In this last book of their adventures, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser -- sometimes together, sometimes apart -- navigate all manner of strange waters. Fafhrd goes sailing through the clouds, and the Mouser as merchant captain saves his vessel from a watery grave. Finally, in the last story of this magical series, we bid farewell to Lankhmar.
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Amazon Review
Fritz Leiber was a pioneer of sword-and-sorcery adventure, the first writer to handle this sub-genre with the spicy wit of James Branch Cabell's high fantasies. His best-loved creations are mighty Fafhrd and the nimble-witted Gray Mouser, whose seven volumes of flamboyant exploits are repackaged as Ill Met in Lankhmar, Lean Times in Lankhmar, Return to Lankhmar and Farewell to Lankhmar. The latter is a retitling of The Knight and Knave of Swords, Leiber's last full-length book before his death in 1992.
The fabulous duo are now in semi-retirement on northerly Rime Isle, settled down with tough but loving lady comrades and looking back on their lurid years as rogues-for-hire. Discarded mistresses, former wizardly mentors and vengeful gods remember them, though, and the past always catches up. One story, "The Curse of the Smalls and Stars", inflicts strange obsessions upon our heroes, distracting them from the sworn assassins on their trail. The Mouser Goes Below is a short novel where the Mouser literally sinks into solid ground and is magically moved about the world while always imprisoned in earth. Fafhrd organises desperate mining operations as his friend undergoes peculiar underworld torments and titillations, some slightly embarrassing--Leiber's witty handling of sexual naughtiness, seen at its finest in Return to Lankhmar, had begun to fail with illness and age. Nevertheless his prose remained elegant, while neat inventions and unexpected twists still abound. No reader hooked on the earlier volumes will want to miss this one. --David Langford
Book Description
The final book in this definitive swords and sorcery series by the acknowledged master and founding father of the genre.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
As the stories contained within this last book of the tales of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser all revolve around Rime Island, they follow a much more linear and chronological order than the earlier three volumes, and are sequentially tied to the last two stories that concluded the previous "Lean Times in Lankhmar." In some ways more tightly written and plotted than some of the earlier tales, I found "Farewell" a satisfying conclusion to the "twain's" adventures, despite having grown somewhat weary of Leiber's over-worked writing style. While I agree with an earlier commentator that the tales here lack some of the roving action and fanciful--some might say farfetched--episodes contained within earlier tales, I was not entirely disappointed by their absence. Nor did I detect the melancholia noted by another; only a recognition of aging on the part of the heroes that added a new and realistic dimension to their characters--afterall, all good things must come to and end.
I did find the sexual episodes in "The Mouser Goes Below" somewhat off-putting and indulgent, with their soft porn appeal to masochism and sadism, and felt they were largely irrelevant and distracting to the plot. But as the "boys" sexual prowess and escapades have always been indulged within the tales, I imagine they will retain continued appeal for fans of the series, regardless of their juvenile and chauvinistic pandering.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.8 out of 5 stars
4 reviews
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Satisfying Conclusion To The Series
9 Dec 1999
By Elyon
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
As the stories contained within this last book of the tales of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser all revolve around Rime Island, they follow a much more linear and chronological order than the earlier three volumes, and are sequentially tied to the last two stories that concluded the previous "Lean Times in Lankhmar." In some ways more tightly written and plotted than some of the earlier tales, I found "Farewell" a satisfying conclusion to the "twain's" adventures, despite having grown somewhat weary of Leiber's over-worked writing style. While I agree with an earlier commentator that the tales here lack some of the roving action and fanciful--some might say farfetched--episodes contained within earlier tales, I was not entirely disappointed by their absence. Nor did I detect the melancholia noted by another; only a recognition of aging on the part of the heroes that added a new and realistic dimension to their characters--afterall, all good things must come to and end.
I did find the sexual episodes in "The Mouser Goes Below" somewhat off-putting and indulgent, with their soft porn appeal to masochism and sadism, and felt they were largely irrelevant and distracting to the plot. But as the "boys" sexual prowess and escapades have always been indulged within the tales, I imagine they will retain continued appeal for fans of the series, regardless of their juvenile and chauvinistic pandering.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Super Reader
3 Aug 2007
By Blue Tyson
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This is the Knight and Knave of Swords, with a different name. The final adventures of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser are to be found here, rebadged in a different edition. 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.
11 of 18 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Still Alive and Well
30 Mar 2000
By rasputin
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
No one could write 'em like Fritz. He invented the term 'sword and sorcery' to describe these two fine heroes, who have become the archetype and prototype of all sword-slinging heroes. A little frayed and beginning to go gray, our adventurers are lured to cold Rime Isle by the promise of adventure fit for a hero, and women to match. But across their future falls a cold shadow, and even heroes age and die. As an evil villain, I find these books irresistable. The delicious evil girls, tempting and dangerous! Hisvet creeps me out but oh, that Frix! I tried to date her but she turned me down flat. What, you haven't READ this? Don't let your kids read it...bad influence...they might turn out like me.
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Go to Amazon.com to see all 4 reviews
3.8 out of 5 stars
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