Goodman Games

Howdy All,

Thought I'd share this little gem. Found it at the local Half Price Books the other weekend for about $1 (cover price was 50 cents). I'd read about half of the seven stories previously (Leiber, Howard, Moorcock).

The book was published in 1965. The inside cover has an owners name, penned several months before I was born (so, end of 60's). While there's various opinions about L. Sprague de Camp's "guardianship" of Conan, S&W, etc, I did find his introduction very worth sharing:

"How would you like to escape to a world of wizards and warlocks, warriors and wenches - a world where gleaming cities raise their shining spires against the stars, sorcerers cast sinister spells from subterranean lairs, primeval monsters crash through jungle thickets and the fate of kingdoms is balanced on the bloody blades of broadswords brandished by heroes of preternatural might and valor?"



Stories include:

• Bazaar of the Bizarre (Leiber)
• The Dark Eidolon (C.A. Smith)
• The Hoard of the Gibbelins (Dunsany)
• The Hungry Hercynian (de Camp)
• Kings in Darkness (Moorcock)
• Mazirian the Magician [Vance]
• Shadows in Zamboula (Howard)

Wow, that is a find! All the stories are good, the blurb is spot-on, and the cover art is terrific!

That. Is. Lovely.

*jealousy smilie*

Very cool. I haven't read all of the stories, but the ones I have read are awesome. Now I need to look for a copy of this book!

One of the cool things about Spell of Seven is that it has Virgil Finlay illustrations, my fav is the bubble-helmet wearing spiders for Bazaarr of the Bizarre.

I ordered a copy and can't wait for it to arrive.

I noticed that there are two editions, 1965 and 1969. The 1965 one is the cover pictured in this thread, and it's the cover I like the best. I don't know about the art in the other edition.

finarvyn wrote:I ordered a copy and can't wait for it to arrive.

I noticed that there are two editions, 1965 and 1969. The 1965 one is the cover pictured in this thread, and it's the cover I like the best. I don't know about the art in the other edition.

I own the 1969 re-print & I think the cover is cool. When I saw this thread I was amazed that there was a different, earlier, cover.

Just for folks interested, side by side here is the 1965 cover followed by the 1969 cover:

Both are cool. I prefer the '65 one, but that's just me.

No question the '65 cover is better. It would make for a great title and module cover.

I picked this up after reading this post and it's a good one. I had never read most of the stories so it's a nice find and I plan to track down the other 3 books in the series. I managed to score the edition with the original cover and it's very evocative or all things Appendix N and DCC.

What I like best about the book (and the others in the series) is that it gives a nice peek into the style of fiction in Appendix N without having to read so many books.

Joseph read all of Appendix N and it took him years. You could read The Spell of Seven in a day or two. This gives a great introduction to anyone who wants to understand the "Appendix N feel" without having to work so hard at it.

Just got it yesterday (from England..): GREAT book!

Greetings,with regard with the 1965 cover art, i remember my uncle had a softback book with cover art very close to the '65 cover.Unless my memory has taken a toll with the passing of time,i am picturing a skeleton shown with more of a torso with a black kettle with people inside it or falling inside it and their may have been a female included within the pot.(the skeleton may be showing control of the people within the kettle as puppets). Does this ring a bell with anyone? Thanks.