The Swords of Lankhmar (The swords series) [Paperback]

The Swords of Lankhmar is the fifth book in Fritz Leiber's collection of tales revolving around the barbarian Fafhrd and the diminutive rogue the Gray Mouser. Clearly two of Mr. Leiber's most famous creations, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser belong to the genre of swords and sorcery; the setting is a fantasy where men of swift blades and loose morals do battle against impossible foes for their own personal aggrandizement. This is not the realm of Tolkien. Not only is Leiber's world of Nehwon lacking in the usual elves and hobbits of Middle Earth and its many imitators, but also missing is the clear delineation between good and evil. The primary conflict is between the sadistic and decadent rulers of Lankhmar, the most famous city of Nehwon, and an army of miniature invaders. Neither side enjoys anything like moral superiority over the other. The reader certainly isn't encouraged to root much for one side over the other. While our sympathies might naturally lean towards the status quo which clearly benefits humanity, the picture painted of a city ruled by the invaders is too intriguing to simply dismiss.

So our sympathies naturally incline to our heroes, and what a pair they are. The first chapter of the book is about the best introduction to these characters you can probably find, as they return to their sometime home base of Lankhmar after a lengthy, and not entirely voluntary, absence. Their welcome back to the city is both comic and brutal; this is the stuff of Dumas' musketeer stories without the brooding angst. Death and comedy walk hand-in-hand through Leiber's stories, and the delicate balance he maintains between the two, especially in this longer tale, is a great example of his proficiency as a storyteller.

Unlike most of the previous books chronicling the adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Swords of Lankhmar is a single story, a novel-length adventure over 300 pages long in my 1982 edition. All of the others books, except Swords and Ice Magic (also published as Rhime Isle), are collections of short stories and novelettes. Mr. Leiber is, of course, no stranger to the longer format, and Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser make the leap to novel-length adventures without missing a step. In this writer's estimation, Swords of Lankhmar is the best of their stories. If you read nothing else by Fritz Leiber, you should read this one.

Fritz Leiber was one of the greatest fantasists that ever lived and a writer of incredible imagination and style. His sword and sorcery tales of the lovable pair of rogues Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are among the finest in the genre (the finest, in my opinion). And they are definitely the wittiest and most sophisticated. He drew inspiration from his theatrical background to create compelling scenes and dialogue and his heroes are both fanciful and believably human at the same time.

The Swords of Lankhmar is the only full-length novel of the two adventurers. This is also probably the most erotic tale, full of kinky scenes, constant suggestiveness and delightful teasing, especially between the Mouser and Hisvet (and her servant Frix). As all the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser tales, it is a joy to read, full of adventure, intrigue, witty banter, satire and mystery.

I've read all of these tales more than once and will do so again. I deeply envy someone who is coming to them for the first time.

I never get tired of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser -- I adore those two rogues! In The Swords of Lankhmar (a full novel rather than the usual story collection), the boys have been hired as guards for a fleet of grain shipments because several ships have recently disappeared. Aboard the ship they meet a couple of enchanting women who are escorting a troupe of performing rats across the sea. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser soon discover that these are not ordinary women, and those are not ordinary rats.

Back in Lankhmar they find that the city is dealing with rats, too. The rodents have become belligerent and troublesome. The Mouser begins to suspect that there might be a connection between those two ladies and Lankhmar's troubles. With the help of his magical patron, the Mouser goes underground to spy on the rat army.

The Swords of Lankhmar is an expansion of Leiber's novella Scylla's Daughter (1961, Fantastic Stories of Imagination) which was nominated for a Hugo Award. The Swords of Lankhmar has everything fans have learned to expect from one of Fritz Leiber's LANKHMAR series. It's strange, creative, fast-paced, and fun. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are a couple of the best characters in all of fantasy fiction -- if you haven't read any of their adventures, you're really missing out.

Let me again recommend the audio version of this series which has been produced by Audible Frontiers -- Jonathan Davis's performance is so entertaining!