All-New Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Stories To Be Published in Tales From The Magician’s Skull

All-New Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Stories to be Published in Tales From The Magician’s Skull

We are pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement with the estate of Fritz Leiber to publish new authorized stories of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser! Over the coming years, Tales From The Magician’s Skull will support the city of Lankhmar and its most famous residents with a series of new stories and novellas that faithfully expands upon the legendary tales originally told by Fritz Leiber. Tales From The Magician’s Skull is the pre-eminent publisher of new sword-and-sorcery fiction, and it is only fitting that we remind readers of our connection to the man who first coined that very term. 

“It’s an honor to continue one of the most important legacies of the genre,” said Tales From The Magician’s Skull Editor Howard Andrew Jones. “Few writers have had more of an impact than Fritz Leiber. I am thrilled by the opportunity to help shape new adventures that honor his unique vision.”

The first story in this new series will appear in issue #6 of Tales From The Magician’s Skull. Author Nathan Long has written a new short story starring Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. This entertaining tale finds the twain engaged in somewhat honest employment in the theatre trade, in order to pursue somewhat dishonest aims involving the sorcerer’s guild, with a somewhat incomplete plan that only Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser could devise.

Nathan Long is probably best known as one of the talented writers penning the adventures of Gotrek and Felix, though he holds a wide range of additional credits. He is a champion crafter of heroic fantasy tales, with a sincere love for and deep knowledge of Fritz Leiber’s adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. “More than any other writer, more than Tolkien, more than Howard, more than Moorcock, Fritz Leiber instilled in me my love of fantasy, and sword-and-sorcery in particular,” said Nathan. “His delight in wordplay, whimsy, and wit shape my writing to this day, and I consider him one of the true immortals of the field.  Thus, it was a great and terrifying honor when Howard Andrew Jones and Joseph Goodman asked me to try my hand at a Fafhrd and Gray Mouser pastiche, and I feel presumptuous even to have accepted. I can only hope that my story is received in the spirit it was written, not as an addition to the canon, but as a tribute to it – a love letter to my first and fondest inspiration, Fritz Leiber.”

“This is a terrific opportunity for fans of fantasy fiction in general as well as sword-and-sorcery readers, in particular, to connect with some of the original and best creations in the fantasy genre,” said publisher Joseph Goodman. “Tales From the Magician’s Skull brings readers some of the best fiction being published today. I hope everyone takes the opportunity to read this fantastic story and the ones that will follow.”

Tales From the Magician’s Skull is published by Goodman Games. This new licensed fiction complements Goodman Games’ existing license to publish Lankhmar RPG products. Eventually, the RPG products will also be able to utilize the subject matter provided by the new stories.

Finally, we provide commentary from our dread patron, the Skull himself. “At long last my psychic transmutation spells have influenced my mortal minions,” he intoned with the ragged timbre of a stone sarcophagus lid grating against its base. “The prose of Nathan Long is ideally suited to continue the work of the late master, and woe be unto those who say otherwise! These new tales of Lankhmar bring me closer yet to my great vision. Watch, fools, while my sword-and-sorcery empire waxes, and word of my glories spreads to the furthest corners of your pitiful dimension! I command all mortals to buy issue #6 of my magazine lest I smite your homes and transform your automatic combustion machines into piles of tinted rust!”

Issue #6 of Tales From the Magician’s Skull will be on sale in Summer 2021. For additional information, email skull@goodman-games.com or visit talesfromtheskull.com.


Be sure to check out the gamut of Sword and Sorcery fiction in the pages of Tales From The Magician’s Skull!

Author: pandabrett

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