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A review by bums
Swords Against Death by Fritz Leiber
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Finished Swords Against Death, the second Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser book/collection. Very fun, and I think Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser might be my new favourite sword and sorcery protagonists (Sorry Elric and Moonglum). I love the way they almost bumble their way through their adventures half the time, it's very fun to read, and those adventures felt very varied. Dark Gods, ancient ruins, multiversal madness, thieves' guild shenanigans, and deals with wordy wizards; they go through a lot over the stories.
The pace is fast as well, which I really appreciated. As much as I enjoy something like ASOIAF or Farseer/Liveship where chapters are spent traveling places with long introspection, sometimes I just want "and so Fafhrd and the Mouser adventured over many miles, cutting their way through the deep jungles of Klesh, evading pursuit across the great Mingol Steppe, and creeping fearfully past the City of Ghouls. But, in time, they reach the Shadowlands, where the ghosts which had plagued them for so many months lay, waiting."
The aspect that has aged very poorly is the way women are treated. They're all, without fail, evil and manipulative harpies who often cannot get over how hot the mcs are. It's aged worse than Conan and Elric have, and they're not good things to have aged worse than in that area. At least in the Conan stories some female characters had 1. some agency and 2. weren't universally evil/wildly attracted to Conan. It's probably on par with early (1960s/70s) Elric before Michael Moorcock learned how to write decent female characters in the late 1970s/early 80s, after taking the crazy step of talking to women and listening to their criticism. Anyway, apart from that they're very fun adventures stories, would highly recommend.
The pace is fast as well, which I really appreciated. As much as I enjoy something like ASOIAF or Farseer/Liveship where chapters are spent traveling places with long introspection, sometimes I just want "and so Fafhrd and the Mouser adventured over many miles, cutting their way through the deep jungles of Klesh, evading pursuit across the great Mingol Steppe, and creeping fearfully past the City of Ghouls. But, in time, they reach the Shadowlands, where the ghosts which had plagued them for so many months lay, waiting."
The aspect that has aged very poorly is the way women are treated. They're all, without fail, evil and manipulative harpies who often cannot get over how hot the mcs are. It's aged worse than Conan and Elric have, and they're not good things to have aged worse than in that area. At least in the Conan stories some female characters had 1. some agency and 2. weren't universally evil/wildly attracted to Conan. It's probably on par with early (1960s/70s) Elric before Michael Moorcock learned how to write decent female characters in the late 1970s/early 80s, after taking the crazy step of talking to women and listening to their criticism. Anyway, apart from that they're very fun adventures stories, would highly recommend.