Swords in the Mist
The Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories, Book 3
Fritz Leiber
Open Road Media
Fiction, Adventure/Collection/Fantasy
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: From a malevolent mist prowling the streets of Lankhmar to a mysterious rendezvous on the floor of the wild sea, from the mythic lands of Nehwon to ancient classical Earth,
northern swordsman Fafhrd and his little thief companion the Gray Mouser write new chapters in their ongoing legend.
REVIEW: Like previous installments, Leiber weaves tales of wild imagination and grand adventure, the stuff on which sword and sorcery fantasy was built, all overlaid with more than a little humor, both between the characters and in an overall sense of winking at the grandiose nature of the subgenre. (It also, like a lot of classic sword and sorcery, has broad swathes of sexism and some racism worked into its DNA, which do not age particularly well.) Unlike the last two collections, though, these - with one exception - aren't really standalones, but become a somewhat drawn out single tale that meanders here and there and everywhere, even bringing the heroes to a fantastical version of Earth's own ancient history as the characters (despite themselves) take further steps on the road from ordinary adventurers to immortalized archetypes of song and story. It really doesn't help when this particular tale grinds in the sexism and objectification of women. There's still a sense of fun, particularly in their ill-fated adventure on Lankhmar's fiercely competitive Street of the Gods, but the characters are just plain more enjoyable in shorter adventurers (and smaller doses) than in longer works - especially longer works with as thin a backbone as the one they clamber along in this outing.
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Swords and Deviltry (Fritz Leiber) - My Review
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