Swords Against the Shadowland: The Eighth Book of Lankhmar (Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser 8)

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Original provenance was lost through preliminary processing, so the order imposed on the Fritz Leiber Papers is artificial and reflects the major categories discovered during final processing.

1998 novels

For more information, please refer to the series descriptions. Special Collections owns the physical items in our collections, but copyright normally belongs to the creator of the materials or their heirs. The researcher has full responsibility for determining copyright status, locating copyright holders, and abiding by current copyright laws when publishing or displaying copies of Special Collections material in print or electronic form.

Ace Books books

For more information, consult the appropriate librarian. The collection was donated to the University of Houston by Fritz Leiber and Justin Leiber, his son, between and Additional correspondence between Fritz Leiber and Franklin C. MacKnight was donated by Dr. Accessing Materials Described Here. Guide to the Fritz Leiber Papers. University of Houston Libraries M. This series includes correspondence between Fritz Leiber and friends, editors, and fans with the largest series being between Fritz Leiber and his friends Harry Otto Fischer and F. Correspondence is filed alphabetically by the last name of the correspondent, then by written or inferred date.

Partially dated or undated materials are filed behind all dated materials. This series contains handwritten or typed notes for various Fritz Leiber stories. Notes are filed alphabetically by the title of the work. Unidentifiable notes are filed last. Fritz Leiber's manuscripts and typescripts filed alphabetically by title.

The comic strip artwork to accompany this typescript can be found in Box Tear sheets or full issues of periodicals containing Fritz Leiber's work. Arranged alphabetically by publication title, then by story or article title. Photocopies may have been substituted when original was too fragile to use.

Rod Serling's Triple W: Witches, Warlocks, and Werewolves - Hatchery of Dreams. The San Francisco Sunday Examiner: California Living - Stalking Sam Spade. Reviews of Fritz Leiber works, written by others. Filed alphabetically by story title. Fritz Leiber's reviews of other authors' science fiction, fantasy, or literary works.

The former is a top-notch tale of youth and magic in the frozen north, keenly demonstrating the fantastic and unique vision which Leiber is capable of delivering. The latter, although strongly crafted, is a somewhat weaker tale — its plot more commonplace in its conception.

It is also a powerfully tragic story, and its strength is best described by the fact that it represented my strongest memory of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser before returning to the series.

Much of this volume, however, is thoroughly pedestrian. Although, in their favor, I will note that these all have their moments of fantastic vision. The last, however, is a very thin pastiche. It would be more accurate to simply describe them as bad. The third volume is even more uneven than the second. On the one hand, it arguably contains the two best stories in the series: Its characters keep you enthralled while its fanciful premise is cleverly worked into an utterly hilarious conclusion.

It reminds me strongly of Terry Pratchett at his finest. Both stories play out across a fantastic and vividly imagined landscape populated with strange cultures and larger-than-life characters. These two tales give Swords Against Wizardry perhaps the strongest base of any volume in the series.

This is, in fact, the only stand-alone novel in the series.

It tells the sprawling saga of an attempted invasion of a most unusual size and character aimed against the great city of Lankhmar. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, of course, almost single-handedly turn back this invasion — although the path they take is anything but simple or straight-forward.

The Swords of Lankhmar is not the best story told of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, but it is perhaps the greatest. The expanded format allows Leiber a chance to stretch his muscles, and he accepts the challenge admirably by weaving a tapestry not only expansive in its imaginings but detailed in its fancies.

Perhaps the most intriguing thing to me about this novel is the clear inheritance its narrative receives from fairy tales. And it is perhaps this, more than anything else, which gives these stories a unique distinction in the field. Unfortunately, after The Swords of Lankhmar the series appears to have spent its creativity. Swords and Ice Magic , the sixth volume, is largely an unimaginative regurgitation of the themes, plots, and characters found earlier in the series.

In fact, they are all essentially the same story: Distant powers or gods attempt to kill Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, who — for their part — accept the improbable with stoic complacency while thoroughly and effortlessly thwarting the attempts each time. Unfortunately, this is also a story which was told twice before in these collections. Fortunately, things then take a slight turn for the better.

Swords Against Death

Although still flawed by an increasingly rambling style, self-conscious commentary, and regurgitation of plot and imagery, this story still has a lot to offer: Clever interactions of character, epic sensibility, charming wit, and wondrous feats are offered up with a melancholic flair. Sadly, however, that is the end of it.

This last collection of stories offers nothing but an imagination apparently spent.

Shuffling around characters and devices already well-worn beyond any effective use. The only difference to be found is that Leiber pulls his reused material from a larger portion of the series, rather than a single story.

• Zapphyra
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• Killing Krause: A novel
• War
• Hartes Brot - Altes Brot ist nicht hart, kein Brot, das ist hart! (Neues Wissen 2) (German Edition)