Notes
Flashing Swords! #4, an anthology of fantasy short fiction edited by Lin Carter.

Volume 4 of the Flashing Swords! fantasy anthology series.

• Of Warriors and Wizards – a foreword by Lin Carter
• The Bagful of Dreams – by Jack Vance
• The Tupilak – by Poul Anderson
• Storm in a Bottle – by John Jakes
• Swords Against the Marluk – by Katherine Kurtz
• The Lands Beyond the World – by Michael Moorcock

In John Jakes' Storm in a Bottle, Brak the Barbarian braves incredible perils and unbelievable hardships when he is enslaved by the mighty tyrant Lord Magnus. Under the domination of this pitiless ruler, Brak is given an almost impossible task: bring rain to the drought-ridden kingdom or wear chains forever. So with only his wits to serve him, Brak singlehandedly confronts the cunning mind of the mad sorcerer Ool – who holds the malevolent powers of nature at his fingertips.

Veteran fantasy author Jack Vance offers The Bagful of Dreams, a delightful tour de force in which nasty Iolo the Magician meets the devilish rogue Cugel the Clever. As the saga begins, Iolo is on his way to the great Exposition of Miracles where he plans to take first prize with his marvelous sack of crystalized dreams. Only Cugel has other plans! Through a clever ruse, he manages to abscond with Iolo's priceless treasures – only to ultimately find the dreams were a lot more like nightmares. . . .

The Tupilak by Poul Anderson is set somewhere in the frigid arctic circle of long ago. Tauno and Eyjan, the offspring of a merman and mortal woman, find danger there when they confront a seemingly indestructible sea-monster summoned up from hide and bone. But who had conjured the demonic beast . . . and more important – for what purpose?

Swords Against the Marluk by Katherine Kurtz is the chilling tale of what happens when wizard fights warlock face to face. Who has the greater powers – the forces of light or the forces of darkness? Only the gods know for sure. . . .

In Michael Moorcock's The Lands Beyond the World you'll meet a pair of lusty barbarians. Elric, a tall, light-haired freebooter, has as his only weapon the mystical broadsword called Stormbringer. Baldhead is a fighter who throws in with Elric in search of adventure. They soon find it when a terrifying ghost rider thunders out of another dimension to challenge their strength and abduct a beautiful princess to his ethereal realm.

Each of these five novellas by a master storyteller raises the Sword-and-Sorcery genre to new heights of breathtaking adventure and imagination.