 cover art from first edition | |
| Author | Fritz Leiber |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Michael Whelan |
| Language | English |
| Series | Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Ace Books |
Publication date | 1977 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 243 |
| ISBN | 0-441-79166-2 |
| Preceded by | The Swords of Lankhmar |
| Followed by | The Knight and Knave of Swords |
Swords and Ice Magic is a fantasy short story collection, first published in 1977, by American writer Fritz Leiber, featuring his sword and sorcery heroes Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. It is chronologically the sixth volume of the complete seven volume edition of the collected stories devoted to the characters. It was first published in paperback format during July 1977 by Ace Books company, which reprinted the title numerous times through 1990; a later paperback edition was issued by Dark Horse (2007). It has been published in the United Kingdom by Mayflower Books and Grafton (1986, 1987). The first hardcover edition was issued by Gregg Press during December 1977. The book has also been gathered together with others in the series into various omnibus editions; Swords' Masters (1990), Return to Lankhmar (1997), and The Second Book of Lankhmar (2001).
The book collects seven short stories and one novella, three of which were published originally in the anthologies Flashing Swords! #1 (1973) and Flashing Swords! #3: Warriors and Wizards (1976), the collections The Book of Fritz Leiber (1974) and The Second Book of Fritz Leiber (1975), and the magazines Fantastic for November 1973 and April 1975, Whispers for December 1973, and Cosmos Science Fiction and Fantasy for May and July 1977. "The Frost Monstreme" and "Rime Isle" have also been published separately as the novel Rime Isle (1977).
While the stories were ostensibly assembled in chronological order by the author, internal evidence indicates that the third, "Trapped in the Shadowland", which is a direct sequel to the preceding volume, The Swords of Lankhmar, should actually have been placed first.