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samuelsarel's review against another edition
adventurous
4.0
Adventure. Understand why these are part of the Appendix N reads.
bukittyan's review against another edition
2.0
I liked the writing style and the dialogue, but something about this book kept putting me to sleep.
mebius's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
jorgefernandez's review against another edition
2.0
Se nota mucho desgaste en los personajes y las historias que nos dejan en este último volumen son bastante pobres. El viaje ha llegado a su fin y ha sido una aventura fantástica.
jonmhansen's review against another edition
4.0
Odd, coming back to characters you haven't read in so very very long. But it's also a fixup, the story of our heroes as they settle down. A bit disjointed, but still enjoyable.
jasonmehmel's review against another edition
4.0
If you haven't read a previous book in the series, don't start here!
Although it lacked the verve of the adventures from all of the previous stories, there is a kind of bravery here, to write a closing book that also somehow avoids answering everything. This does feel like the ending that these characters would get to; it feels like a natural progression even if it's a departure from the established prose.
And although the stories lack the same kind of adventure we'd come to expect, it's always clear we're in the hands of a playful and accomplished writer; ever paragraph is interesting and well-written. The prose compels you as much as the adventure might have.
(I rescind my previous advice; it would be fascinating to read this book and then comb through the other adventures... knowing where they're going but still enjoying how they get there.)
Although it lacked the verve of the adventures from all of the previous stories, there is a kind of bravery here, to write a closing book that also somehow avoids answering everything. This does feel like the ending that these characters would get to; it feels like a natural progression even if it's a departure from the established prose.
And although the stories lack the same kind of adventure we'd come to expect, it's always clear we're in the hands of a playful and accomplished writer; ever paragraph is interesting and well-written. The prose compels you as much as the adventure might have.
(I rescind my previous advice; it would be fascinating to read this book and then comb through the other adventures... knowing where they're going but still enjoying how they get there.)
jeremyhornik's review against another edition
3.0
LOVED this series as a teen, but never saw this one. Enjoyable. Lots of modifiers, and lavishly written. Straight up pornographic in a couple of scenes in the middle, which makes me wonder: did that go right past me as a teen, or is this the work of a kinky old man? Either is possible.
jeninenine's review against another edition
3.0
Good fun. I hadn't read any Fahfrd and the Grey Mouser stories before, although I had heard of them. The alien/antique language and rascally heroes reminded me of Vance.
jgkeely's review against another edition
2.0
Unfortunately, the last few collections of Leiber's epic series cannot measure up to his earlier stories. In this volume, he once again refrains from the short, punchy stories which won him fame. Instead, he writes a single slow-going, bloated story originally released in chapters, which means Leiber is constantly reminding us what we're reading and what happened.
As we chart the ebb of Leiber's once-voracious imagination, each book has less semblance of plot, moving sluggishly between unimportant problems and convenient solutions. Leiber's heroes have grown older and settled down, but even so, he doesn't provide us anything new to carry the plot to take the place of their lost derring-do.
A charming portrait of their dotage might have been an amusing and satisfying conclusion to our heroes' lives, but we don't get that. Instead, we get more of Leiber's fetishism, meaning allusions to orgies, whole-body shaving, awkward euphemisms for anal sex, and even some teen lesbian teasing. He does momentarily ask us to consider what The Mouser and Fafhrd's relationship might have been, if they were more than friends, but this brief aside hardly balances the otherwise one-sided sexuality.
We also get more of his poetry, which isn't pretty, though I was taken aback by the way he dropped in the four-letter words. I don't mind such good Anglo-Saxon language, but it didn't make his awkward verse any more palatable.
If he seemed like Pratchett in the former volume, this one has taken a half-step into sex farce. Unfortunately, a sex farce is not something that should be done halfway.
Little remains of the bold characterization or striking language that marked the height of his talents. The growing cast of undifferentiated characters (including a gaggle of sexy teen girls) muddles about the dull, cold island trying to solve a problem whose source is never clear and whose solution provides little in the way of a conclusion.
The simplest definition of plot may be 'things happen', but woe to the author who takes that too literally. Leiber's early stories are some of the most delightful, imaginative, and varied in the genre, but the latter are mere shades, faltering in a mummer's dance of a glory that they cannot recapture.
My List of Suggested Fantasy Books
As we chart the ebb of Leiber's once-voracious imagination, each book has less semblance of plot, moving sluggishly between unimportant problems and convenient solutions. Leiber's heroes have grown older and settled down, but even so, he doesn't provide us anything new to carry the plot to take the place of their lost derring-do.
A charming portrait of their dotage might have been an amusing and satisfying conclusion to our heroes' lives, but we don't get that. Instead, we get more of Leiber's fetishism, meaning allusions to orgies, whole-body shaving, awkward euphemisms for anal sex, and even some teen lesbian teasing. He does momentarily ask us to consider what The Mouser and Fafhrd's relationship might have been, if they were more than friends, but this brief aside hardly balances the otherwise one-sided sexuality.
We also get more of his poetry, which isn't pretty, though I was taken aback by the way he dropped in the four-letter words. I don't mind such good Anglo-Saxon language, but it didn't make his awkward verse any more palatable.
If he seemed like Pratchett in the former volume, this one has taken a half-step into sex farce. Unfortunately, a sex farce is not something that should be done halfway.
Little remains of the bold characterization or striking language that marked the height of his talents. The growing cast of undifferentiated characters (including a gaggle of sexy teen girls) muddles about the dull, cold island trying to solve a problem whose source is never clear and whose solution provides little in the way of a conclusion.
The simplest definition of plot may be 'things happen', but woe to the author who takes that too literally. Leiber's early stories are some of the most delightful, imaginative, and varied in the genre, but the latter are mere shades, faltering in a mummer's dance of a glory that they cannot recapture.
My List of Suggested Fantasy Books