The future grandmaster of science fiction, Fritz Reuther Leiber Jr., was born into a family of actors - emigrants from Germany, grew up in a theatrical environment, was educated as a psychologist and physiologist, tried on several professions and, to the delight of lovers of high prose, settled on literature, from the very first publications he became a popular writer, and based on the results of his work, one of the brightest stars of the “Golden Age” of science fiction. In addition to “The Saga of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser,” which made him famous as the creator of heroic fantasy, and other well-known major works, he wrote many equally vivid novels and short stories, where irony is sometimes intricately intertwined with horror, the scientific coexists perfectly with the absurd, and sophisticated psychologism does not at all smooth out the rough edges of the plot. Leiber's literary legacy has earned him six Nebula Awards, four Hugo Awards, three World Fantasy Awards, and many other honors. Most of the works included in this collection are published in Russian for the first time or are presented in a new translation.