Notes
Flashing Swords! #1, an anthology of fantasy short fiction edited by Lin Carter.

Volume 1 of the Flashing Swords! fantasy anthology series.

• Of Swordsmen and Sorcerers – a foreword by Lin Carter
• The Sadness of the Executioner – by Fritz Leiber
• Morreion – by Jack Vance
• The Merman's Children – by Poul Anderson
• The Higher Heresies of Oolimar – by Lin Carter

Publisher's Blurb – Lower Cover
Through the past darkly to the black iron-clad worlds of valour, death and dreams. Here four masters wreak their powerful fantasies . . .

'Let's see, thought Death with a vast coolness that yet had a tiny seething in it, one hundred sixty peasants, two beggars, a whore, a merchant, a priest, an aristocrat, a craftsman, a king, and two heroes. That would keep the record straight!'
THE SADNESS OF THE EXECUTIONER
Fritz Leiber

'As his hand swept the air, it left a trail of sparks. "Magic derives from personal force! My passion alone will defeat the archveults! I glory in the forthcoming confrontation. Ah, but they will regret their deeds!"'
MORREION
Jack Vance

'The houses of Liri rocked as in a quake. The crystal dome on the hall shattered and rained down in a thousand bright shards. The stones trembled and began to slide from each other. That crumbling of what had stood here since the Great Ice melted sent its shuddering through Tauno's flesh.'
THE MERMAN'S CHILDREN
Poul Anderson

'Three goblins were entangled in the webs. They kicked and struggled furiously, spitting like cats, but only managed to become more tightly enmeshed in the sticky green stuff. The six other goblins came flying, howling, at him.'
THE HIGHER HERESIES OF OOLIMAR
Lin Carter