March Books 11) Swords in the Mist
11) Swords in the Mist, by Fritz Leiber
The third of the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser novels, or the first half of the second of the more recent reprints, but basically a fix-up of short stories first published in 1963, 1959, 1960 and 1947 - the last of these is actually set in our universe rather than that of Lankhmar, and takes up half the book, though is fairly standard stuff.
The best story is the one set in Lankhmar itself - "Lean Times In Lankhmar" - and has Fafhrd take up ascetic devotion to a deity called Issek of the Jug, while the Mouser gets hired by the city's top religious protection racketeer. Various fantasy conventions and real-life targets are satirically skewered, and of course we know our heroes will escape with their lives in the end, but the ride is worthwhile.
The third of the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser novels, or the first half of the second of the more recent reprints, but basically a fix-up of short stories first published in 1963, 1959, 1960 and 1947 - the last of these is actually set in our universe rather than that of Lankhmar, and takes up half the book, though is fairly standard stuff.
The best story is the one set in Lankhmar itself - "Lean Times In Lankhmar" - and has Fafhrd take up ascetic devotion to a deity called Issek of the Jug, while the Mouser gets hired by the city's top religious protection racketeer. Various fantasy conventions and real-life targets are satirically skewered, and of course we know our heroes will escape with their lives in the end, but the ride is worthwhile.