Robin Wayne Bailey's Swords Against the Shadowland


Book Description

The legacy of the Master of Lankhmar continues in this first in a new series of novels set in Leiber's legendary world of Nehwon. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser become reluctant heroes by rescuing Lankhmar from the terrible plague of a sorcerer's curse.




Swords Against the Shadowland


Book Description

“Robin has splendidly captured the quintessential spirit of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Somewhere in Lankhmar, Fritz is smiling” (Dennis L. McKiernan, national bestselling author). Lankhmar, an ancient and decadent city of magic, where witches and sorcerers scheme, where gods and ghosts walk the streets and shadow-haunted alleys, where violence and death dance together like lovers in the darkness. Lankhmar–a city of plague! Years ago, two rogues bound together by friendship and a shared destiny neither understood met in Lankhmar. Living by their swords, their wits and their daring, they sought adventure and love. Adventure they found, but love–they lost. In despair, they left the city, vowing never to return. Yet vows are made to be broken. Once again, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are drawn back to Lankhmar and quickly ensnared in its wizard-games as one jealous mage turns on his rivals and unleashes a black force not even he can control, a power that threatens the city itself. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, two of the greatest and most beloved characters in fantasy literature, return in this novel-length adventure by Nebula Award nominated author Robin Wayne Bailey. Swords Against the Shadowland, authorized by series creator Fritz Leiber, is a direct sequel to Leiber’s famous story, “Ill-Met in Lankhmar!” Named one of the six best fantasy novels of 1998 by the Science Fiction Chronicle.




Swords in the Mist


Book Description

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser take to the sea in the third installment of this seminal sword and sorcery series that “has lost none of its luminous magic” (San Francisco Chronicle). Swords in the Mist, book three in the Lankhmar series, thrusts our indentured, sword-swinging servants into the question of hate, its power, and its purpose. Times are lean in Lankhmar, illuminating the link between money and love. Luckily, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser don’t always believe in love. When Lankhmar gets too gritty, our travelers take to their other, less harsh mistress, the sea. But the sea can play tricks on men, and so can the sea king. He can break a man, or worse yet, curse him. But when he is away, it’s all play for the formidable swordsmen and the Triple Goddess . . . and two luscious sea queens. But luck may not always be there, as they discover on the way to see Ningauble, their wizard employer. After a long journey in defense of their control over their own fates, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser find themselves pawns in a life-and-death chess game, all of Lankhmar being the pieces. How many pawns will be left on the board before someone wins? Before The Lord of the Rings took the world by storm, Leiber’s fantastic but thoroughly flawed antiheroes, Fafhrd and Gray Mouser, adventured deep within the caves of Inner Earth, albeit a different one. They wondered and wandered to the edges of the Outer Sea, across the Land of Nehwon and throughout every nook and cranny of gothic Lankhmar, Nehwon’s grandest and most mystically corrupt city. Lankhmar is Leiber’s fully realized, vivid incarnation of urban decay and civilization’s corroding effect on the human psyche. Drawing on themes from Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, and H. P. Lovecraft, master manipulator Fritz Leiber is a worldwide legend within the fantasy genre and actually coined the term Sword and Sorcery that describes the subgenre he helped create.




Swords Against Death


Book Description




The Knight and Knave of Swords


Book Description

The final book in the seminal sword and sorcery series featuring Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser from the Grand Master of Science Fiction and Fantasy. After their adventures in Swords and Ice Magic, Fafhrd the barbarian and Gray Mouser the thief remain on Rime Isle with their loves, seeking lives of respectability and peace. Fafhrd works to regain his archery skills after losing his left hand to Odin in battle. Meanwhile, the Gray Mouser embarks on a trading expedition aboard the ship Seahawk. But their respite will soon come to an end—for on the world of Nehwon, a brother and sister plot to regain the treasures stolen from them by the pirates of Rime Isle. Soon Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, alone and together, are plagued by dreams and curses that will force them to confront the vengeful siblings, destructive temptations, sea demons, and ancient obsessions as “one of the great works of fantasy in this century” comes to its climactic end (Publishers Weekly). The highly regarded British horror author Ramsey Campbell called Fritz Leiber “the greatest living writer of supernatural horror fiction.” Drawing many of his own themes from the works of Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, and H. P. Lovecraft, master manipulator Fritz Leiber is a worldwide legend within the fantasy genre, actually having coined the term sword and sorcery that would describe the subgenre he would more than help create. While The Lord of the Rings took the world by storm, Leiber’s fantastic but thoroughly flawed antiheroes, Fafhrd and Grey Mouser, adventured and stumbled deep within the caves of Inner Earth as well, albeit a different one than Tolkien’s. They wondered and wandered to the edges of the Outer Sea, across the Land of Nehwon and throughout every nook and cranny of gothic Lankhmar, Nehwon’s grandest and most mystically corrupt city. Lankhmar is Leiber’s fully realized, vivid incarnation of urban decay and civilization’s corroding effect on the human psyche. Fafhrd and Mouse are not innocents; their world is no land of honor and righteousness. It is a world of human complexities and violent action, of discovery and mystery, of swords and sorcery.




Shadowdance


Book Description

A dark fantasy of witchcraft and curses from the renowned author of the Saga of Frost trilogy. Paralyzed since birth, a young man named Innowen happens upon a sorceress along the road. She grants him the ability to walk, but there are two conditions—he can only walk between dusk and dawn and, to keep this ability to walk, he must perform a dance in the witch's honor each night. What at first seems harmless comes with a sinister price. Anyone who witnesses Innowen’s dance is soon compelled to act out his or her darkest, most horrific desires. Eased of his physical affliction only to be burdened with a moral one, Innowen sets out on a quest to find his nameless “benefactor” in order to lift the curse. What he finds instead are long-protected secrets that threaten to bring down the entire kingdom. Filled with twists and turns, this grim fantasy from author Robin Wayne Bailey will remind readers that the most powerful magic hides in the dark of night.




Swords Against Wizardry


Book Description

Drawing themes from Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, and H.P Lovecraft, master manipulator Fritz Leiber is a worldwide legend within the fantasy genre, actually coining the term "Sword and Sorcery" that describes the sub-genre he helped create. Before THE LORD OF THE RINGS took the world by storm, Leiber's fantastic but thoroughly flawed anti-heroes, Fafhrd and Gray Mouser, adventured and stumbled deep within the caves of Inner Earth as well, albeit a different one. They wondered and wandered to the edges of the Outer Sea, across the Land of Nehwon and throughout every nook and cranny of gothic Lankhmar, Nehwon's grandest and most mystically corrupt city. Lankhmar is Leiber's fully realized vivid incarnation of urban decay and civilization's corroding effect on the human psyche. Fafhrd and Mouse are not innocents; their world is no land of honor and righteousness. It is a world of human complexities and violent action, of discovery and mystery, of swords and sorcery. With SWORDS AGAINST WIZARDRY, the fourth installment of the Lankhmar series, the story unveils behind the curtain in the Witch's Tent. Fafhrd and Gray Mouser are there to consult a sorceress who holds the secret to their escape but when would they ever need to escape? Would they need this knowledge when they journey to Stardock? Where is there to escape up there? No doubt the icy seduction of "the cruel one", with her greed for both gore and graciousness, could offer them several ways out. Their luck has been good so far; one way out should work. Their luck continues as thieves. They are the best thieves in Lankhmar until better positions arise: The Lords of Quarmall. Gray Mouser and Fafhrd steal a kingdom within a hill and declare themselves Lords.




Swords and Ice Magic


Book Description

Stories of sword and sorcery by a Grand Master of Science Fiction and Fantasy! In Swords and Ice Magic, Fafhrd and Gray Mouser discover how the sadness of the Executioner creates a macabre dance from the point of view of the choreographer. Beauties and beasts explain the dual nature of all life’s creatures. Trapped in the Shadowland, our dogmatic duo finds the dualities of swords and needles, maps and territories, girls and demons, mortals and gods, learning of the mischievous vanity of the gods. Lost at sea, Gray Mouser becomes a natural philosopher, drifting, captive of the Great Equatorial Current. He wonders about fire and ice, about women and men, until they arrive at Rime Isle, a tragic comedy of a place, wandering gods and restless mortals, a comedy with puppets and puppet masters. Before The Lord of the Rings took the world by storm, Leiber’s fantastic but thoroughly flawed antiheroes, Fafhrd and Gray Mouser, adventured deep within the caves of Inner Earth, albeit a different one. They wondered and wandered to the edges of the Outer Sea, across the Land of Nehwon and throughout every nook and cranny of gothic Lankhmar, Nehwon’s grandest and most mystically corrupt city. Lankhmar is Leiber’s fully realized, vivid incarnation of urban decay and civilization’s corroding effect on the human psyche.




Skull Gate


Book Description

From the acclaimed fantasy author: The Saga of Frost trilogy continues with the sword-wielding heroine taking on the creatures of the underworld. The fierce swordfighter Frost has lost her supernatural powers and must travel to the pit of hell and back in order to save herself and the kingdom. Doing battle with all the forces of Hades: demons, sorcerers, vicious spiders, and the most vile of all beasts, Frost must quest to save the princess and the world to which both are accustomed before evil is left to dominate for all eternity. Even without her amazing powers, Frost and her trusty sword are always ready to raze Hell.




Figures of Earth


Book Description

The story of Manuel, a swineherd in thirteenth-century France, who becomes Count Manuel of Poictesme. The motto on his coat of arms is "Mundus Vult Decipi"--The world wishes to be deceived. It is in playing on others' expectations that he rises to hero status and becomes Manuel the Redeemer.