The Ultimate Fantasy Series Ranking

Author page

Fritz Leiber

3 universes Last reviewed 2026-09-05

Fritz Leiber Jr. (December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction, widely credited with coining the term 'sword and sorcery.' Born in Chicago, Illinois, to stage actor parents, he earned a Ph.B. in psychology and physiology from the University of Chicago in 1932 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He briefly studied for the ministry at the General Theological Seminary before pursuing graduate philosophy studies. Before turning to full-time fiction in 1958, Leiber worked as a staff writer for the Standard American Encyclopedia, a drama instructor at Occidental College, a wartime quality inspector at Douglas Aircraft, and associate editor of Science Digest. He is best known for the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser sword-and-sorcery series, which spanned fifty years beginning in 1939, and for novels including Conjure Wife (1943), The Big Time (1958), The Wanderer (1964), and Our Lady of Darkness (1977). Leiber won the Hugo Award for Best Novel twice, for The Big Time and The Wanderer, and the Hugo for Best Novella for 'Ship of Shadows' and 'Ill Met in Lankhmar.' He also received the World Fantasy Award for Our Lady of Darkness, was named a Gandalf Grand Master in 1975, and became an SFWA Grand Master in 1981. He died in San Francisco in 1992.

Universe(s)

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser

  • Core Canon books: 7
  • Current rank: #480 in the official ranking
  • Weighted average: 3.97
  • Award recognitions: 2 won, 3 nomination

Our Lady of Darkness

  • Core Canon books: 1
  • Current rank: #801 in the official ranking
  • Weighted average: 3.59
  • Award recognitions: 1 won

Conjure Wife

  • Core Canon books: 1
  • Current rank: #687 in the official ranking
  • Weighted average: 3.79
  • Award recognitions: 1 won

Books

Aggregate across all universes

These are separate, unrelated universes; the totals below are plain sums of already-published per-universe facts, never a blended or averaged score across them. See each universe's own figures above.

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