Swords and Deviltry

I guess some people just don't recognize quality. To see that someone has actually compared the award winning Ill Met in Lankhmar with a thieves world series book ... well, there you go. Great, collossal, archetypal, characters. Dense writing that conveys more in 200 pages than an Eddings or Jordan could do in 1000. A supreme mind (Leiber) writing at the peak of his talents.

Fritz Leiber is the grand master of sword & sorcery (although he also mastered science fiction and did some fine contemporary fantasy as well). Other writers got in a little earlier in the pioneering phase of the genre (Robert Howard with his Kull, Conan, and Solomon Kane series, all fine books) but no one ever mastered the sheer inventiveness of dark fantasy, the wit and humanity of two lovable characters, the deliciously strange-yet-familiar aura of his imaginary world, and the deceptively literate writing style (deceptive because his beautiful writing forms no barrier to whatever pace of reading you set for yourself) as has Leiber. His heroes, unlike others, such as Conan, do not whore themselves out as paid murderers, and they do not steal anything from anybody who really needs what they are stealing -- they exist in an acceptible moral gray-area, if you care about such things. You surely do care about Fafhred and The Gray Mouser, though, because they utterly human while being utterly heroic. If there is any flaw in these tales, it is that the role (or "agency/personhood" if you want the anthropological term) for the females is not strong until the middle and end of this saga (which spans 53 years of off-and-on writing), although even some of the early female characters are powerful in their own way. Leiber wrote these tale across his whole career, spanning ~1939 to 1992 at his death, and this saga series in a sense reflects the changing ideologies of American culture during this time. Leiber did remain a liberal humanist, though, and the artistic core of all his writing reflects a a way of thinking that still seems fresh today (and for me, after several readings). He was my writing mentor though he did not know it, as he must have been for three generations of fantasy writers. If you have not read Leiber, I envy you! Because I can only re-read him, now. He is in and out of print,lately. I am glad to see some publishers trying to keep him alive, though the quality of the actual books is sometimes disappointing. I do miss the old Jeff Jones covers! -- wt

Leiber is a true master of sword and sorcery, and is probably the third most important author, just behind Tolkien and Howard, in creating the genre of fantasy as we know it today. Leiber penned this novel before fantasy became a regurgitory practice producing an infinite number of Tolkien and Howard clones. Though he may not have shaped the genre as much as the other mentioned artists, he has probably contributed more to the building of it than any other author besides those two. Sure there were authors before these three, but they mostly influenced Tolkien and Lewis and little else in the genre. It was Tolkien, Howard, and Leiber who spawned Dungeons and Dragons, the surge of fantasy trilogies, and the emergence of abundant fantasy art. Though it's evident Leiber was heavily influenced by Howard, his own light shines through with an unbridled energy. The story is written artistically, with excellent description and style, and his main characters are thoroughly realized. Unlike Tolkien and Howard, Leiber seems to change his writing style for every Fafhrd and Grey Mouser story. The early, passionate, raw style in this offering might just be my favorite. It's important to remember that at the time of this writing, Leiber had little to base his muse of fantasy on except Tolkien and Howard. Fantasy authors of today have alot more material from which to draw inspiration, and yet most aren't able to pen a work as fascinating, original, and as fully realized as Leiber's Lankhmar series. Here you will find the history of Fafhrd and the grey Mouser, their fortuitous meeting, the embarkment on adventures across the face of Nehwon. This is electric writing that flies from the page into your dreaming mind. J. Lyon Layden The Other Side of Yore

Poor Fritz Leiber. He has never truly received the credit he deserves for fostering the fantasy genre. Along with the old Conan stories and Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, this is amongst the most influential works of fantasy fiction.Fascinating worldbuilding, intrigue and exciting characters abound in these tales, all told with Leiber's exceptional artistic skills. Not only are the plots and personalities compelling, but Leiber has a magical rhythm to his storytelling and descriptions. This is one of the few stories that is on my "reread" list.Pick this up and you'll love the stories--and when you look at the copyright date of these tales, you'll come to appreciate just how much Leiber has affected the fantasy authors that have come since.

This is the first of the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser books. It includes the origin story for each hero, as well as _Ill Met in Lanhkmar_, a classic novella that no true fantasy fan can afford to miss. It is truly exceptional.Leiber can write circles around most fantasy writers, just as the Mouser's trusty blades Scalpel and Cat's Claw forever carve deadly arcs of steel lightning around so many hapless foes . . . Welcome to friendship, adventure and dialogue of the first water--welcome to Newhon!(Note: This one is followed by Swords Against Death & Swords in the Mist. All 3 are available in a book-club edition called The Three of Swords, which is a great intro to Leiber's fantasy world and to "low" fantasy in general.)