Espadas contra la muerte

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser #2

by Fritz Leiber, Jesús Gómez (Translator), Enrique Corominas (Illustrator)

Quiso la fatalidad que Fafhrd, un corpulento bárbaro norteño, y el habilidoso Ratonero Gris (que aún no era el Ratonero, sino un mero Ratón) coincidieran en las calles de la decadente y seductora Lankhmar. Sellaron su amistad en las tabernas, y la búsqueda de nuevos horizontes los hermanó en peripecias sin cuento. Se toparon con los adversarios más temibles, las muchachas más deliciosas y los hechiceros más diabólicos, así como con bestias sobrenaturales y auténticos demonios. Juntos recorrieron las tierras maravillosas de Nehwon y cometieron mil fechorías a ambos lados de los muros de Lankhmar, pero nunca, nunca, nunca trabajaron como mercenarios.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Sword and Sorcery, Short Stories, Adventure, Science Fiction Fantasy, Audiobook

304 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1970

About the author

Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. was one of the more interesting of the young writers who came into HP Lovecraft's orbit, and some of his best early short fiction is horror rather than sf or fantasy. He found his mature voice early in the first of the sword-and-sorcery adventures featuring the large sensitive barbarian Fafhrd and the small street-smart-ish Gray Mouser; he returned to this series at various points in his career, using it sometimes for farce and sometimes for gloomy mood pieces--The Swords of Lankhmar is perhaps the best single volume of their adventures. Leiber's science fiction includes the planet-smashing The Wanderer in which a large cast mostly survive flood, fire, and the sexual attentions of feline aliens, and the satirical A Spectre is Haunting Texas in which a gangling, exo-skeleton-clad actor from the Moon leads a revolution and finds his true love. Leiber's late short fiction, and the fine horror novel Our Lady of Darkness, combine autobiographical issues like his struggle with depression and alcoholism with meditations on the emotional content of the fantastic genres. Leiber's capacity for endless self-reinvention and productive self-examination kept him, until his death, one of the most modern of his sf generation.

Used These Alternate Names: Maurice Breçon, Fric Lajber, Fritz Leiber, Jr., Fritz R. Leiber, Fritz Leiber Jun., Фриц Лейбер, F. Lieber, フリッツ・ライバー

Reviews

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This hardcover is numbered 40 of 300 produced and is signed by:

Fritz Leiber (Facsimile)
Steve Rasnic Tem (Introduction)
Dominick Saponaro (Artist)

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this collection, our two rogues journey from Lankhmar, seeking to avoid this city which holds painful memories of the deaths of their two beloved "girls," and are led instead to encounter death in two other forms ("The Bleak Shore," "The Price of Pain-Ease") before finally banishing the ghosts of their loves.

There are many entertaining individual tales here, my favorite being the two stories about towers ("The Jewels of the Forest" and "The Howling Tower"), and Leiber's affectionate--although not slavish-tribute to the Cthulhu mythos of his mentor Lovecraft in "The Sunken Land."

[Krell75 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seconda raccolta di racconti del ciclo di Fafhrd e del Gray Mouser che segue l' ordine cronologico delle loro storie e non di pubblicazione. Vorrei celebrare questa raccolta con una piena sufficienza ma aimé non posso.

Strano a dirsi quando sotto i riflettori è posto uno scrittore che ha significato tanto nel genere fantasy con i suoi racconti scanzonati di sword & sorcery. Gran parte dei racconti cedono alla superficialità, non tanto per le idee, quanto per la struttura narrativa che giudicherei affrettata e banale, adatta ad un lettore poco incline ad approfondimenti psicologici e caratteriali dei personaggi o ad una elaborata descrizione dell' ambientazione. Troppe volte le avventure vengono risolte con soluzioni da prestigiatori con l'asso nella manica.
Il Gray Mouser sembra l' unica persona intelligente del continente e il barbaro Fafhrd l' unico impavido, non troppo sveglio, entrambi capaci di donare morte a chiunque senza tanti rimorsi. La fortuna li accompagna sempre.
Da un classico mi aspettavo di più, ma andava affrontato. Per giudicare i nuovi bisogna conoscere i vecchi.

Questi sono i racconti:

- La Maledizione Ciclica:
Un brevissimo excursus sulla vita del duo dopo i fatti di Lankhmar narrati nella prima raccolta. Il loro girovagare in lungo e in largo per dimenticare la perdita subita. Senza voto, sembra un prologo...

- Le Gemme nella Foresta ⭐⭐⭐
Una caccia al tesoro in una torre che riserva brutte sorprese. Carina l' idea.

- La Casa dei Ladri ⭐⭐⭐
Il ritrovamento di un teschio comporterà problemi con la famigerata Gilda dei Ladri, già nemica del duo. Spiriti antichi attendono nei sotterranei.

- L' approdo desolato: ⭐⭐
Una maledizione spinge il duo in un' avventura che non ha alcun senso e presenta lo stregone meno intelligente della letteratura fantasy.

- La torre che ululava: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Le colpe chiamano vendetta e le ombre richiedono sangue.

- La terra sprofondata: ⭐⭐⭐
Avventura sulle onde del mare, tra nordici barbari e la perduta Simorgya.

- I sette sacerdoti neri: ⭐⭐
Un grosso diamante, il sangue della terra e sette poveri sacerdoti dalla vita breve. Chi si frappone perde la testa.

- Artigli nella notte: ⭐⭐⭐
Neri uccelli si sostituiscono ai ladri. In città le nobildonne devono temere. Idea più complessa del solito ma si perde nella fretta.

- Il prezzo del sollievo: ⭐⭐
I fantasmi del passato tormentano il presente. Una ricerca li aiuterà a dimenticare. Solito svolgimento frettoloso con trovate bizzarre.

- Il bazar del bizzarro: ⭐⭐
Semplicemente imbarazzante

---------------------------------
Second collection of stories from the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser cycle that follows the chronological order of their stories and not of publication. I would like to celebrate this collection with complete sufficiency but alas I cannot.

Strange to say when the spotlight is placed on a writer who has meant so much in the fantasy genre with his light-hearted tales of sword & sorcery.
Most of the stories give way to superficiality, not so much for the ideas, but for the narrative structure which I would consider rushed and banal, suitable for a reader not inclined to in-depth psychological and character studies of the characters or to an elaborate description of the setting. Too many times adventures are resolved with solutions from magicians with an ace up their sleeve.
The Gray Mouser seems to be the only intelligent person on the continent and the barbarian Fafhrd the only fearless, not too smart, both capable of giving death to anyone without much remorse. Luck always accompanies them.
I expected more from a classic, but it had to be addressed. To judge the new you need to know the old.

These are the stories:

- The Cyclic Curse:
A very brief excursus on the life of the duo after the events of Lankhmar narrated in the first collection. Their wandering far and wide to forget the loss they suffered. Without a vote, it seems like a prologue...

- Gems in the Forest ⭐⭐⭐
A treasure hunt in a tower that holds nasty surprises. Nice idea.

- The House of Thieves ⭐⭐⭐
The discovery of a skull will lead to problems with the infamous Thieves' Guild, already an enemy of the duo. Ancient spirits await in the dungeons.

- The desolate landing place: ⭐⭐
A curse pushes the duo into an adventure that makes no sense and features the least intelligent sorcerer in fantasy literature.

- The Howling Tower: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Sins call for revenge and shadows call for blood.

- The sunken earth: ⭐⭐⭐
Adventure on the waves of the sea, between barbarian Nords and the lost Simorgya.

- The seven black priests: ⭐⭐
A large diamond, the blood of the earth and seven poor short-lived priests. Whoever gets in the way loses his head.

- Claws in the night: ⭐⭐⭐
Black birds replace thieves. In the city the noblewomen must fear. More complex idea than usual but gets lost in the rush.

- The price of relief: ⭐⭐
Ghosts of the past haunt the present. A search will help them forget. Usual hasty development with bizarre ideas.

- The bazaar of the bizarre: ⭐⭐
...embarrassing

[Lizz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t write reviews.

Another set of rollicking adventures with Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. This collection includes one of my favourite scenes where the duo are ensorceled by a stranger in a tavern via the words “the bleak shore” and are thus compelled to travel to this mysterious place. One tale tells of birds attacking and robbing noble women, who take to wearing silver wrought cages around their heads. In another, the companions are hassled by a priesthood who worship the earth which is struggling to birth itself from living rock and wipe out all of humanity. Good fun.

[S.E. Lindberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leiber’s Mouser and Fafhrd are the Scooby and Shaggy Of Sword and Sorcery

Atmosphere and Style: Fafhrd and Mouser are two rogues who are braver and smarter than Scooby and Shaggy, but form as legendary a duo in many ways. The pair were chronicled over ~5 decades by the man who termed the genre “Sword & Sorcery” (Fritz Leiber) in separate short stories (covering ~40 stories, published over 1939 to 1991). Their adventures in the City of Lankhmar and World of Nehwon were captured in seven books. Scooby Doo Where Are You? was a Hanna-Barbera production, broadcast from 1969 to 1978 (notably the same time many of Leiber’s work was compiled into novels.)

Scooby Doo (and its reboots) were known for juxtaposing scary atmospheres with acceptable silliness…in episodic form. This is exactly what Swords against Death delivers, and presumably represents the other Fafred and Mouser novels. A possible exception is the chapter “Ill met in Lankhmar” (the last story in Vol-1 “Swords and Deviltry” in which the scary-silly style is presented, but the outcome more dire than anything in this second volume.)

Fafhrd and the Mouser float from one independent adventure to the next. Each chapter is an enjoyable episode, but there is an apparent lack of an overarching conflict for the duo. Ostensibly the chapters are linear in chronology, but they really seemed stand alone and could be read in any order. From the opening (and the end of the first Volume Swords and Deviltry) I expected the pair to be haunted by their past loves, but these haunts were only addressed in only one chapter later.

Varied perspectives and controlled revelations keep each narrative fresh. The stories are indeed fortified with literate prose and abundant vocabulary, but just when you think Leiber may take his milieu too seriously, you will be treated to a ludicrous robbery by fishing pole, a grand displacement/theft of a house, an assault from giant snowballs, or a hunt from bad guys skiing in an apparent satire to a Bond film. But, the silliness does not detract from enjoyable adventure. Just like the original Scooby Doo cartoon.

Emotive Oil Painting: Oil paintings will forever inspire emotion of fantasy media. For Scooby Doo, background stylist Walt Peregoy created some truly scary paintings worthy as any cover art. During the same years, Jeff Jones illustrated the first five of the ~1970's editions for Fritz Leiber (Michael Whelan did the sixth). Check out the series:

1970; 1970; 1968; 1968; 1968;1977; 1988

[J.G. Keely · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was much better than I was expecting. I enjoy a good pulp now and again, but this nearly reached the mirth and derring-do of Dumas' Musketeers. Many of these stories were written before those of the first collection. They were short magazine submissions, and it was only later that Leiber thought to write introductory stories.

Being written in the early part of Leiber's career at different times and places, the stories show a great deal of pleasing variance. Each short tale presents its own setting, its own locations, and its own feel. They are all loosely connected into a grander arc, and the reader is invited to draw connections and conclusions about the interstitial parts, evoking real historical accounts.

It's not difficult to see how, writing these stories without a clear path, at many times throughout his life, we get a grander scope of his world, from vibrant, rough stories to more complex, idea-driven ones. This somewhat piecemeal approach is engaging and unpredictable, especially in comparison to Leiber's later work on the series, which is unfortunately repetitive and narrow in scope.

There are a few sections which grow a bit silly and stilted, but it is altogether quick and enjoyable, with the vivacity, wit, and creativity to keep the reader occasionally surprised and often amused.

My Fantasy Book Suggestions

[Adam McPhee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really the perfect setup. Small guy who wishes he was big, big guy who wishes he was small. Both of em just want wine, women, and adventure, not necessarily in that order.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

"So you think a man can cheat death and outwit doom?" said the small, pale man, whose bulging forehead was shadowed by a black cowl.

The Gray Mouser, holding the dice box ready for a throw, paused and quickly looked sideways at the questioner.

"I said that a cunning man can cheat death for a long time."

The Silver Eel bustled with pleasantly raucous excitement. Fighting men predominated and the clank of swordmen's harnesses mingled with the thump of tankards, providing a deep obbligato to the shrill laughter of the women. Swaggering guardsmen elbowed the insolent bravos of the young lords. Grinning slaves bearing open wine-jars dodged nimbly between. In one corner a slave girl was dancing, the jingle of her silver anklet bells inaudible in the din. Outside the small, tight-shuttered windows a dry. whistling wind from the south filled the air with dust that eddied between the cobblestones and hazed the stars. But here all was jovial confusion.

The Gray Mouser was one of a dozen at the gaming table. He was dressed all in gray-jerkin, silken shirt, and mouseskin cap-but his dark, flashing eyes and cryptic smile made him seen more alive than any of the others, save for the huge copper-haired barbarian next to him, who laughed immoderately and drank tankards of the sour wine of Lankhmar as if it were beer.

"They say you're a skilled swordsman and have come close to death many times," continued the small pale man in the black robe, his thin lips barely parting as he spoke the words.

But the Mouser had made his throw, and the odd dice of Lankhmar had stopped with the matching symbols of the eel and serpent uppermost, and he was raking in triangular golden coins. The barbarian answered for him.

"Yes, the gray one handles a sword daintily enough-almost as well as myself. He's also a great cheat at dice."

"Are you, then, Fafhrd?" asked the other. "And do you, too, truly think a man can cheat death, be he ever so cunning a cheat at dice?"

The barbarian showed his white teeth in a grin and peered puzzledly at the small, pale man whose somber appearance and manner contrasted so strangely with the revelers thronging the low-ceilinged tavern fumy with wine.

"You guess right again." he said with a bantering tone. "I am Fafhrd, a Northerner, ready to pit my wits against any doom." He nudged his companion. "Look, Mouser, what do you think of this little black-coated mouse who's sneaked in through a crack in the floor and wants to talk with you and me about death?"

The man in black did not seem to notice the jesting insult. Again his bloodless lips hardly moved, yet his words were unaffected by the surrounding clamor, and impinged on the ears of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser with peculiar clarity.

"It is said you two came close to death in the Forbidden City of the Black Idols, and in the stone trap of Angarngi, and on the misty island in the Sea of Monsters. It is also said that you have walked with doom on the Cold Waste and through the Mazes of Klesh. But who may be sure of these things, and whether death and doom were truly near? Who knows but what you are both braggarts who have boasted once too often? Now I have heard tell that death sometimes calls to a man in a voice only he can hear. Then he must rise and leave his friends and go to whatever place death shall bid him, and there meet his doom. Has death ever called to you in such a fashion?"

Fafhrd might have laughed, but did not. The Mouser had a witty rejoinder on the tip of his tongue, but instead he heard himself saying: "In what words might death call?"

"That would depend," said the small man. "He might look at two such as you and say the Bleak Shore. Nothing more than that. The Bleak Shore. And when he said it three times you would have to go."

This time Fafhrd tried to laugh, but the laugh never came. Both of them could only meet the gaze of the small man with the white, bulging forehead, stare stupidly into his cold, cavernous eyes. Around them the tavern roared with mirth at some jest. A drunken guardsmen was bellowing a song. The gamblers called impatiently to the Mouser to stake his next wager. A giggling woman in red and gold stumbled past the small, pale man, almost brushing away the black cowl that covered his pate. But he did not move. And Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser continued to stare-fascinatedly, helplessly-into his chill, black eyes, which now seemed to them twin tunnels leading into a far and evil distance. Something deeper than fear gripped them in iron paralysis. The tavern became faint and soundless, as if viewed through many thicknesses of glass. They saw only the eyes and what lay beyond the eyes, something desolate, dreary, and deadly.

"The Bleak Shore," he repeated.


4 1/4 stars

[Theo Logos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dungeons & Dragons introduced me to Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Or, more specifically, the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons book Deities and Demigods did. Among the many mythologies that book included was the Nehwon Mythos, which detailed the heroes, arcane wizards, gods, and strange cults of Fritz Leiber’s literary world, the barbarian Fafhrd and rogue Gray Mouser foremost among them. And it was no accident that this material was included, as Leiber’s Sword and Sorcery tales were a primary inspiration behind the game.

Any D&D nerd who reads these tales will immediately recognize the connection. Fafhrd and Gray Mouser are morally ambiguous adventurers, bouncing from one quest after legendary treasure, magical object, or driven by wizard-spell geas to another. The stories are episodic rather than guided by an overriding plot. These guys aren’t on a grand quest for the Ages, opposing capitol E evil and saving the world, but rather are bouncing from tavern to adventure and back again, rinse and repeat. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are roguish heroes, out for personal gain (and sometimes personal honor) — they were the original template for D&D adventuring.

The Circle Curse
”Never and forever are neither for men.
You’ll be returning again and again.
In which Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser leave Lankhmar, swearing a mighty oath never to return because of the unbearable grief of the violent loss of their first loves. In which they first encounter each of the uncanny, weird wizards who become their patrons —Sheelba of the Eyeless Face and Ningauble of the Seven Eyes. In which they wander and plunder throughout the corners of the world, finding no solace. And in which, finally, they return to the streets of Lankhmar. More of a scene setting tale than an actual adventure.
3 ⭐️

The Jewels in the Forest
Fafhrd and Gray Mouser go questing for a fabled hoard in a mysterious treasure tower built to hold it. First they must fight off rival rouges (who outnumber them). The tower is littered with skeletons of those who have been there before them, yet whatever fearsome guardian did this work is not to be seen. Then the bowl turning leg weakening fear hits…
4 ⭐️

Thieve’s House
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are lured back to the Thieve’s Guild house by trickery, the thieves longing for vengeance on them. The Mouser escapes, but Fafhrd, after wandering into a hidden, haunted sub-basement, is captured. The heroes are entangled in a Thieve’s Guild power struggle, as one master is killed, a new master takes control, and the hideous, terrifying ancient and skeletal dead masters emerge from their basement tombs to reek vengeance and assert control.
4 1/2 ⭐️

The Bleak Shore
Interrupted as they gambled by a mysterious, pale man, our heroes are first mocked, then put under a powerful geas. Under this cursed spell, the two immediately take leave like somnolent walkers, stock a small ship, engage hirelings, and take to unknown and dangerous seas. Under the power of this cursed spell they weather deadly storms until finally coming to the Bleak Shore, where they must face their doom.
4 ⭐️

The Howling Tower
A solitary tower, continual ghostly howling, and a strange and nasty old man who gives drink that separates ghost from body forcing it to do ghostly combat.
3 1/2 ⭐️

The Sunken Land
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser adventure at sea. Fafhrd finds a mysterious key in a fish he pulls from the sea, and later is swept overboard in a raging storm, where he miraculously finds rescue on a ship of Northmen (his own countrymen). The ship’s leader is sworn to find the lost land of Simorgya, a long ago sunken land. It mysteriously re-emerged from the depths, enticing the Northerners into its strange and eldritch towers, where doom waits. A nice combination of heroic fantasy and Lovecraftian cosmic horror.
4 1/2 ⭐️

The Seven Black Priests
While adventuring in the Frozen Wastes, our heroes steal the large, diamond eye from an idol, only to find themselves bedeviled, pursued and mortally threatened by a small cult of fanatical assassin priests. Yet the treasure that they carry is a more serious threat than its fanatical guardians, seething with a malicious intellect that is tied to the very molten core of Nehwon.
4 ⭐️

Claws from the Night
The city of Lankhmar and its finest ladies are living in fear, for bold, stealing birds have been attacking and thieving, sometimes plucking jewels from fine ladies in broad daylight, and even attacking and maiming them. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser believe that they have riddled out who is behind the organized terror of the birds, and are prepared to rob the robbers. But they were not prepared to face a vindictive, banished god bent on vengeance who commands a host of avian killers.
4 ⭐️

The Prince of Pain-ease
Fafhrd and Gray Mouser literally steal a house in which they are then haunted by the unquiet ghosts of their lost loves. Their patron wizards (Ningauble of the Seven Eyes and Sheelba of the Eyeless Face) promise to resolve their torment, but only after extracting oaths of lifetime service, and sending them on impossible missions to steal Death’s mask, which in turn sets them against each other. Another fine mess for our heroes to get out of.
4 ⭐️

Bazaar of the Bizarre
The rival wizards Ningauble of the Seven Eyes and Sheelba of the Eyeless Face join forces to use their pawns (our heroes) to foil the plans of the Despoilers — a rapacious race of universe hopping merchants who use their powerful illusions to drain worlds of wealth and reduces their populations to abject slavery. The Gray Mouser is the wizards’ bait, who falls under the spell of the Despoiler’s illusions, whereupon the wizards induce Fafhrd to affect his rescue using items that they lend him — a mask of true seeing and cloak of invisibility. The resulting inevitable combat is raucous, deadly, and, from the perspective of the enchanted Mouser, hilarious.
4 ⭐️

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy the classic fantasy element of this book. Understanding where a genre began and understanding the influences is important to me. That is why I chose this series.
I found my mind wandering at times and needed to reread sections. Quite often, really. I commented on this to my 13 year old daughter (who is a sometimes voracious reader) and she promptly informed me that her mind wanders when a book bores her and she quits it.
Maybe she was right. Maybe this book did bore me. It shouldn't have. It had all the elements of an interesting plot, developed characters, bizarre villains. But my mind did wander and it was a struggle. Hence three stars rather than four.
Maybe I need a break from this. I need to read something immersive for the sake of reading rather than trying to understand a genre. Maybe I am just over complicating this and this book bores me a little.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

More escapades with Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, a surprising number of which still take place far from Lankhmar, the City of Sevenscore Thousand Smokes. Now that the origin stories have been dispensed with (in the previous volume), we can finally see Fafhrd and Mouser as the (mostly) inseparable comrades we've been expecting. Chronologically speaking, the stories are a mixed bag -- most date from the 1940's (including "Jewels in the House", a.k.a. "Two Sought Adventure", their first published outing) and a couple date from the early 1970's ("The Circle Curse" and "The Price of Pain-ease", both of which tie off narrative threads from the previous volume's "Ill-met in Lankhmar").

There are some fine, fine stories in here. If forced at the point of Scalpel or Graywand (Mouser always calls whatever sword he's currently using Scalpel, and Fafhrd recycles the name Graywand) to pick just one I'd be tempted by "Bazaar of the Bizarre", the story of a peculiar shop selling most intriguing wares. But really, you can't go wrong with any of them.

Again, one of the great joys is Leiber's elegant, sardonic prose. I almost feel like I can follow a through-line from James Branch Cabell to Leiber to Terry Pratchett. Or have I had one too many jugs from the Silver Eel?

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Swords Against Death is the second book in Leiber's series of Fafhrd and Grey Mouser adventures and is one of my favorites. It contains ten tales that range from 1939 up to a short story original to the collection's publication in 1970. The majority appeared in WWII-era issues of Unknown magazine, though my three favorites originally were published later: The Seven Black Priests in Other Worlds in 1953, Claws from the Night in Suspense in 1951, and Bazaar of the Bizarre in Fantastic in 1963. The two stalwart heroes are loyal to one another through thick and thin, and they're quick-witted as well as being quick on the draw. Leiber's prose is nonpareil; his descriptions are rich, and he builds a world in the reader's mind that's believable and memorable. How can you not want to read more about guys who work for Sheelba of the Eyeless Face and Ningauble of the Seven Eyes? It's high fantasy meets sword and sorcery for the best of both genres.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flawless perfection. Absolutely flawless. Exciting, page-turning, incredible fun. Even better than the first book in the series. Why has it taken me so long to get around to reading the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories? Please, don't make my mistake! Stop what you're doing right now and get a copy and start reading Fritz Leiber! It's hard to believe some of these stories are going on 60 years old! They are not dated in the least. Very fresh and utterly timeless.

Absolute Must-Read for All Fantasy Fans.

[Димитър Цолов · Rating 5 out of 5]

Макар да се пада втори сборник в официалната хронология на цикъла за Фафрд и Сивия Мишелов, Swords Against Death (1970) всъщност представлява разширена версия на първата колекция за двамата авантюристи - Two Sought Adventure - публикувана през далечната 1957 г. в тираж от едва 4 000 бройки. Историите са се появявали в различни списания Unknown, Other Worlds, Suspense Magazine... без винаги да следват строга хронология (подобно на тези за Конан на Робърт Хауърд), но през годините авторът умело е успял да запълни празнотите между тях и да ги подреди в седем сборника.

И така, след като получихме тази никому ненужна информация да се върнем към книжката, която ни предлага десет вълнуващи приключения с огромния варварин от Севера и неговия верен спътник – изпечен крадец, чирак на магьосник и майстор на меча – във фантастичния свят на Неуон, където смъртта дебне зад всеки ъгъл.

1. "Омагьосаният кръг" ("The Circle Curse") 1970
2. "Скъпоценности в гората" ("The Jewels in the Forest") 1939
3. "Домът на крадците" ("Thieves' House") 1943
4. "Пустия бряг" ("The Bleak Shore") 1940
5. "Виещата кула" ("The Howling Tower") 1941
6. "Потъналата земя" ("The Sunken Land") 1942
7. "Седемте черни жреци" ("The Seven Black Priests") 1953
8. "Нокти в нощта" ("Claws from the Night") 1951
9. "Цената на утехата" ("The Price of Pain-Ease") 1970
10. "Магазин за чудеса" ("Bazaar of the Bizarre") 1963

От десетте истории вече бях чел две. "Виещата кула" в списание Фантастични светове, #1, а "Магазинът на чудесата" даже два пъти - в Битпазарът на ненаситните и в антологията Магьоснически свят ("Базарът на чудесата").

След коварната "Среща със злото в Ланкмар" от Мечове и черна магия двамата приключенци напуснаха столичния град, дали клетва никога повече да не се върнат в него. Ала събитията се завъртяха в "омагьосан кръг" и след като пребродиха знайни и незнайни места, пребориха се с всевъзможни зловещи създания, Фафрд и Сивия Мишелов разбира се, се озоваха отново там, където започна всичко. Научихме и как се сдобиха със своите магически покровители - Шийлба Безокото лице и Нингобъл Седмоокия... изобщо абсолютна разкошотия!

Все пак да уточня, ако сте фенове на пространните фентъзи саги, в които всяко зрънце информация е надлежно разчепкано в десетки томове, този сборник може да не ви допадне. Фриц Лейбър е оставил достатъчно на въображението на читателя, вместо да му тръсне наготово сдъвканите подробности от своята изумителна литературна Вселена. Заложил е повече на чистия екшън, на свежите диалози и на неподправения хумор, отколкото на мудното светоизграждане, а за мен точно това е най-ценното и давам максималната оценка - ОТЛИЧЕН ПЕТ!!!

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 to 4.5 stars. These stories are a ton of fun. If you like the Dying Earth by Jack Vance and the Conan stories by Robert E. Howard, you will love these stories. Highly Recommended!!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, great title. 10/10, no notes, every book should just be named Swords Against Death going forward.

I’m still in this-is-good-not-great territory with Fafhrd and Gray Mouser, but there’s no denying that this is an improvement over the previous volume. Something like half the book had me pretty bored, but I found myself really enjoying that other half. So when I say this is an improvement I mean that the lows are right about where they were for volume one, but the highs are much higher.

Highlights for me were probably Bazaar of the Bizarre and The Price of Pain-Ease. I’m finding I tend to enjoy Leiber’s writing the most when things get either weird or ridiculous and these two stories had a nice blend of both. Sunken Land and The Bleak Shore were standouts for me as well, as they’re essentially creepy-shit-happening-at-sea stories, and I’ve always got time for that sort of thing.

Leiber’s humor continues to be on point here. Swords Against Death is funniest when Fafhrd and GM are either bickering with each other or getting on Sheelba and Ningauble’s nerves. I hope that’s a vibe that Leiber continues to lean in to in further stories because it’s a lot more entertaining than when he writes these guys and their world as a more straightforward adventure thing.

As I said, I didn’t love this, it’s like a 3.5 star read for me. But what the heck, it’s the holidays so I’ll round up. Merry Christmas Fritz Leiber. Have a fourth star.

[Fantasy boy · Rating 5 out of 5]

After I finished Swords And Deviltry, I was overwhelmed by how elegantly it was written!! The next book in the series Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser still excellent. The Sword against Death is a short story; Fafhrd and Gray mouser are protagnists in this story. when I read their adventure it always surprised me that story was covered with thick veil made the myth more cryptic. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser get up to mischief,they always stimulate situations and most of time they thwart their enemy even the circumstances got out of control. The Black Shore has interesting concept that it seems most of time heroes are lucky in fiction; however in the black shore Fritz Leiber points out that Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser in the previous chapters were fortunate therefore they must face the death's challenge.
I love how Fritz Leiber creates the fantasy world with beautiful writing unfortunatlly, Modern readers seldom read Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series which is totally a shame. Sometimes, I think maybe some books are older, so modern readers just skip those books, especially like Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series and Conan series. Those series have helped to build the sword and sorcery genre. I still read underrated fantasy books and do not care if modern readers read them or not, because I do not want to be a reader who just reads popular books. As a fantasy aficionado, I should read as many fantasy books as possible. That it why, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series always has a spot in my heart waiting for me to recollect it.

[Julie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just for fun. My daughter Rose and I were talking about Conan the Barbarian (the way you do, right?). We both like the world building but I'm less tolerant of Conan himself, finding him boring. That reminded me of a similarly imaginative world but with a team of thieves who have a sense of humor and irony that makes the sword part of "sword and sorcery" more tolerable for me.

Long ago I listened to the first of their adventures. I'm glad I came back for more. This was a lot of fun.

[Bogdan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love everything about this series of books!

This second volume has more stories and the action goes from land to sea, from house to tower, from the hot lands to the icelands, and introduces a lot of new creatures and some, new players in to the story.

The writing remained in the same style and I was impressed by the true friendship that develops, along this volume, between the two unusual heroes.

There are some dramatic moments along some of the stories and the stakes are highier than ever.

In this one the writer had more time to expand the personalities of the two characters and to engage them in a lot of fresh adventures.

If you have enjoyed the first one, then this is a must!

[Kat Hooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Ho, Fafhrd tall! Hist, Mouser small!
Why leave you the city Of marvelous parts?
It were a great pity To wear out your hearts
And wear out the soles of your feet,
Treading all earth, Foregoing all mirth,
Before you once more Lankhmar greet.
Now return, now return, now!

Swords Against Death is the second collection of stories about Fafhrd, the big northern barbarian, and The Gray Mouser, the small thief from the slums. For the past three years, the two have grown so close that they are now (as Neil Gaiman suggests in his introduction to the audio version) like two halves of the same person. They’ve been traveling the world together in an effort to forget their lost loves.

During their travels “they acquired new scars and skills, comprehensions and compassions, cynicisms and secrecies — a laughter that lightly mocked, and a cool poise that tightly crusted all inner miseries,” but they haven’t been able to assuage their guilt or lessen their feelings of loss outside of Lankhmar, the city which they swore never to return to.

But as Sheelba of the Eyeless Face prophesied (“Never and forever are neither for men. You’ll be returning again and again.”), Fafhrd and the Mouser are persuaded to return to Lankhmar where, it turns out, they have not been forgotten, and soon the duo is back to their old tricks and dealing with their former enemies in these stories: “The Circle Curse,” “The Jewels in the Forest,” “Thieves’ House,” “The Bleak Shore,” “The Howling Tower,” “The Sunken Land,” “The Seven Black Priests,” “Claws from the Night,” “The Price of Pain-Ease,” and “Bazaar of the Bizarre.”

Some of the stories are better than others (my favorite was “Bazaar of the Bizarre”) but all are “classical rogue” (Neil Gaiman’s term) and all are worth reading simply because they’re written in Fritz Leiber’s gorgeous prose, which is thick with alliteration, insight, and irony.

I listened to Swords Against Death on audio. It was produced by Audible Frontiers, introduced by Neil Gaiman, and read by Jonathan Davis who does a terrific job with this series. His voices for Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are perfect — Fafhrd sounds pensive, intellectual, and introverted while Gray Mouser sounds a bit greasy and common. I highly recommend this format; it adds an extra dimension to these fun stories.
More Leiber reviews at FanLit.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never been a big fan of Fritz Leiber's sci-fi, but it seems his sword & sorcery fantasy is much more to my liking. These stores are creative and adeptly crafted adventures, with the endearing buddy team of Fafhrd the stout barbarian and Gray Mouser the nimble swordsmen and thief. The two make excellent partners, and it's easy to see why Leiber stuck with this formula for so long. Beyond the adventures, heists and triumphs over mysterious evils, these stories often feature real tragedy, giving some depth and differentiating them from much of the shallow action pulps of the day. The storytelling and prose are also quite excellent. In particular, Leiber had a wonderful talent for opening lines that are at once immersive and memorable. Favorites for me include Claws from the Night, The Howling Tower and The Jewels in the Forest.

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's the strength of its characters that truly drives these stories on.

The prose and the setting, the combat and action, are all very well - indeed among the better ones I've read, though I'd hesitate to call them the best in any case - but the main heroes, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, are what truly breathe life into it. They're more grounded protagonists, for one, than the likes of Conan and Elric, easier to relate to and to fear for... and for the other thing their relationship with one another, their friendships and rivalries and snarky conversations, are both humorous and quite human, each conversation worth a thousand fantastic scenes or epic battles. It goes to show that good characters are what a story needs, everything else is gravy.

[Jason Koivu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This started off as a strong 5-star candidate, and then somewhere after the midway point, I lost the thread. I don't know if it's Leiber's writing style or pacing or what, but I've had some trouble with reading retention when it comes to his stuff. In Swords Against Death some scenes deal with mindf-ckery and Leiber wrote in a way to convey what his characters were going through. The result was a hazy, indistinct reading experience, at least for me. This is otherwise a very enjoyable delve into sword and sorcery! You can really see in this volume of the series where the creators of D&D stole were inspired by Leiber's work. RPG and fantasy fans will find within a mysterious tower, treasure, strange creatures, and more to enjoy.

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Swords Against Death: Sword and sorcery’s most famous duo are in top form
Originally posted at Fantasy Literature
This is the second collection of stories in the FAFHRD AND THE GRAY MOUSER series, but the majority of the stories were written well before the stories of the first book Swords and Deviltry. Again Fritz Leiber took a group of independent stories written in the early 1940s and added connective and framing material to make the book more cohesive. As a result, I think some the best stories are the earliest ones, written for the pulp magazines like Unknown, though the final story is also excellent.

There are ten stories altogether in Swords and Deviltry, though seven of them first appeared in a collection called Two Sought Adventure published in 1957. All of the stories are filled with the rough-and-tumble adventures of Fahrd and the Gray Mouser, two rogues, swordsmen, con-men, and treasure-hunting adventurers. Having suffered tragedy at the end of the previous novel, they continue to mourn this loss and initially vow to never return to the teeming city of Lankhmar, but in the initial story “The Circle Curse”, they discover that even after three years of restless questing they have still not assuaged their pain, and decide this path is fruitless.

All the stories in this collection are written with swift, deft touches of humor, amazing descriptive passages, and exciting but tightly-written action sequences. The quality of writing is vastly superior to later books in the genre that merely try to recreate the flair of these originals. Among them, I found the following four stories to be standouts:

In “The Jewels in the Forest” (1939) the two adventurers are lured by obscure references written in the margins of a book that point to a mysterious treasure located in a tower in a forest. They journey in search of this, also making a stop at a peasant’s house to entertain for their food (which recalls but contrasts sharply with a similar stop-over by the Hound and Arya in Game of Thrones Season 3). When they arrive at the tower, they discover it to be a tomb built by a madman to lure treasure-seekers, but seemingly undefended. This soon turns out to be wrong, and the duo has to battle a terrifying monster to escape.

In “Thieves House” (1943), our two heroes steal a jeweled skull but are then double-crossed by the Thieves Guild member who hired them for the job. Despite their earlier vow to never return, they find themselves again trying to infiltrate the Thieves House in order to exact revenge. They find themselves again entangled with their hated rival Kroval, the head of the guild, but even the Theives’ Guild itself has not bargained with the eldritch powers protecting the jeweled skull, and it falls on Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser to put things to rights or face the wrath of the undead. The whole Thieves’ Guild concept has certainly influenced Dungeons & Dragons, not to mention the long-running shared-world Thieves’ World anthologies edited by Robert Aspirin and Lynn Abbey.

In “The Price of Pain-Ease” (1970), Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are still mourning the loss of their lovers, and settle down in their former lover’s abodes and get a bit maudlin and indolent. So they consult with Ningauble of the Seven Eyes and Sheelba of the Eyeless Face, who essentially cut a deal with them that if they pledge their service then these wizards will grant them a reunion with their lost loves now dwelling in the Shadow Lands. So they are tasked with the impossible mission of stealing Death’s Mask. It’s a great concept, and the idea of Death becoming a character has also been humorously explored in Terry Pratchett’s Mort, and in very different fashion in Piers Anthony’s On a Pale Horse. My only complaint is that the story ends fairly abruptly, and I wanted more involvement from Death (how often can you say that?).

The final story, “The Bazaar of the Bizarre” (1963), is suitably strange and fantastic. Our two rogues are summoned by their patron wizards to infiltrate a strange shop peddling curios in The Plaza of Dark Delights. The Gray Mouser shows up early and is enchanted by the various goods that he perceives to be the objects of his greatest desire, including a series of golden cages with beautiful maidens hanging from the ceiling. Fafhrd, on the other hand, is given a spider web blindfold of true-seeing and cloak of invisibility by his patron, and thus sees through the illusion to discover the bazaar is selling worthless trash and the situation is far more sinister than at first glance. He must do battle with various formidable foes to win free and save the Mouser, who is blissfully unaware of any danger and hilariously interferes with Fafhrd’s desperate swordfights with skeleton warriors.

This story really reminded me in tone of the opening of Jack Vance’s The Eyes of the Overworld, in which Cugel the Clever enters the tent of a curio seller, and first learns of the treasures held by Ioucounu the Laughing Magician, since he too cannot resist the allure of magic talismans just like the Mouser. The only difference is that Cugel does not have a faithful companion like Fafhrd the Barbarian to bail him out, but I’m quite certain they share a kindred spirit.

Overall, this collection of stories is an excellent introduction to the FAFHRD AND THE GRAY MOUSER series, more so than the previous book Swords and Deviltry (with the exception of the initial meeting story “Ill Met in Lankhmar”). If any of it seems to ring familiar to other sword and sorcery adventures you have read, that is merely the greatest form of flattery to the legacy of Leiber’s archetypal adventurers.

[Café de Tinta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy entretenida, llena de aventuras y divertida. Con ganas de más entregas!
Reseña completa: https://cafedetinta.com/2019/07/09/es...

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another indispensable installment in one of the most important sword & sorcery series ever.

Interestingly, most of the stories contained in this volume take place far from the city of Lankhmar. Instead we're given a wide-ranging tour of many distant locales scattered across Nehwon. While it was written much later than most of the stories contained here, "The Circle Curse" provides an interesting justification for Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser to quit Lankhmar (to free themselves of ghosts from their past) while promising that they'll inevitably return. It also introduces the pair's wizardly patrons, Ningauble of the Seven Eyes and Sheelba of the Eyeless Face. The two wizards are absent from most stories that follow, which I found interesting. My--apparently spotty--recollection had them providing the impetus for a much higher percentage of Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser's adventures.

The stories included herein are all entertaining, but some are better than others. Leiber exhibits a frustrating tendency to step back into a vague, impressionistic style at the climax of the story. "The Bleak Shore" is one example of this. Most of the story (involving a curse driving the heroes to the titular Bleak Shore, where death awaits) is presented with a great deal of detail, but when it becomes time for the heroes to dispatch the cause of the curse, the narrative suddenly becomes much more fuzzy and indistinct.

Most of the stories are incredibly fun, however. "The Seven Black Priests" involves religious hermits' incredibly dogged pursuit of the heroes' mostly inadvertent theft of their sacred artifact. "Claws from the Night," a story about jewel-filching birds, benefits from unlikely schemes, humorous characterization, and some vivid Lankhmarese worldbuilding.

This volume concludes with two of the strongest stories in the entire Lankhmar canon: "The Price of Pain-Ease" and "Bazaar of the Bizarre." "The Price of Pain-Ease" begins with one of the most audacious and memorable heists in the series--our heroes steal a house--and concludes with their journey into the underworld in an effort to literally rid themselves of ghosts from their past.

"Bazaar of the Bizarre" is, for my money, one of the best sword & sorcery stories of all time. It has a deliciously intriguing and baroque setting in Lankhmar's Plaza of Dark Delights, a unique threat in the form of the extra-dimensional merchant Devourers (with a bit of pointed commentary about consumerism), a memorable battle between Fafhrd and the Iron Statue, snappy prose, and grin-inspiring characterization. If a friend wanted an introduction to the sword & sorcery subgenre, this single story is what I'd hand them, passing over even Conan and Elric.

All fantasy fans owe it to themselves to read these stories.

[Algernon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The adventures of Fafhrd and Grey Mouser continue, roaming the many landscapes of Newhon, fighting monsters and ghosts and powerful magicians, partying in shady alleyways, always together, always ready to lend a hand to each other.
This volume is more fragmented than the origins story in the Swords and Deviltry, with shorter installments, but I could still trace the progress of the friendship and the continuity between different exploits of the duo. Leiber prose continue to impress me in the exuberance of adjectives and spooky settings. I enjoy especially the transition from goomy to humorous tone and the free rein given to imagination through the fleeting mention of exotic lands.
I will be checking more books from the author, both set in Newhon or elsewhere.

[Martin Doychinov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Цели 10 разказа, описващи поредни (и не съвсем) приключения на двойката палавници!
Доста задовлителен и бързо четящ се сборник - дано видим и третия!
Няма и смисъл от пространно ревю - изцяло съм съгласен с лицето Цолов...
Не е безгрешна, но е истинска, ако мога да цитирам произволна ретро турбо-фолк песен :)
Най-голям минус е желанието на Фафрд да си заложи главата срещу боулинг топка във втория разказ... Къде игра боулинг, варварино???

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fantastic. Really, I could stop there, along with an exhortation to go read it immediately, but that's hardly an actual review, so I'll continue.

As I mentioned in my review for Swords and Deviltry, the first half of that book before Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser met was pretty boring, but the second half was much more engaging. In this book, the two companions start together and stay together for the entirety (or nearly so) of the book, neatly avoiding the long build-up time before the action really gets going.

The plots of the short stories are pretty standard sword and sorcery fare, usually driven by the greed of the protagonists or by the meddling of some sort of external sorcerous agency, but the plot isn't the most obvious reason to read this. I think the main thing that makes it stand out for me is the sense of humor. I've read plenty of the Conan stories, and while he occasionally finds reason to laugh, far more common is for the gigantic melancholies to be emphasized over the gigantic mirths. Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser aren't like that in the least. They're constantly joking with each other, commenting sarcastically on the situations they find themselves in, and otherwise seem to take themselves rather less than seriously. As a tabletop roleplayer, I can definitely see where the inspiration for Dungeons and Dragons came from in Leiber's books--take any generic pen and paper RPG session and the characters will have a greater-than-average chance to be acting like one of the pair.

The thing that really sets the book apart, though, is the description. As I said previously, Leiber was a devotee of H.P. Lovecraft, and while it shows, he manages to walk edge of the cliff of description without falling into the abyss of purple prose. For example:

"For we did not like the strangely rounded basalt crags of the Bleak Shore; we did not like it that we saw no gulls or hawks or birds of any kind in the leaden air, no seaweed on the beach. And we all three began to catch glimpses of something shimmering at the summit of the cliffs."

If you replaced "strangely" with "curiously" there, it could be something that came straight out of a Lovecraft story, though Lovecraft would have made it twice as long and used "cyclopean" or "rugose" a few times for good measure.

The best example comes from the best story in the collection, The Bazaar of the Bizarre:

In the Plaza of Dark Delights, which lies seven blocks south of the Marsh Gate and extends from the Fountain of Dark Abundance to the Shrine of the Black Virgin, the shop-lights glinted upward no more brightly than the stars glinted down. For there the vendors of drugs and the peddlers of curiosa and the hawkers of assignations light their stalls and crouching places with foxfire, glowworms, and fire-pots with tiny single windows, and they conduct their business almost as silently as the stars conduct theirs.

That is amazingly evocative. I read that and I immediately get an image in my head of what it looks like, and it makes me want to read more. The Grey Mouser's invocation of auspicious days in reference to Lankhmar's animal-themed calendar functions the same way, in that it makes me want to learn more about Lankhmar and its society, and as I've said before, I love worldbuilding and everything to do with it.

That's really what it comes down to. Much of fantasy is focused on the plot, the fight against the dark lord, or the lone hero finding his (and it's almost always a he) destiny, but the stories in Swords Against Death are just the stories about what happened in Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser during their lives. All of these stories build images in my head and make me want to know more about Nehwon, and that's really the best thing I can ask for in a book. I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Previous Review: Swords and Deviltry.
Next Review: Swords in the Mist.

[Commodore Tiberius Q. Handsome · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fritz Leiber invented the term "sword and sorcery", and he was the finest author the genre has ever had. In fact he was, in my opinion, the finest author of fantasy period. I rank him above Tolkien, Howard and Moorcock, never mind Martin or Jordan. I've read him described as a "master prose stylist", and the description is apt indeed. Fritz Leiber was, simply, a terrific, extremely talented writer with a true love of language and a prodigious, playful, incredibly unique style. The odd, absurd, weird, and terrifying, he was a maestro of storytelling, a humorist, and a weaver of weird tales and action-packed adventures. He was the best, period, and anyone with any interest at all in fantasy who neglects Leiber is cheating himself.