Swords and Deviltry

Although I've long heard of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, it's only just now in 2016 that I've met them for the first time; and it was quite interesting to do so, although swords and sorcery isn't really my field.

For fiction of this vintage, it's quite well written, and doesn't seem dated. But Fritz Leiber was theatrically inclined and so is his fiction, somewhat exaggerated and over the top. His two heroes are quite engaging, although there's rather a lack of other likeable characters.

I suppose these stories were an influence on Terry Pratchett's Discworld, the setting being roughly similar, although his treatment of the material is different.

I see that some reviewers complain about the role of women in these stories, but I don't see much to complain about. This is mediæval fantasy; if you expect to read about 21st-century people behaving in 21st-century ways, you should confine yourself to reading stories set in the 21st century. There are women of strength and ability here, but they're not liberated or feminists, and it would be anachronistic if they were.

The men aren't typical of the 21st century, either. They're not meant to be.

I give the book a middling rating because I liked it well enough, although it seems unlikely to become one of my favourites. Not really my kind of thing. Maybe I'll read more books in the series, maybe not.