“Tanith Lee: Princess Royal of Heroic Fantasy” –Village Voice “Tanith Lee truly has become the Scheherazade of our time.” –Arkham House “From the day that her novel The Birthgrave was first published Tanith Lee has been a blazing gem in the crown of fantasy literature… ‘Princess Royal’… perhaps better the Empress of Dreams.” –Donald A. Wollheim Throughout her forty-year career, Tanith Lee proved herself adept at numerous genres, including high fantasy, horror, science fiction, and combinations thereof. One of her specialties was the variety of heroic fantasy known as sword-and-sorcery. Novels such as The Birthgrave, Night’s Master, and The Storm Lord are highly regarded by both fans and critics, but she has a wealth of short stories to her credit as well. Sixteen of Tanith’s tales of swords and sorcery appear in this collection. When you read them, you will discover why she deserves such exalted titles as “Princess Royal of Heroic Fantasy” and The Empress of Dreams. Stories included: “Odds Against the Gods” “Sleeping Tiger” “The Demoness” “The Sombrus Tower” “Winter White” “In the Balance” “Northern Chess” “Southern Lights” “Mirage and Magia” “The Three Brides of Hamid-Dar” “The Pain of Glass” “These Beasts” “Two Lions, a Witch, and the War-Robe” “A Tower of Arkrondurl” “The Woman in Scarlet” “Evillo the Uncunning”
Author
Tanith Lee was a British writer of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. She was the author of 77 novels, 14 collections, and almost 300 short stories. She also wrote four radio plays broadcast by the BBC and two scripts for the UK, science fiction, cult television series "Blake's 7." Before becoming a full time writer, Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant, and a waitress. Her first short story, "Eustace," was published in 1968, and her first novel (for children) The Dragon Hoard was published in 1971. Her career took off in 1975 with the acceptance by Daw Books USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave for publication as a mass-market paperback, and Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing. Lee twice won the World Fantasy Award: once in 1983 for best short fiction for “The Gorgon” and again in 1984 for best short fiction for “Elle Est Trois (La Mort).” She has been a Guest of Honour at numerous science fiction and fantasy conventions including the Boskone XVIII in Boston, USA in 1981, the 1984 World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa, Canada, and Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) held in London, England in March 2008. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master of Horror. Lee was the daughter of two ballroom dancers, Bernard and Hylda Lee. Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of the actor Bernard Lee who played "M" in the James Bond series of films of the 1960s. Tanith Lee married author and artist John Kaiine in 1992.
