From the Bookshelf of Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy"…
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A bit gossipy and not great as a history, a lot tedious asides, but very good as a guide to the genre. A lot of books I want to check out now, plus a few I want to avoid. Also some really outdated stuff about homosexuality being a psychiatric disorder, etc.
Prophetic quote from Lin Carter:
de Camp is unsatisfied with relating the facts of the biographies and tries to provide a theme or essence to each, whether this be Lovecraft's life of quiet desperation or Smith's economic dissatisfaction o ...more
"The way he takes care of himself, Sprague will still be going strong at ninety, by which time I, twenty-two years his junior, will probably have been a good ten years in a cigarette-smoker's grave" (p. xxv)Lin Carter died in 1988, and L Sprague de Camp in 2000.
de Camp is unsatisfied with relating the facts of the biographies and tries to provide a theme or essence to each, whether this be Lovecraft's life of quiet desperation or Smith's economic dissatisfaction o ...more
Most essays are short but it gives a nice overview of the careers and contributions of a number of early practicioners of Heroic Fantasy. Includes essays on:
Robert E. Howard
William Morris
Fletcher Pratt
T. H. White.
J. R. R. Tolkien
E. R. Eddison
H. P. Lovecraft
Lord Dunsany
Robert E. Howard
William Morris
Fletcher Pratt
T. H. White.
J. R. R. Tolkien
E. R. Eddison
H. P. Lovecraft
Lord Dunsany
Jul 13, 2012
Steven
marked it as to-read
Mar 19, 2018
Jason Waltz
marked it as to-read
Shelves:
keeper,
own,
heroic,
fantastical,
nf-advice,
collections,
anthologies,
nf-heroes,
favorite-authors
Feb 09, 2019
Arley Dial
marked it as to-read
Mar 23, 2025
Barley
added it
