[S&S Lit] Bounders and Rogues

[Spartan]

Hello all,

Having procured a fair amount of the Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories, and Nifft the Lean, what are other tales of S&S rapscallion heroes?  Thieves, con-artists, and the like are particularly dear to my heart, and I'd like to incorporate some of that feel into my upcoming S&S game, if my players are willing... and I'd like all the inspiration I can get. :)

Thanks,
-Mark

[joshua neff]

If you can find a copy of Tanith Lee's Cyrion, grab it. The title character is a mythic rogue/warrior/lover. A great character.

[Ron Edwards]

Hey,

Tanith Lee's Night's Master also features a great range of roguish and villainous characters, as well as the occasional heroic by-his-wits type.

I recommend Jack Vance's first Dying Earth book, The Dying Earth, most highly for sword-and-sorcery purposes. The Eyes of the Overworld, the most famous in the series, is a great book but rather different in tone and theme, and the later books get a little frothy. But the first one, oh my, right on target.

Ummm ... oh yeah! Check out Clark Ashton Smith's books, especially Hyperborea and Xothique. The story I quoted in Sorc&Sword, the one about the 39 girdles, is a master-thief classic.

Best,
Ron

[Jaik]

I'll drop a vote for the Vlad Taltos books by Steven Brust.  They're a slightly different genre (Human mob boss living in an Elven kingdom, told in slightly Noir detective style), but great characters and some really cool Humanity-type decisions.

[Spartan]

Tanith Lee's Night's Master also features a great range of roguish and villainous characters, as well as the occasional heroic by-his-wits type.

I recommend Jack Vance's first Dying Earth book, The Dying Earth, most highly for sword-and-sorcery purposes. The Eyes of the Overworld, the most famous in the series, is a great book but rather different in tone and theme, and the later books get a little frothy. But the first one, oh my, right on target.

Ummm ... oh yeah! Check out Clark Ashton Smith's books, especially Hyperborea and Xothique. The story I quoted in Sorc&Sword, the one about the 39 girdles, is a master-thief classic.

Night's Master, check.  Got it last weekend.  Jack Vance, huh?  OK, I'll add that to the list.  Smith's work is hard to find, but I've got Hyberborea and a few others in a collection of his stories, but I don't have it here to check what's in it... it's got the majority of what was mentioned in the reading list, IIRC.  When I brought my trove to the clerk to pay for the slew of S&S books I've been buying, the guy takes one look at the titles in the pile and says: "Oh, a collector!" ;)  Thanks for the info, all. :)

-Mark

[Sean]

Hi there -

Eyes of the Overworld by vance features Cugel the Clever, the quintessential rogue character (the direct inspiration for the D&D thief and the T&T rogue, also) of fantasy literature. His adventures are continued in Cugel's Saga (also Vance) and Quest for Simbilis by Michael Shea of Nifft the Lean fame (not as good as the others or the good Nifft stuff, but).

If you've got Vance, Leiber, and Shea under your belt, those are IMO canon for the fantasy rogue. I suppose Roger Zelazny's Jack of Shadows, an explicit homage to Vance, is another good choice.