Swords and Deviltry: Lankhmar, Book 1 | ||||||||
Fritz Leiber | ||||||||
Narrated by Jonathan Davis, unabridged | ||||||||
Brilliance Audio, 7 hours, 40 minutes | ||||||||
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A review by John Ottinger III
The book opens with an induction -- a way of introducing the listener to the world of Lankhmar, an auditory map
of the lands and peoples of Leiber's original fantasy world. From there we move into the first story, "The Snow
Women" which tells of how Fafhrd, a strong barbarian of the steppes, falls in love with Vlana, a southern
prostitute and dancer come to meet the barbarians on their once yearly pilgrimage to the southernmost point of their lands.
The handsome Fafhrd is consumed with Vlana's tales of Lankhmar, and must find a way to escape the matriarchal
society of the barbarian North to reach that fabled city. Always an outsider, Fafhrd finds his release and is
thereby set on a collision course with the Gray Mouser. The story is highly erotic, if a bit slowly paced. It is
more a slice of life description of who Fafhrd was before he became part of the action-adventure duo than a
exciting tale in its own right.
In "The Unholy Grail" the Gray Mouser goes by another name and is wizard's apprentice to Glavas Rho, and illegal
magic user in the lands of Duke Janarl. When the morally wavering Mouser returns from a pilgrimage to find his
master dead and is made captive of Duke Janarl, he uses black magic to confuse his enemies and curse Duke
Janarl to a slow but inevitable death. Near death himself, the Gray Mouser is found by Ivrian, the Duke's
daughter, and nursed back to health through her secret knowledge.
The Gray Mouser is healed, only to be captured by the Duke again. The Gray Mouser stands on a cusp, will he
commit himself to black magic and so live? Or chose white magic and die? Like Fafhrd's story before
it, "The Unholy Grail" describes the transition of a character, but whereas Fafhrd must chose only between life
in the wastes and life in the city, the Gray Mouser must choose between evil and good, and is therefore a
much more exciting story than "The Snow Women."
One night in Lankhmar, two thieves steal gems from the house of Jengao the gem merchant only to be separately
ambushed on their way to the thieves' home by Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Successfully making off with the
gems, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser see the advantages of forming an adventuring partnership (which includes
their lovers) and chose as their first target the Thieves' Guild itself. But their enterprise may be their
undoing when Krovas, Grandmaster of Thieves, retaliates. What a story! Well-deserving of its Nebula and Hugo
awards, it is fresh, exciting and unpredictable, and is why Leiber tales have enjoyed longstanding popularity
since the characters were first introduced in August 1939.
This particular collection is the place to start if you have an interest in sword and sorcery (a term Fritz
Leiber is credited with inventing). "The Snow Women" is rather slowly paced, but will be of interest to readers
as an origin story, and "The Unholy Grail" and "Ill-Met in Lankhmar" are exciting adventures. Leiber has
significant mastery over the adjective, making the stories very vivid in their detail, so the stories translate
very well into audio form. The reader is easily able, with just Leiber's words alone, to see the setting and
action in their mind's eye with relative ease -- though this can also lead to a slowing down of the plot as
reader Jonathan Davies plows through Leiber's voluminous descriptions.
Davies's careful and pleasant baritone gives the story a real life. His men are particularly excellent, with a
wide variance of voices. Davies fails to really capture the women, as his falsettos carry too much of the
masculine in them to really breathe life into Vlana and Ivrian. Still, Davies does make these stories
entertaining with his vocal talents, and I wouldn't mind hearing him paired with a woman for future Leiber collections.
If you like sword and sorcery, action-adventure in a pre-medieval world, then Fritz Leiber's
Swords and Deviltry is an excellent addition to your collection.
John Ottinger III's reviews, interviews and articles have appeared in many publications including Publishers Weekly, Sacramento Book Review, and Tor.com. He is also the proprietor of the science fiction/fantasy review blog Grasping for the Wind. |
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