Featured Lists
Authors
Rereadable heroic fantasy/sci fi - The First Book of Lankhmar (Fantasy Masterworks)
Was £9.99 Now £6.99
New From £4.23
Used From £2.37
- Author: Fritz Leiber
- Type: Paperback
- ISBN: 1857983270
- Publisher: Gollancz
Synopsis
Witty, gripping and urbane, Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar books are among the best loved of all modern fantasies
Reviews
A weighty tome of easy-going spell and hackfests, providing a good dose of entertainment in a light hearted manner. Don't be put off by the size of the book as each chapter could almost be read in isolation.
Why only 3 stars? Not entirely my cup of tea - the "witty" writing style started to grate after a while and some of the stories seemed a bit rambling and lacking in sharpness.
But, if you want to be entertained rather than challenged and to have a book that you can pick up and put down at will, then go for it.
A. Johnston
One of the best things about Leiber is the way the incidental never gets out of hand. In one passage he recounts our heroes are not seen for a year, and bit by bit stories filter back. Other writters would use this as an excuse for padding, possibly another volume (why tell a story in one volume when you can make 5 times the profit with 5). FL on the other hand relates it all in passing in one long paragraph, yet makes it incredibely interesting. You want to know the full story, but it doesn't matter you don't- the anticipation of a story never told rather than the let down of a poor one.
The great thing about F & GM is that the game's the thing- the money is just a convenient way to keep score (and buy wine and female company of course). Who else in a moment of drunken genius would steal an entire house (not squat, STEAL!)?
Bit of a throwback this one and something I would normally have read about twenty years ago, but still, this collection of 4 novels about the adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are written in a high-literary style, reminiscent of the best of Robert E Howard and come recommended if you like the pre-1970's style of sword and sorcery which is invariably darker and distinctly more bloody than its descendents. Generally I prefer the stranger writings of Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith, but this collection still hits the spot. This volume actually contains 4 separate books, of which my favourite is the last, with the totally immersive tale of the ascent of Stardock. Loved it.
J. Neal
OK, the title is hyperbolic but justified. Two things. One, these stories are Sword and Sorcery, more similar to Conan than to Lord of the Rings. Two, they're different from Conan in a number of ways, better in my opinion.
For those who've not heard of them, Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser are, respectively, a northern barbarian and a city slum kid who get together in the third story (the first two stories introducing them seperately.) Despite being two very different people they get on and after tragedy strikes in the third story go wandering off around the world engaging in various types of (usually illegal) business. Thus far they're similar to Conan. But the stories differ in being more cerebal, exotic and entertaining than Conan. Lets face it, Conan's response to any problem is to hit it. Fafhrd and the Mouser do hit things but, and this sounds terrible, are usually more thoughtful about it. What I'm trying to say here is that the appeal of Conan (and I am a fan of Conan) is his brute fury, his barbarian rage. That's not the case here, the characters are far more thoughtful and realistic, they do get angry but it isn't their central characteristic, there's more to them than that.
And the writing is wonderful. Leiber was able to describe the weird, the wonderful and the exotic in ways that hold your interest and never becomes overblown. The world in which Fafhrd and the Mouser live is magical and yet also deeply sordid and decadent and Fafhrd and the Mouser too are ocasionally engaged in sordid and reprehensible deeds. The result is to have a world and heroes which are both more realistic and more entertaining than most of the current crop of Fantasy writers.
These are the best of the Lankhmar stories. The second volume consists of later stories in which Leiber has clearly lost his edge. Despite that, I would reccomend volume 2 to anyone, as Leiber, even not at his best, is far superior to most of the current Fantasy writers around today. But this volume, the best of Leiber's Lankhmar stories - this one's a must.
S. Flaherty
If you wanted proof of Michael Moorcock's contention that all the best, most vigorous epic fantasy prose is American, you only have to read Leiber. Leiber drew his inspiration from Cabell (also American) and Dunsany and was a sophisticated prose stylist. These are some of the funniest and eeriest stories in all epic fantasy. And they are some of the most literate. Fritz Leiber came from a famous acting family and appeared in movies like Camille. He never quite lost his sense of theatricality and that is what makes these stories so palatable. Like Moorcock's, like Cabell's, you can read them on more than one level.
