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Warlocks and Warriors
A TREASURE-CHEST OF BRIGHT IMAGINATION FROM THE SHINING KINGDOMS OF THE MIND...
Fantasy from the days of future past by present sorcerers with he precious gift of creation, including:
THE CURSE OF THE MONOLITH: Conan the Cimmerian encounters treachery and an evil-smelling slime-monster.
THE OGYR OF THE SNOWS: Rheged the Celsman and Farrach, known as the Halfpike, face monstrous death in the northern mountains.
THE SLEEPING SORCERESS: Elric and Moonglum, aidded by the vampiric Black Sword, Stormbringer, set out to revenge themselves on the sorcerer Theleb K'aarna.
Incredible tales of the fantastic, most of which appear in this anthology for the first time.
Contents:
The Sleeping Sorceress by Michael Moorcock
The Curse of the Monolith by Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp
The Ogyr of the Snows by Martin Hillman
The Wager Lost by Winning by John Brunner
The Wreck of the Kissing Bitch by Keith Roberts
The Unholy Grail by Fritz Leiber
Fantasy from the days of future past by present sorcerers with he precious gift of creation, including:
THE CURSE OF THE MONOLITH: Conan the Cimmerian encounters treachery and an evil-smelling slime-monster.
THE OGYR OF THE SNOWS: Rheged the Celsman and Farrach, known as the Halfpike, face monstrous death in the northern mountains.
THE SLEEPING SORCERESS: Elric and Moonglum, aidded by the vampiric Black Sword, Stormbringer, set out to revenge themselves on the sorcerer Theleb K'aarna.
Incredible tales of the fantastic, most of which appear in this anthology for the first time.
Contents:
The Sleeping Sorceress by Michael Moorcock
The Curse of the Monolith by Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp
The Ogyr of the Snows by Martin Hillman
The Wager Lost by Winning by John Brunner
The Wreck of the Kissing Bitch by Keith Roberts
The Unholy Grail by Fritz Leiber
- GenresFantasy
159 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1971
24 people want to read
About the author
Douglas Arthur Hill
81 books33 followersDouglas Arthur Hill (6 April 1935 – 21 June 2007) was a Canadian science fiction author, editor and reviewer. He was born in Brandon, Manitoba, the son of a railroad engineer, and was raised in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. An avid science fiction reader from an early age, he studied English at the University of Saskatchewan (where he earned an Honours B.A. in 1957) and at the University of Toronto. He married fellow writer and U. of S. alumna Gail Robinson in 1958; they moved to Britain in 1959, where he worked as a freelance writer and editor for Aldus Books. In 1967–1968 he served as Assistant Editor of the controversial New Worlds science fiction magazine under Michael Moorcock.
A lifetime leftist, he served from 1971 to 1984 as the Literary Editor of the socialist weekly Tribune (a position once held by George Orwell), where he regularly reviewed science fiction despite the continued refusal of the literary world to take it seriously. Before starting to write fiction in 1978, he wrote many books on history, science and folklore. Using the pseudonym Martin Hillman, he also worked as an editor of several anthologies, among them Window on the Future (1966), The Shape of Sex to Come (1978), Out of Time (1984), and Hidden Turnings (1988). He is probably best known for The Last Legionary quartet of novels, supposedly produced as the result of a challenge by a publisher to Hill's complaints about the lack of good science fiction for younger readers.
Hill and his wife had one child, a son. They were divorced in 1978. He lived in Wood Green, London, and died in London after being struck by a bus at a zebra crossing. His death occurred one day after he completed his last trilogy, Demon Stalkers.
A lifetime leftist, he served from 1971 to 1984 as the Literary Editor of the socialist weekly Tribune (a position once held by George Orwell), where he regularly reviewed science fiction despite the continued refusal of the literary world to take it seriously. Before starting to write fiction in 1978, he wrote many books on history, science and folklore. Using the pseudonym Martin Hillman, he also worked as an editor of several anthologies, among them Window on the Future (1966), The Shape of Sex to Come (1978), Out of Time (1984), and Hidden Turnings (1988). He is probably best known for The Last Legionary quartet of novels, supposedly produced as the result of a challenge by a publisher to Hill's complaints about the lack of good science fiction for younger readers.
Hill and his wife had one child, a son. They were divorced in 1978. He lived in Wood Green, London, and died in London after being struck by a bus at a zebra crossing. His death occurred one day after he completed his last trilogy, Demon Stalkers.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 23, 2016
Warlocks and Warriors, Edited by Douglas Hill. Mayflower Books, 1971, 159 pages.
I own and have read just about every anthology of heroic fantasy published in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. But I didn’t have this one up until July of 2016, and I wouldn’t have gotten it then if not for a webpage list put out by the writer G. W. Thomas called “A Reader’s Guide to Sword & Sorcery Anthologies.” Thanks to him for the heads up.
I guess I missed this book until now for two primary reasons. One, it was published only in England as near as I can tell. Second, there is another book entitled Warlocks and Warriors, which was published in 1970 by Berkley in the US. That probably helped me overlook this one. In addition, the cover is remarkably ugly compared to the cover of the other collection, which I've pasted below.
The 1970s Warlocks and Warriors was edited by L. Sprague De Camp, who did quite a few anthologies around this time while he was also busy editing and rewriting Robert E. Howard’s Conan tales. It’s certainly a good collection, and quite varied, with stories by Ray Capella, Lin Carter, Robert E. Howard, Henry Kuttner, Fritz Leiber, C. L. Moore, Lord Dunsany, Clark Ashton Smith, H. G. Wells, and Roger Zelazny. I’ve already reviewed this book on Goodreads, however so I won’t say more about it here.
The 1971 Warlocks and Warriors was edited by Douglas Hill, whose name I was not familiar with until after originally posting this review. Then, a short biography of him popped up on my goodreads feed and gave me some interesting information. He wrote a number of books, although I haven't read any of them at this point. Anyway, after a short and to the point introduction by Hill, we have the following stories:
“The Sleeping Sorceress” by Michael Moorcock.
“The Curse of the Monolith” by Lin Carter and L. Sprague De Camp.
The Ogyr of the Snows” by Martin Hillman.
“The Wages Lost by Winning,” by John Brunner.
“The Wreck of the Kissing Bitch” by Keith Roberts.
“The Unholy Grail,” by Fritz Leiber.
I’d read “The Sleeping Sorceress” before. This is an early Elric story by Moorcock and is quite good. I’d also read “The Curse of the Monolith,” which is a Conan pastiche by Carter and De Camp. Not quite Howard’s Conan but it was an OK tale. I also had previously read “The Unholy Grail” by Leiber. This tale recounts the earliest adventure of the Gray Mouser, of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser fame. Not my favorite of the series, probably because I like the Fafhrd character better than the Mouser character.
What were new to me were the tales by Hillman, Brunner, and Roberts, and all three were quite good. Brunner, I know, of course. I’ve read a lot of his SF. This is a story of the “Traveller in Black,” definitely fantasy though not sword and sorcery. The “Traveller” is a kind of mixed angel/devil character, who has the power to grant people’s desires. I’d not previously read these tales. It was beautifully written but meandered a bit initially until it got to the main plot.
Martin Hillman’s “The Ogyr of the Snows” is definitely sword and sorcery, and a well written piece. The hero is Conanesque but it’s to be noted in this tale that he wins the day mostly by wit. According to the introduction, this tale was extracted from a “novel in progress” by Hillman, but I found out from the biography of Douglas Hill that Martin Hillman was his pseudonym. I would certainly be interested in reading the novel this was supposedly taken from and am looking through Hill's books now to see if I can find it.
The greatest treasure in this collection to my way of thinking, though, is “The Wreck of the Kissing Bitch” by Keith Roberts. This is a tale set in the world created by Michael Moorcock for his Ice Schooner book. The world was already beautifully conceived and Roberts does a fine job of playing in the same universe. This was my favorite tale in the collection, concluding with a tense and exciting chase scene of sailed ships across the great ice seas. It sure made me want to go write some heroic fantasy.
I own and have read just about every anthology of heroic fantasy published in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. But I didn’t have this one up until July of 2016, and I wouldn’t have gotten it then if not for a webpage list put out by the writer G. W. Thomas called “A Reader’s Guide to Sword & Sorcery Anthologies.” Thanks to him for the heads up.
I guess I missed this book until now for two primary reasons. One, it was published only in England as near as I can tell. Second, there is another book entitled Warlocks and Warriors, which was published in 1970 by Berkley in the US. That probably helped me overlook this one. In addition, the cover is remarkably ugly compared to the cover of the other collection, which I've pasted below.
The 1970s Warlocks and Warriors was edited by L. Sprague De Camp, who did quite a few anthologies around this time while he was also busy editing and rewriting Robert E. Howard’s Conan tales. It’s certainly a good collection, and quite varied, with stories by Ray Capella, Lin Carter, Robert E. Howard, Henry Kuttner, Fritz Leiber, C. L. Moore, Lord Dunsany, Clark Ashton Smith, H. G. Wells, and Roger Zelazny. I’ve already reviewed this book on Goodreads, however so I won’t say more about it here.
The 1971 Warlocks and Warriors was edited by Douglas Hill, whose name I was not familiar with until after originally posting this review. Then, a short biography of him popped up on my goodreads feed and gave me some interesting information. He wrote a number of books, although I haven't read any of them at this point. Anyway, after a short and to the point introduction by Hill, we have the following stories:
“The Sleeping Sorceress” by Michael Moorcock.
“The Curse of the Monolith” by Lin Carter and L. Sprague De Camp.
The Ogyr of the Snows” by Martin Hillman.
“The Wages Lost by Winning,” by John Brunner.
“The Wreck of the Kissing Bitch” by Keith Roberts.
“The Unholy Grail,” by Fritz Leiber.
I’d read “The Sleeping Sorceress” before. This is an early Elric story by Moorcock and is quite good. I’d also read “The Curse of the Monolith,” which is a Conan pastiche by Carter and De Camp. Not quite Howard’s Conan but it was an OK tale. I also had previously read “The Unholy Grail” by Leiber. This tale recounts the earliest adventure of the Gray Mouser, of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser fame. Not my favorite of the series, probably because I like the Fafhrd character better than the Mouser character.
What were new to me were the tales by Hillman, Brunner, and Roberts, and all three were quite good. Brunner, I know, of course. I’ve read a lot of his SF. This is a story of the “Traveller in Black,” definitely fantasy though not sword and sorcery. The “Traveller” is a kind of mixed angel/devil character, who has the power to grant people’s desires. I’d not previously read these tales. It was beautifully written but meandered a bit initially until it got to the main plot.
Martin Hillman’s “The Ogyr of the Snows” is definitely sword and sorcery, and a well written piece. The hero is Conanesque but it’s to be noted in this tale that he wins the day mostly by wit. According to the introduction, this tale was extracted from a “novel in progress” by Hillman, but I found out from the biography of Douglas Hill that Martin Hillman was his pseudonym. I would certainly be interested in reading the novel this was supposedly taken from and am looking through Hill's books now to see if I can find it.
The greatest treasure in this collection to my way of thinking, though, is “The Wreck of the Kissing Bitch” by Keith Roberts. This is a tale set in the world created by Michael Moorcock for his Ice Schooner book. The world was already beautifully conceived and Roberts does a fine job of playing in the same universe. This was my favorite tale in the collection, concluding with a tense and exciting chase scene of sailed ships across the great ice seas. It sure made me want to go write some heroic fantasy.
September 18, 2020
Splendida antologia del 1971; la maggior parte dei racconti compresi è stata tradotta in italiano, quindi non sarà del tutto inutile parlarne.
Se "La maledizione del monolito" di DeCamp (ambientato nel mondo di Conan e da noi tradotto nella Fantacollana) e "The Ogyr of the snows" di Hillman (inedito da noi) sono buoni racconti di fantasia eroica, gli altri quattro sono gioielli.
Apre il volume Moorcock, con "The sleeping sorceress", parte del ciclo di Elric; lo chiude Leiber, con "The unholy grail", dove racconta un importante episodio della vita dell'Acchiappatopi: quando appunto decie di diventare tale, e non più Topo. Entrambi confermano quanto afferma nell'introduzione il curatore Douglas Hill, ovvero di essere i due massimi scrittori dell’epoca; non a caso messi in “positio princeps” ad aprire e chiudere il volume.
Seguono però due belle sorprese.
La prima è "La scommessa perduta vincendo", appartenente al ciclo del Viandante in Nero di Brunner. Conoscevo questo autore solo per le opere fantascientifiche-catastrofiche scritte in stile new wave: qui mostra un volto completamente diverso. Sono sorpreso dalla raffinatezza, dall’eleganza spontanea e ironica che gareggia con quella di Leiber, dall'arcaismo piacevolmente letterario, ben oltre i "soliti" termini antiquati che si usano nel fantasy; Moorcock al confronto è uno scrittore di idee originali, ma stile più efficace che elegante o creativo.
Ho voluto verificare la traduzione di Gabriele Tamburini in Robot 24 e rende bene (curiosamente quel numero affianca a Brunner Moorcock e Roberts, proprio come in questa antologia! Anche se con racconti diversi).
Ho letto solo questo campione della serie del Viandante in nero, ma sarebbe un peccato se non fosse mai stato raccolto in unico volume.
Un gioiello anche Roberts, autore non superprolifico ma abbastanza presente negli anni ’70; questo racconto è inedito in Italia, ma non vorrei essere il traduttore incaricato di renderlo in italiano, vista la ricchezza del linguaggio! tra termini letterari, dialettali, marinari, nonchè inventati apposta per questo affascinante mondo prossimo futuro in cui tutti i mari della Terra sono ghiacciati e l’umanità è ridotta a vivere dando la caccia a “balene di terra” su navi pattinanti (è il mondo inventato da Moorcock per “Il veliero dei ghiacci”, usato qui con il suo permesso e incoraggiamento)..
Se "La maledizione del monolito" di DeCamp (ambientato nel mondo di Conan e da noi tradotto nella Fantacollana) e "The Ogyr of the snows" di Hillman (inedito da noi) sono buoni racconti di fantasia eroica, gli altri quattro sono gioielli.
Apre il volume Moorcock, con "The sleeping sorceress", parte del ciclo di Elric; lo chiude Leiber, con "The unholy grail", dove racconta un importante episodio della vita dell'Acchiappatopi: quando appunto decie di diventare tale, e non più Topo. Entrambi confermano quanto afferma nell'introduzione il curatore Douglas Hill, ovvero di essere i due massimi scrittori dell’epoca; non a caso messi in “positio princeps” ad aprire e chiudere il volume.
Seguono però due belle sorprese.
La prima è "La scommessa perduta vincendo", appartenente al ciclo del Viandante in Nero di Brunner. Conoscevo questo autore solo per le opere fantascientifiche-catastrofiche scritte in stile new wave: qui mostra un volto completamente diverso. Sono sorpreso dalla raffinatezza, dall’eleganza spontanea e ironica che gareggia con quella di Leiber, dall'arcaismo piacevolmente letterario, ben oltre i "soliti" termini antiquati che si usano nel fantasy; Moorcock al confronto è uno scrittore di idee originali, ma stile più efficace che elegante o creativo.
Ho voluto verificare la traduzione di Gabriele Tamburini in Robot 24 e rende bene (curiosamente quel numero affianca a Brunner Moorcock e Roberts, proprio come in questa antologia! Anche se con racconti diversi).
Ho letto solo questo campione della serie del Viandante in nero, ma sarebbe un peccato se non fosse mai stato raccolto in unico volume.
Un gioiello anche Roberts, autore non superprolifico ma abbastanza presente negli anni ’70; questo racconto è inedito in Italia, ma non vorrei essere il traduttore incaricato di renderlo in italiano, vista la ricchezza del linguaggio! tra termini letterari, dialettali, marinari, nonchè inventati apposta per questo affascinante mondo prossimo futuro in cui tutti i mari della Terra sono ghiacciati e l’umanità è ridotta a vivere dando la caccia a “balene di terra” su navi pattinanti (è il mondo inventato da Moorcock per “Il veliero dei ghiacci”, usato qui con il suo permesso e incoraggiamento)..
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews