Swords Against Death

The Adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser

By: Fritz Leiber

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Neil Gaiman (introduction)

Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Neil Gaiman Presents: the second book in Fritz Leiber's classic sword-and-sorcery series.

In Swords Against Death, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser journey from the ancient city of Lankhmar, searching for a little adventure and debauchery to ease their broken hearts. When a stranger challenges them to find and fight Death on the Bleak Shore, they battle demonic birds, living mountains, and evil monks on the way to their heroic fate.

The late Fritz Leiber's tales of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser launched the sword-and-sorcery genre, and were the inspiration for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons.

BONUS AUDIO: Includes an exclusive introduction by Neil Gaiman.

Epic edge: download more tales of Lankhmar.

©1995 The Estate of Fritz Leiber (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The two of them are the finest and most wonderful team in the history of sword and sorcery." (Neil Gaiman)
"Fritz Leiber's tales of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are virtually a genre unto themselves. Urbane, idiosyncratic, comic, erotic and human, spiked with believable action and the eerie creations of a master fantasist!" (William Gibson)

I Kept Wanting It To Get Better!

It was almost like every sentence was written in paragraph style with the point being made left to the very end and then not very interesting for the long journey. It was like Dorothy swirling around in the hurricane expecting to find the road to Emerald City but only finding the road to 7-Eleven.

Regrettably, it was tedious to listen to and I've given up on the series after this Book 2.

Unexceptional sword-and-sorcery fantasy

Fun, and it's supposed to be a classic, but the standards of the genre are low enough that only the best is even tolerable. I might pick up another one when stranded in an airport or some such, but I won't seek it out.

I adore Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser

I've read and re-read these artful, unique, often comic sword & sorcery tales set in the city of Lankhmar and the world of Newhon many times.
I treasure them.

Not as good as Deviltry

The second installment of the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser saga did not disappoint. What I really enjoyed in Swords against Death was the introduction of Fafhrd and Mousers unusual mentors, the mysterious wizards/warlocks Sheelba of the eyeless face and Ningauble of the seven eyes.

I love Neil Gaiman, but...

I chose this audiobook based on his rave reviews. After listening to it two audiobooks on half price sale, I decided it was better to get them from the library.

Even after that it was hard finishing them. Neil's memories of these are a bit more romanticized in his reflections as an adult. I think there are better books for my valuable credit.

The mouser and his companions adventurers simply weren't anything tremendous to write home about.

They were okay. Not a dud. But at $20 or even $12 a book its a bit pricey.

Dated Swords & Sorcery

This short story collection was amazing for its time, but is better in memory than when read today. In part, this is a result of it being an anthology, so lacking a through-line. But in part it's a result of changes (and frankly advances) in the way that heroic fantasy is written.

Useful for its historical importance, but otherwise not a book that I would choose today.

Classical rogue

Swords Against Death is the second collection of stories about Fafhrd, the big northern barbarian, and The Gray Mouser, the small thief from the slums. For the past three years, the two have grown so close that they are now (as Neil Gaiman suggests in his introduction to the audio version) like two halves of the same person. They???ve been traveling the world together in an effort to forget their lost loves.

During their travels ???they acquired new scars and skills, comprehensions and compassions, cynicisms and secrecies ??? a laughter that lightly mocked, and a cool poise that tightly crusted all inner miseries,??? but they haven???t been able to assuage their guilt or lessen their feelings of loss outside of Lankhmar, the city which they swore never to return to.

But as Sheelba of the Eyeless Face prophesied (???Never and forever are neither for men. You???ll be returning again and again.???), Fafhrd and the Mouser are persuaded to return to Lankhmar where, it turns out, they have not been forgotten, and soon the duo is back to their old tricks and dealing with their former enemies in these stories: ???The Circle Curse,??? ???The Jewels in the Forest,??? ???Thieves??? House,??? ???The Bleak Shore,??? ???The Howling Tower,??? ???The Sunken Land,??? ???The Seven Black Priests,??? ???Claws from the Night,??? ???The Price of Pain-Ease,??? and ???Bazaar of the Bizarre.???

Some of the stories are better than others (my favorite was ???Bazaar of the Bizarre???) but all are ???classical rogue??? (Neil Gaiman???s term) and all are worth reading simply because they???re written in Fritz Leiber???s gorgeous prose, which is thick with alliteration, insight, and irony.

Jonathan Davis who does a terrific job with this series. His voices for Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are perfect ??? Fafhrd sounds pensive, intellectual, and introverted while Gray Mouser sounds a bit greasy and common. I highly recommend this format; it adds an extra dimension to these fun stories.

Better than book 1...

I still can't seem to connect with these two characters. It's possible that it's something to do with the narrator, though I thought he did a great job on Snow Crash...and he certainly doens't lack experience... Maybe it's just a hard book to read aloud. I dunno...but from chapter to chapter...it doesn't seem like these characters are developing. I don't like or dislike them...I just feel like I don't know them...and almost like they're different characters every time a new chapter starts.

Also still find the stories to be...missing some depth...and some are boring (yes, I know some are just to lead to others), and strange to say about fantasy...but some things are not terribly believable.

But as I said in my review of book 1, I'm just coming off of Jordan's Wheel of Time and Martin's Song of Ice and Fire...maybe just hard to compete with that. And maybe I'm expecting this to be one epic saga...and maybe it's just not...or at least not in the way I'm used to...

I would give this a 3.5, but not a 4 (so it gets a 3). And sorry, but I don't give credit for the "Citizen Kane factor" - I sat through it in film class and listened to the professor tell me how great it was...but as a movie compared to other movies I like, Citizen Kane was boring, slow moving, and had a boring ending - however groundbreaking and innovative it was for the time.

That said...there are plenty of good things about this book... and I'm going to go get book 3 now.

I Really Enjoyed it

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 :)

Best Sword and Sorcery out There

Any additional comments?

This the best Sword and Sorcery ever written. The stories seem to go by really fast and I can't wait to read more, I just need audible to put more of them on sale.