Alyx the Picklock
Stories:
The Two Best Thieves in Lankhmar
Under the Thumbs of the Gods
Alyx the Picklock is a gray-eyed, black-haired freelance female thief who practices her trade in Lankhmar even though it is the Thieves’ Guild policy to kill all female freelancers. Her character only appears briefly in the stories.
Fritz Leiber’s inclusion of the character of Alyx the Picklock in the stories is a nod to the feminist Science Fiction writer, Joanna Russ, and her novel Picnic on Paradise and its main character, Alyx.1
Joanna Russ reciprocates in her story Bluestocking:<sup>2</sup>
Unknown action ""story""“Ah! what a man. A big Northman with hair like yours and a gold-red beard–God, what a beard!–Fafnir–no, Fafh–well, something ridiculous. … And we fought! At a place called the Silver Fish. Overturned tables. What a fuss! And a week later,” (she shrugged ruefully) “gone. There it is. And I can’t even remember his name.”
“Is that sad?” said Edarra.
“I don’t think so,” said Alyx. “After all, I remember his beard,” and she smiled wickedly.Unknown action ""endstory""
1Byfield, Bruce. Witches of the Mind: a Critical Study of Fritz Leiber. Necronomicon Press. 1991.
2Russ, Joanna. “Bluestocking.” The Adventures of Alyx. NY: Pocket Books, 1983. 7-28.
