Archives: Lankhmar Re-Read

Swords in the Mist and The Coming of Conan

With our completion of  Swords in the Mist last week, Bill Ward and I started exchanging final thoughts and ended up mostly just looking ahead for next week’s read from The Coming of Conan.

When we finished Swords Against Death if felt like we had a lot more to talk about, perhaps because there were so many more stories, or perhaps because there was a whole scale of good to great (or occasional average). In Swords In the Mist we had three levels of quality. There were the three excellent short stories (“The Cloud of Hate,” “Lean Times in Lankhmar,” “When The Sea Kings Away,”) and some entertaining linking bits that weren’t quite stories and weren’t entirely satisfying but still had some nice moments. And then there was the unlamented and never-to-be-read by Bill and Howard again “Adept’s Gambit.”

Swords in the Mist Re-Read: “Adept’s Gambit”

Today Bill Ward and I finish our read through of Fritz Leiber’s collection of Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories, Swords in the Mist. This week we’re looking at the sixth tale in the collection, “Adept’s Gambit.”

I don’t usually write reviews of products or stories I don’t like — I prefer to tell people about the works I think they’d enjoy and honestly, I still subscribe to what I learned from Cowboy Bob, a TV Host, when I was 4: “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”

So my harsh words for this particular story are a bit of a departure for me. Still, Bill and I set out to re-read all the tales of this book and share our honest opinions, so… here you go.

Swords In the Mist Re-Read: “The Wrong Branch”

Bill Ward and I are continuing our read through of Fritz Leiber’s collection of Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories, Swords in the Mist. This week we’re looking at the fifth tale in the collection, “The Wrong Branch.”

Swords in the Mist Re-Read: “When the Sea-King’s Away”

Bill Ward and I are continuing our read through of Fritz Leiber’s collection of Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories, Swords in the Mist. This week we’re looking at the fourth tale in the collection, “When the Sea-King’s Away.”

Swords in the Mist Re-Read: “Their Mistress, The Sea”

Bill Ward and I are continuing our read through of Fritz Leiber’s collection of Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories, Swords in the Mist. This week we’re looking at the third tale in the collection, “Their Mistress, The Sea.”

Howard: “Their Mistress, the Sea” can’t properly be called a linking story — it’s more like a linking interlude, an explanation as to what happened between the preceding story and the one that follows. Yet it’s not without some charm. Leiber clearly loved this world and his characters, and it shows in many of the small details.

Swords in the Mist Re-Read: “Lean Times in Lankhmar”

Bill Ward and I are continuing our read through of Fritz Leiber’s collection of Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories, Swords in the Mist. This week we’re looking at the second tale in the collection, “Lean Times in Lankhmar.”

Swords in the Mist Re-Read: “The Cloud of Hate”

Bill Ward and I are reading another collection of Fritz Leiber’s Lankhmar stories, Swords in the Mist. This week we’re starting with the first story in the collection, “The Cloud of Hate.” We hope you’ll grab a copy and join in.

Swords Against Death Re-Read: Conclusion

Over the last two months Bill Ward and I have been sharing our thoughts about one of my favorite short story collections, and the first sword-and-sorcery fiction I even encountered, Fritz Leiber’s Swords Against Death.

Swords Against Death Re-Read: “Bazaar of the Bizarre”

Bill Ward and I  are re-reading a book from Fritz Leiber’s famous Lankhmar series, Swords Against Death. We hope you’ll pick up a copy and join us. This week we tackled the tenth and final tale in the volume, “Bazaar of the Bizarre.”

Bill: Let me just say right at the outset that this is one of the all time great fantasy titles — long before I’d ever read Leiber, I knew the title “Bazaar of the Bizarre” (from, I think, Dragon magazine) and it turned out to be the first story of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser I’d ever read, in some since-forgotten anthology, and I still remember the anticipation leading up to it. I wasn’t disappointed.

Swords Against Death Re-Read: “The Price of Pain-Ease”

Bill Ward and I  are re-reading a book from Fritz Leiber’s famous Lankhmar series, Swords Against Death. We hope you’ll pick up a copy and join us. This week we tackled the ninth tale in the volume, “The Price of Pain-Ease.”