The Knight and Knave of Swords

For a Lankhmar book, The Knight and Knave of Swords is quite a weighty tome. Fahrd begins by learning to get along without a left hand, a problem yet again caused by those annoying god types. Hanging around leisurely should be peaceful, shouldn't it? Not when they have two women around, and others that would like a little payback coming. This is the weakest of the series. Knight and Knave of Swords : 01 Sea Magic - Fritz Leiber Knight and Knave of Swords : 02 The Mer She - Fritz Leiber Knight and Knave of Swords : 03 The Curse of the Smalls and the Stars - Fritz Leiber Knight and Knave of Swords : 04 The Mouser Goes Below - Fritz Leiber Arrows magical and mundane, with a nasty fish woman on the end of one. 3 out of 5 Stowaway sea demon. 3 out of 5 Archimages decided they need their hero helpers back home, despite a couple of personal Death obstacles. 3.5 out of 5 Godly disagreement, unexpected underneath adventures, a fair bit of girl-on-girl action, and in the case of Sister Pain, running-away-from-girl action. 3.5 out of 5

It's been a long time since I read the first 6 volumes in the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series (about 20 years), and I still can picture the two clearly. The Mouser in particular has always been one of my favorite fictional characters. This book (a collection of three short stories and a novella) is an excellent addition to the series, and describes some of the Twain's adventures while in their more settled later life on Rime Isle. Leiber's writing style is beautiful, poetic and flows elegantly and smoothly. This is fantasy written for, and meant to be appreciated by adults, rather than for the teenage audience much of the more recent fantasy seems to be written for. The only reason this doesn't rate 5 stars is because, while it is far better than most fantasy, there are others that are better (e.g. George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire and Steven Erikson's Malazan series.)

A fitting, if somewhat unexpected end to the adventures of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser. This book lacks a bit of the majestic prose and black comedy that the previous six were known for, but it gives our beloved pair one last great adventure before retiring.If you've read the first six books of the 'Swords' cycle (for lack of a better series title) you will enjoy reading this. In it the two heroes retire to live a happy old age, but find much to their own surprise that their legend will live on . . . In addition the title so perfectly describes the two it is impossible to not have it sitting next to the others on the shelf. I just wish they had included it in the lovely three volume hardcover reprint of the first six books! David