Fritz Leiber Studies: Swords Against Death, Part 1

This book was originally released in 1957 under the title Two Sought Adventure. That volume contained 7 of the 10 stories here, plus “Induction”, which was moved to the first chronological volume Swords and Deviltry. Of the stories in this collection, first published in 1970, 8 were published in magazines between 1939 and 1963. The other two, “The Circle Curse” and “The Price of Pain-Ease”, are original to this book.

Author’s Introduction
Leiber notes that “The Seven Black Priests” and “The Price of Pain-Ease” should be dedicated to their editors, “Bea Mahaffy” (sic) and “Cece Laly” (sic), who inspired them. He also gives credit to other editors: John W. Campbell, Donald A. Wollheim, and Edward L. Ferman. As the man himself felt it important to mention them, let’s take a moment and look at who these people are.

• Bea Mahaffey was, along with Raymond Palmer, editor of Other Worlds. The magazine published a lot of Leiber’s fiction, as well as stories from Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Theodore Sturgeon, and many others. It was a respected magazine from 1949 to 1957, when it changed its name to Flying Saucers from Other Worlds and, two issues later, simply Flying Saucers. With the name change it stopped printing science fiction stories and focused on articles about UFOs.
• Cele Goldsmith Lalli was the editor of Fantastic from 1958 to 1965, and editor of Amazing Stories from 1959 to 1965. She’s credited with discovering Roger Zalazny and Ursula K. Le Guin, among others, and was one of the first American editors to publish the works of British writer J.G. Ballard. She coaxed Leiber out of an early retirement in 1959 by publishing an issue of Fantastic devoted entirely to his work. After leaving science fiction magazines, she was editor of Modern Bride for 30 years.
• John W. Campbell was the editor of Astounding Science Fiction, which changed its name to Analog in 1960, from 1937 to 1971. He shaped the “Golden Age” of science fiction by favoring harder science stories over pulpish action. He discovered Robert Heinlein, Lester del Rey, A.E. van Vogt, and Theodore Sturgeon, among others. As a writer he’s best known for the story “Who Goes There?”, which formed the basis for the john Carpenter movie The Thing. The John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, both begun in 1973, were named in his honor.
• Donald A. Wollheim is widely regarded as a highly influential science fiction and fantasy fan who turned professional writer and editor. He co-founded one of the first major fan organizations, the Futurians, in 1937. Members of the group included Isaac Asimov, Fred Pohl, and James Blish. He’s credited with discovering a number of writers, including Tanish Lee and C.J. Cherryh, and bringing British authors such as Michael Moorcock to an American audience. DAW Books was founded by him.
• Edward L. Ferman was editor of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction  from 1964 to 1991, and the publisher from 1970 to 2000. He won the Hugo for Best Professional Editor three years running, from 1981 – 1983. In 1998, he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award. He’s credited with having the vision and business sense to keep the magazine afloat both financially and critically while other science fiction magazines were  folding.

I realize that I have name-dropped egregiously in this article. Telling you that this person you’ve never heard of is important because they’re credited with discovering or launching the careers of other people you’ve never heard of isn’t particularly helpful. My hope is that some of you will be intrigued enough to do some research on your own, read some of the authors named, and discover for yourself why they’re worth reading.

Special thanks to Paul McNamee for his aid in researching this.

In the next installment we’ll dive into the stories themselves, beginning with “The Circle Curse”.

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