Book #20

Swords and Deviltry

Fritz Leiber

I feel like I should be able to say...This is the first book of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, and that should be enough, but these books are no where near as popular as they should be.  I discovered them many years ago, while looking at a list of the books that inspired Gary Gygax to invent Dungeon and Dragons.

Now, having said that, obviously, these are fantasy books, but to my mind they are more than just fantasy books, for they are the collection of the stories of the two greatest heroes of fiction.  Now, understand that there may be greater heroes, but in my opinion, Fafhrd and the the Grey Mouser can match up against any PAIR of heroes anywhere.  Single heroes need not apply.  Heroes with sidekicks need not apply. 

Fafhrd is a giant barbarian, depending on the story, anywhere from 6'6" to 7" tall and wielding a heavy broadsword, which he calls Greywand, like a rapier.

Grey Mouser is a tiny urbanite, again, depending on the story, anywhere from 5' to 5'6" tall and wielding a rapier and dagger, which he calls Scalpel and Cat's Claw.

The first volume includes three stories, one about how Fafhrd came to leave his barbarian tribe from the Cold Waste, one about how a wizard's apprentice called Mouse proved that he was more Mouser than Mouse, and the third where the two meet, and have an adventure that causes them to lose their loves and avenge their deaths.

This is not High Fantasy.  These heroes do not save the world, nor fight immense powerful evils...okay, well they do fight some very powerful things, but not to save the world.  These stories are a more approachable fantasy.  The heroes are seeking their fortunes, but mostly they are seeking forgetfulness. 

This first volume may be the weakest of the lot.  The later volumes are just stories, places where the heroes run into strange things, seek great treasures, and generally have exciting adventures.  Ill Met in Lankhmar is the story where they meet and it is a good one, but both of the earlier stories seem a bit forced, as if the writer needed to explain how these two men came to the city of Lankhmar, and was not as worried about creating a great story.  The two stories are good, but not as good as some in the later volumes. 

It is still a great read, and all the books are available on Amazon.