Fritz Leiber's Return to Lankhmar

Rating:
Summary: Worth Reading If Only For Leiber's Wit And Prose
Review: Essentially two relatively brief novels with six short stories intermixed between, Leiber continues the adventures of two of the most original characters to grace fantasy fiction, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Though after reading "Ill Met in Lankhmar" and "Lean Times in Lankhmar" Leiber's at times over-worked prose is beginning here to wear thin, he nonetheless retains an ability for vividly worded description and a well-turned phrase that sets his work apart from other fantasy fiction. Ever inventive in plot, Leiber is even able to construct a war between Lankmar's human inhabitants and underworld rats and pull it off, creating the best fable of human and rodent relationships since the "Pied Piper of Hamlin."

While I would agree with an earlier reviewer regarding the last two tales included--"The Frost Monstreme" and "Rime Island"--I would have to say that at least four of the included short stories are insubstantial, including "The Sadness of the Executioner" lauded below. Further, there has been better rounded works in fantasy published since Leiber wrote this series. Nonetheless, this belongs on any serious fantasy afficianado's reading list; though, being out of print, one may need to undergo some effort to find it.

Rating:
Summary: Men of High Adventure and Low Character Triumph!
Review: Fritz Leiber was a fantasy writer when that genre existed in people's minds, Jeckyll and Hyde style, as either the Christian allegories of the Inklings (C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams) or the garish pulp of Edgar Rice Burroughs or Robert E. Howard. Leiber, no shrinking violet, considered himself the literary equivilent of the former but embraced the visceral stylings of the latter. Indeed, the Lankhmar books, Leiber's penultimate achievement, are a much more enjoyable read when one has seen Leiber's notes and commentary on his contemporaries and predecessors.

This is why White Wolf Publishing's new collection of Leiber's Lankhmar tales is such a fine accomplishment. In addition to the stories themselves, a number of Leiber forwards, postscripts, correspondence, and related writings are included in each volume, giving the readers rare and valuable insight into the author of these fantasy favorites. Indeed, the heart of any literary fan must go aflutter at the possibilities when Leiber writes off-hand about his near-attempts to write stories based on the Cthulhu mythos of contemporary and friend H.P. Lovecraft. Those musings, along with the greatest of Leiber's works, "Swords of Lankhmar", and others are included in this third part of White Wolf's reissue.

"Return to Lankhmar" is, far and away, the most enjoyable and engaging of White Wolf's Lankhmar compendium, both for the casual scholar and voracious fantasy reader. "Swords of Lankhmar", apart from being Leiber's greatest story, is one of the high watermarks in fantasy literature all together - a mix of action, wit, and self-reference that is sure to win over the hearts of any fans of the genre. A must on anyone's "To Read" fantasy list and a book (indeed the whole series) that should find a home on the shelf of any fan.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent fantasy, well worth seeking out
Review: It's been quite a while since Leiber's "Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser" stories were in print. This volume, the third in the series, contains "The Swords of Lanhkmar", the only novel featuring the two, and a selection of (some insubstantial) short stories.

There's no denying that Leiber has a wonderful talent, combining wit, intrigue, passion, and that the two characters are probably the most "human" duo in fantasy. The plots are consistently interesting, and the series benefits from it's evolution over 30 years of writing it. The earliest of the series ("Adept's Gambit", appearing in Volume 2 of this series) was praised by none other than the Great Master himself, H.P. Lovecraft - no higher recommendation is possible.

"The Swords of Lankhmar" first appeared in a paperback form, way back in 1968 - at the highest tide of Tolkien's popularity. Mr. Leiber MUST have been rankled that his thirty-years-in-the-making saga was then and forever to remain eclipsed by "The Lord of the Rings". He leaves a very bitter taste in one's mouth by comparing, in the author's introduction, his own work and characters, favorably, to Tolkien, as well as to Robert E. Howard's "Conan" and Burroughs's "Tarzan". Not to take anything away from Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, but for the AUTHOR to compare them to the vast sweep of creation of "The Lord of the Rings", itself evolved over a thirty-year-PLUS period, is evidence enough of his hard feelings, but to lump in Conan and Tarzan as well shows he must have felt sorely short-changed.

I would have enjoyed the book a bit more if the author's introduction had simply given some background and acknowledged those fans who kept his work alive and growing over those many years. I suspect Fafhrd himself would tell Mr. Leiber to quit whining and enjoy the fame and fans he has.

Rating:
Summary: Black rats ? White shadows. The Mouser goes Below.
Review: Set mostly within Lankhmar - Above and Below - The Swords of Lankhmar is the obvious one here for maximum entertainment value, incorporating lots of great characters, F.L's passion for contact sports, and the Twains' willingness to indulge in such, given opportunity - yet always ready to defend Lankhmar, if coincident with their own interests. This is a book in its own right, with a huge amount of detail and plot for a hair over two hundred pages. A short mid section comprising a half dozen very short stories, leads onto, The Frost Monstreme and Rime Isle ( two parts of a novella, precursor to the fourth volume of the set, Farewell to Lankhmar). Reviews that I have read regarding these last two stories describe them as being below par, and drab. I don't agree with this at all. They are of the same quality as, The Swords of Lankhmar, except Lankhmar isn't much a part of the picture, and the cast of characters aren't as dramatically differentiated: No eight teated rat-queen (Hisvet), white-hot-wire whip wielding mistress ( Samanda), invisible girl-ghoul ( Bonny-bones), bat-carrier albatross, Glipkerio, Skwee, etc. F. L's use of language, and ability to integrate a lot of unlikely themes - not so much the Twains' use of weapons - are the primary factors, which make these stories work so well today. I'm not saying that it's style over content, but without it, they would come across as pulp adventure tales, for which they were geared towards in the first place, and where in-depth character development was inappropriate. So whilst the last two stories are, in essence, as good as the first of the book, with respect to style and construction, they lack colour due to the reduction in location and up-front character dynamics, needing more of the character insight details as used in, The Mouser goes Below (Farewell to Lankhmar ), to compensate.