"Swords and Deviltry" by Fritz Leiber

Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Leiber

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Even though I'd been familiar with the name Fritz Leiber and knew something of his contribution to the fanstasy genre, I'd never actually read anything written by him. This audio version, brilliantly narrated by Jonathan Davis, is a wonderful introduction to the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories. Leiber's prose is beautiful, if occasionally a bit too purple, and the stories in this first volume are delightful to read or listen to.

The stories suffer from a bit of the sexism so rampant in sword & sorcery stories, but it was noticeably less obnoxious than that found in, say, a typical Conan story. Ivrian is sweet, though rather simpering, but I found myself really liking Vlana. She was crafty and manipulative, true, but no moreso than any thief character in a fantasy novel and she seemed to be a good woman, despite her (fully warranted) thirst for revenge against the thieve's guild. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser showed their loves far more respect than many fantasy heroes have.

If you keep in mind that you're reading one of the seminal works of sword & sorcery (Leiber actually coined the term), which means it will all seem familiar and cliched to a modern reader, this is highly entertaining and rewarding book.



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