Amra, Vol 2, No 8

By George H. Scithers (Editor)

George Scithers published AMRA, a leading sword and sorcery fanzine, beginning in 1959. The term "swords and sorcery" first appeared there, and AMRA became a leading proponent of the subgenre. Several of the articles originally published in AMRA were later re-printed as part of two volumes about Conan the Barbarian, which Scithers co-edited with L. Sprague de Camp. Contributors to the magazine included all the leading fantasists of the day: Poul Anderson, L. Sprague de Camp, Fritz Leiber, and many more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wildside Press
• Release date: Mar 26, 2018
• ISBN: 9781479437504

Book preview

The Gray Mouser : 1

figure

The city lifts black roof-shields toward the stars

And shuts the jungle out with mortised stones

And seals the scent of flowers in glass jars

And locks Earth’s secrets up in brass-clasped tomes.

No satyr may live there, no faun survive

The stench and clangor of each crowded street.

The white-fanged beasts of night cannot contrive

To gnaw an entrance through its black concrete.

Yet ‘mongst the gargoyles on the slated roofs

One gray-masked face peers down with living grin

That mocks the scurry of the city’s floor.

Two gray-gloved hands tease ope’ the library’s door

And break the ponderous books and scribble in

Footnotes that give the lie to all proud proofs.

-- Fritz Leiber

The Gray Mouser: 2

figure

Soft-sandaled feet press lightly on the stones

That cobble Lankhmar’s mazy alleyways;

A grayish cloak melts in the river mist

That billowing with many a darting