Seminal Works
The genre has been defined, strongly, by the work of Robert E. Howard, particularly his tales of Conan the Barbarian and Kull of Atlantis, mostly in Weird Tales from 1932 and 1929 respectively.
Other books and series that define the genre of sword-and-sorcery include:
- Clark Ashton Smith's Zothique and Hyperborean tales, beginning with "The Empire of the Necromancers" and The Tale of Satampra Zeiros in 1932 and 1931 respectively.
- C. L. Moore's Jirel of Joiry tales, beginning with "Black God's Kiss" (1934), which introduced the first notable sword and sorcery heroine.
- Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser sequence, beginning with "Two Sought Adventure" (1939).
- Michael Moorcock's Elric sequence, beginning with The Dreaming City (published in Science Fantasy 1961), notable for its adherence to counterstereotype.
- Sprague de Camp's Swords and Sorcery the first sword and sorcery anthology, Pyramid Books, December 1963.
- Karl Edward Wagner's Kane novels, beginning with Darkness Weaves (1970), credited with reinvigorating the genre.
- Charles Saunders' Imaro novels, beginning with Imaro (1981), a collection of short stories first published in the seventies for Dark Fantasy fanzine. Notable for being the first notable black sword and sorcery protagonist.
- David Gemmell's Druss stories, especially Legend
Other pulp fantasy fiction—such as Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series and Leigh Brackett's Sea Kings of Mars—have a similar feel to sword and sorcery, but, because alien science replaces the supernatural, it is usually described as planetary romance or sword and planet, and considered to fall more in the area of science fiction. Despite this, planetary romance is closely aligned with sword and sorcery, and the work of Burroughs, Brackett, and others in the former field have been significant in creating and spreading S&S proper. Sword and sorcery itself has often blurred the lines between fantasy and science fiction, drawing elements from both like the "weird fiction" it sprang from.
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