[Ivy Mike]

If there's one author in the realm of fantasy / sword and sorcery that stand a head above the rest it's Fritz Leiber. Not only was he one of the authors to define the swords and sorcery genre but his writing had a quality that even modern fantasy authors have a hard time reaching. By and large his most famous works involve the notorious companions in crime The Gray Mouser and Fafhrd. Unlike most fantasy where the characters serve only to drive the narrative forwards, which for the most part result in flat and uninteresting personalities, you get the feeling that Leiber thought that the characters are an end in themselves. Even though their adventures are numerous and firmly rooted in the high fantasy tradition the personalities of TGM and Fafhrd are always the key ingredient that drives the story forward. This is in no small part due to the fact that the trials and tribulations of the duo are always reflected back on ther personalities, making them change over the course of several short stories while still retaining a core identity that is unmistakably theirs - much like how we change, but still remain ourselves, over the course of our own lifes. What Leiber managed to do was to incorporate this basic fact of life into the setting of high fantasy and thus creating some of the most memorable fiction ever written.

[Vince]

Sounds interesting. Thanks, Mike.

[quasimodo]

Now thats a blast from the past.  It must have been 30+ years ago that I read the Grey Mouser and Fafhrd stories.  I remember liking them a lot, but I don't recall much else.  I'll pick them up and reread them and see if they still appeal.

[Tuomas]

I heard the stories were an inspiration for the Thief series of games as well as countless other fantasy products like D&D.

When I visited Stockholm last summer I bought a Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser comic book. Although I've never read the original stories, the album seemed to be a good  adaptation. Mike Mignolas art is simply fantastic and the pacing of the stories (except for the second to last one) was reasonably well done. Definitely recommended.

[Ivy Mike]

Really? I love Mike's work with Hellboy so I'm guessing his adaption of TGM and Fafhrd should be up to par. This could make for a good present come christmas.

What strikes me as the most interesting thing about Leiber is that he manages to cram a lot of different type of stories into one coherent setting. You have your regular high adventure all the way to the creepy crawly stuff that's reminiscent of Lovecraft at his best, and as far as I can remeber he didn't brake the suspension of disbelief that's so crucial to fantasy writing. Not surprising since Lovecraft was a great inspiration for Leiber.

Come to think of it I can see many, many adaptions of Leibers stories as RPG modules. The short story format is overal an excellent source of inspiration for the budding (C)RPG designer/writer, and Leiber should be of great interest if you're into the high fantasy variant.

[Tuomas]

This is the comic  I was talking about, Mike:

http://www.amazon.com/Fafhrd-Gray-Mouser/dp/1593077130

[Ivy Mike]

Thanks, looks decent enough. On that note, if you're into more overt tounge-in-cheek humor, I strongly recommend Thrud the Barbarian by Carl Critchlow. His art fantastic, somewhat similar in style to Mignola's actually, and his stories are an excellent take on pushing the Sword and Sorcery genre to it's extreme.

[Greyloch]

This is the comic  I was talking about, Mike:

http://www.amazon.com/Fafhrd-Gray-Mouser/dp/1593077130

Fritz is great. I've read all the Fafhrd & Grey Mouser novels, but it was fun to read the graphic novel adaptation recently as well, Mike Mignola does good work.

[Balron]

Good call on Leiber. I'm reading the Lankhmar books these days and am enjoying them. There's so much thats great about the Fafhrd and Mouser. They want to be rich and comfortable and usually succeed, only to have everything taken away from them time and again. They can't win in the end (not in the way they would prefer, anyhow) and end up back on the streets. It's a very different and compelling take on the "hero" character and totally worth a read. The writing is geared towards adults and is a far cry from the modern politically correct world of today. Pick em up if you can.