Fritz Leiber, Jr. was born on this day, December 24, in 1910. He was one of the giants of not only sword and sorcery, but science fiction, as well.

His science fiction isn’t as well remembered today as it once was, but his tales of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are still in print and being read today.

In a way, I think that’s a shame. He was such a versatile writer that I would love to see a collected short fiction series of books, much like the Del Rey Rober E. Howard books. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are now iconic characters, and that’s how it should be. But they shouldn’t overshadow Leiber’s other work. He wrote a number of dark fantasy and horror stories that are first rate.

I’ve not had a chance to read something for his birthday, but I’ll try to work something in over the next few weeks.

Still, later tonight, after everyone else has gone to bed and I’ve finished stuffing stockings, I’ll raise a glass in his memory.