I have had mixed feelings about this book. Leiber's skill as a writer is fantastic, he paints us wonderful pictures with his words and brings this world to life. He uses irony and humour incredibly well. But his plots aren't always all that. This is an omnibus of four books. The first, Swords And Deviltry was alright, well plotted and fun to read, but the language wasn't as gloriously enjoyable. The second, Swords Against Death, was linguistically great, and improved throughout, but the plots of the stories were pretty thin. I decided after the third iteration of Fafhrd gets magicked and Mouser saves him that I would stop reading, but the next couple of stories picked up. I liked Bazaar of the Bizarre best. In the end though I wanted a change and decided to come back to the last two books another time. ( )

Leiber's Lannkhmar books will always have a place in the fantasy canon. If you haven't tried them, imagine the "Discworld" books done straight & noir. ( )

Originally posted at FanLit.

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 covers like these:


But, four factors made me decide to give Fritz Leiber a try:

I feel the need to be “educated” in the field of fantasy, which means that I should read novels that are out of my normal repertoire.

Rob and Greg are fans (see their reviews) and I tend to enjoy what they enjoy (even though they have Y chromosomes and probably like those covers).

The fantasy shelves are glutted with urban and teen fantasy and I’m feeling a bit nostalgic.
And (this one’s the clincher) Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/swords-and-deviltry-2/
( )

[Review of the first book in the omnibus, 'Swords and Deviltry', only.]
3 stars
Read 17th July 2013
Reasonably entertaining early sword & sorcery from the Fantasy Masterworks series. I may be damming it with faint praise here, but at least A) it's not as dated as many from that period, and B) it's not as self-important as many from that period! It knows how to have some fun, and I quite enjoyed the time I spent with the two likeable protagonists. I wasn't particularly happy with the very ending, but given the time it was written, I won't hold it too much against it.

[Review of the second book in the omnibus, 'Swords Against Death', only]
3 stars
Read 7th August 2013
Enjoyable second book in the Lankhmar series. While a lot of it is fairly standard sword and sorcery stuff, there were some nicely imaginative sections, and a few bits made me grin.

[Review of the third book in the omnibus, 'Swords In The Mist', only.]
3 1/2 stars
Read 30th August 2013
I think I'm beginning to acquire more of a taste for these Lankhmar books. I think it's a case of both the writing getting better as the author goes along (certainly it's more infused with his sly sense of humour, and he's beginning to play more with the possibilities of his world), and me becoming more accustomed to his characters and style. There was one absolute laugh-out-loud moment ("where is the jug?") that still has me grinning :-).

[Review of the fourth book in the omnibus, 'Swords Against Wizardry', only.]
3 1/2 stars
Read 16th September 2013
An amiable conclusion to the First Book of Lankhmar omnibus, with some gripping action sequences (I'm thinking particularly of the trek up the mountains here) and some nicely atmospheric sections, laced through with Leiber's particular brand of humour. (And yatta! I *finally* get to cross this giant doorstop of a book off my 'To Read' list!!!) ( )

http://speculiction.blogspot.com/2012/11/review-of-first-book-of-lankhmar-by.htm... ( )