L. Sprague de Camp (1907–2000)
Author of Conan the Conqueror
About the Author
L. Sprague de Camp, winner of the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, was fluent in several languages and traveled the world. He was chased by a hippopotamus in Uganda and sea lions in the Galapagos Islands. He saw tigers and rhinoceroses from elephantback in India, and he was bitten by a show more lizard in the jungles of Guatemala. His fascinating autobiography. Time and Chance, won the 1997 Hugo Award for best nonfiction. L. Sprague de Camp passed away in May 2000 show less
Disambiguation Notice:
There is only one L. Sprague de Camp. Do not split this author.
(ger) Es gibt nur einen L. Sprague de Camp. Bitte den Autor nicht teilen.
Series
Works by L. Sprague de Camp
The Purple Pterodactyls: The Adventures of W. Wilson Newbury, Ensorcelled Financier (Ace Science Fiction) (1979) 142 copies, 2 reviews
Great Cities of the Ancient World: From Thebes to Constantinople With 150 Photographs, Drawings and Maps (1972) 125 copies, 2 reviews
Energy and power: How man uses animals, wind, water, heat, electricity, chemistry, and atoms to help him in his daily… (1962) 49 copies
Wheels 33 copies
Man and power;: The story of power from the pyramids to the atomic age (A Deluxe golden book) (1961) 12 copies
The Bloodstained God 5 copies
The Command 3 copies
The Guided Man 3 copies
The Stolen Dormouse 3 copies
The eye of Tandyla 3 copies
Employment 3 copies
The Merman 2 copies
Language for Time Travelers 2 copies
The Space Clause 2 copies
The Galton Whistle 2 copies
Summer Wear 2 copies
Living Fossil 2 copies
The Hardwood Pile 2 copies
The Inspector's Teeth 2 copies
The Warrior Race [short fiction] 2 copies
Dinozaurų medžiotojai 2 copies
LA RAGAZZA GUERRIERA 2 copies
The Incorrigible [short story] 2 copies
Worlds of Fantasy 1 copy
The Roaring Trumpet 1 copy
Man and Power 1 copy
Ace Conan 13-18 (Conan the Swordsman, Conan the Liberator, Sword of Skelos, Road of Kings, Rebel, Conan and the Spider… (1987) 1 copy
Spell of Seven 1 copy
Fantastic Swordsmen 1 copy
Energy and Power 1 copy
Dimensioni vietate 1 copy
De Camp, L. Sprague 1 copy
Shadows in the Skull 1 copy
Juice 1 copy
Ananias 1 copy
The Animal Cracker Plot 1 copy
The Witch of the Mists 1 copy
Black Sphinx of Nebthu 1 copy
Red Moon of Zembabwei 1 copy
The Hungry Hercynian 1 copy
The Stronger Spell 1 copy
Algy 1 copy
Heretic in a Balloon 1 copy
The Enchanted Bunny 1 copy
Dragon Hunt 1 copy
The Blunderer 1 copy
Lament By A Maker 1 copy
The Scientist 1 copy
King Conan 1 copy
Wide-open planet 1 copy
The Weird Ones 1 copy
THE SPELL OF 1 copy
Associated Works
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Tenth Annual Collection (1993) — Contributor — 437 copies, 5 reviews
Isaac Asimov's Magical Worlds of Fantasy, Volume 1: Wizards (1983) — Contributor — 240 copies, 1 review
Isaac Asimov's Magical Worlds of Fantasy, Volume 3: Cosmic Knights (1954) — Contributor — 130 copies, 3 reviews
Analog Anthology #1: Fifty Years of the Best Science Fiction From Analog (1980) — Contributor — 109 copies, 1 review
Alternate Americas (What Might Have Been, Vol. 4) (1992) — Contributor, some editions — 99 copies, 1 review
Rivals of Weird Tales: 30 Great Fantasy & Horror Stories from the Weird Fiction Pulps (1990) — Contributor — 95 copies, 1 review
Isaac Asimov's Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction, Volume 2: The Science Fictional Olympics (1984) — Contributor — 92 copies, 1 review
The World That Couldn't Be and 8 Other Novelets From "Galaxy" (1959) — Contributor — 83 copies, 5 reviews
Isaac Asimov's Magical Worlds of Fantasy, Volume 9: Atlantis (1988) — Contributor — 79 copies, 1 review
The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: A Special 25th Anniversary Anthology (1974) — Contributor — 76 copies, 2 reviews
Isaac Asimov's Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction, Volume 6: Neanderthals (1987) — Contributor — 67 copies, 1 review
In Lands That Never Were: Tales of Swords and Sorcery from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (2004) — Contributor — 33 copies
Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact: Vol. XC, No. 1 (September 1972) (1972) — Contributor — 25 copies
The Collected Classical Stories and Classic Who Dunnits/boxed Set (2 volume set) (1996) — Contributor — 24 copies
The Best of Astounding: Classic Short Novels from the Golden Age of Science Fiction (1992) — Contributor — 22 copies
Analog Science Fiction and Fact: Vol. CXIII, No. 5 (April 1993) (1993) — Contributor — 21 copies, 1 review
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction July 1970, Vol. 39, No. 1 (1970) — Contributor — 18 copies
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction June 1976, Vol. 50, No. 6 (1976) — Contributor — 16 copies
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction May 1978, Vol. 54, No. 5 (1978) — Contributor — 15 copies
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction October 1967, Vol. 33, No. 4 (1967) — Contributor — 13 copies
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction November 1973, Vol. 45, No. 5 (1973) — some editions — 12 copies
Androids, Time Machines and Blue Giraffes: A Panorama of Science Fiction (1973) — Contributor — 11 copies
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction October 1957, Vol. 13, No. 4 (1957) — Contributor — 8 copies
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction January 1963, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1963) — Contributor — 7 copies
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction Winter-Spring 1950, Vol. 1, No. 2 (1950) — Contributor — 7 copies
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction January 1955, Vol. 8, No. 1 (1955) — Contributor — 6 copies
Fantasy Fiction Magazine, June 1953 (Vol. 1, No. 2) — Contributor — 2 copies
Cricket Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 11, July 1975 — Contributor — 2 copies
Future Science Fiction No. 31 — Contributor — 2 copies
Cerberus: A Magazine of SF Writings, Vol.1 No.1 (Fall 1977) — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- De Camp, Lyon Sprague
- Other names
- Lyom, Lyman R.
de Camp, Lyon Sprague (birth name) - Birthdate
- 1907-11-27
- Date of death
- 2000-11-06
- Burial location
- Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, USA
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- New York, New York, USA
- Place of death
- Plano, Texas, USA
- Places of residence
- Plano, Texas, USA
- Education
- California Institute of Technology (BS|Aeronautical Engineering|1930)
Stevens Institute of Technology (MS|Engineering|1933) - Occupations
- writer
aeronautical engineer - Relationships
- Sprague, Charles E. (grandfather)
De Camp, Catherine Crook (spouse) - Organizations
- Trap Door Spiders
Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA)
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America - Awards and honors
- World Science Fiction Convention Guest of Honor (1966)
SFWA Grand Master (1978)
Gandalf Grand Master (1976)
Sidewise Award, Lifetime Achievement (1995)
SFRA Pilgrim Award (1998) - Disambiguation notice
- There is only one L. Sprague de Camp. Do not split this author.
Members
Discussions
Conan! in The Weird Tradition (August 12)
Reviews
The Pixilated Peeress by L. Sprague De Camp
Sergeant Thorolf comes across Countess Yvette of Grintz naked and fleeing Duke Gondomar who wants to force her into marriage to get her kingdom. He takes her to a wizard to temporarily change her appearance so she she can hide while trying to raise a defensive force. The spell works but when the Countess gets drunk the spell changes her into an octopus instead of a different woman. Thus begins a tale of spell reversals, mind enslavement, dragon and troll fighting, numerous battles, and attempted wizard deaths. The style is similar to that of the Princess Bride, a little over the top.… (more)
"The People of the Black Circle" - B (Good). Conan kidnaps a princess, then rescues her from wizards. The rescuing portion of the story is great guy-with-a-sword-versus-wizards stuff. But the rest (three quarters of the novella) gets tedious.
"The Slithering Shadow" - A (Great). Conan and a girl find a strange, palatial city in the desert. Very spooky, loads of atmosphere. Bloody violence and an unknowable terror.
"Drums of Tombalku" - D (Bad). A friend of Conan escapes a city menaced by a demon, then gets involved in African politics. This was secretly written by L. Sprague de Camp, not Robert Howard. It's aimless, and extremely racist.
"The Pool of the Black One" - B (Good). Conan joins a pirate crew that journeys to a mysterious island. Short and to the point - action, adventure, and weird magic.
[Average: 3.25/5. Average weighing the novella as 3 short stories: 3.33/5]… (more)
"The Slithering Shadow" - A (Great). Conan and a girl find a strange, palatial city in the desert. Very spooky, loads of atmosphere. Bloody violence and an unknowable terror.
"Drums of Tombalku" - D (Bad). A friend of Conan escapes a city menaced by a demon, then gets involved in African politics. This was secretly written by L. Sprague de Camp, not Robert Howard. It's aimless, and extremely racist.
"The Pool of the Black One" - B (Good). Conan joins a pirate crew that journeys to a mysterious island. Short and to the point - action, adventure, and weird magic.
[Average: 3.25/5. Average weighing the novella as 3 short stories: 3.33/5]… (more)
The spine broke but the stories are short and typical Conan.
The first novel is the strongest of the three, more focused on Shea and his discovery of his magical ability. Definitely a strong influence on the D&D magic system.
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 300
- Also by
- 169
- Members
- 25,646
- Popularity
- #814
- Rating
- 3.6
- Reviews
- 307
- ISBNs
- 762
- Languages
- 20
- Favorited
- 23
