Robert E. Howard
Sword and sorcery begins with Howard, full stop.
Sword and Sorcery
Muscular, fast-moving tales of barbarians, thieves and wizards, born in the pulps with Conan and Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.
The authors (4)
Fritz Leiber
The bridge between Howard and modern fantasy, the founder of urban supernatural horror, and sword and sorcery's official christener.
Michael Moorcock
Twice a revolutionary: as editor he made the New Wave happen, and as writer he rewired heroic fantasy with Elric, whose shadow falls on every brooding anti-hero with a cursed weapon since.
Andrzej Sapkowski
The most successful fantasy export in any translation since Tolkien's heyday: the Witcher saga brought Slavic folklore and Central European irony into the genre's mainstream and, via its adaptations, reshaped fantasy's global…
Essential books, oldest first (7)
The Phoenix on the Sword
The birth of sword and sorcery as a recognised form.
Worms of the Earth
The dark masterpiece of Howard's canon, fusing sword and sorcery with Machen-style little-people horror; Lovecraft himself praised it warmly.
The Hour of the Dragon
The capstone of the original Conan canon and a template for every usurped-king fantasy since.
Swords and Deviltry
'Ill Met in Lankhmar' won both Hugo and Nebula.
Elric of Melniboné
The cornerstone of the saga that remade sword and sorcery for the New Wave generation; Stormbringer is fantasy's definitive cursed blade, and Elric's brooding lineage runs from Geralt of Rivia to…
The Birthgrave
A Nebula nominee published as a DAW paperback original that proved heroic fantasy could centre a female consciousness; the foremother of the genre's entire dark-heroine lineage.
The Last Wish
The entry point of the saga that became Poland's great fantasy export: source material for CD Projekt Red's genre-defining games and Netflix's series, and the book that put Slavic folklore at…