Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
|
Loading... Swords in the Mist (1968)by Fritz Leiber
   No current Talk conversations about this book.  jcm790 | May 26, 2024 |   Apart from the "Origin" stories in volume 1, all of the short stories have felt too similar and predictable for me. Hard times in Lankhmar in this volume was different and enjoyable. I also enjoyed the novella sized Adept's Gambit. Similar to the shorter stories, but I've worked out I like my fantasy drawn out a bit more. Unsure whether to continue with volume 4 or move onto something completely different. Might try volume 4 at least as it appears to be a couple of longer novellas. (  )1  stubooks | Apr 4, 2024 | Seriously, every fan of fantasy should read this series and this is one of the strongest entries. Timtmorton | Jan 9, 2024 | I had some doubt that Ahura would turn out to be a continuing character, though. It just felt like I was ready to be let down in the next book and, sadly, I was right. Even so, Ahura made Swords in the Mist worth reading all by herself, an intriguing presence in the tale from her first appearance. (  ) apotheon | Dec 14, 2020 | The Cloud of Hate was the one that sent chills down my back. The idea that enough people can create a palpable hate rings too true. Lean Times in Lankhmar had me shaking my head, wondering how Fafhrd and Grey Mouser would get out of this one! The Adept's Gambit was one that I found interesting. Ningauble's messages had me snickering throughout. If you like the Lankhmar books, you will probably enjoy this book. It isn't necessary to read them in order, so feel free to pick this one up and read away. ( ) Jean_Sexton | Apr 22, 2019 | no reviews | add a review
Is contained inContainsDistinctions
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser take to the sea in the third installment of this seminal sword and sorcery series that "has lost none of its luminous magic" (San Francisco Chronicle). Swords in the Mist, book three in the Lankhmar series, thrusts our indentured, sword-swinging servants into the question of hate, its power, and its purpose. Times are lean in Lankhmar, illuminating the link between money and love. Luckily, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser don't always believe in love. When Lankhmar gets too gritty, our travelers take to their other, less harsh mistress, the sea. But the sea can play tricks on men, and so can the sea king. He can break a man, or worse yet, curse him. But when he is away, it's all play for the formidable swordsmen and the Triple Goddess . . . and two luscious sea queens. But luck may not always be there, as they discover on the way to see Ningauble, their wizard employer. After a long journey in defense of their control over their own fates, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser find themselves pawns in a life-and-death chess game, all of Lankhmar being the pieces. How many pawns will be left on the board before someone wins? Before The Lord of the Rings took the world by storm, Leiber's fantastic but thoroughly flawed antiheroes, Fafhrd and Gray Mouser, adventured deep within the caves of Inner Earth, albeit a different one. They wondered and wandered to the edges of the Outer Sea, across the Land of Nehwon and throughout every nook and cranny of gothic Lankhmar, Nehwon's grandest and most mystically corrupt city. Lankhmar is Leiber's fully realized, vivid incarnation of urban decay and civilization's corroding effect on the human psyche. Drawing on themes from Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, and H. P. Lovecraft, master manipulator Fritz Leiber is a worldwide legend within the fantasy genre and actually coined the term Sword and Sorcery that describes the subgenre he helped create. No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813Literature English (North America) American fictionLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.87)
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wikipedia in English
1
This collection has the funniest story so far in the series, the one with Fafhrd as acolyte of a god that starts getting more followers thanks to him (Lean Times in Lankhmar). In some way it reminded me of Pratchett.
Then it has the sorcery-driven stories that are typical of the series, which don't completely work for me because of how the characters always react rather than control the action. But they are good swords & wizards stories, and you can see why they were so influential in the genre.
In one of them, the two heroes visit the Earth, although the adventure they have in our world could as easily have taken place in Nehwon, as all the others.
The Grey Mouser and Fafhrd complement each other well, and their roguishness and philosophizing is always enjoyable.
So, not perfectly aligned with my personal taste, but quality swords & sorcery. (