The Book of Fritz Leiber

by Fritz Leiber, George Barr (Cover Art)

Gregg Press. No dust jacket, as issued. Red buckram with titles in gold on black background. "First Printing, December 1980" on copyright page. When not an ex-library copy, this book can be HIGHLY COLLECTIBLE. Reprints two DAW Books paperback collections of Leiber's stories in this one hardcover volume.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Horror, Collections, Science Fiction Fantasy

173 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 15, 1974

About the author

Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. was one of the more interesting of the young writers who came into HP Lovecraft's orbit, and some of his best early short fiction is horror rather than sf or fantasy. He found his mature voice early in the first of the sword-and-sorcery adventures featuring the large sensitive barbarian Fafhrd and the small street-smart-ish Gray Mouser; he returned to this series at various points in his career, using it sometimes for farce and sometimes for gloomy mood pieces--The Swords of Lankhmar is perhaps the best single volume of their adventures. Leiber's science fiction includes the planet-smashing The Wanderer in which a large cast mostly survive flood, fire, and the sexual attentions of feline aliens, and the satirical A Spectre is Haunting Texas in which a gangling, exo-skeleton-clad actor from the Moon leads a revolution and finds his true love. Leiber's late short fiction, and the fine horror novel Our Lady of Darkness, combine autobiographical issues like his struggle with depression and alcoholism with meditations on the emotional content of the fantastic genres. Leiber's capacity for endless self-reinvention and productive self-examination kept him, until his death, one of the most modern of his sf generation.

Used These Alternate Names: Maurice Breçon, Fric Lajber, Fritz Leiber, Jr., Fritz R. Leiber, Fritz Leiber Jun., Фриц Лейбер, F. Lieber, フリッツ・ライバー

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fritz Leiber (1910-1992) has been one of my favorite science fiction authors, although I think he's considered not to be in the first rank of science fiction and fantasy authors. Best known for his Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series, Leiber actually coined the term "sword-and-sorcery." I liked his two novels-"The Big Time" and "The Wanderer," both of which won Hugos I believe. He was also just an incredible human being-a poet, an actor, a playwright, an expert chess player, and a cat lover. All of these interests are shown in this collection of stories and essays. My favorite story in this anthology is about cats-"Cat's Cradle." There's a story based on his "Big Time" universe which features chess (as well as an essay on chess). There is also a story which revisits Miskatonic U.--an homage to HP Lovecraft-"To Arkham and the Stars." And there's an all too short story which features the return of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, but all too short-only 2 1/2 pages. Not an outstanding collection and that's why I give it only ***. I should go back and reread the Fafhrd and Mouser tales--or find some of the novels of his I have not read!

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

DAW Collectors #87

Cover Artist: Jack Gaughan

Name: Leiber, Fritz Reuter, Jr., Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, USA, (24 December 1910 - 5 September 1992)

Alternate Name: Maurice Breçon

Contents:

002 -  The Book of Fritz Leiber (frontispiece) • interior artwork by Jack Gaughan
007 - Foreword (The Book of Fritz Leiber) • (1974) - Fritz Leiber
011 - The Spider • (1963)
024 - Monsters and Monster Lovers • (1965)
037 - A Hitch in Space • (1963)
048 - Hottest and Coldest Molecules • (1952)
052 - Kindergarten • (1963)
055 - Those Wild Alien Words: I • (1974)
064 - Crazy Annaoj • (1968)
070 - Debunking the I Machine • (1949)
072 - When the Last Gods Die • (1951)
079 - King Lear • (1934)
085 - Yesterday House • (1952)
115 - After Such Knowledge
118 - Knight to Move • [Change War] • (1965)
128 - Weird World of the Knight • (1960)
131 - To Arkham and the Stars • (1966)
143 - "The Whisperer" Re-examined • (1964)
148 - Beauty and the Beasts • (Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser story)
151 - Masters of Mace and Magic
157 - Cat's Cradle

The selection here is almost frustrating because it comes so close to being a good core sampling of Leiber's best work, but already has veered off the path by following strict chronological order of publication, except for the Hugo-winning fantasy that leads off the book, and then going on to a relatively minor if pacifism-flavored story by Leiber (a World War 2 conscientious objector), followed by another, as the earliest examples of his work...ignoring the brilliant, extremely influential "Smoke Ghost" and all the other early stories, including some of the first s&s stories, nearly as good as "Smoke Ghost" and vastly better than "Sanity" or "Wanted: An Enemy". (Presumably because these stories are relatively straightforward science fiction, as only a small portion of Leiber's best work ever was.) The book is strongest in its selections from Leiber's 1950s short stories, managing to gather many of his best sf and fantasy stories from that decade, and then proceeds to fall down again with the 1960s and '70s selections, such as there are.

NOTE: there are as many esays, as there is fiction. this for me was a brilliant inclusion.

[Michael Jandrok · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fritz Leiber was born in Chicago in 1914, the scion of a theatrical family, as both of his parents were acclaimed stage and film character actors. Leiber’s writing career was heavily influenced by H.P. Lovecraft, with whom he shared a correspondence with prior to Lovecraft’s death from cancer. Highly educated at the University of Chicago, where he earned degrees in both psychology and biology, Leiber would put his knowledge of the sciences to good work in the development of his short stories and novels. His most famous stories would surround the adventures of two barbarian characters living in a pre-industrial city-state named Lankhmar. Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser would go on to be integral building blocks (along with Robert E. Howard’s Conan) of the sword & sorcery genre of fantastic speculative fiction. Leiber would succumb to alcoholism in his middle-age, and lived his later years in a state of semi-squalor in a low-rent apartment in San Francisco.

And yet for all of his personal trials, Leiber was a decorated writer of fantasy and science fiction. He was awarded as the second “Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy” at the World Science Fiction convention in 1975. The Science Fiction Writers of America made him their fifth “Grand Master” in 1981. Leiber also loved cats, and he was an expert at chess. “The Book of Fritz Leiber” is a collection of ten short stories and ten articles culled from various points in his career. I own a first edition DAW paperback printing from 1974 with excellent cover art by George Barr. The short stories and articles alternate through the 173 pages of text.

“The Spider” - A mysterious trio of assumed offworlders sets up a “test” for a writer of horror pastiches who has a phobia for spiders. Solidly in the EC tradition of the “just desserts” story. Beware those little tappings on the widow in the wee hours of the morning.

“Monsters and Monster Lovers” - Leiber muses on some of his favorite scary friends from across different forms of media. Fun article. Short. Stephen King managed an entire book on the subject of monsters, called “Danse Macabre.” Thomas Ligotti is also working in this psychological vein in his musings on the nature of horror.

“A Hitch in Space” - What is a man to do when his only partner on a long and lonely space voyage begins talking to an imaginary friend? And what if the imaginary friend is YOU?

“Hottest and Coldest Molecules” - Interesting article on known temperature extremes to be found in various places in the universe. Leiber was good at distilling scientific information in layman’s terms.

“Kindergarten” - Three pages of fun fluff. SPACE SCHOOL!!!!! Reads like a thumbnail sketch for a longer story. Wish I had teachers like that when I was in kindergarten.

“Those Wild Alien Words: 1” - Leiber muses on how to pronounce a plethora of foreign names and words. Interesting little article.

“Crazy Annoj” - A story of an unusual love that spans literal galaxies. This is Leiber at his best, delivering a tale that keeps you on your toes and never goes where you expect it to.

“Debunking the I-Machine” - I really have no idea what Leiber is proposing with this article. Seems to be a screed about finding the nature of true altruism, or something along those lines. Thankfully it’s only 2 pages long.

“When the Last Gods Die” - Leiber hits the mark square in the middle with this short story. All things have their time and place, even the Titans. A story where Skynet wins, but is sent off with a celebration of sorts rather than a pitched battle. Gooooooood stuff.

“King Lear” - Article on, yes, the famous play by the Bard. Pretty much just a synopsis, no real literary critique to speak of. Interesting, but ultimately unnecessary.

“Yesterday House” - This is the real deal. This story is where Fritz Leiber stretches his considerable talents as a writer with a gothic tale of a time-lost love and the reality that one must live with their actions, good or bad, forever. A young university grad student discovers a young woman on a remote island off of the coast of Maine. She has a misplaced sense of time and a mysterious lover who leaves her little boxes with gifts every day. The young man falls in love, but there are other…..factors…..in play. A beautifully written and paced story. This is the Grand Master at his best.

“After Such Knowledge” - A short book review of a James Blish trilogy. Blish was a contemporary of Leiber’s, and they often worked in similar genres. Blish could write fantasy as well as he could hard science fiction.

“Knight to Love” - A game of interstellar spy vs. spy played out against the backdrop of an interplanetary chess tournament on an alien planet. Leiber was a Master level chess player, so I’m sure that he had great fun incorporating his favorite hobby into his writing.

“To Arkham and the Stars” - A short story love letter to H.P. Lovecraft. Funny, wistful, and full of mischief. Nah, I’m not sentimental at all…….

“The Whisperer Re-Examined” - Love letter to H.P. Lovecraft part deuce by way of critical examination of Lovecraft’s story “The Whisperer.” Leiber brings out a pretty good literary understanding of Lovecraft. A big point of criticism with regards to Lovecraft is that he can can often be repetitive and not often prone to great character development beyond surface details. But if you look at his stories as the stuff of nightmares incarnate, then that repetition and focus on abstract detail might work to his advantage. His stories work so well because they are literally a tap into the unconscious roots of horror itself. I kind of like that interpretation.

“Beauty and the Beasts” - A short, make that VERY short introduction to Leiber’s most famous literary creations, Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser. Lieber quite literally coined the term “sword & sorcery” to try and give some sort of a genre to the adventures of his titular characters. You’re not really going to get much of a taste for the duo here, however. This little three-page snippet doesn’t even qualify as a story fragment in my opinion. Forget this misstep and go find a copy of “Two Sought Adventure,” the first collection of short stories featuring Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser in chronological order. You will not be disappointed.

“Masters of Mace and Magic” - Leiber does some book reviewing. He first tackles three of the works of E. R. Masterson, with a particular emphasis on Masterson’s unquestioned masterpiece, “The Worm Ouroboros.” Leiber then goes on to critique six volumes of the Lancer paperback editions of the King Kull and Conan stores, written by the quite dead and yet still immortal Robert Erwin Howard. I think Leiber could be a bit kinder to a few of the Conan stories, “Red Nails” especially. But he’s spot on with his interpretation of King Kull as the brooding, dark alter-ego of the more straightforwardly rambunctious Conan of Cimmeria.

“Cat’s Cradle” - Felines save the world from an unlikely space invader. A beautifully whimsical and fun story. The menace from outer space really isn’t too menacing, and the kittehs do a fine job of teaming up to save the day. Leiber was a cat person of the highest caliber. I can relate. We have four of the overstuffed, mewling things. Can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em.

So there you have it. Ten articles. Ten short stories. “The Book of Fritz Leiber” is a perfectly suitable place for a new fan to start. Those unfamiliar with his work will find enough material here to get them snagged and hopefully begin to seek out his other writings. But it’s also a very uneven collection, and I can’t really see much of a need for long-time Leiberites to go out and grab this book. I can’t justify giving it more than three stars, but if you’re in need of a quick Leiber fix, it’ll do in a pinch.

One final note on aesthetics. These old yellow-spined DAW paperbacks are items of true quality. Don Wollheim put a lot of effort into making this line a leader in bringing quality science-fiction and fantasy to a wide audience. Everything is top-shelf, from the bindings to the paper to the artwork. I probably have several hundred of the older DAW paperbacks, and I always look for more whenever I am at the used book store. Par excellence.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good collection for fans of Leiber containing a score of previously uncollected pieces equally split between fiction and non-fiction. His favorite topics are represented (Shakespeare, Lovecraft, cats, chess), as well as stories from his most popular worlds; Nehwon (though quite briefly), and a Change War story. My favorites are Cat's Cradle, The Spider, and Knight to Move. The contents span forty years, beginning with an essay published in 1934 in a program from his fathers' Shakespeare company all the way to several works published for the first time here in 1974. The other non-fiction pieces range from Asimov-like science articles to book reviews and linguistics. None of the stories are among his best, but it's a good overview for readers who have an interest in Leiber. DAW reprinted the book in 1976 with a terrific, more fitting George Barr cover.

[MB Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Book of Fritz Leiber is a very readable and eclectic collection of ten short stories and nine articles. I discovered Leiber in the 70s though his excellent stories of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser (to my mind the equal of the best of Howard’s Conan and Moorcock’s Elric). Only (much) later did I discover his horror and science fiction.

According to the back cover blurb all of the short stories are “un-anthologized”. While that was true when this collection was first published in 1974, it is no longer the case. If isfdb is to be believed, only one (“A Hitch is Space”) hasn’t subsequently appeared in another anthology.

Whenever I pick up an anthology that contains fiction and non-fiction I’m dismayed. The way I view it is that the book could have been improved in two ways: Omit the articles and either (1) fill the now blank pages with more stories or (2) leave the blank pages out and charge less.

But that wasn’t the case here; I enjoyed the articles as much as the stories. They did cause me one problem though. I wasn’t able to comfortably read a short story after reading an article. Not sure why that was, but it slowed down my reading. Given the alternating story article format of the book I’d read a story then an article, and then I’d need to put the book down.

My favorite story in the collection (really a novelette) was “Yesterday House”. Originally published in 1952, it apparently languished forgotten (?) for over 20 years. Then, after its appearance in The Book of Fritz Leiber, it appeared in Alpha 5 (1974), Isaac Asimov Presents the Best Science Fiction Firsts (1984), Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories 14: 1952 (1986) and Strange Maine (1986). “Yesterday House” is an SF story of love and obsession, along with a significant amount of hate and self-delusion.

My favorite article was possibly “Monsters and Monster Lovers” (1965), although all the articles were pretty interesting. “Masters of Mace and Magic” (1974) contains a short review of E.R. Eddison’s The Worm Ouroboros which almost made me want to try to read it once again. It’s been at least 35 years since I tried last, maybe it is time to try it again…

[Darnoc Leadburger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Between Fritz Leiber's over-reliance on the sword-and-sorcery genre and his immense bibliography, he's always remained a bit outside of my SF-loving grasp; I've only read one novel of his, *The Big Time*, and I'm pretty sure that only reading that doesn't get the full gist of what he does. That's why I was excited to find *The Book of Fritz Leiber* for a buck at an antique mall about a year and a half ago; it's advertised as a collection of rarely-anthologized Leiber stories that range the gambit from his science fiction to his fantasy to his weird fiction and his - apparently vast and varied - nonfiction pieces. It turns out that Leiber's actually a pretty interesting guy, and while it will probably be rare for you to find someone who will enjoy all the nooks and crannies he explores throughout this book evenly, it also surely has something for every SFF reader out there...

--Things start off with a weird tale called "The Spider," which is about a writer who's made a living popularizing monsters like Dracula and Frankenstein's monster while simultaneously turning them into laughing stocks. This seems to have attracted the ire of a shadowy group of people who stand outside his apartment and summon this big spider to appear to him and scare him. The spider follows him around and after he gets laughed out of psychotherapy, it kills him in his home. It's kind of a creepy tale, but it doesn't seem to have too pervasive of themes. It's decently well-written and kept my interest; 7/10.
---The first nonfiction pieces we get is "Monsters and Monster Lovers." Like most essays here, it's a couple pages and on a theme related to one of the neighboring stories - this time, it's kind of an ode to the people who like monster stories and the monsters them selves, those of both literary and Lovecraftian nature.
--"A Hitch in Space" is a kind of funny tale about a couple guys akin to space truckers who are flying on a deep-space-type mission. The protagonist is getting a bit worried about his partner, who has an imaginary friend named after said protagonist. Furthermore, even though he idolizes that protagonist, he berates this imaginary friend, almost as if he uses him as a conduit to unload negative emotions on. The situation becomes perilous once the main character is stuck outside the vessel on a space walk and his partner is unable to acknowledge his existence over the radio, instead listening to the imaginary friend's warnings that there are bad people outside the spaceship; the protagonist is barely able to squeeze about their ship. It's one of the more original stories of space psychosis that I've read, and while it's short enough not to overstay anyone's idea of a welcome, it's long enough to drum up a real sense of suspension towards the end. 7.5/10.
---Leiber turns pop-science writer in "Hottest and Coldest Molecules," where he writes about the freezing and boiling points of different gasses. It's a nice little infodump, if not real memorable.
--Speaking of unmemorable, "Kindergarten" is a 2-or-3-page zinger where a teacher is teaching little kids about gravity. The kicker? it's Kindergarten on the moon, so they learn about space gravity. I mean, could've been a nice set piece in a longer story, but... just doesn't seem like enough, even if it's cute. 6.5/10.
---"Those Wild Alien Words: 1" is not about aliens at all; it's about pronouncing different languages, whether it's Czech of French or whatever other abominations societies have dreamt up. Leiber's had some trouble with words in the past, and he warns us against his pitfalls; it wasn't on my bingo card!
--"Crazy Annaoj" is a kind of untraditional science fiction story; instead of a prose tale, it's more of a fable about Annaoj, a seventeen-year-old girl who marries a rich 400-year-old-man who dies on their honeymoon. Annaoj has him frozen and spends her whole life travelling through the galaxy trying to find a cure for him while simultaneously building the business that made him rich up better than he ever could've himself before vanishing and becoming a folk tale worthy of this story's format. It's good and invocative and gets a lot across in its few pages, even if the ideas still weren't particularly tantalizing to me; 7.25.
--"Debunking the I-Machine" is this weird little philosophical number about how we all... should appreciate each other? I dunno. Obviously didn't make me care about much of anything.
--"When the Last Gods Die" is the first classic in this book. I don't know how incredibly original it really is, but it's got a really cool sentiment bundled up in the machine-kind that future humanity creates saying goodbye to the last few humans in existence, who have gathered on Earth to witness the death of their planet since they know that they've outlasted their usefulness as a species. It's a beautiful piece of existentialism, and while the writing is good, it still... it's just there. Maybe a little too short for me? 7.75/10.
---I knew Leiber's parents were theater buffs, and *The Big Time* reads he was influenced by it, but I didn't have written confirmation of it until "King Lear," during which Leiber summarizes one of his favorite Shakespeare plays and talks about how its ending was originally changed. This relates to:
--"Yesterday House," which his initial editor made him write a "happier" ending for. Now it's reprinted in all its original glory, and I think it had a pretty solid ending. It starts off looking like a time travel story: a biology student who's spending the summer living with his biology mentor stumbles across an island off the coast of Maine inhabited by a young woman surrounded by papers and broadcasts from 1933. The catch's? It's 1951. When he brings the incident up to his mentor's wife, he finds out that this gifted biologist took an egg from his old lover after she died in 1933, implanted it in his lab assistant (AKA his current wife) without sullying it with sperm, and had his Russian sisters raise the girl as their own so he could meet her and experience the same kind of love with the same kind of person. He finds himself falling for the girl and tries saves her from the Russian sisters' murderous intent, only for his mentor - the girl's "original love" - to run off with her as intended. It makes you think about destiny, both romantic and genetic, and while there are some obvious holes in this nurture-vs-nature story (you'd think not having one's parents around would impact how one develops), it's an interesting take on things and enough to reveal a cascade of interesting information that keeps you involved. It's an 8/10, and one of the highlights of the collection.
---"After Such Knowledge" is a little review of James Blish's After Such Knowledge trilogy (of which I've only read *Black Easter*). He's not a bad reviewer, but not a particularly inspiring one either.
--"Knight to Move" is one of Leiebr's "Change War" stories - it's set in the same temporal battleground that makes up *The Big Time*, specifically at an interstellar chess tournament in 5037 around a Snake agent who comes in contact with a Spider. They exchange a couple tense exchanges (they're supposed to be on neutral ground, so tension is far as the hostilities are *supposed* to go...), and during the last one - had via hologram after the Snake finishes her shower - they realize not only that the chessboard is meant to symbolize a spider's web and that all planets with chess had been Spider-infiltrated (and that the current Chess players want to take over this planet for the Spiders) but that the "track games" (like Candy Land) symbolize Snake mentality and the troop of track games at the planet mean there's a counterforce and an approaching stalemate. It's a pretty innovative and playful way to symbolize the Change War, and some of the other worldbuilding things Leiber threw in there (like Snake soldiers having a tattoo of a Spider that itches when Spider agents are around and visa versa) are smart and help display the pointlessness (and possible collusion) that I believe marks the Change War. I think this one deserves an 8/10 too; it's pretty sharp.
---Apparently Leiber was at some point some kind of chess champion, and he takes us through the winding corridors of his chess knowledge in "Weird World of the Knight," where he rambles about how weird the knight's movements in the context of the game of chess are. Interesting if you know the game.
--"To Arkham and the Stars" is a Lovecraft Mythos story of a high regard, where Leiber uses the plot device of an academic visiting a University playing host to cast members from various Lovecraft stories including the narrator from "The Whisperer in Darkness." I didn't catch everything going on because I've only read maybe twenty-five of Lovecraft's Mythos stories, but at the end we find out that Lovecraft is currently travelling the stars as a brain in one of those jars from "The Whisperer", and that's pretty cool if you ask me. With a little more context it could've been cooler, but for now, 7.75/10.
---""The Whisperer" Re-examined" is a retrospect on Lovecraft's faults not as a person but as a writer; not exactly the en vogue thing to write about, but Leiber has a fair and balanced take on the literary prowess of one of his idols, which I can always respect.
--"Beauty and the Beasts" is a Fahfrd and Mouser story (or whatever the Hell it's called), the only sword-and-sorcery representation in the whole book. It's only two and a half pages, and while the depiction of a black-and-white woman turning into two thugs and the crazy worldbuilding conclusions the characters reach after it is charming... it's so short! 7/10 ratio?
---"Master of Mace and Magic," the last nonfictional snippet, is another bit of criticism. It's fine, and covers some sword-and-sorcery type work from the likes of Robert E. Howard (the best in SnS, apparently, although not entirely consistent) and E. R. Eddison. I should probably read the covered stories at some point...
--Finally, since Leiber loves cats, he chose to anthologize "Cat's Cradle," in which two cats live with an old couple (they have a weird relationship in which the wife has young women visit the house so her husband has eye candy to look at and doesn't get cranky) and end up being summoned by a mysterious call from alien felines who want to free human domestic cats. These scenes with the space-felines are interesting and all, but they're not followed up with any thought-out revelations about either why human-feline relations on Earth or good or bad or even funny, so... while it's got cool set pieces (I love cats), it's underwhelming. 6.75/10?

Overall, while there are a few standouts like "Knight to Move" and "Yesterday House," this is a pretty inconsistent collection. Leiber's prose is pretty coherent, but the subject matter is about as all-over-the-place as you're gonna get. That might be a selling point for some people, like it was for me, but I think it could've been more effective if I had a little more Leiber under my belt and... well... if I cared a little more. On the other hand, it was a good introduction... it was good, I'd give it a 7/10. I'd recommend it to those who like his occasionally sparse but not empty prose style, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. Maybe *The Best of Fritz Leiber* or some of his fantasy novels will be more exciting; we'll cross that bridge together when I catch up to it. Till then, thanks for reading, and here's hoping you can find as many things to delight you in your life as Leiber apparently has his...

[Viktor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Designed to be an overview of FL the Dude, it fulfills that mission. 10 stories and 9 articles alternate throughout. 10 stories that were then uncollected -- most are still hard to find -- with 9 non-fiction pieces --the bulk of which are only available here.

There's nothing wrong with the book; there's nothing to dislike. But it doesn't seem to coalesce into something greater than the sum like most collections do.

Read this one on your way to your next FL collection.

[Johnny · Rating 1 out of 5]

This author writes so well that it's hard not to enjoy reading his work.
One of these stories is about a man who takes a boat to an island everyday to visit a strange girl who thinks she is still living in the past (18 years ago) and he gradually falls in love with her before finding out the truth to her mystery when her father(possibly) comes home.
I loved the island setting in this one.
Throughout the book the writer gives us chapters of strange topics which I found very boring. Detailing the game of chess. Talking about his love of movie monsters such as King Kong and the Phantom of the Opera. One about the works of H.P. Lovecraft.
He also gives a tribute story involving a few characters taken from H.P. Lovecraft stories which I thought was interesting but fell quite flat with me and didn't end with anything fun or scary other than a visit to a gravestone
The final story in the book began and ended weakly for me but I did enjoy the middle of the story where cats are called to a meeting with the Sphinx. A large human like cat who can speak and is from another galaxy

The writer has so many better stories then in this book. But the writing is well deserving of praise

[Rod Zinkel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mix of science fiction and fantasy short or short-short stories and articles, toughing on some of Leiber's favorite subjects: cats, H.P. Lovecraft, Shakespeare, chess, etc. Fun to read some of the sci fi ideas, and slang, of the 60's and 70's. A few of the stories hold up well, and can still be tied to issues, such as the story, "When the Last Gods Die," and the issue of AI, and "Yesterday's House," and the issue of cloning. An entertaining book.

[Mystery Theater · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leiber is too sarcastic, too ironic, too self-aware, and too serious about "art" to write serious fiction. At least that's my guess. Whenever there is a possible moment of seriousness, he injects a clever observation rather than a wise one. It's all tongue in cheek, even--or especially--in the most dreadful moments. The dying man's last act is not to raise his fist in defiance, but to thumb his nose while delivering a raspberry.

[Konstantine · Rating 3 out of 5]

less a straightforward collection of stories and more musings about various topics ranging from leibers thoughts on monsters and beasts to his thoughts on other writers. not what i was really expecting or hoping for but still enjoyable

[Eric Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll NEVER forget this exact cover on my beat up scotch taped VERY worn copy of this book. I'd had it for years and had read it over and over again. I was 12 years old

[CRAB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crazy Annaoj.

[Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very forgettable and dated. Leiber writes well, but these stories don't hold up.

[Jim Standridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good stories. Contains ten stories and ten essays. Essays were all over the place. Second Book was much better, much better stories. Only one very short Mouser story.

[Murray Ewing · Rating 3 out of 5]

10 stories, 9 non-fiction pieces (essays & reviews) and an introduction, of a varied sort. As Leiber says in his introduction, ‘I have tried in this book to display all my chief interests and small skills…’ So, his stories and essays (paired, roughly, so a story is followed by a non-fiction piece on a similar theme) cover: monsters (‘The Spider’/’Monsters and Monster Lovers’), chess (‘Knight to Move’ — a Change War story/’Weird World of the Knight’), H P Lovecraft (‘To Arkham and the Stars’/’The Whisperer Re-Examined’), cats (‘Cats Cradle’), Shakespeare (an essay on ‘King Lear’)... It’s a mixed bunch, with the better stories being those in existing series (Change War, Fafhrd & Grey Mouser — a very short one, here, ‘Beauty and the Beasts’ — and Gummitch), and a longer SF-ish story, ‘Yesterday House’, in which a love-lorn genius biologist puts to practical use his belief in nature over nurture. The other stories I’ve not already mentioned (‘A Hitch in Space’, ‘Kindergarten’, ‘Crazy Annaoj’, ‘When the Last Gods Die’), are mostly short and pretty standard SF of the day — each with a nice idea, but not great. Not the best of Fritz Leiber, then, but a reasonable dose of him.