Review: The Corps By W.E.B. Griffin

All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

A version of this article appeared in Knights of the Dinner Table #160 (February, 2010).

Tomorrow is the Marine Corps' 251st Birthday, an event Marines celebrate loudly every year. This year as part of my celebration of the birthday I am going to revise and repost my review of W.E.B. Griffin's historical fiction series, The Corps. 

I first encountered The Corps when I was a young cadet at Norwich University in Vermont, in the fall of 1986. For young man being introduced to the marine Corps through NROTC, and the military in general through the Norwich University Corps of Cadets. While looking for something to read in the campus bookstore, I discovered W.E.B. Griffin's Semper Fi, the first book in this series and one of his his older series, The Brotherhood of War. 

W.E.B. Griffin (real name William Edmund Butterworth III) served in the United States Army following World War II and in Korea as a sergeant in counter-intelligence and as a war correspondent; he was able to form friendships with some of America’s most experienced warriors. As a novelist his writing maintains an extremely authentic feel for the rhythms and patterns of military life – Griffin understands America’s professional soldiers and intelligence agents as few writers do. He has been extremely prolific, with half a dozen series or more cover the United States Army, the OSS, even the Philadelphia Police department. But perhaps his best series is The Corps.

On the other hand, Griffin's work as a sergeant in post-WWII Germany involved taking foor to German generals and their families. His work consistently takes a pro-German army stance, especially the officer corps, and he is clearly extremely enamored of aristocracy. His love of the German officer corps is especially striking when compared to his treatment of the Japanese. His service in Korea made him a fan of Douglas MacArthur, the most over rated general in American history (in my opinion, the scandal was that it took until 1951 for MacArthur to be removed from command, his performance in World War II and Korea is a national disgrace.) Griffin's writing became steadily more conservative as he became older, you will find very little nuance in a Griffin book. Communists or anyone remotely left wing is cruel, brutal, and/or cowardly. The best people, those who are the most handsome, talented, and honorable, are most often wealthy, usually inherited wealth. 

Nonetheless, I enjoy his early books, especially The Corps novel series. It begins with Semper Fi in January 1941 with a young Marine Corps corporal, Kenneth McCoy.  Though younger than most, McCoy is otherwise fairly typical of the ‘Old Breed’ Marines who populated the Marine Corps between the wars and formed the experienced core of the divisions that would later blaze their way across the Pacific from Guadalcanal to Iwo Jima. All of Griffin’s novel series are somewhat formulaic.  At the core of each are a pair of close friends, in this case Ken McCoy’s buddy is Malcolm Pickering, a rich young man enlisting to please his father before the war begins. This male friendship bond then expands the cast as numerous additional protagonists are fed into the plot and connected to the principles through family, friendship, or circumstance. 

The first novel really establishes time and place, Griffin clearly spoke with several old China Marines. The problem is, he didn't check up on their "war stories." The first novel covers China and the corps through 1941, but is a better representation of the China station in the late 1930s then in 1941, a highly stressful year long before Pearl Harbor. Reading it now, after decades as a Marine historian, I find the many mistakes irritating - he mentions "lance corporals pay" but my beloved lance corporal rank was gone from the Corps around 1917 and wouldn't return until 1958 (see Ranks and Grades). He also talks about the Evening Parade in November 1941, but this beloved institution would begin until July 1957. All of the series is filled with these minor little mistakes.

McCoy and Pickering allow Griffin to tell related but separate stories about Pearl Harbor, Wake Island, the Battle of Midway, Makin & the Marine Raiders, the 1st Marine Division, and the famous ‘Cactus Air Force’ on Guadalcanal in the first four books. Griffin tells this story of the early days of the war in the Pacific fairly well. His prose is clear, he explains military terms well, and even on occasion brings his writing almost to the level of prose poetry; his description of the grief of old Marines who have served scores of years only to bury their own sons in the new war are particularly poignant. And his description of the complicated situation in China and the Philippines in 1941 is evocative, and broadly correct.

Art from the inside flap
 The Corps: Semper Fi
Nov 1986 edition

When the novels move past the Guadalcanal campaign, however, they begin to lose their authenticity and their focus.  Shifting back to what he has written about before other series (especially the Men at War series), the tale becomes less and less about the Marine Corps and more about the OSS, the MAGIC intercepts of Japanese communications, and Douglas McArthur. Griffin had always had some historical mistakes, there were no Marine companies at the initial Japanese landings in the Philippines as he depicts in Semper Fi, for example, but historical accuracy drifts far outside the realm of believability in later novels, especially the Korean War books. In addition, internal novel consistency begins to drift in minor but noticeable ways.  McCoy’s Roman Catholic upbringing is firmly established in the first few novels, but in the first Korean War novel he claims he was raised Episcopalian. In other cases secondary characters names and ages shift.  These are minor mistakes, but annoying nonetheless. And Griffin’s repetitive style and dialogue becomes quite noticeable by the end of the series. 

More damning, the later stories simply ignore many of the Corps most legendary battles. There is nothing about the fights with the Army over General Holland Smith's sacking of Army General Ralph Smith in Saipan, barely any mention of the central Pacific campaign or Tarawa... no mention of Peleliu, Iwo Jima or Okinawa. It leaves the Marine Corps behind to talk about operations that have at best a tangential connection to the Corps. 

So what do we end with? The best known historical fiction novel series about the Marine Corps is written by a former soldier, extolls one of the Corps' most consistent institutional foes, and ignores the bulk of the fighting from the Pacific that forms the Corps' legend. 

Yet I still turn to this series as comfort reading. Griffin's early books (1990s and earlier) are like reading one of the classic old World War II movies in novel form, such as The Battle of the Bulge (1965) or In Harm's Way (1965). I love those old films despite their inaccuracies and tone-deafness. And just like in those films there are many moments in The Corps that consistently get me in the gut and bring tears to my eyes. Griffin had a gift for portraying the day to day style and soul of the American fighting man. His characters are recognizable and attention grabbing due to their plausibility. 

So yeah, go in expecting fun, readable pulp fiction that might very well surprise you when it grabs you buy the heart. Just don't think you are getting a history lesson. 

All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

An unpleasant post

 All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

This is an unpleasant post to have to write. For many years I posted on an RPG forum called the Piazza. (I am not linking to it). The forum is predominantly for discussion of Dungeons & Dragons and related games, and most especially to the various campaign settings that TSR, then WOTC, and finally Hasbro produced for the game. 

I posted most often in the Spelljammer subforum, but also in various other forums there, including Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Mystara, and Ravenloft. I was far from the most prolific poster, but my posts did have some influence, especially in Spelljammer. I sparked conversations and answered questions. I think it is safe to say the forum was significantly benefitted by my presence. 

I try to be a good guest in such online spaces. I am well aware that it is not MY space. I tried to follow the rules, most especially by avoiding off topic postings or personal attacks. I'm sure I wasn't perfect, but over all, I think my behavior there would be considered benign. 

Over the last few years, however, I have become increasingly unhappy with the Piazza's moderation policies, and I have had some issues with Piazza adjacent projects, like Wildspace Magazine. I shrugged these issues off as my own curmudgeonly irritation. I gave the Piazza the benefit of the doubt. 

Very recently, however, the question of generative AI art and text in RPG products came up and I could no longer extend that benefit of the doubt. 

In short, the Piazza takes a pro-generative AI stance on art (or writing) used in RPG products or fan works. I consider generative AI use to be unethical, it is created through the use of plagiarism. I am not saying it is illegal, that is a legal question for the courts. I am saying using it is unethical.  

The Piazza allows the use of AI, but more damning, Piazza moderators silence any criticism of AI on the forums. AI critics are labeled as rude trouble makers and their posts are isolated and hidden from easy view. 

I struggled with the question of whether or not to leave. And I struggled with what to do with my many posts which continue to draw people to the Piazza in google searches, ect. I tried contacting the moderators via email and PMs and I have been ignored. Instead I was banned from the group for "Repeated antagonism and open hostility against the moderators" And I was accused of "derailing threads" which I absolutely did NOT do. Conveniently, this prevents me from removing my many posts. 

I asked them to remove my posts, or allow me to remove them, and I have continued to be ignored. 

So, I am posting this to make it clear publicly that I consider the Piazza an unsafe space for discussing gaming. I know that my posts are all over that forum, but please do not consider my posts there an endorsement of that site or its associated products. I am explicitly NOT calling for a boycott or for others to abandon the Piazza. Individuals should make their own decisions. 

I also want to state that Wildspace Magazine, Wildspace: the Spelljammer Fanzine, and the Spelljammer Wiki no longer have my permission to post or share any of my various Spelljammer fan-works. I request that those sites remove any content that I produced. 

My various Spelljammer fan works will be available at Beyond the Moons, on this blog, or most of them will be migrating to Lúmequentalë Númenostan, a blog I started a few years ago to share various fantasy roleplaying articles and works connected to my long time Dungeons and Dragons campaigns. You can find those pdfs I have shared to date here.

I don't have any illusions that any of this truly matters. I take the stand nonetheless. 

 All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

A Halloween Review: The Historian By Elizabeth Kostova

 A version of this article appeared in Knights of the Dinner Table #132 (October, 2007)

In October ghosts and ghoulies usually troop about demanding candy in the voices of children, or haunt the airwaves in cartoon form.  But despite the commercial glitter and traditional fun, at heart Halloween connects to our deepest fears about the dark, about the sacred, and the profane.  Vampires have stood near the center of the holiday’s stranglehold on the modern imagination throughout the twentieth century, that bloodiest, most savage period in human history.  Indeed, history has revealed the deepest, ugliest wells of the human spirit and we have, in essence, personified that lust for blood and power in the mythical vampire.

One novelist has taken this juxtaposition of cause and effect to its logical point, placing the vampire within the history of religious and ethnic atrocity which so bloodily stains the century.  Elizabeth Kostova’s debut novel was a remarkable effort in the highest traditions of fantasy, employing the struggle against a fantastical monster of mythology and legend in its quest to understand issues of history and family.  But the fantasy is very low key; the magic is off-screen, obscure, and unexplained. 

Kostova’s novel follows three strands of events through history, as three generations of a family of historians struggle to unravel the mysteries surrounding Vlad Tepes, Dracula, and his remarkable ‘Dragon Books’.  One strand wends its way through the turbulent 1930s, the most detailed account plows through the 1950s, and the third account ties the threads together diffidently as it meanders through the 1970s.  The story is further connected in time to the first decade of the twenty-first century as the narrator recounts the tale.  The novel is full of mysteries, and the reader must explore them alongside the narrator as she uncovers evidence piece by piece, much as a rose unfurls slowly over time.

The cast of characters is remarkable for containing three historians who act like historians, Bartholomew Rossi, the narrator’s father, Paul, and the narrator herself each pursue the mystery of the Dragon Books with scholarly precision, there are no archaeological bullwhips here! Each displays, moreover, considerable unwillingness to acknowledge the supernatural nature of the mystery, the supernatural aspect is virtually unspoken for most of the novel.

As a historian myself, I appreciated these characters, I easily recognized their motivations. But I especially thrilled at their discoveries among the ancient sources and crumbling pages of manuscripts. Kostova has captured the thrill that historians get as the piece together these old riddles from obscure manuscripts, discovering lost secrets and uncovering sometimes intentionally hidden knowledge. The title of this novel is perfect. 

The style is very ‘European’ and thus quite appropriate to the subject, but it is also an homage to Stoker’s original Dracula.  As in Stoker’s work, much of the story is revealed through letters, journals, and other finds.  There is a cryptographic and riddling edge to the story, quite reminiscent of scholars struggling with ciphers and lost ‘Rosetta Stones’ but the hints and allusions tie together well so that the plot, when finally revealed, is quite seamless.  Moreover, like Stoker, Kostova uses Dracula himself quite sparingly, he appears in only a very few scenes, always mysteriously, and always to great effect.  His conversation with Rossi is a purposeful echo of the first meeting between the vampire and Jonathan Harker.  

More than Stoker, however, Kostova anchors the tale in the actual history of the Balkans, the fabled cockpit of Europe which has led to widespread bloodshed many times on the continent. I was especially impressed with how she handles the Iron curtain period, and the juxtaposition of Communist tyranny with more ancient evils. The result is chilling on multiple levels. 

For the game master, the story presents a text-book example of how to construct clues and hints that should lead the players from point A to point B while leaving them with an illusion of free will.  Moreover, it is an excellent example of the sort of shadowy, mystical warfare that might take place between an ancient lich or vampire, and the foes that might hunt him.  As a modern campaign example, it presents a pleasant alternative to the hormone drenched adolescent angst of the World of Darkness and most other modern gothic horror. 

I've read this work twice now, once the hard cover version, and once the Audible version narrated by Justine Eyre and Paul Michael. If you enjoy audiobooks, like i do, the audio version is very well done, and splitting the narrators according to who the POV character is makes for a very strong listening experience.

The novel is far from action-packed.  The excitement and drama come most often from the uncovered page or recently recovered folk-song, rather than machine gun bullets and flashing swords.  For some, this will be reason enough to leave it alone.  But if you find philosophical debate, and spiritual peril thrilling, and if you enjoy examining recent history through unusual prisms, then pick up the The Historian.  I’ll be very surprised if you can put it down again.

All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

Foundational Authors of the Fantasy Genre?

Thomas Cole, The Voyage of Life: Youth, 1842
U.S. National Gallery of Art

All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

Nine years ago this list started a pretty interesting conversation, so I thought I would see if it might do so again. 

The initial post was inspired when I discovered that a good friend of mine, an accomplished, published fantasy author who has also worked as an editor and a book reviewer, had at that point NEVER read anything by R.E. Howard. I found this disconcerting! 

So, I wrote up a quick list of the authors who I considered foundational to the genre, authors that I thought all serious fantasy fans should read at least once. The sorts of writers where you read one of their works and think "that's a cliché" then discover it wasn't a cliché until others copied them...

This isn't about gatekeeping, anyone should and can enjoy fantasy without this reading list, But if one wants to really know and understand the genre, then I think this list covers all the bases.

In no particular order:

J.R.R. Tolkien

C.S. Lewis

R.E. Howard

H.P. Lovecraft

Clark Ashton Smith

Fritz Leiber

Michael Moorcock

Poul Anderson

Lord Dunsany

T.H. White

Mary Stewart

Mary Renault

Lloyd Alexander

Susan Cooper

Ursula K. LeGuin

Leigh Brackett

E.R. Burroughs

J.K. Rowlings

On reflection, after the discussion from nine years ago, I would add these to the list:

Edgar Allen Poe

Terry Pratchett 

Stephen R. Donaldson

I may have missed one or two but those are the big ones, IMO. Influential writers whose work was ground breaking in some way and/or had a profound impact on the genre. There is a bias for older works, writers who came up towards the birth of the modern genre in the first half of the 20th century. I think that is natural and only to be expected. 

This is not a list of the "best" fantasy authors, or my favorite writers. I left many of my favorites off the list, as heart-breaking as it was to do so. 

That said, there are some names that I have a tougher time defending, whose influence may be more personal for me than widespread in the genre. Stewart, Renault, Cooper, and Alexander are perhaps not as widely influential as I believe they should be. 

So, this is a personal list. Others are likely to have a very different list. In fact, the purpose ofthis list is really to generate debate and discussion, not as some sort of litmus test or dogmatic declaration of "How Things Are or Must Be."

Comments encouraged!

Paul's Historical Pet Peeves

 All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

Clio, Muse of History (1797)
by Charles Meynier

My top historical pet peeves:

1. Claiming the Civil War wasn't about slavery. It was ONLY about slavery. Sit down and shut up, you are wrong. No slavery, no Civil War. Period. This is an ongoing sign of the power of Southern white supremacy's propaganda and lies.

2. Claiming the Wehrmacht was 'clean' during World War II, that the atrocities were committed by the SS. No, the German military was, for the most part, a willing participant in these crimes. They enthusiastically supported Hitler and all he stood for. They only turned on him in defeat. This is an ongoing sign of the power of post-war Wehrmacht officer propaganda and lies.

 
3. Giving the Soviet Union sole credit for defeating the Germans. I'm glad the scale of the Eastern Front flabbergasts you, but every single front in World War II contributed, the war was interconnected. This is an ongoing sign of the power of Soviet propaganda and lies. Yes, they claimed they fought alone, but they never did.

 
3b. Related: NOT recalling that the Soviet Union was virtually an Axis Power prior to Operation Barbarossa, which had invaded Poland and Finland both in virtual alliance with Germany. I have great pity for the Russian people in World War II, but the Soviet Government reaped what it sowed.

4. Claiming Ho Chi Minh was 'just' a nationalist. No, he was not. He was a member of the French Communist party before a Vietnamese Communist party was even created. He was a committed Communist and he was never going to bring democracy to Vietnam. This is an ongoing sign of the power of Vietnamese Communist propaganda and lies.

 
5. Treating Native American cultures as if they were 'noble savages' rather then living, breathing humans in societies that were just as complicated, selfish, aggressive, and even inhumane as any other human society of their time. Doing so steals their humanity and their individual agency.

 
6. Claiming 'the victor writes the history books'. No, they don't Maybe on occassion, but not always, and often the victor doesn't care as much as the loser, so they don't put the time into explaining the victory that the loser puts into justifying the defeat. 

 
I'm sure there are other pet peeves of mine, but these are definitely the six that pop up the most often.

Review: Goblin Quest series

 All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

 A version of this article appeared in Knights of the Dinner Table #131 (September, 2007).

Most of the works reviewed in this column over the past year have been influential in the early development of fantasy role-playing games. But the birth of role-playing spawned, nearly simultaneously, the birth of game related novels. Some of the earliest and most obvious examples include the first game novel, Andre Norton's Quag Keep,  the Dragonlance novels, but much game-inspired fiction was not tied so directly into a game setting.  Rather, a generation of fantasy writers grew up gaming and much of their fiction is at least partially influenced by those experiences.

Jim C. Hines ‘Goblin Quest’ series was clearly inspired in large part by gaming, and presents an alternative view of the traditional dungeon exploration motif that is so beloved by old time role-players.  The hero of Hines’ tale is Jig, a runty goblin who is drawn into adventures through circumstance and an unusual dose of common sense (unusual for a goblin, at any rate).

In Goblin Quest Jig is captured by adventurers while on patrol outside his tribe’s lair, and forced to guide them through the dungeon his tribe helps to populate.  The adventurers, (two princes, their dwarven tutor, and an elven thief) are searching the catacombs for a powerful artifact; they believe it lies at the very bottom of the dungeon.  Jig survives, aided by his pet fire spider and a long-forgotten god.   

In Goblin Hero Jig’s status in the world has moved up, not a comfortable position in goblin society as he is seen as a threat by tribal leaders.  Again his world is threatened and he finds himself trying to save not only goblins, but ogres as well, against dangerous magical foes. These foes, pixies from another dimension, are even more dangerous then the dragon and human adventurers he faced in the first book. 

In the final novel, Goblin War, Jig is caught up in the sort of war between humanoids and humanity that is the staple of so many fantasy novels or roleplaying campaigns. Jig discovers that both sides intend harm to the goblins. The recurring motif that the humans and others consider the goblins to be vermin is fully explored here. Jig's solutions are far from perfect, but he manages to save the day for the majority of the less malevolent folks involved.

Hines’ Goblin novels are marketed as fantasy comedy, similar to Robert Asprin’s Mythadventures, or Piers Anthony’s Xanth novels.  But the novels are not particularly comedic. There is comedy, generally found in the absurdities inherent in goblin culture, but the novels are thankfully a straight take on goblin society, from the goblin point of view, rather than a continuous flow of bad puns and short jokes. The goblin society in the books is not candy-coated; they are mean-spirited back-stabbers who fail most often because they cannot trust each other.  They eat whatever sort of meat they can acquire, whether sentient or not, including goblin when nothing else is available and they gladly pick on whatever is smaller or weaker than they are. 

Jig is not Drizzt Do’urden for Goblins.  He does not question his society but merely tries to survive within it, at least at first.  He is neither brave nor strong and while he recognizes goblins for what they are, he still champions his race over others.  Jig is peculiarly realistic hero, fully within his society and yet able to see it from the outside, as well. He's a remarkable literary creation, really.  

Jig is remarkably likeable as well; Hines achieves this end in part by the stereotypical trope in which the handsome noble prince is really an arrogant, cruel, evil fool.  This has been done to death in the Shrek movies and plays even less well in these novels.  However, the humans are so unlikable that Hines can allow Jigs to retain his less savory goblin habits (such as a taste for dwarf flesh) and retain the reader’s sympathies.  

A dwarven priest provides the closet thing to a voice of reason in the original book, and a royal princess in the final book shows that not all of the humans are arrogant, cruel, or foolish. Still, if the books have a weakness it is that Hines fails to treat non-goblin characters with the same sense of balance and individuality he provides the goblins. 

From a gaming point of view, the books are a gold mine for gamemasters.  Hines presents a believable dungeon ecology and cultures, any gamemaster who takes the time to similarly imagine daily life in his dungeons will find determining the inhabitants’ reactions to invasion much easier.  The examination of goblin culture is particularly enlightening, as previously they have always stood in the shadows of orcs.  And Hackmaster fans may find Hines’ treatment of Pixies in Goblin Quest intriguing.  There are helpful portraits of wizards, priests, and witch doctors, as well.

I recently reread the series as audiobooks: Goblin Quest, Goblin Hero, and Goblin War. These are full cast performances, with a narrator for the text and the dialogue read by different actors for the various characters. Additionally, they have mood music and sound effects added. They were done by Graphic Audio and described as a "movie for your mind." I enjoyed them, though I wouldn't want all books to be read that this way. 

Hines novels are fun and interesting.  Though many works have run with the idea of transforming a traditional antagonist into protagonist, seldom has anyone done so with a race as universally despised as goblins.  Shrek and Drizzt may come from those who traditionally go bump in the night, but their respective races at least have reputations of fearsomeness to fall back on.  Adventurers fear ogres, and drow.  Goblins lack even that advantage, making Jigs' accomplishments and Hines’ audacity that much more compelling.

Review: Swords Against the Shadowland by Robin Wayne Bailey

 All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

 A version of this article appeared in Knights of the Dinner Table #149 (March, 2009).

America’s most influential fantasy author, Fritz Leiber, passed away in 1992.  His greatest creations, Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, were comfortably retired following his last work concerning Nehwon, The Knight and Knave of Swords and it seemed their tales had all been told.  But Leiber had, apparently, designated a literary heir, Robin Wayne Bailey, to write further about the swashbuckling duo. 

There is a natural caution amongst fans when a new writer begins to tell tales of such legendary characters and the sorry history of Conan following his creator’s death is ample evidence of how poorly it can turn out.  Leiber’s creation had begun as a collaborative effort between himself and Otto Fischer and both were active in war gaming and the early days of Dungeons and Dragons.  Despite Leiber’s distinctive style, then, a fan could hope for the best. And Robin Wayne Bailey was an excellent choice for literary heir as a veteran fantasy author with tales in the Thieves’ World anthologies that were extremely reminiscent of Leiber’s own work.  Moreover, like Leiber, Bailey is very active in the fan community, approachable, and extremely likeable personally.

Bailey did not rush to put out a new story after Leiber passed away, the first new Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser tale; Swords against the Shadowland, was not published until 1998. Set in the period following “Ill Met in Lankhmar”, during which Fafhrd and the Mouser avoided that city and were plagued by memories of their lost loves, Vlana and Ivrian. The novel follows the vengeance of the wizard Malygris, and the unintended consequences of his vengeance. It falls to our two heroes, manipulated by Mouser’s wizardly patron Sheelba, to set things right.

Malygris might be named after the eponymous wizard from "The Death of Malygris" by Clark Ashton Smith, or perhaps it is intended to be the same wizard, I'm not certain. I rather hope there is an intended connection.

This is not a Fritz Leiber book, nor even a pastiche of Leiber’s style.  Bailey wisely avoids that trap and instead writes a book in his own style, utilizing the characters and locations of Lankhmar.  For Leiber fans there might be some disconnect here; like the heroes of all of the early 20th century fantasy greats (i.e. Howard, Lovecraft, & Tolkien) Lieber’s heroes are more than a little detached from themselves.  Fafhrd and Mouser love deeply, but discuss those loves with the same ironic abstraction that they discuss broad philosophies and metaphysics. Bailey’s heroes are heirs of our own, far more confessional age.  They admit and discuss their brotherly love for each other with far less reticence than Lieber would have allowed, and their understanding of, and connections to, their own psyches are deeper.

This is not a criticism, however.  The story is a swashbuckling tale of Lankhmar in the finest tradition, told by a man who has carefully studied Lankhmar. Bailey’s experience writing for the Thieves’ World shared universe concept clearly aided him here.  Lankhmar is not only one of the oldest fantasy worlds, it is one of the oldest role-playing settings, and there are many who feel they know the fabled city nearly as well as they know their own hometowns.  They will feel right at home in Bailey’s Lankhmar, perhaps even more than Lieber’s, as Bailey adds a level of detail that Lieber avoided in the pre-RPG age.    

For gamers, Bailey’s work has several interesting concepts and ideas that gamemaster’s can steal. Malygris’ method of vengeance and its unintended consequences make the entire plot perfect for lifting as an adventure premise, one easily adapted to most AD&D-style fantasy settings.  The novel explores Lankhmar thoroughly, and those running campaigns in any fantasy city will find many ideas and concepts in it that can be easily lifted for use in places like Waterdeep or the city of Greyhawk.  Fafhrd and the Mouser are always excellent examples for players to emulate, and in the current era of role-playing, they are perhaps even more relevant.

Though this was the first of a planned trilogy, subsequent works never materialized. I don't know why, I greatly enjoyed the novel but I can see purists rejecting even the idea of a successor to Leiber, perhaps sales were low. Or perhaps the format was an issue. The duo's tales were primarily sword & sorcery short stories, often first published in magazines and then later collected in the famous "Swords against..." series. Leiber himself only wrote one true novel of the pair (and several novellas). Bailey was a veteran of the short story format, but perhaps he had a hard time creating full novel stories for the pair that fit into their established timeline. 

If that was the case, it is a shame that an anthology wasn't produced instead. I believe a Lankhmar festschrift celebrating Leiber would have been well received by fans. Not a collection of unconnected tales like After the King: Stories In Honor of J.R.R. Tolkien (1992) edited by Martin H. Greenberg, but rather a collection of tales set in Lankhmar or elsewhere on Nehwon by a variety of fantasy authors. Leiber himself established that Nehwon had connections to other worlds, so they could even bring characters from their own worlds. Bailey would be the perfect editor for such a volume. 

Fritz Leiber has passed and his copious output as a writer leaves us much to enjoy. And we have  this novel, showing that the world itself can still entertain. It has been over fifteen years since I first read this book, I think it is time to read it again. And certaunly, Bailey’s concluding words provide a fitting end to this review, encapsulating a fan’s longing for eldritch Lankhmar and her roguish heroes:

Our Knight and Knave of Swords—sleep

Your work is done, the tale is told,

And lives are saved a hundred-fold.

If only all man’s plagues could be

Such a neatly ended fantasy.