Swords and Deviltry

Paperback, 256 pages

English language

Published Aug. 2, 1979 by Ace.

ISBN:
978-0-441-79176-7
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4 stars (31 reviews)

[From back cover]

Here is the beginning of the legendary epic that has become a classic of fantasy adventure. At first, they seemed an unlikely pair: Fafhrd, the white-robed princeling of the barbaric cold waste; the Gray Mouser, a wizardling suspended between magic white and black.

Little did they realize, as they suspiciously eyed each other thatn night in murky Lankhmar, that they were two long-sundered, matching halves of a greater hero - that they would be comrades through a thousand quests and a hundred lifetimes of adventures, with their SWORDS AND DEVILTRY.

15 editions

Review of 'Swords and deviltry' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This novel was a bit slow on the uptake but ended with a 'bang'! A clash of cultures, intrigues, trust, and sword fights. All in all it was a speedy and enjoyable adventure. If you enjoy fantasy, Norse tales, and medieval intrigues, this novel will please you. I certainly plan on reading further into the series to see 'what comes next'!

Review of 'Swords and deviltry' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

The start of one of the best sword & sorcery series ever created.

While I personally feel that sword & sorcery heroes don't really need origin stories (Conan did fine without one), there are three presented here. "The Snow Women" introduces Fafhrd, "The Unholy Grail" focuses on The Gray Mouser, and "Ill Met in Lankhmar" shows how the two heroes joined forces.

"Ill Met in Lankhmar" is an absolute classic in the genre, and is a delight to read and re-read. While it left me cold, so to speak, when I first encountered it as a teenager, I gained a whole new appreciation of "The Snow Women" and the fraught gender politics contained within as a married adult.

I found "The Unholy Grail" to be the weakest of the three stories, and that's particularly disappointing given that The Gray Mouser is one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. …

Review of 'Swords and Deviltry' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

I must confess, I had heard of neither Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, nor Fritz Leiber, before I picked up this book. Apparently, he won numerous awards, and is considered by many to have invented the phrase "Sword & Sorcery" as a sub-genre of fantasy.

I wasn't particularly impressed.

This is a collection of three short stories. In the first, The Snow Women, we meet Fafhrd for the first time, as he is struggling to break free of his rural life and experience civilization. I really struggled to into this story, though. The language is INCREDIBLY outdated and obtuse, for a book published in 1970, and Fafhrd's use of it is even more so. I'm aware that Fafhrd's over-the-top way of speaking was meant to be humourous, but I just found it frustrating, annoying, and distracting.

The second story, The Unholy Grail, introduces Mouse, he who is to become the …

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