My favourite so far.
Almost gave up after the first 3 books but the longer stories in this one I found much more enjoyable. ( )

I was gravely disappointed, after the way Swords in the Mist ended with literally the last piece of dialog being one of my favorite characters in the whole series expressing interest in crossing realms with Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, to see that Ahura was not even mentioned in this volume. Rating it as a stand-alone book, though, I must force myself to ignore that fact for this review, and interesting characters rarely survive the author's interest from one story within a volume to the next, let alone between books, so I wasn't surprised -- only deeply disappointed.

Overall, this book seems to show a maturing in Fritz Leiber's writing that I appreciated. For that, the book should rate slightly better than the three stars I gave it, but there were a couple of substantial negatives that dragged it back down. One was the way it becomes more difficult to sympathize with the "heroes" in this book than in some previous tales. They are increasingly presented as "heroes" while being less and less heroic and likable in some ways. Another is the fact that Stardock, mostly a well-written story, starts to fall apart toward the end in terms of its quality of storytelling. A third is that the story The Two Best Thieves in Lankhmar reads a bit like someone told Fritz he should portray more empowered women in his writing about Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, but his heart wasn't in it, so he basically just phoned it in. A fourth is that the Quarmall story mixes some interesting world building with some I-don't-know-what that mostly turned me off the thing. I have mixed feelings about that tale.

I bought this whole series, up to book 5 (The Swords of Lankhmar), at a library's used book sale. It has been entertaining so far, but unless someone can tell me that Ahura reappears at some point, or gives me some other strong reason to continue reading about Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, I'm unlikely to seek out the sixth book at all. I'll probably just consider Swords in the Mist the high point of the series and give the collection of books 1-5 to a thrift store. ( )

Didn't love it, and in particular the last story was a bit of a slog—some terrific moments, but overlong, with too many characters. My favourite stories so far seem to be the smallest (which surprises me, as a novel lover), perhaps only our two heroes against a mysterious force or bewildering circumstance ... but the larger the scope, the less enthused I am.

Have reason to believe book #5 is the best of the bunch, so looking forward to it—he didn't lose me, I just won't be re-reading this one.

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve! ( )

Four classic novellas of the dauntless duo in and about Lankhmar. the boys deal with local politics, In the Witch's Tent" (1968) and "The Lords of Quarmall" (1964). With mysticism in"Stardock" (1965), and personal crisis in "The Two Best Thieves in Lankhmar" (1968). ( )

This volume contains two main adventures, each preceded by a briefer sort of prologue or linking story. In "Stardock," our two antiheroes embark on an expedition up an intimidating and dangerous mountain peak in search of rumored treasure. It is as arduous a read as a climb. In "The Lords of Quarmall," they become pawns (separately and unbeknownst to the other) in an ongoing duel between two hateful brothers who each hope to succeed their father as ruler. This, too, was a bit tough to get through, possibly because it spends more time with the ridiculous siblings than Fafhrd and Mouser. Both of the longer tales also felt a bit longer than they needed to be. The opening vignette is fun, and I very much enjoyed "The Two Best Thieves in Lankhmar," in which the two attempt to unload the odd rewards they acquired from scaling Stardock, but I just didn't enjoy this overall as much as the previous collections I've read. ( )