-sorcery adventures weren’t just for men.
But even as those authors created this subgenre, there was one problem: This new genre didn’t have a name. In correspondence with fellow writers and friends, Robert E. Howard only referred to the Conan, Kull, and Bran Mak Morn stories as “weird fiction,” a term H.P. Lovecraft also used for his cosmic horror stories. And in a 1924 editorial for Weird Tales, where many of these stories appeared, Assistant Editor Otis Adalbert Kline struggled to explain what sort of fiction the magazine published—science fiction, fantasy, and horror—because none of those terms existed at the time.
After lying dormant for almost 20 years, the genre of sword and sorcery re-emerged in the early 1960s, when editors like Cele Goldsmith Lalli of Fantastic or John Carnell of Science Fantasy started to publish such of stories from new authors like Poul Anderson, Roger Zelazny, John Jakes, and Lin Carter. However, the genre still didn’t have a name.
By now it was becoming painfully clear that this newly revived subgenre needed a name, since “that Conan stuff” didn’t really cut it. One of the new authors, a young Englishman named Michael Moorcock, suggested calling these stories “epic fantasy,” a term which ultimately stuck to a very different type of fantasy.
Meanwhile, Fritz Leiber, the only remaining veteran from the first sword-and-sorcery boom—everyone else was either retired or dead—had a suggestion of his own. In issue two of the fanzine Ancalgon, dated March/April 1961 (1.88 MB .pdf), later reprinted in the fanzine Amra, Leiber wrote:
[…] fantasy adventure—a field which I feel more certain than ever should be called the sword-and-sorcery story. This accurately describes the points of culture-level and supernatural element and also immediately distinguishes it from the cloak-and-sword (historical adventure) story—and (quite incidentally) from the cloak-and-dagger (international espionage) story, too! The word sorcery implies something more and other than historical human witchcraft, so even the element of an alien-yet-human world background is hinted at. At any rate, I’ll use sword-and-sorcery as a good popular catchphrase for the field.
Other writers joined the conversation. Lin Carter suggested “heroic fantasy,” and L. Sprague de Camp “non-historical fantasy adventure.” Ultimately, it was Leiber’s suggestion that stuck because it was descriptive, alliterative, and easy to remember.
In 1963, L. Sprague de Camp edited an anthology of such stories and called it Sword and Sorcery, further popularising the term. And when Lancer reprinted the adventures of Conan the Cimmerian in paperback form with striking Frank Frazetta covers, “sword and sorcery” was cemented as the name of the genre, which is currently undergoing another revival.
Do you enjoy sword-and-sorcery stories? Did you know how the genre originated and who created it? Who are your favourite writers and characters? Let’s continue the conversation in Seattle, as this genre from the past is alive and well in our present and will undoubtedly continue into the future!
Cora BuhlertCora Buhlert is a writer and translator from Bremen in North Germany. She’s a contributor to Galactic Journey and the winner of the 2022 Hugo Award for best fan writer. You can also find her at her website.
#CLMoore #ClarkAshtonSmith #Conan #FritzLeiber #HenryKuttner #LSpragueDeCamp #RobertEHoward #SwordsAndSorcery
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Virgil Finlay illustrating the Henry Kuttner novelette The Voice of the Lobster, from Thrilling Wonder Stories, February 1950. #FinlayFriday
#VirgilFinlay #HenryKuttner #Illustration #Aliens #ScienceFictionDays passed, arbitrarily, of course, aboard the Sutter.
Ao lay curled in her shock-hammock, thinking her own dim thoughts and looking at nothing. High up in the wall there was a puffing sound, a scuffle, and a grunt. Behind the grille of the ventilating inlet appeared the face of Macduff. -
Virgil Finlay illustrating the Henry Kuttner novelette The Voice of the Lobster, from Thrilling Wonder Stories, February 1950. #FinlayFriday
#VirgilFinlay #HenryKuttner #Illustration #Aliens #ScienceFictionDays passed, arbitrarily, of course, aboard the Sutter.
Ao lay curled in her shock-hammock, thinking her own dim thoughts and looking at nothing. High up in the wall there was a puffing sound, a scuffle, and a grunt. Behind the grille of the ventilating inlet appeared the face of Macduff. -
Virgil Finlay illustrating the Henry Kuttner novelette The Voice of the Lobster, from Thrilling Wonder Stories, February 1950. #FinlayFriday
#VirgilFinlay #HenryKuttner #Illustration #Aliens #ScienceFictionDays passed, arbitrarily, of course, aboard the Sutter.
Ao lay curled in her shock-hammock, thinking her own dim thoughts and looking at nothing. High up in the wall there was a puffing sound, a scuffle, and a grunt. Behind the grille of the ventilating inlet appeared the face of Macduff. -
Virgil Finlay illustrating the Henry Kuttner novelette The Voice of the Lobster, from Thrilling Wonder Stories, February 1950. #FinlayFriday
#VirgilFinlay #HenryKuttner #Illustration #Aliens #ScienceFictionDays passed, arbitrarily, of course, aboard the Sutter.
Ao lay curled in her shock-hammock, thinking her own dim thoughts and looking at nothing. High up in the wall there was a puffing sound, a scuffle, and a grunt. Behind the grille of the ventilating inlet appeared the face of Macduff. -
Virgil Finlay illustrating the Henry Kuttner novelette The Voice of the Lobster, from Thrilling Wonder Stories, February 1950. #FinlayFriday
#VirgilFinlay #HenryKuttner #Illustration #Aliens #ScienceFictionDays passed, arbitrarily, of course, aboard the Sutter.
Ao lay curled in her shock-hammock, thinking her own dim thoughts and looking at nothing. High up in the wall there was a puffing sound, a scuffle, and a grunt. Behind the grille of the ventilating inlet appeared the face of Macduff. -
Virgil Finlay illustrates ‘The Black Kiss,’ a Cthulhu Mythos story by Robert Bloch and Henry Kuttner from Weird Tales, June 1937. #FinlayFriday
#VirgilFinlay #RobertBloch #HenryKuttner #Illustration #Pulps #Lovecraft #Cthulhu #Fantasy #Horror
He was swimming parallel with the beach now, and with curious detachment he observed that the storm had subsided. A pale, fog-like glow hovered over the lashing waters, and it seemed to beckon.
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Virgil Finlay illustrates ‘The Black Kiss,’ a Cthulhu Mythos story by Robert Bloch and Henry Kuttner from Weird Tales, June 1937. #FinlayFriday
#VirgilFinlay #RobertBloch #HenryKuttner #Illustration #Pulps #Lovecraft #Cthulhu #Fantasy #Horror
He was swimming parallel with the beach now, and with curious detachment he observed that the storm had subsided. A pale, fog-like glow hovered over the lashing waters, and it seemed to beckon.
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Virgil Finlay illustrates ‘The Black Kiss,’ a Cthulhu Mythos story by Robert Bloch and Henry Kuttner from Weird Tales, June 1937. #FinlayFriday
#VirgilFinlay #RobertBloch #HenryKuttner #Illustration #Pulps #Lovecraft #Cthulhu #Fantasy #Horror
He was swimming parallel with the beach now, and with curious detachment he observed that the storm had subsided. A pale, fog-like glow hovered over the lashing waters, and it seemed to beckon.
-
Virgil Finlay illustrates ‘The Black Kiss,’ a Cthulhu Mythos story by Robert Bloch and Henry Kuttner from Weird Tales, June 1937. #FinlayFriday
#VirgilFinlay #RobertBloch #HenryKuttner #Illustration #Pulps #Lovecraft #Cthulhu #Fantasy #Horror
He was swimming parallel with the beach now, and with curious detachment he observed that the storm had subsided. A pale, fog-like glow hovered over the lashing waters, and it seemed to beckon.
-
Virgil Finlay illustrates ‘The Black Kiss,’ a Cthulhu Mythos story by Robert Bloch and Henry Kuttner from Weird Tales, June 1937. #FinlayFriday
#VirgilFinlay #RobertBloch #HenryKuttner #Illustration #Pulps #Lovecraft #Cthulhu #Fantasy #Horror
He was swimming parallel with the beach now, and with curious detachment he observed that the storm had subsided. A pale, fog-like glow hovered over the lashing waters, and it seemed to beckon.
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Henry Kuttner’s novel The Time Trap was written in 1938. An archaeologist is transported back in time, to a highly advanced civilisation that has technology from the distant future. A wild romp through time with plenty of exciting adventure.
My review: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2024/06/henry-kuttners-time-trap.html
#sciencefiction #scifi #scifinovel #scifinovels #pulpfiction #HenryKuttner #timetravel
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Henry Kuttner’s novel The Time Trap was written in 1938. An archaeologist is transported back in time, to a highly advanced civilisation that has technology from the distant future. A wild romp through time with plenty of exciting adventure.
My review: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2024/06/henry-kuttners-time-trap.html
#sciencefiction #scifi #scifinovel #scifinovels #pulpfiction #HenryKuttner #timetravel
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Henry Kuttner’s novel The Time Trap was written in 1938. An archaeologist is transported back in time, to a highly advanced civilisation that has technology from the distant future. A wild romp through time with plenty of exciting adventure.
My review: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2024/06/henry-kuttners-time-trap.html
#sciencefiction #scifi #scifinovel #scifinovels #pulpfiction #HenryKuttner #timetravel
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Henry Kuttner’s novel The Time Trap was written in 1938. An archaeologist is transported back in time, to a highly advanced civilisation that has technology from the distant future. A wild romp through time with plenty of exciting adventure.
My review: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2024/06/henry-kuttners-time-trap.html
#sciencefiction #scifi #scifinovel #scifinovels #pulpfiction #HenryKuttner #timetravel
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Henry Kuttner’s novel The Time Trap was written in 1938. An archaeologist is transported back in time, to a highly advanced civilisation that has technology from the distant future. A wild romp through time with plenty of exciting adventure.
My review: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2024/06/henry-kuttners-time-trap.html
#sciencefiction #scifi #scifinovel #scifinovels #pulpfiction #HenryKuttner #timetravel
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What's this I see? Ahh yes, it's a Virgil Finlay painting on the November 1939 cover of Weird Tales, illustrating “Towers of Death” by Henry Kuttner. #FinlayFriday
#VirgilFinlay #HenryKuttner #WeirdTales #Illustration #CrystalBall #Horror #Fantasy #DarkFantasy @horrorbooks @fantasy
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What's this I see? Ahh yes, it's a Virgil Finlay painting on the November 1939 cover of Weird Tales, illustrating “Towers of Death” by Henry Kuttner. #FinlayFriday
#VirgilFinlay #HenryKuttner #WeirdTales #Illustration #CrystalBall #Horror #Fantasy #DarkFantasy @horrorbooks @fantasy
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What's this I see? Ahh yes, it's a Virgil Finlay painting on the November 1939 cover of Weird Tales, illustrating “Towers of Death” by Henry Kuttner. #FinlayFriday
#VirgilFinlay #HenryKuttner #WeirdTales #Illustration #CrystalBall #Horror #Fantasy #DarkFantasy @horrorbooks @fantasy
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What's this I see? Ahh yes, it's a Virgil Finlay painting on the November 1939 cover of Weird Tales, illustrating “Towers of Death” by Henry Kuttner. #FinlayFriday
#VirgilFinlay #HenryKuttner #WeirdTales #Illustration #CrystalBall #Horror #Fantasy #DarkFantasy @horrorbooks @fantasy
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What's this I see? Ahh yes, it's a Virgil Finlay painting on the November 1939 cover of Weird Tales, illustrating “Towers of Death” by Henry Kuttner. #FinlayFriday
#VirgilFinlay #HenryKuttner #WeirdTales #Illustration #CrystalBall #Horror #Fantasy #DarkFantasy @horrorbooks @fantasy
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Virgil Finlay illustrating “Call Him Demon” by “Keith Hammond” from the Fall, 1946 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. Keith Hammond is one of the multitude of pseudonyms employed by the husband and wife writing team of Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore. By the bottom signature we can assume it’s another illustration made during his time stationed in Hawaii during WWII. #FinlayFriday
#VirgilFinlay #HenryKuttner #CLMoore #ScienceFiction #SF #SFF @sciencefiction
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Virgil Finlay illustrating “Call Him Demon” by “Keith Hammond” from the Fall, 1946 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. Keith Hammond is one of the multitude of pseudonyms employed by the husband and wife writing team of Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore. By the bottom signature we can assume it’s another illustration made during his time stationed in Hawaii during WWII. #FinlayFriday
#VirgilFinlay #HenryKuttner #CLMoore #ScienceFiction #SF #SFF @sciencefiction
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Virgil Finlay illustrating “Call Him Demon” by “Keith Hammond” from the Fall, 1946 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. Keith Hammond is one of the multitude of pseudonyms employed by the husband and wife writing team of Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore. By the bottom signature we can assume it’s another illustration made during his time stationed in Hawaii during WWII. #FinlayFriday
#VirgilFinlay #HenryKuttner #CLMoore #ScienceFiction #SF #SFF @sciencefiction
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Virgil Finlay illustrating “Call Him Demon” by “Keith Hammond” from the Fall, 1946 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. Keith Hammond is one of the multitude of pseudonyms employed by the husband and wife writing team of Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore. By the bottom signature we can assume it’s another illustration made during his time stationed in Hawaii during WWII. #FinlayFriday
#VirgilFinlay #HenryKuttner #CLMoore #ScienceFiction #SF #SFF @sciencefiction