THE DEEP ONES: "In the Witch's Tent" by Fritz Leiber

"In the Witch's Tent" by Fritz Leiber

Discussion begins December 1, 2021.

First published in Swords Against Wizardry (1968).



BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?63003

SELECTED PRINT VERSIONS

Lean Times in Lankhmar
Swords' Masters
The First Book of Lankhmar

ONLINE VERSIONS

https://www.baen.com/Chapters/ERBAEN0090/ERBAEN0090___1.htm

ONLINE AUDIO VERSIONS

No online audio versions found to date.

MISCELLANY

https://horrordelve.com/2014/08/02/fritz-leibers-fafhrd-and-the-gray-mouser/
https://www.blackgate.com/?s=leiber
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Leiber
https://tinyurl.com/y3vebo52

I guess this one is only weird by preknowledge; we know from previous stories that magic is real in Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser's world, but the story by itself gives little reason to believe the witch or anyone else possesses actual supernatural powers.

Anyway, I quite enjoyed this slight tale. The combination of humour and dark fantasy works very well.

I don't have my copy in front of me, but suspect this was one of the "linking stories" that Leiber used to add continuity to the various short stories, themselves written separately but compiled into a "novel". The linking stories were written later, as part of the compilation process.

This interlude is enjoyable for its success in linking stories (in this case, setting the stage for later stories) and for the atmosphere it provides. Leiber is very good at imparting a sense of Lankhmar from small references and asides.

Yea, this is a “linking” story first published in Swords against Wizardry.

Reading it has me again looking at getting a F&GM collection. It seems all available versions use internal chronology order rather than publication order, which later I normally prefer. The linking stories may make this series an exception, but at least one LT reviewer felt publication order nevertheless preferable.

(And then there’s the little matter of all the unread fiction I already have littering my shelves, physical and electronic …)

Yes, the "linking story" tactic here is clearly modeled on what DeCamp and Carter did to Conan in the 60s paperback series, but when it's the original author supplying the material, it feels a lot more substantial. At the same time, even though I like some of these "links" as stories in their own right, they never really gave me the illusion that I was reading a novel.

And yet, this story is the first in Swords against Wizardry and Swords' Masters alike. I'm having trouble remembering how the chronologically previous story "Adept's Gambit" ends, but this one implies that it left them in Lankhmar, and the the "link" is to account for their travel from there to Stardock in the subsequent tale.

It is fairly plotless on its own, but the Fafhrd and Mouser characterizations are as strong as ever, and I liked the slapstick.

If F&GM is ever filmed, this story's a perfect ready-made pre-credit sequence!