Fritz Leiber

[bropous]

Going through more of the old authors who are seeing a bit of a Renaissance:

Fritz Leiber and his "Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser" series.

"Swords and Deviltry" has been reissued, and I do recommend the series. Kind of a tale of two run-of-the-mill fellows in a medieval type fantasy world. No royal intrigue, no competing powers and fulfillments of ancient prophecies. Fafhrd and Grey Mouser just live their lives in the City of a Thousand Smokes, stealing or renting out their services as they just try to get by.

The fact that no magical weapon or long-lost heir to the throne was involved made the books rather refreshing when I read them back in the 70s. I'm glad to see that Fritz' works are making a comeback.

[brownjenkins]

He was a favorite back in my early school years. I'll have to pick up a copy, as it has been ages since I read them.

[Earniel]

Hm, I think I've actually read some of this. Did those two characters also feature in one or two short stories? I think I've come across one or two in fantasy anthologies.

[GrayMouser]

That's Gray Mouser, thank you very much- Leiber was American.

My favourites, obviously. There are enough short stories to fill six volumes, plus one novel. The time frame is more Hellenistic than medieval, I think- the one story set in our world was in Alexandrian times.

More light-hearted than Conan, way more cynical than Tolkien, and like everything Leiber wrote, always some kinky sex. What's not to like?

[ringbearer]

A good read by my account...just great stories...find them and read them!