Product Description
This title has fewer than 24 printed text pages. What's He Doing in There? is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Fritz Leiber is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Fritz Leiber then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
This Halcyon Classics ebook collection contains Fritz Leiber's post-apocalyptic science fiction thriller 'The Night of the Long Knives,' a nightmare vision of a post-nuclear war world with echoes of Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road.'Includes an active table of contents for easy navigation.

Contents:

The Night of the Long Knives
Bread Overhead
No Great Magic
The Creature from Cleveland Depths
The Moon is Green
What’s He Doing in There?
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Product Description
Lean times in Lankhmar force brothers-in-arms Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser to part ways. Only after a joust of wits and swords do the friends join together again, stealing the ship the Black Treasurer and sailing round and through The Claws. Fighting sea kings, curses and seven-eyed wizards, the pair set out on their heroic wanderings through the wilds of Nehwon. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

gift for my son
I bought this book and 6 others as Christmas gifts for my son. He was happy so I'm happy! Shipping was very well done.

Some character stories...
This volume is a tad more interesting than the last because some of the stories now focus on the friendship between Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser.Thess stories are more character driven and, the result is, they hooked me.One story shows the two split, each on a different side of the conflict.They even visit our planet in one story!

The Mouser and Fafhrd in Our World
This is an incredible book. Probably my favorite of the Mouser and Fafhrd series. The first few stories are very well-written, especially "Their Mistress, the Sea". But the Novella Adept's Gambit is simply awesome. The knowledge of the post-Alexandrian world history displayed here, the characterizations, the sheer pace and sense of the work, are all just too good to be believed.

This one was weak.

All due respect to the late Fritz Leiber, but over-all, this book was weak. The first story, "Cloud of Hate" was good. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser unwittingly take-on Hate embodied in a noxious mist that turns already shady characters into rampaging serial killers. The next one, "Lean Times in Lankhmar", starts out interesting as the life-long friends go their separates ways, but goes flat. "Their Mistress, the Sea" builds-up well but the ending seemed to be missing something. The rest of the book brings Farhrd and Gray Mouser to our world's ancient history. Which should've made for a great read, but contradictions concerning their memory (they supposedly lost all knowledge of their previous life in the world of Newhorn, but make references to it), adventures told as second-hand accounts, and a prose that seems meant to be humorous and clever, only made the story confusing and monotonous. I got the impression these stories are a satire, maybe of something going-on either in literature or in society at the time they were written, but I didn't get it.

I'm a big fan of Farfhrd and The Gray Mouser, or at least of their first two books. But if "Swords in the Mist" had been my first Lankhmar book, I don't think I'd have read any more of them. Fritz Leiber is rightfully considered one of the original masters of fantasy. His writing spans over 50 years. So it's only natural that he's produced at least a few clunkers.
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Product Description
A future New York City has changed since a nuclear bomb left areas of radiation that threaten the residents. Women wear coverings over their faces as the latest fashion trend. An Englishman in New York saves a girl from a speeding coupe with fish hooks on its fender. He finds himself attracted and repelled by the girl in this classic story of future shock from a science-fiction grand master.
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Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / Fantasy / General; Fiction / Fantasy / Short Stories; Fiction / Science Fiction / General; Fiction / Fantasy / General; Fiction / Fantasy / Short Stories; Fiction / Science Fiction / General; ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Free SF Reader
A Science Fiction Story

Tickler problems.


2.5 out of 5 ... Read more

Product Description
"Gather, Darkness!" (originally serialized in "Astounding Science Fiction" in 1943) remains of of Fritz Leiber's classic novels, a tale of the world 360 years after a nuclear holocaust, when priests rule using trickery and techology -- and of Armon Jarles, ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Science, Magic and Religion without the Fantasy
I was skeptical of a `science fiction' book which read on the cover, `An epic struggle between science and magic' and had an illustration of an old lady, a cat and a monkey. If it wasn't for my prior research into the book, I never would have even touched the book. Thankfully, for once, my regards to this book is in line with others.

I'm allergic to fantasy, so I have a most difficult time swallowing magic, witches and spells. One book which repressed my gag reflex was Trapped by James Alan Gardner. In his novel, the characters exhibit their magic in the form of manipulating nanites which are specific to each owns brain chemistry (or whatever- anyway, it was readable). Now when I pick up a classic like Gather Darkness which includes elements of magic AND religion, I was suspicious. Fritz weaves a decent tale though without causing me to spew.

In the era the novel takes place, an Hierarchy has been long established which uses masqueraded high technology to mimic miracles of God and powers granted to the priests. The commoners are draconian yokels left in the dark about the secret affairs of the church. Yet, there is a secret resistance invoking Witchcraft (so says the Church, but it is in fact technology which the Church doesn't have). The story follows the resistance of the Witches and heretics, the escalating war between the two and friction which spills over into the populous city.

Considering the later-combined were penned in 1943, a number of remarkable technologies make their appearance. One could say that Fritz was, perhaps, visionary in his technological apparatuses and memes. His ideas were also original, something which is hard to sift through when going over pulp 40s and 50s science fiction. Even now, the novel stands as a one-of-a-kind science fiction novel which only touches base with very few other novels combing scientific magic and religion.

Excellent, ancient classic
I'm pretty sure George Lucas read this one as a kid. This book elegantly portrays how a government can control the masses via religious emotions and fear. The chaos unveiled once the curtains are down, exposing the influential special effects, is quite stunning. The resulting revolt is dramatic. Originally published in a serialized format in the 40s, you can read chunks at a time and still follow it...if that's suitable to your lifestyle. The story stands the test of time well. Who are the real bad guys? A highly recommended, enjoyable read.

Lieber at his very best
Imagine a world where the church ran everything.Sound good?Well, it's not.Just like in the middle ages, this church rules with an iron hand.Since God must be with the church, then opposition to the church is considered witchcraft, and it seemingly comes from Satan.A wonderful view of the negative possibilities should one single religion ever really take over the world.Lieber is a master writer, and this is one of his very best novels.

The Witchcraft was far more than it seemed....
After the Great War that ended the first Atomic Age the Priesthood rebuilt the world. But the priests of the Hierarchy weren't really priests, at least not in the old timeless sense. In fact, the first thing a young initiate was taught was that the Great God did not exist- it was just a false idol and technological trick used to control the commoners. For the priests were really composed of all the privileged classes of the old age- the scientists, engineers, managers, doctors, and psychologists. They had banded together to rule the world by fear and superstition. They used the technology that they controlled to force and frighten the common people into serfdom and slavery. Indeed, they had used the Dark Ages as their inspiration and pattern in social organization, costumes, architecture- they even allowed witches to exist and operate as a means to help terrorize the masses. Unfortunately for the priests of the Hierarchy, the Witchcraft was far more than it seemed....

It is absolutely incredible that this tight little novel was written in 1943. Just the use of the term "Atomic Age" two years before Hiroshima is remarkable. Then combine that with the fact that Leiber accurately describes atomic power, genetic engineering, cloning, holograms, scientific brainwashing, psychological warfare, and mutually impenetrable force beams that sound exactly like light sabers. This novel was far ahead of its time and holds up as a gripping read even today. In fact, the oppressive elitism that it describes is more plausible today than it would have been in the freer decade of the 40's.

Leiber's Classic Dystopia of Religion Versus Witchcraft
"Gather, Darkness" was one of two dystopian novels written by Fritz Leiber (The other was "A Specter Is Haunting Texas".). Without question this splendid little novel still remains one of his most impressive literary achievements. It is also one of the best conceived, best written novels of a dismal future for humanity.

Three hundred years after a nuclear holocaust, humanity is ruled by a secretive religious brotherhood, the Hierarchy of the Great God, which uses science as the supernatural means of ensuring its control over an impoverished, predominantly illiterate population. Opposing this brotherhood is a secret society of witches, the followers of Sathanas, seeking to use science to overthrow the brotherhood's tyrannical theocracy. A young Hierarchy priest, Brother Armon Jarles, skeptical of his beliefs and the Hierarchy's orthodoxy, soon finds himself caught in the bitter struggle between both groups. A struggle that is meant to gather darkness against the Hierarchy's grip on power. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

One of the best books you'll never read
Except for 'Dark Ladies' and the occassional treasure in a used book store, you'll be hard-pressed to find many of Leiber's classic works, and this is a shame.

Fans of the Wachowski's 'Matrix' trilogy will find a number of similarities of story, which centers around an unemployment clerk who is 'awakened' by a strange girl. Once awakened he steps out of his life only to find it continues on without him; indeed, the whole world continues as if it were only some huge clockwork machine.

As said, the idea of world=machine, with but a few awakened souls, seems to be a popular one today.

The creepiness comes when he can watch friends and lovers have conversations with him when he isn't there, describe shared experiences he never experienced. By not doing what he is supposed to do, by being 'awake', he is outside the machine.

The sheer horror of being outside the machine is what Leiber is interested in (hence the title). When no one notices you even if you slap them in the face, when nothing you do has an impact on the world, you truly are all alone.

Find a copy if you can. Steal one if you can't. It's a story which deserves to be read.

A surreal awakening to ordinary life
The book is about the awakening of one individual to the fact that the world is a vast machine, of somewhat mediocre efficiency, which is ignorant of the individual.The individual can leave his post, his part of themachine, and it will continue to operate without him.In many ways, itseems to be an awakening or recovery from alcoholism. All this soundsvery literary, but the book is a well written story, thought provokingwithout being wearying or ideological, and a good read. I enjoyed itimmensely, and highly recommend it.

If the first two sentances of mycomments put you off, you should read it.It is a book better read thancriticised. I found it fascinating and enthralling; I have found moreinterest in Fritz Leiber's work outside the Llankmar milieu than within it;this may be a pointer to my interests, or a comment on my taste - up toyou.

Also-if you enjoy this you might also like "TheWanderer" by the same author, and possibly works by Edgar Pangbourne,(such as "Davy" and "A Mirror for Obsevors") who writesvery differently, but also writes well and thoughtfully. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Cool stories, different styles
This anthology has something for everyone who likes vampire fiction and fantasy. From "The Silver Collar" which is a standard Gothic tale, to the horror of "The Sea Was Wet as Wet Can Be," to the satiric take on the cut-throat world of professional theatre called "...To Feel Another's Woe," there are so many kinds of vampires here and so many stories that are just good stories, that everyone should find something he or she likes. ... Read more

Product Description
Fritz Leiber was one of the most famous fantasy and SF writers of the century, the author of many classics, including the popular Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser fantasy series. In 1936, young Leiber, then in correspondence with the famous writer H.P. Lovecraft, drafted this eerie story. Now Tor is pleased to present in its first paperback publication this short novel of cosmic dread and Lovecraftian horror.
Amazon.com Review
Written in the 1930s, lost in the 1950s, and finally published in 1990s, this is one of Fritz Leiber's more eclectic works. Part horror story and part science fiction whodunit, the tale begins as George Cramer arrives in Smithville, California, home of his college friends Daniel Kesserich and John Ellis. Ellis's wife has died under mysterious circumstances, and now both he and Kesserich have gone missing. The townspeople seem to be hiding a hideous secret, and Cramer suspects all the clues lead back to unusual experiments Kesserich was conducting. A gripping tale in the style of H. P. Lovecraft but told with the grace of Leiber. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Leiber shines in this novella
Subtitled "A Study of the Mass-Insanity at Smithville," this novella tells the story of George Kramer, who, as the novel opens, is on his way to visit Daniel Kesserich, an old friend who lives in that small California town.His business there is unpleasant:he has come to attend the funeral of Mary Ellis, the wife of another old friend, John Ellis, who died after eating an orange treated with a particularly strong pesticide.

Immediately upon Kramer's arrival, strange things start to happen in Smithville.As he approaches Kesserich's house, a trail of pebbles materializes out of thin air.Intrigued, he follows the pebbles until they stop appearing some distance away.Confused, Kramer heads back to the house, just in time to witness it's total destruction in a tremendous explosion. Unable to locate either of his friends, Kramer decides to stay in town and investigate.

Soon thereafter, the townspeople are seized by the idea that Mary Ellis has been buried alive, prompting many of them to insist on an exhumation.Several take it upon themselves to dig up Mary's coffin, only to find it empty.Already fearful, the citizens are further panicked when a child recalls seeing John Ellis digging up his wife's grave, accompanied by a mysterious man in black.It is up to Kramer, the only person in town who has not succumbed to madness, to puzzle out the causes behind these macabre events.

Leiber's elegant prose, accompanied by the eerie cover art and interior illustrations of Jason Van Hollander, make this a welcome addition to any bookshelf.Tor should be commended for publishing this impressive novella, written in the mid-1930's but previously unpublished--new Leiber is always a cause for celebration.A grandmaster if there ever was one, Leiber continues to provide a sterling example to other writers, even from the grave.

For the completists.
After receiving a letter from an old college friend, John Ellis, the writer George Kramer travels to a small Californian town out in the desert. Here he is confronted by strange happenings, the result of another of hisold college friends, Daniel Kesserich, who has discovered, quite byaccident, a way to use an energy anomaly of collapsing magnetic fields tomove in the super-time of the fifth dimension, and thus the time of thefourth dimension. This activity normally has no consequences with regard tothe surrounding town and its population. But when Kesserich uses hisdiscovery to return John Ellis' wife from the dead, the result of aseemingly accidental poisoning, the town's population succumb to a generalpsychological trauma due to the temporal contradictions set in motion.There's a lot of good ideas in this little book, which before its recentpublication have appeared in other Leiber titles, such as, Gonna Roll themBones, and The Big Time.Daniel Kesserich is slightly lumpy to read,especially at the start where the narrative is not quite as smooth as isusual for a Fritz Leiber story, making it necessary to read the firstchapter and the forward a couple of times to iron out any apparentoddities.

Overall that's the main complaint in an otherwise nicelypresented book with its great black-and-white illustrations and text onquality paper. It's A Leiber all right, but suffers slightly from nothaving the benefit of his ultimate attention.

Worth reading all thesame.

A slow start and a WHAM-BAM! ending.
Two things I can say about this book:

1. The story opens to a slow start. This certainly was a deliberate move on Leiber's part. He is working towards a sense of uneasiness, but to me it felt like his characters weremoving underwater, slowly and clumsily. Yet, this is all nicely tied upin...

2. The brilliant and exhilarating ending. The disjointed happeningsof the previous chapters are all nicely wrapped up in this section of thebook. Beside it, the rest of the book pales in comparison.

I was leftwith the sensation the book may be too long for the tale it tells. Leiberbursts in creativity and commanding (and maniacal) prose until the lastchapter, making the rest of his book seem ungainly.

On a final note:Previously, the only other novel by Leiber I had read was "ConjureWife". This one seemed to me a stronger and better effort, and Ihighly recommend it.

Lovecraft helps Leiber reach out from the dead
Fritz Leiber's The Dealings of Daniel Kesserich was recently published, years after Leiber's death.The book was originally written in 1936, apparently while Leiber still corresponded with Lovecraft, and it shows. It has all the elements that we've learned to love: the letter from an oldfriend living in a nameless, backwater town; the college mate with interestin more than three dimensions who lives in isolation from the community;the small something that appears to eating away at the town people's minds;the mysterious death - and this is only in the first five pages.The bookis quite a good read and absolutely hard to put down, with some scenes thatare pretty scary, specially when you realize that they involve only peoplebehaving strangely.However, at some points it has a somewhat raw feel toit, may be because it was never edited.If you're looking for someLovecraftian read and are tired of the recently published titles, this maybe able to please you.

An excellent novella from a Master of the genre
Fritz Leiber was considered one of the greatsof SF, Fantasy, and Horror and this long-lostshort novel demonstrates why.Something strange is happening in Smithville; more and more people are convinced that the woman who was buried a few days earlier was buried alive.What does this have to do with the mysterious experiments of the reclusive Daniel Kesserich? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Sci-Fi Escapism at its Finest
In this futuristic social satire, Phil Gish is a down and out loner who finds peace and contentment in the humble presence of a green cat.His pursuit of this feline takes him on a wild adventure that causes him to cross paths with a dazzling array of professional wrestlers, religious fanatics, parapsychologists, mobsters working for Fun, Inc., agents of the Federal Bureau of Loyalty, and a host of other eccentric individuals, all of whom seem determined to get their hands on the green cat.

The colorful characters are the real strength of this unusually under-plotted book (the story is little more than a long chase after the elusive cat), but the action is breakneck-paced, and the surprises just don't stop, which makes this book almost impossible to put down. Equally unusual in science fiction are the strong female characters, who while by no means perfect or even always likable, manage to make their own decisions and frequently demonstrate their superiority to the weak and/or immoral men in the story. Especially memorable are June Jones, the lady wrestler who wrestles men for a living, but befriends the helpless Phil, and Mitzi Romadka, the courageous daughter of a sadistic doctor, who would rather die than give in to weakness, even while flaunting her femininity.

While there are occasionally some brief lapses into sci-fi sophistry, this book is primarily a comedy: a fast moving, easy to read romp that should please readers young and old, but would not be recommended for those who take their science fiction seriously.The social satire is not especially pointed, and there are relatively few interesting ideas, scientific or otherwise, but for sheer escapist reading pleasure, this book certainly delivers top quality. ... Read more

Product Description
Abridged from the 1953 edition, containing 12 of the original 23 stories. Includes: Yesterday Was Monday (1941) by Theodore Sturgeon; Endowment Policy (1943) by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore [as by Lewis Padgett]; Other Tracks (1938) by William Sell; And It Comes Out Here (1951) by Lester del Rey; The Mist (1952) by Peter Grainger [as by Peter Cartur]; Ambition (1951) by William L. Bade; Tiger by the Tail (1951) by Alan E. Nourse; Business of Killing (1944) by Fritz Leiber; The Middle of the Week After Next (1952) by Murray Leinster; Night Meeting (1950) by Ray Bradbury; What If... (1952) by Isaac Asimov; The Flight That Failed (1942) by A. E. van Vogt and E. Mayne Hull [as by E. M. Hull]. ... Read more

Product Description
One day a cat perched on Phil Gish's window. Not an ordinary cat -- a green cat. And with the cat Phil's luck -- and life -- changed forever! ... Read more