Rhialto the Marvellous

Author	Gene Wolfe
ISBN	0671540661

Wolfe has an almost legendary status amongst fellow authors; Gaiman called him 'a ferocious intellect', Swanwick said he's "the greatest writer in the English language alive today", and Disch called this series "a tetralogy of couth, intelligence, and suavity".

You can rarely trust the...

Author	Poul Anderson
ISBN	0575074981

The gathering forces of the Dark Powers threatened the world of man. The legions of Faery, aided by trolls, demons and the Wild Hunt itself, were poised to overthrow the realms of light.
And alone against the armies of Chaos stood one man, the knight of Three Hearts and Three Lions. Carlsen, a twentieth-century...

Author	Fritz Leiber
ISBN	1595820795

For the first time-the story of how the greatest heroes in fantastic literature first met.

'The two thieves had themselves been robbed by two youths, who eyed each other suspiciously over the sprawled, senseless bodies.

Fafhrd said: 'Our motives for being here seem identical.'...

Author	Gene Wolfe
ISBN	0671416162

Severian is in possession of a gem considered to be "The Claw of the Conciliator", a powerful relic of the Master of Power, a legendary figure of mythic proportions. Armed with his sword, Terminus Est, and the Claw, Severian continues his journey to Thrax, the city of his exile. Bizarre apes, strange...

Author	Gene Wolfe
ISBN	0671631934

This, as well as the first two books and theoretically the last in the series, is rapidly becoming the most difficult work of SF I've ever read. Why? It's not particularly difficult to follow; the Hero's Quest is rather straightforward throughout. Nor is the main character Severian particularly uninteresting...

Author	Fritz Leiber
ISBN	0441791948

More of Leiber's finely-crafted tales of adventure featuring barbarian Fafhrd (whose bluff exterior hides one frequently given to flights of fancy or romance) and thief Mouser (who would describe himself, not altogether with cause, as the more practical of the pair).

In this case, we have...

Author	Fritz Leiber
ISBN	0441080383

One of them was a huge, brawny, full-bearded barbarian from the northlands of Nehwon. His name was Fafhrd, his weapon a broadsword.

The other was a small, nimble man dressed all in gray. Men called him the Gray Mouser, and he carried both rapier and dirk.

They were known throughout the...

Author	James Branch Cabell
ISBN	0486235076

One of the most-talked-about works of the 1920s, this compelling fantasy recounts the odyssey of a middle-aged pawnbroker who regains his youth for a year of amorous adventures. Jurgen's allegorical journey leads through a supernatural dreamscape to romances with Guenevere and The Lady of the Lake...

Author	J.G. Ballard
ISBN	0374520968

J. G. Ballard's fourth novel, which established his reputation as a writer of extraordinary talent and imaginative powers, tells the story of a physician specializing in the treatment of leprosy who is invited to a small outpost in the interior of Africa. Finding the roadways blocked, he takes to the...

Author

Poul Anderson

Thor broke the sword Tyrfing to save the roots of Yggdrasil, the tree that binds earth, heaven and hell. Now the elves need the weapon for their war against the trolls. Only Scafloc, a human kidnapped and raised by elves, can hope to persuade Bolverk the ice-giant to make Tyrfing whole again. But Scafloc...

Author	Michael Shea
ISBN	0586065490

Cugel the Clever was seeking revenge when he met Mumber Sull who was seeking justice. Revenge and justice may seem empty dreams when the sun may flicker out at any moment, but such is the nature of man as it has always been since the dawn of time.

Mumber Sull owed his loyalty to the long-vanished...