fantasy, it was first necessary to re -invent the universe from scratch
regardless of what had gone before. Despite the carefully Grafted Hyborean
world of Howard or even the delightfully complex town ofLankhmar which Leiber
created, every author was expected to beat his head against the writing table
and devise a world of his own. Imagine, I proposed, if our favourite sword-and
-sorcery characters shared the same settings and time -frames. Imagine the
story potentials. Imagine the tie-ins. What if…
What if Fafhrd and Mouser had just finished a successful heist. With an angry
crowd on their heels, they pull one of their notorious doubleback escapes and
elude the pursuing throng. Now suppose this angry, torch-waving pack runs
headlong into Conan, hot and tired from the trail, his dead horse a day’s walk
behind him. All he wants is a jug of wine and a wench. Instead, he’s confronted
with a lynch mob. What if his saddlebags are full of loot from one of his own
ventures, yet undiscovered?
Or what ifKane and Eiric took jobs marshalling opposite armies in the same war?
Why, I proclaimed, the possibilities are endless. Pouring a little more wine, I
admitted that one of my pet projects under consideration was to do a collection
of fantasy stories featuring not one, but an array of central characters. They
would all share the same terrain and be peripherally aware of each other’s
existence as their paths crossed. The only problem: my writing schedule was
filling up so fast I wasn’t sure when or if I’d ever get a chance to write it.