Goodman Games

…there was a series of four anthologies selected by L. Sprague de Camp.
1. Swords and Sorcery (1963)
2. The Spell of Seven (1965)
3. The Fantastic Swordsmen (1967)
4. Warlocks and Warriors (1970)

While I can’t say that de Camp is as reliable a source as Gary Gygax (after all, de Camp didn’t write OD&D or AD&D) it’s interesting to note what stories were selected early on by de Camp as the “best ever” for the Swords & Sorcery genre. Also keep in mind that, since this was an anthology of short stories, no novels appear on the list.

The authors:

Poul Anderson
Robert Bloch
Ray Capella
Lin Carter
L. Sprague de Camp
Luigi de Pascalis
Lord Dunsany ***
Robert E. Howard ***
John Jakes
Henry Kuttner **
Fritz Leiber **
H. P. Lovecraft *
Michael Moorcock *
C. L. Moore *
Clark Ashton Smith **
Jack Vance
H. G. Wells
Roger Zelazny

NOTE that an asterisk (*) signifies multiple selections.

The stories:

Swords and Sorcery
"Introduction: Heroic Fantasy" (L. Sprague de Camp)
"The Valor of Cappen Varra" (Poul Anderson)
"The Distressing Tale of Thangobrind the Jeweler" (Lord Dunsany)
"Shadows in the Moonlight" (Robert E. Howard)
"The Citadel of Darkness" (Henry Kuttner)
"While the Sea King's Away" (Fritz Leiber)
"The Doom that Came to Sarnath" (H. P. Lovecraft)
"Hellsgarde" (C. L. Moore)
"The Testament of Athammaus" (Clark Ashton Smith)

The Spell of Seven
"Introduction: Wizards and Warriors" (L. Sprague de Camp)
"Bazaar of the Bizarre" (Fritz Leiber)
"The Dark Eidolon" (Clark Ashton Smith)
"The Hoard of the Gibbelins" (Lord Dunsany)
"The Hungry Hercynian" (L. Sprague de Camp)
"Kings in Darkness" (Michael Moorcock)
"Mazirian the Magician" (Jack Vance)
"Shadows in Zamboula" (Robert E. Howard)

The Fantastic Swordsmen
"Tellers of Tales" (introduction) (L. Sprague de Camp)
"Black Lotus" (Robert Bloch)
"The Fortress Unvanquishable Save for Sacnoth" (Lord Dunsany)
"Drums of Tombalku" (Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp)
"The Girl in the Gem" (John Jakes)
"Dragon Moon" (Henry Kuttner)
"The Other Gods" (H. P. Lovecraft)
"The Singing Citadel" (Michael Moorcock)
"The Tower" (Luigi de Pascalis, originally in Italian, translated by L. Sprague de Camp)

Warlocks and Warriors
"Introduction" (L. Sprague de Camp)
"Turutal" (Ray Capella)
"The Gods of Niom Parma" (Lin Carter)
"The Hills of the Dead" (Robert E. Howard)
"Thunder in the Dawn" (Henry Kuttner)
"Thieves' House" (Fritz Leiber)
"Black God's Kiss" (C. L. Moore)
"Chu-Bu and Sheemish" (Lord Dunsany)
"The Master of the Crabs" (Clark Ashton Smith)
"The Valley of the Spiders" (H. G. Wells)
"The Bells of Shoredan" (Roger Zelazny)

Cool stuff finarvyn, thanks for sharing this!

Well another thread mentioned "The Spell of Seven" and I bought a copy, and then the introduction remarked that it was the second anthology so I started to wonder what was in the first. This led me to do some research and if Wikipedia can be trusted (the weak link in any research project) I found there were four total. Which led me to search Amazon to buy copies of the other three.

And to make lists of this stuff because I thought it was interesting. I'm not sure how many of these stories Gary read, but I know he liked many of the authors!

finarvyn wrote:I'm not sure how many of these stories Gary read, but I know he liked many of the authors!

So I wondered about overlap with Appendix N. Here is the author list again...

The authors: (Again!)

Poul Anderson
Robert Bloch
Ray Capella
Lin Carter
L. Sprague de Camp
Luigi de Pascalis
Lord Dunsany ***
Robert E. Howard ***
John Jakes
Henry Kuttner **
Fritz Leiber **
H. P. Lovecraft *
Michael Moorcock *
C. L. Moore *
Clark Ashton Smith **
Jack Vance
H. G. Wells
Roger Zelazny

NOTE that an asterisk (*) signifies multiple selections.
SECOND NOTE that blue bold signifies an author also on the Appendix N list.

In 30-something years, when a young entrepreneur has been inspired by Joseph's creation to create her own game system, perhaps this will be the source she draws from...!

"Pre-Appendix N gaming -- Play the way 1965 intended!"

Sadly, it will be a war game, with hundreds of little paper chits and woefully underwritten rules...

GnomeBoy wrote:In 30-something years, when a young entrepreneur has been inspired by Joseph's creation to create her own game system, perhaps this will be the source she draws from...!

"Pre-Appendix N gaming -- Play the way 1965 intended!"

Sadly, it will be a war game, with hundreds of little paper chits and woefully underwritten rules...

And I'll be first in line to buy one!

finarvyn wrote:…there was a series of four anthologies selected by L. Sprague de Camp.
1. Swords and Sorcery (1963)
2. The Spell of Seven (1965)
3. The Fantastic Swordsmen (1967)
4. Warlocks and Warriors (1970)

While I can’t say that de Camp is as reliable a source as Gary Gygax (after all, de Camp didn’t write OD&D or AD&D) it’s interesting to note what stories were selected early on by de Camp as the “best ever” for the Swords & Sorcery genre. Also keep in mind that, since this was an anthology of short stories, no novels appear on the list.

I just managed to get The Spell of Seven yesterday , but, sadly, not with the cooler cover.

Raven_Crowking wrote:I just managed to get The Spell of Seven yesterday , but, sadly, not with the cooler cover.

We were having a discussion like this on my OD&D boards and not everyone agreed which of the two covers is the coolest. They are both pretty sweet, actually.

The neat thing about this book is that it gives a nice sampling of Appendix N authors. I'd already read four of the seven stories prior to getting the book, but it's a neat way to try other authors without having to plow through an entire novel.