Fafhrd And The Gray Mouser - Book Four!

Swords Against Wizardry has some of the best Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories every written. It also features the one yarn starring the duo written mostly by their co-creator Otto Fischer. Fischer was a close friend of Fritz Leiber's and the two of them created Fafhrd and the Mouser in a series of letters between buddies.

"In the Witch's Tent" (1968, first publication)

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser consult a witch to get some insight into their future, but their session is interrupted. They get limit info.

"Stardock" (novelette 1965 Fantastic)

This is wonderful adventure which takes our two heroes mountain climbing. It's the highest peak in all Newhon and one that Fafhrd's father, a mountain climber of repute did not master.

Fafhrd, Mouser and their Snowcat make the brutal, painful ascent pursued by enemies. What find at the top of the mountain is at once weird and strange and wonderful. It's also very dangerous. Some of Leiber's best. 

"The Two Best Thieves in Lankhmar" (1968 Fantastic) 

Our duo seek out the two best fences in all Lankhmar and find that their attempts to reap the benefits of their robberies is made more difficult when they don't know all the secrets.

The Lords of Quarmall (novella 1964 Fantastic), with Harry Otto Fischer

This one is an epic of sorts, a story written in part by Fafhrd and Mouser's co-creator. They two find themselves in a distant city-state of Quarmall, a weird internal territory, a city with many levels on which different rules are in play.

Quarmall is a city about to undergo a transition as its leader is dying and his two sons vie for control. They seek constantly to kill one another to achieve mastery over all levels of the city. Mouser and Fafhrd are hired out to the contesting sons, one to each and eventually find their service to odious.

It's a winding and complicated yarn with lots of magic and sorcery as the two heroes try desperately to find a way to save themselves, a few others and perhaps even make a profit in the balance. 

More Swords to come.

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Fafhrd And The Gray Mouser - Book One!

Aside from Conan and the other creations of Robert E. Howard, the most famous sword and sorcery characters in the genre are probably Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser created by Fritz Leiber and his partner Otto Fischer in the mid 30's. The duo began as a romp and in the hands of Leiber became a distinctive and colorful addition to a genre that had not even been named yet. (Leiber himself would do that many years later.)

The Snow Women (Fantastic 1970)

This is Fafhrd's secret origin of sorts, though not so much a secret. We travel to his northern homeland and meet him when he's a very young man, full of passion and certainty and eager to leave the limits of his village and strike out across the world into the unknown. This young Fafhrd is an attractive figure, a smart and savvy and capable fighter who uses his mind as much as his might but who like so many falls victim to love. Torn between two women, but not really all that much, he hooks up with a caravan performer Vlana who steals his heart and the two of them (eventually) leave after much ballyhoo and magical shenanigans from Fafhrd's impressive mother. 

The Unholy Grail (Fantastic 1962)

We meet the Gray Mouser in this story of his youth when his master has been killed by a local baron for reasons that never really make much sense, save that the nobleman is a man of violent passions. Mouser and the baron's daughter Ivrian are in love, though not yet lovers and when Mouser thinks she is the cause of his master's death he goes on a bout of revenge, using the magics he'd learned to make mischief. He's caught eventually but that doesn't end it as eventually the two youngsters find they must leave to find a way for themselves. 

Ill Met in Lankhmar (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction 1970)

One of the greatest sword and sorcery stories of all time, this tale relates how Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser first meet and become lifelong partners in adventure. Lankhmar is a decadant city which is a rich environment for the urbane and sardonic misadventures Leiber wants to create. Fafhrd and his beloved Vlana and Mouser and his best girl Ivrian meet each other when the two heroes waylay two thieves who themselves have just done some work stealing some lovely gems. This brings the ire of the Thieves Guild down on the two heroes which employs a magician to weave a murky and dangerous spell. Despite the fact the two heroes infiltrate the Guild itself they are unable to stop the magic from having a tragic consequence for their two lady loves. The passing of these two remarkable women will linger in the souls of our heroes for the balance of the series in some shape or other. Needless to say, the two heroes get some measure of revenge.

Robert E. Howard's heroes were brawny instinctive types with little regard for the niceties of civilized life. A full-figured wench and a full cup were all they required of the cities they sometimes roamed in or even on occasion ruled. But Fafhrd and Mouser are products of civilization, despite Fafhrd's upbringing. He's not comfortable there really, but he seems to find his own in the decadent cities of Newhon alongside his comrade Mouser. It's apparently suggested if not stated somewhere that Leiber intended Lankhmar to be New York City and that makes sense given the hectic lifestyles and blend of cultures it houses. Leiber's heroes are witty and even urbane, far from the glowering tight-lipped swordsmen the genre usually generates.

More Swords to come. 

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