Fiction

Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Leiber
I. Induction
II. The Snow Women
III. The Unholy Grail

The first book in the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser (aka Lankhmar) series, a classic of fantasy literature that was recommended to me a while ago (so long that I forget where or why or by who) but have only just started. The whole series is available in a two-volume edition as part of the Fantasy Masterworks series, but rather than dive straight into that I got hold of an ebook copy of this first book to try them out.

I say “first book” — the stories herein are the earliest chronologically, but they were written as prequels after Leiber had been penning tales about these characters for several decades. Does that make it the best place to start? I’m not sure. But I got this volume for a reason, so I guess someone thought it was! Or I did my research poorly… but, to be honest, that doesn’t sound like me.

Anyway, I’ve enjoyed it so far, so I’ll probably go ahead and get those paperbacks next. I will finish this ebook first though, because it’s the fourth and final story in this collection that’s supposed to be its highlight: it won both the Nebula and Hugo Award for Best Novella.