Swords and Deviltry cover art

Swords and Deviltry

The Adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Swords and Deviltry

By: Fritz Leiber
Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Neil Gaiman (introduction)
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £17.99

Buy Now for £17.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

 Neil Gaiman Presents: the first book in Fritz Leiber's classic sword-and-sorcery series, which includes the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novella, Ill Met in Lankhmar.

In the ancient city of Lankhmar, two men forge a friendship in battle. The red-haired barbarian Fafhrd left the snowy reaches of Nehwon looking for a new life, while the Gray Mouser, apprentice magician, fled after finding his master dead. These bawdy brothers-in-arms cement a friendship that leads them through the wilds of Nehwon, facing thieves, wizards, princesses, and the depths of their desires and fears.

The late Fritz Leiber's tales of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser launched the sword-and-sorcery genre, and were the inspiration for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons.

BONUS AUDIO: Includes an exclusive introduction by Neil Gaiman.

Epic edge: download more tales of Swords and Deviltry.©1995 The Estate of Fritz Leiber (P)2008 Audible, Inc. Action & Adventure Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Sword & Sorcery Magic Users Adventure Sorcery

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Elric of Melniboné cover art
The Dying Earth cover art
Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian Barbarian cover art
The Spirit Ring cover art
Nine Princes in Amber cover art
Suldrun’s Garden cover art
The Black Company cover art
Homeland cover art
Trollslayer cover art
Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe cover art
Stonefather cover art
Kindred Spirits cover art
Darkness & Light cover art
Dead Irish cover art
The Knight of the Swords [Dramatized Adaptation] cover art
New Spring cover art

Critic reviews

"It's, like all of Fritz Leiber's fiction, delightful and, like all of the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories, a wonderful place to go." (Neil Gaiman)
"Fritz Leiber's tales of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are virtually a genre unto themselves. Urbane, idiosyncratic, comic, erotic and human, spiked with believable action and the eerie creations of a master fantasist!" (William Gibson)
All stars
Most relevant  
This book is perfect for fans of classic fantasy. It has all the tropes you could want in sword and sorcery, from giant seven foot barbarians to apprentice mages playing with forbidden magics.

Good classic fantasy

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
good stories, but the narrator has given the mouser a weird accent that just doesnt work for me.

can't get over the wierd accents

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Enjoyed this listen, hadn’t heard of these stories at all but could swiftly see the influence on so many writers not least audiobook introducer Neil Gaiman. Will definitely listen to more

Lively and an interesting fantasy road mark

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I mean, they're odd stories - wonderfully so, beautifully told. Playful, naughty and did I mention odd?

Wish I'd read these earlier

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very hard to get into. The writing style is wordy and erratic, venturing into Shakesperian prose in one moment then to basic reporting of events in the next. The main characters are not particularly appealing and the female characters sound like they were devised by a reclusive teenage boy. No explanation as to why the main characters are so skilled despite being very youthful. The dialogue is stilted and clunky. At the 3 hour mark when nothing much had yet happened, I nearly chucked it in. Stuck with it as others have praised later books in the series and I figured I'd need this background if I end up trying one of them. Narrator does a solid job, with good differentiation of characters, though even he tripped over some of the unwieldy long sentences. Can't recommend it when there's so many other good books in this genre.

Underwhelmed

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I've read and re read this series many many times and I'm still finding them riveting. They have all the element of top class fantasy and you an instantly see how younger writers have been influenced by Leibers work. While the magic is not gratuitous it features heavily throughout the books but is somehow believable and always logical. I have just introduced my sons to Leiber in written form whist I am enjoying him in the audio format for the first of many times. All in all a must listen series of books.

A timeless classic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You will either appreciate or get frustrated with the writing style. It is very distinct and flowery. It is well written with complex dialogue and character interplay. It is also a bit slow for modern tastes. It was published in 1970 so not that long ago. Note that the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser books were begun as far back as 1940. So the writing it does show its age.

The three-part approach to the story is nice and introduces the characters very well. The was accidental as these were originally short stories. The plot is all heavily presaged so there are no real surprises. While the characters are likeable, I never fully engaged.

It is a shame as the fight scenes are well done and the magic has nice touches as well.

So, while it gets a good review, I am not sure I will read any more of the series.

Your mileage may vary.

Classic fantasy, with an old-world lyrical writing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
you'll never know how many of your favourite fantasy novels owe homage to this timeless classic until you read it, but I'll bet there are dozens. it's a stark reminder of how stale the genre has become that in its infancy, an author can produce characterises and plot that feel like they were created yesterday.

true classic!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great characters, inventive plots, unforgettable villains, old realms, merciless gods, beautiful women... what can we ask more to a fantasy novel?

Maybe good style and quick pace? Fritz Leiber has all of these and more. Sadly we cannot say the same of most of his followers.

The adventures are narrated in an Howardian style, maybe with a better language, but the protagonist are more cunning and cynical.

Nothing beats great old fantasy!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Enjoyed it, well read, though definitely of its era. Some of the ideas in it were excellent and it's nice to see one of the bases of the genre.. The language at times is a little difficult to follow however, but over all I'd recommend it.

Of its age, but good.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews