Swords and Deviltry

Fafhrd/Gray Mouser

Thank you Audible for making Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd/Gray Mouser series available. The narrator Jonathan Davis does an outstanding job of bringing life to this saga. Mr. Leiber was such a wonderful wordsmith. Listening to this series is such a treat after reading them all 25+ years ago. Highly recommend this book (and others in the set) to those who enjoy 'high adventure, sorcery and witchery' and lots of dialogue.

35 of 36 people found this review helpful

Pleasantly surprised

What made the experience of listening to Swords and Deviltry the most enjoyable?

I wasn't sure what to expect from this, but it was quite enjoyable. There are no pretenses of being anything more than a good adventure story that happens to be set in an world where magic and sorcery is real. While describing a vivid and diverse imaginary setting, it avoids the tedium of an overly complex mythology (which many writers since Tolkien have attempted, but few have succeeded). The characters are interesting (although perhaps with a level of development meant to appeal primarily to a male, young adult, readership). The female characters are mostly consorts, conquests and occasional foils for the male protagonists. The plot is somewhat predictable, but the skillful storytelling makes it enjoyable nonetheless.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Swords and Deviltry?

Fafhrd's rocket-assisted ski jump was laugh-out-loud funny.

What about Jonathan Davis and Neil Gaiman (introduction) ’s performance did you like?

This was the first reading by Davis that I've listened to. The characterizations were quite good and I was able to distinguish the characters without much trouble.

12 of 12 people found this review helpful

Classic Fantasy

Written long before Fantasy had become a genre, these aew classic fantasy stories. While these stories have been placed in internal chronological order, it is important to realize that these were stories written, not as an epic fantasy like LOTR or Game of Thrones, but as short stories, more akin to the Conan stories. Soem are long on style and short on plot, but they bring you into the minds and the world of these two intriguing characters. Marvelously read, I look forward to reading the second installment.

12 of 13 people found this review helpful

All in all a pretty good book

While this will likely never be on the top of my favorites list, it is a solid novel with well developed characters. The story line blends a classic Conan-type genre with a bit of the dry sense of humor you can find in the more serious parts of a Terry Pratchett novel.
I will likely get the second book in the near future...

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

Leiber's best is in this one, enjoy!

What did you love best about Swords and Deviltry?

I first read about Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser in high school. The years have past, yet I was pleased to see the story was as enjoyable as I remembered. A definite addition to your collection ... if you enjoy reading about lovable rouges forging strong friendships while experiencing fascinating adventures. The Snow Women, and the Unholy Grail are fun, but the Hugo and Nebula winning "Ill Met in Lankhmar" is a personal favorite.

What about Jonathan Davis and Neil Gaiman (introduction) ’s performance did you like?

As a good narrator should, the performance only added to the story.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

great syfy fantasy

What made the experience of listening to Swords and Deviltry the most enjoyable?

The story itself was really great. I wanted it to keep going.

What did you like best about this story?

The characters were compelling, The storyline was a good mix of futurism and Arthurian-like fantasy. I liked the combination of action and weird almost-romanticism. The two main characters are people you really want to follow into the next book.

What does Jonathan Davis and Neil Gaiman (introduction) bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Neil Gaiman gave a perspective and history to the story you might not have otherwise known and Jonathan Davis has the perfect voice for this type of story, much like John Hurt in the "merlin" TV series.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes! Like all good books, it was hard to put down.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Great Storytelling

I really enjoyed this story and will probably go through the entire series :) The story starts of honed to a sharp edge without a wasted word and I enjoyed the way the way the asthetic of the storytelling was interwoven with the setting in the cold dark North. Then the storyline and action picked up as the setting moved onto the hot and humid southern regions, this is classic storytelling at it's best :)

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Not just for men!

I must confess that I had some preconceived notions about Fritz Leiber???s work. Because he???s credited with coining the phrase ???Sword & Sorcery,??? and because I never hear women talking about his stories, I imagined that they appealed mainly to men who like to read stuff that has warrior babes on the covers.

But when I saw this on audio (finally), I decided to give it a try because it's classic fantasy literature.
So, I put Swords and Deviltry on my MP3 player and pressed play. Within two minutes, I was completely enthralled. The first part of the novel (which is really a compilation of short stories) tells the tale of Fafhrd???s liberation from the taboos, close-mindedness, and ???icy morality??? of his mother and clan (and the girl he got pregnant) in the northern wastes. He yearns for civilization, and finally gets a chance to ???escape this stupid snow world and its man-chaining women??? with a beautiful showgirl.

The second section introduces us to Mouse, who is apprenticed to the white magician Glavas Rho, but who feels the pull of the black arts ??? ???the magic which stemmed from death and hate and pain and decay, which dealt in poisons and night-shrieks, which trickled down from the black spaces between the stars...??? A murder and a betrayal force Mouse over the brink and he restyles himself as The Gray Mouser.

I was engrossed in the tales of both of these young men, so when the audiobook reader (the excellent Jonathan Davis) finally said ???Chapter 4: Ill Met in Lankhmar,??? I felt a thrill of delight! Of course I???m familiar with the name of this Nebula (1970) and Hugo (1971) award-winning novella, and I knew I???d be reading it in Swords and Deviltry, but for the first time the name had real significance for me and I couldn???t wait to witness the meeting of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. And it was, as promised, a lot of fun.

20 of 25 people found this review helpful

Sleepy time

Its a good book, I like the story. But the narration was done in this tinny quality that was not good. I don't know if it was the readers performance or the sound quality or both, but It would make me zone out and fall asleep. I would wake up some chapters later, or just realize I was thinking about something else not absorbing what was happening in the book. I am really not sure what happened in certain parts. I want to read more of these books but it will be a total waste if they have this same hypnotizing and sleep inducing qualities.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

How we were meant to read Fantasy

I really don't know how i missed this author for so long. Mr.Leiber truely was a master of his craft. This is fantasy in its purest form. After listening to the first 3 of the novels in the series, I now realize that most of the previous "sword and sorcery" style fantasy authors i have read to date are simply pale imitators, all striving to capture or reproduce what Mr. Leiber has created.

These novels raise the bar to a new level that most fantasy authors will rarely achieve.

That being said, the narration is decent, but not spectacular. The narrator often seems confused as to which minimally varied tone he has assigned to which character. Since there are often only 2 main characters in many of the stories, his confusion is less then laudable.

19 of 26 people found this review helpful