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bobbyzee's review against another edition
5.0
So far I loved every single Fafhrd and Grey Mouser story collection by Leiber, but this one contains the magnificent "Lords of Quarmall" story, which is as funny and hilarious as anything in Jack Vance's Dying Earth series. Highly recommended if you like sword and sorcery genre!
cwebb's review against another edition
4.0
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser enttäuschen nicht. Auch nicht im Kampf gegen Wizards. Naja, vielleicht davor im Vergleich mit Frauen...
jorgefernandez's review against another edition
5.0
Mega entretenido. Lo he disfrutado como un gorrino en su cochiquera. Ya tengo listo el siguiente que dicen es el mejor de la saga.
es42's review against another edition
4.0
The short "In the Witch's Tent" is great... and so is the long "The Lords of Quarmall"! "Stardock", the other long-format offering in this volume tends to move very slowly, following our heroic duo as they scale the titular mountain peak Stardock. "The Two Best Thieves in Lankhmar" is a fun ride.
luana420's review against another edition
4.0
A more confident Lieber here, dedicating a full 60 pages on a mountain climbing story, and with some self-reflecting looks on the (seemingly) inherent immaturity of the genre: our boastful hero pair are bested by a sapphic duo they wouldn't give the light of day, and an actually funny rape joke (!) in Lords of Quarmall, with Fafhrd in despair over why women keep assuming that is his intent.
Lords of Quarmall also featured 10,000 words by Harry Otto Fischer, Leiber's pal who was the inspiration for Grey Mouser (if I am not mistaken), and as far as I know the only actual Fischer prose I've read. It's certainly on Leiber's level with its gothic debauchery and spider-haunted ruins housing wretched scions of decaying dynasties that, hey, F & GM find themselves working for cuz ya gotta make a buck in this world.
I honestly would have given it the full five stars if I wasn't so dang bad at parsing geographical descriptions, making Stardock (the mountain story) as much of a challenge reading it as it is climbing it.
Now, if only we'd had more stories of Nemia and Eyes doin' hustles and making out...
Lords of Quarmall also featured 10,000 words by Harry Otto Fischer, Leiber's pal who was the inspiration for Grey Mouser (if I am not mistaken), and as far as I know the only actual Fischer prose I've read. It's certainly on Leiber's level with its gothic debauchery and spider-haunted ruins housing wretched scions of decaying dynasties that, hey, F & GM find themselves working for cuz ya gotta make a buck in this world.
I honestly would have given it the full five stars if I wasn't so dang bad at parsing geographical descriptions, making Stardock (the mountain story) as much of a challenge reading it as it is climbing it.
Now, if only we'd had more stories of Nemia and Eyes doin' hustles and making out...
angrywombat's review against another edition
2.0
These two are a fairly reliable fantasy duo. In this collection of 3 short stories and a novella they get up to their usual hijinks. :)
*** In the Witches Tent: sees Fafhrd trying to get help from a shaman to tell them what the future holds, and Mouser is the usual cynic :) They get some vague predictions, and a fantastic ambush :)
**** Stardock: sees them trying to climb a dangerous mountain in search of, what else, gems and women. Sure its a little out there, but I really could feel the cold and exertion of the mountain climb :)
** The Two Best Thieves in Lankhmar: sees the wool pulled over their eyes by even better con-men. Actually felt a bit meh to be honest.
* The Lords of Quarmall: is actually a collaboration between two authors. This story was a drudge to read and a letdown. Something that is now well established, that Fafhrd and Grey Mouser cannot operate apart, and are quite annoying and boring when not able to bounce ideas and commentry off each other.
*** In the Witches Tent: sees Fafhrd trying to get help from a shaman to tell them what the future holds, and Mouser is the usual cynic :) They get some vague predictions, and a fantastic ambush :)
**** Stardock: sees them trying to climb a dangerous mountain in search of, what else, gems and women. Sure its a little out there, but I really could feel the cold and exertion of the mountain climb :)
** The Two Best Thieves in Lankhmar: sees the wool pulled over their eyes by even better con-men. Actually felt a bit meh to be honest.
* The Lords of Quarmall: is actually a collaboration between two authors. This story was a drudge to read and a letdown. Something that is now well established, that Fafhrd and Grey Mouser cannot operate apart, and are quite annoying and boring when not able to bounce ideas and commentry off each other.
cwebb's review against another edition
4.0
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser enttäuschen nicht. Auch nicht im Kampf gegen Wizards. Naja, vielleicht davor im Vergleich mit Frauen...
iliapop's review against another edition
3.0
A book of two halves – the first story about a climb up a mountain peak is dreary, but the second about the intrigues in an underground wizard kingdom is more exciting. Although Leiber's plots are mostly designed to build to an ironic climax that can be guessed way in advance, his facility with language and delight with the grotesque make the second story The Lords of Quarmall worth persevering with, although the allusions to rape and the sexualisation of young women make it grim reading in parts.