Three words

[Finarvyn]

Here's a fun game. Give me three words to describe the Fafhrd & Gray Mouser setting.

My three are as follows:
(1) Satire
(2) Gritty
(3) Horror

- - - - - - - - - -

(1) Satire -- The characters poke fun at themselves and each other, they jest and joke a lot, often times situations are clearly humorous and ironic.

(2) Gritty -- The antithesis of a King Arthur setting, folks in Lankhmar are dirty and often broke and downtrodden. There is always that sense that charcters are desperate to earn some coins so they can eat this week.

(3) Horror -- One thing that sets these stories (and many of Conan) apart from many other Appendix N stories is that sense of Lovecraftian darkness. Sorcery cast from dark rooms, fog with tentacles, hair-raising moments where even the heroes are nervous.

What do you think?

[Dohojar]

Another author I am having a hard time finding books for. I know I can probably get them for an e-reader or something but having a real copy of a book is the only way I want to read these. I find reading on a tablet harder on my aging eyes. I have discovered a few used book stores in the past couple of weeks and plan on visiting them today. Hopefully they will have some of these books kicking around. Looking forward to reading the adventures of Fafhrd & Gray Mouser.

[Finarvyn]

I think that Leiber's best were the early ones. I have an old hardback called "Two Sought Adventure" which contains most of the best ones, IMO.
1. "The Jewels in the Forest" AKA "Two Sought Adventure" (Swords Against Death; 1939)
2. "Thieves' House" (Swords Against Death; 1943)
3. "The Bleak Shore" (Swords Against Death; 1940)
4. "The Howling Tower" (Swords Against Death; 1941)
5. "The Sunken Land" (Swords Against Death; 1942)
6. "The Seven Black Priests" (Swords Against Death; 1953)
7. "Claws from the Night" AKA "Dark Vengeance" (Swords Against Death; 1951)

If those stories interest you as a starting point, you might focus your search on "Swords Against Death" if you are searching for the paperback version or "Ill-Met in Lankhmar" if you are looking for the White Wolf hardback omnibus.

Good luck in your search.

[jmccann]

Apr 4, 2015 14:23:24 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

I think that Leiber's best were the early ones.

SNIP

Good luck in your search.

I've heard that about the earlier stories, but I've never checked. It has been about 5 years since I read the entire series of stories. It might be time to read them again, this time in order of writing. What do you think changes in his writing?

I don't get why Leiber is not always in print and widely available. I often look for F&GM and other Leiber books in bookstores, and it alarms me that F&GM are barely in print. I don't like the omnibus volumes but they are the only choice right now. I needed to replace one of the Dark Horse volumes (lent to my dad & lost) and I had to take a chance on a used copy because not all of the volumes were available new on Amazon.

[jmccann]

Oh sorry, I missed the point of the post...

1. Swords
2. and
3. Sorcery

How's that??



I'll try again a little more seriously:

1. Grim
2. Pulpy
3. Humorous

[joseph]

Apr 4, 2015 10:50:18 GMT -6 Dohojar said:

Another author I am having a hard time finding books for. I know I can probably get them for an e-reader or something but having a real copy of a book is the only way I want to read these. I find reading on a tablet harder on my aging eyes. I have discovered a few used book stores in the past couple of weeks and plan on visiting them today. Hopefully they will have some of these books kicking around. Looking forward to reading the adventures of Fafhrd & Gray Mouser.

In the past year I picked up two hardcovers that (I believe) include most, if not all, of the tales.
The Three of Swords & Swords' Masters. I'm still working through them, but so far I am enjoying them.

[Dohojar]

After scouring the local used book stores, I managed to find only one book: Swords and Ice Magic. I haven't started it yet but plan to in the next week or so.

[kenmeister]

Apr 8, 2015 21:40:21 GMT -6 Dohojar said:

After scouring the local used book stores, I managed to find only one book: Swords and Ice Magic. I haven't started it yet but plan to in the next week or so.

I'm about 75 pages into Swords & Ice Magic. So far it's awful. Please tell me it gets better! It has been a really fun series up until now, with only the occasional lame story.

[cadriel]

There are four good volumes of Fafhrd and the Mouser: Swords & Deviltry, Swords Against Death, Swords in the Mist and Swords Against Wizardry. (If you are getting the later collected editions, these were reprinted as Ill Met in Lankhmar and Lean Times in Lankhmar.) Swords of Lankhmar isn't terrible, but in the chronology, it's all downhill once they get out of Quarmall. Swords & Ice Magic and The Knight & Knave of Swords are the kind of thing that need only be read for completeness's sake.

[kenmeister]

Aug 24, 2015 4:25:04 GMT -6 cadriel said:

There are four good volumes of Fafhrd and the Mouser: Swords & Deviltry, Swords Against Death, Swords in the Mist and Swords Against Wizardry. (If you are getting the later collected editions, these were reprinted as Ill Met in Lankhmar and Lean Times in Lankhmar.) Swords of Lankhmar isn't terrible, but in the chronology, it's all downhill once they get out of Quarmall. Swords & Ice Magic and The Knight & Knave of Swords are the kind of thing that need only be read for completeness's sake.

So far my ranking is:
1. Swords Against Death
2/3. Swords Against Wizardy / Swords And Deviltry (tie)
4/5. Swords of Lankhmar / Swords in the Mist (tie)

Sad to hear Ice Magic won't get much better. It's been a lot of fun up to now.

[Dohojar]

I found it rather boring and stopped reading it about half way through. I still would like to read some of the earlier works but have been unable to find anything in the used book stores in my area.