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Post by Jason Aiken on Feb 4, 2016 1:50:31 GMT -5
I listened to the Swords and Deviltry collection a month or so ago and really enjoyed the three novellas included in that collection. I've since moved on to listening to Swords against Death, which, so far is made up of short stories.
Having just finished "The Bleak Shore," I'm a bit in awe of Leiber. This story shouldn't work. The structure is weird. He goes from his usual third person omniscient to having a supporting character tell the story, and then back to his third person omniscient pov. Once the tale gets back to Fafhrd and the Mouser it really took off in my eyes. I'm going to have to give this a re-listen, though, especially the beginning, as I think I didn't quite pick up everything I should have. I did enjoy the implied cosmic horror elements, but I'm not sure if they are actual cosmic horror or not. I just started listening to "The Howling Tower" and that seems to possibly take place in the same geographical location roughly as "The Bleak Shore" (across the ocean and not on some other planet or other dimension).
My review of Swords and Deviltry:
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Post by Char-Vell on Feb 4, 2016 7:55:05 GMT -5
I need to re-read some of those, I really enjoyed them back in the day.
Lots of memorable moments...people with invisible flesh...hidden tiny cities with possible rat-ladies..
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Post by Jason Aiken on Feb 5, 2016 23:21:04 GMT -5
Finished, "The Howling Tower" on my walk today. It wasn't bad, but it really wasn't outstanding either. Since it's basically a ghost-type story, you can kind of see where it's going at a certain point. It lacked the unpredictability of "The Bleak Shore" IMO. The mechanism of the purple alcoholic potion was interesting, though.
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Post by Ningauble on Feb 6, 2016 19:00:07 GMT -5
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Post by Jason Aiken on Feb 7, 2016 0:31:29 GMT -5
IMO, Leiber was an excellent writer. Some of his sci-fi and horror was just as good, if not better. I have two books with non-Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories by him. One is The Book of Fritz Leiber published by DAW and the other is Conjure Wife. I look forward to checking them out given his strong showing on the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series. I own the four issues already, having just recently completed the mini series, but I'll probably pick up the collection, too. I stayed out walking a little longer today so I could finish "The Sunken Land." Despite this short story being mostly a one-man show focusing on Fafhrd, I still enjoyed it a great deal. I loved the Tolkien-esque opening to the plot, with Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser fishing and finding an ancient ring/king. I also loved how Newhon has there own sunken "Atlantis" or "R'lyeh" that is the focus of the story. For a while I wasn't sure if Fafhrd was under a spell, time traveling, or still in the present. Either way, it was cool to see him interacting with some Northerners from the Cold Waste again. I thought the conclusion was appropriately weird, with the Gray Mouser telling Fafhrd what he saw and Fafhrd commenting on it. So far Swords against Death is pretty damn good. Just checking the Audible app, it seems the next few stories are going to be a little longer in length. This should be interesting.
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Post by Ningauble on Feb 7, 2016 15:04:12 GMT -5
I own the four issues already, having just recently completed the mini series, but I'll probably pick up the collection, too. Four issues? Sword of Sorcery had five issues. May you be thinking of the Mignola-drawn 90s comic?
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Post by Jason Aiken on Feb 7, 2016 15:33:24 GMT -5
I own the four issues already, having just recently completed the mini series, but I'll probably pick up the collection, too. Four issues? Sword of Sorcery had five issues. May you be thinking of the Mignola-drawn 90s comic? Ah! I forgot all about the DC stuff. From what I saw they crossed them over with Wonder Woman in her book The regular issues looked alright, though, so I'll give it a shot.
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Post by Ningauble on Feb 8, 2016 15:53:45 GMT -5
Ah! I forgot all about the DC stuff. From what I saw they crossed them over with Wonder Woman in her book The regular issues looked alright, though, so I'll give it a shot. Yeah, I think that's how it started -- with that crossover. My first exposure to Leiber was the Sword of Sorcery version of "The Cloud of Hate", and it made a vivid impression. I haven't seen it in almost 30 years, but I still remember it.
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Post by Von K on Feb 16, 2016 9:19:44 GMT -5
Thanks Kail, never seen that before.
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Post by Jason Aiken on Feb 17, 2016 13:19:44 GMT -5
Very cool. Thanks for sharing that, kail.
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Post by deuce on Feb 21, 2016 17:37:14 GMT -5
Walt Simonson's splash for The Sunken Land... ![](http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g236/deejayway/Comic%20Artists/New%20Swords/SwordofSorcery5-2WaltSimonson.jpg)
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Post by kullagain on Feb 29, 2016 23:07:53 GMT -5
Which of the Lankhmar series is the most jivable/enjoyable coming from reading Howard? I think i heard Swords against Deviltry is the most so.
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Post by Jason Aiken on Mar 1, 2016 17:06:38 GMT -5
Which of the Lankhmar series is the most jivable/enjoyable coming from reading Howard? I think i heard Swords against Deviltry is the most so. I've read Swords and Deviltry, as well as about half of Swords against Death. I took to Swords and Deviltry like a fish in water as a Howard fan, but Lieber isn't quite as fast-paced as REH. Lieber seems to enjoy taking his time setting the stage, he's a bit like Clark Ashton Smith in that regard. Swords and Deviltry is made up of three novellas, though. So that could have a lot to do with the pacing. The short stories I've read in Swords against Death move quicker.
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Post by deuce on Mar 10, 2016 19:11:27 GMT -5
Stephen Fabian's illo for Ill Met in Lankhmar: ![](http://www.lankhmar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Whispers0008.jpg)
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Post by Jason Aiken on Mar 10, 2016 22:22:00 GMT -5
I'm about three quarters of the way through Swords against Death. Finished "The Seven Black Priests" the other day. It was a cool "chase" tale with an interesting twist. Let's just say an adventurer shouldn't always take inscriptions as fact.
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