Editing Sword and sorcery (section)

===Development===
The success of Howard's work encouraged other ''Weird Tales'' writers to create similar tales of adventure in imagined lands. [[Clark Ashton Smith]] wrote his tales of the [[Hyperborean cycle]] and [[Zothique]] for ''Weird Tales'' in the 1930s. These stories revolved around the exploits of warriors and sorcerers in lands of the remote past or remote future, and often had downbeat endings.<ref name=SFESandS /><ref name=mth /> [[C. L. Moore]], inspired by Howard, Smith and H. P. Lovecraft, created the ''[[Jirel of Joiry]]'' stories for ''Weird Tales'', which brought in the first sword and sorcery heroine.<ref name=SFESandS /><ref name=js /> Moore's future husband [[Henry Kuttner]] created [[Elak of Atlantis]], a Howard-inspired warrior hero, for ''Weird Tales'' in 1938.<ref name=js /><ref name=mth />

Following a change of ownership in 1940, ''Weird Tales'' ceased to publish sword and sorcery stories.<ref>Weinberg, Robert (1999b) [1977]. "The Stories". In Weinberg, Robert (ed.). The Weird Tales Story. (1999) Berkeley Heights, New Jersey: Wildside Press. (pp. 43) ISBN 1-58715-101-4. </ref> However, the pulp magazine ''[[Unknown (magazine)|Unknown Worlds]]'' continued to publish sword and sorcery fiction by [[Fritz Leiber]] and [[Norvell W. Page]].<ref name=pg /><ref name=js /><ref name="nwp">[[Mike Ashley (writer)|Mike Ashley]], "Page, Norvell W(ooten)", in ''St. James Guide To Fantasy Writers'', ed. [[David Pringle]], St James Press, 1996, {{ISBN|1-55862-205-5}}, (pp. 465–466)</ref> Leiber's stories revolved around a duo of heroes called [[Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser]], and dealt with their adventures in the world of Nehwon ("No-When" backwards). Leiber's stories featured more emphasis on characterisation and humour than previous sword and sorcery fiction, and his characters became popular with ''Unknown's'' readers.<ref> Don D'Ammassa, ''Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Horror Fiction'', Facts on File, New York, 2013 {{ISBN|9781438140636}} (p.112)</ref> Page's sword and sorcery tales centred on [[Prester John]], a Howard-inspired gladiator adventurer, whose exploits took place in Central Asia in the first century CE.<ref name="nwp" />

With the diminution of pulp magazine sales in the late 1940s, the focus of sword and sorcery shifted to small-press books. [[Arkham House]] published collections by Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith and Fritz Leiber that included some of their sword and sorcery work.<ref>Tibbetts, John C. ''The Gothic Imagination : Conversations on Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction in the Media''  Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2011 {{ISBN|9780230118164}}, (p.60)</ref> Writer [[Jack Vance]] published the book ''[[The Dying Earth]]'' in 1950. ''[[The Dying Earth]]'' described the adventures of rogues and wizards on a decadent far-future Earth, where magic had replaced science.<ref name=SFESandS /><ref name=pg />