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The Top Ten Swords & Sorcery Books

The term "Swords & Sorcery" is a bit of a peculiar term and doesn't really apply as a stand-alne genre in todays world. Just about every fantasy book written in the past twenty years has the major components of S& S (swords and sorcery!) The term was more relevant in the 40's and 50's during the heyday of pulp magazines. There was a bit of a renewal of interest in the term and the genre with the release of Hollywood movies like Conan, The Beastmaster, and The Sword and the Sorcerer. I haven't arranged these books in any particular order.

 

Black God's Kiss (Planet Stories Library) Jirel of Joiry is the first Sword & Sorcery Heroine. Written by C.l. Moore and Jirel made her first appearance in the pulps in the 30's.

 

 

 

The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian: The Original Adventures of the Greatest Sword and Sorcery Hero of All Time!

 

 

 

Elric of Melnibone (Elric)

Fritz Leiber suggested the use of "Swords & Sorcery" as a genre name to Michael Moorcock and Moorcock made it famous.

 

 

Sword of Rhiannon

A classic

 

 

Lankhmar Book 1: Swords And Deviltry (Lankhmar)

Just about all of the Lankhmar books are classic Swords & Sorcery

 

 

 

The Dying Earth (Lancer SF, 74-547)

 

 

 

 

Brak: The Barbarian Brak was created by John Jakes and appears in a series of works. Brak is directly influenced by Howard's Conan.

 

 

 

Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria By Lin Carter

 

 

 

 

 

Darkness Weaves

 

 

 

Flashing Swords! #1 An anthology of S&S edited by Lin Carter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazon has a section of their website devoted to Magic and wizards in Fantasy: Swords and Magic Books at Amazon