Review of Gather, Darkness! by Fritz Leiber

That thimbleful of readers of Speculiction know that horror and dark fantasy rarely find a comfortable home here. I’ve railed about the cheapness of a lot of horror before, and I won’t repeat it here. But I keep an eye open whether I am truly missing out on that facet of fiction. That eye mostly on authors, I tend to trust those who have proved they can be relied upon to handle various mediums with a modicum of intelligence—Dan Simmons, Elizabeth Hand, Jeffrey Ford, just to name a few. Fritz Leiber is another, and having been awhile since I had me some Leiber, I dove into Gather, Darkness! (1943).

Gather, Darkness! is the story of revolution in the city of Megatheopolis. Mankind having survived a nuclear holocaust, what remains has reverted to traditional religious and political power structures, using remnants of powerful technology to keep power. In this world lives Armon Jarles, a man who does not know which side or faction to join—and gets tossed around a fair bit by all. With visions of a revolution in mind, he sets about trying to rally the peasantry. While his success is debatable, one thing for sure is that Holy War is on the horizon.

Gather, Darkness! is full of rich, meaty prose. In the hands of other writers, this story might have been mundane, or even cheap. But Leiber imbues atmosphere, gravitas, and dark purpose upon the reader with his use of words. Megatheopolis, for example, is not given superficial detail, but instead a mood of darkness and shadow. It becomes a place in readers’ minds where enigmatic factions rule by authority and fear—the Spanish Inquisition with purple-ray blasters.

While the story of Gather, Darkness! is about a revolution—a singular moment in the setting’s history, it nevertheless has an undercurrent of Daoism, of the cyclical nature of power. At a minimum the content of Gather, Darkness! is a parallel to the power structures certain religious organizations have developed in our real world, and at a maximum is a theme commenting upon the cyclical manner in which religions take root, grow, and whither; the power standing over you today will inevitably look different in 100 years.

I have a short attention span with science fantasy—which Gather, Darkness! largely is. The semi-explicable jammed together with the inexplicable typically makes for a confusing, and as a result, distant experience for me. Naturally, there are exceptions, of which I would make this novel. Leiber’s strong prose and the focus on character and plot movement render the details and devices more a part of the background than elements at ontological war with one another.

Regular readers of Fritz Leiber are aware that the majority of his works are transcendent. Most books and stories could be published in 2021 and no one would be the wiser, such is the quality of his style. Gather, Darkness! is no exception. Despite being a part of sf’s silver age, it would fit in today’s market. Thus, for anyone looking for a bit of warring religious factions in a quasi-futuristic world, check it out.