‘The Stronger Spell’ – L. Sprague de Camp


‘The Stronger Spell’ was first published in the November 1953 edition of ‘Fantasy Fiction’ and also appeared as part of the ‘Tritonian Ring and Other Pusadian Tales’ collection, also published in 1953 (thanks for the save Wikipedia, appreciate it). I found it in my copy of ‘The Mighty Barbarians’ collection, a book that had been sat on my shelf (without being read) for far too long. Last night, I thought I’d finally do something about that and read something by L. Sprague de Camp that wasn’t a ‘Conan’ book…

After ‘singer of sweet songs’ Suar Peial rescues the druid Gleokh from a murderous affray, the two celebrate the latter's deliverance in a local tavern. Gleokh holds forth on his revolutionary new weapon, an experimental gun, but by the end of the evening, Peial and his friends will learn that even the concept of a gun is dangerous; especially when they are sharing a tavern table with a wizard…

‘Tavern conversation’ isn’t something I normally look for in my fantasy reading but it’s always welcome, when I come across it, and I loved the way that de Camp kicks things off with a good scrap and then a trip to Derende’s Tavern for a bite to eat (bring your own food and they’ll cook it!) and some gossip. It really grounds you in the setting and for the likes of me, it was a really unobtrusive yet immersive way into this world. I could have quite happily sat through a whole story’s worth of this gossip; de Camp’s style is perfect for it. I didn’t really get much of a feel for who Suar Peial was though… Well, other than that he is a man who is just as likely to take care of business as he is a man who will trip over his own feet at exactly the wrong moment. Which now I think about it, is all you really need to know here, I wouldn’t mind seeing Suar Peial in another story and learning a bit more about him.

And I really enjoyed how a ‘sword & sorcery style’ debate on gun ownership (not the debate you think either) inevitably erupts into a full on confrontation, between ‘the Old and the New’ that doesn’t settle the debate one way or the other but is still awesome to watch play out.

And right at the end, Peial and Midawan decide to head out for more food! I love their style and I really enjoyed ‘The Stronger Spell’, a ‘Sword & Sorcery’ tale that doesn’t take itself too seriously and is all the better for it.

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