Fritz Leiber

Fritz Leiber, best known for his heroic fantasy work, also delved into an exciting range of science fiction that reflected his various enthusiasms: cats, chess, and the theater.

Leiber became interested in writing through correspondence with a college friend, with whom he collaborated in the creation of the heroic fantasy duo Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser. The adventures of this pair became central to Leiber's career, comprising a lengthy series that includes The Swords of Lankhmar (1970), one of the greatest modern heroic fantasy novels ever written.

Leiber's first important work of science fiction was Gather, Darkness! (1950). His subsequent science fiction novels, The Big Time (1961) and The Wanderer (1964), each won a Hugo award. While refusing to create an easily recognizable template for his subsequent science fiction may have cost Leiber some popularity, he was the only writer of his generation to still be producing his best work in the genre through the late 1970s.